#adam devlin

philospiders by philospiders

We are very proud to announce the release of Philospiders first album! and not only that, but this release constitutes our 50th musical expulsion! A quick thank you to all of our artists, label-mates, affiliates, and most importantly the listeners. Without you, we would be nothing.

Philospiders is the joining of two Tallahassee/WVFS heavyweights, Adam Devlin and Jordan Connors. We caught up with the two of them and went through the motions of getting to know this gruesome noise twosome.

CNC: So, let's go through the rundown: Where were you born? What was your younger life like?

P: We grew up in Central Florida. Adam spent his adolescence playing drums and Jordan spent it not making music in any fashion. It was mostly alright, except when it sucked.

CNC: What were some of your early inspirations as a musical artist?

Adam: John Bonham, Greg Saunier, Zach Hill, Max Roach, video games, ambient noise and dissonance. Then gradually whatever creative bad habits evolved from using programs like FL Studio and Ableton. Either percussively or on a computer, it's been a lot of falling into bad habits and working through them, then recording the progress. Jordan: Messed up tapes, skipping vinyl records, noisy train rides in Chicago, The Lady Of Situations and Ironing.

CNC: What were your first musical projects like/called/about?

P: This is our first musical project. Adam made loops and detritus for many years before, and still does to this day. This was a constant learning experience for us, and each show we played was us trying to improve a little bit in an obvious way.

CNC: What instrumentation do you usually use?

P: Computer processing is a primary part of it. Lots of loops and effects are used and launched from a laptop, because it's easier and cheaper than buying pedals and carrying them around, and because it rewards having lots of imagination and very little self-control. Drums, no-input mixer, a loop pedal, guitar, bass, keyboards, and other instruments show up from time to time, usually in either a looping or improvisatory context. A lot of the songs are based in a combination of clearly digital and clearly organic elements, and usually “composition” consists of finding an interesting idea and building something around it. Live, we try to do something different every single time, because we don't want to be boring. Also because we can. Typically, the less we've practiced the more positive the response has been to the shows. Also being loud is nice.

CNC: Did you attend university or any form of school for music?

P: No.

CNC: In that case, do you believe yourself to be an academic musician or do you identify yourself artistically as outside of the university confines?

P: We'd like to be academic musicians, but in the sense that we think extended technique is as viable a discipline as music theory, and a lot of proclivities towards writing songs are restricting because they end in everyone trying to sound like some other musician or group. Jordan thinks music university confines its education to people with lots of time and money. Adam thinks of “academic musicianship” as someone who makes any kind of music at all with a rigorous attention paid to how it is being made, even if it's rock or dance music or power electronics. Every genre of music has a language that grows from it being worked on for a very long time, and anyone who argues that one of those genres is less valuable than another because of some arbitrary reason (time spent crafting, consonance, catchy choruses, whatever) is short-sighted. Anything done for a long time, genuinely, with dedication and intent to improve, cannot be inherently without value. In that sense, we would like to become academic musicians.

CNC: So what is in store for the future of Philospiders?

P: We want to assemble a summer tour for the east coast. Adam wants to move to New York and continue recording. Jordan wants to perform as No Face, a solo act.

Philospider's cassette is not yet available online, but if you are in the Tallahassee area you may find it at Retrofit Records, The Heart's Desire House, or any Cookies 'N Cream Records sponsored artist show. Also, if you happen to fancy downloading or purchasing the cassette, there is a super secret live track just waiting to get into your earholes!