Jason Sharp Interview: Skies and the Heavens Above
The COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed a much-needed alteration of the relationship between musicians, the music industry, and consumers. Along with the artists and listeners themselves, many independent record labels and streaming platforms have been at the forefront of this change. Longstanding Montreal-based experimental label Constellation Records was one of the first to establish a pandemic policy, in April promising to artists 100% of digital download revenues from their website and Bandcamp, an initiative that has been extended on a monthly basis and will last till at least the end of the year. Now, theyāve foregone their normal winter album release cycle and launched a series called Corona Borealis, which showcases their roster via one-off longform singles and accompanying videos. 16 artists total will end up participating in the weekly series, which has so far included avant-garde jazz artist Markus Floats, post-rock musician Efrim Manuel Menuck, and violinist/sound artist Jessica Moss. The latest, released today, is saxophonist Jason Sharp, who debuts his first-ever acoustic saxophone trackĀ āGates of Heavenā. Sharp, who employs a circular breathing technique in his playing, recorded the 18-minute track at the synagogue of the same name in Madison, Wisconsin last summer, and itās been paired with a short film by video artist and curatorĀ Guillaume VallĆ©e.Ā
I called Sharp from his home in Montreal last week to talk about the history and composition of the track, collaborating with VallƩe on the video, how COVID-19 has affected him, and the importance of establishing new, perhaps permanent economic shifts in the music world. Read our conversation below!
Since I Left You: Whatās the history behind this track?
Jason Sharp: [In June 2019], I was just outside of Chicago recording with Roscoe Mitchell, and we had booked two churches to do our session. We only ended up using one of them, and we were supposed to be recording for three days and ended up using only two. On route to the airport, the engineer [Vid Cousins] and I stopped in this little synagogue, Gates of Heaven, in Madison, WI, and recorded this solo piece. It was a really quick in and out setup, with mics at different distances in and around the building. I did this piece in there, and we left. Honestly, I didnāt really think that much of the recording for a while. It was lost in my archives.Ā
When COVID hit, I had some time to go back through some recordings and came across what I had done nearly a year ago. It spoke to me in a way it didnāt in the moment, and it was nice to rekindle that recording. Editing and mixing during this shutdown period kept the creative juices flowing.
SILY: Was the track entirely improvised?
JS: Yeah, entirely improvised. Itās an 18-minute track, and I improvised a bass layer for 18 minutes and then had the engineer reel it back, and I did a response to that, creating a harmony and melody and improvising in a compositional way. The day before, I was playing in a more traditional improv kind of way. This was more compositionally driven but sourced through improvisation. It was all kind of on the fly. Thereās a certain energy when you capture recordings in that way. Itās kind of refreshing to hear after the fact.
SILY: The track seems to have three distinct parts, almost perfectly in thirds. Youāve got the bass layer at first, then the fluttery, more obvious circular breathing-type playing, and in the final bit, you combine the two parts.
JS: The way that we did it, I put a clock in front of me, and it was supposed to be 5 minutes apiece, and it ended up being closer to 6 minutes. I did a take improvising to the clock and already had in mind doing this in three separate sections. The first section was long tones, sustained sounds, bringing up the harmony and the overtones of the notes. The second was more rhythmically driven. As you said, the third was meant to encapsulate some of the other types of approaches used previously. Thereās an arpeggiated figure that holds it together and sustained notes reminiscent of the first part. Harmonically, the first two parts are in a minor key, and the final is just three notes, so it ends up being in a major key. It was somewhat predetermined that way but ended up, as you said, being a focal point of the techniques used previously.
SILY: When youāre improvising, to what extent are you paying attention to the space in which youāre playing and taking that into account when making decisions?
JS: That was the nicest thing about recording in that synagogue. It was a beautiful space, a very resonant space providing a lot back. There are some things I was doing to purposefully activate that space. Towards the end, I was doing these blasts and pops to accentuate the resonance of the space itself. Playing some of the higher register of the instrument and vocalizing through it and using the mic sources furthest away from me in the very back of the room created a perception of depth and a far-off cry type of thing to give it some sort of 3D element. When youāre playing in spaces, youāre always playing in the room, but when youāre playing in a rich acoustic environment, youāre not working with a PA. It makes you want to activate the space in a way.
SILY: How did the video come to fruition?
JS: The video is a first-time collaboration with Guillaume VallĆ©e. We have never even met face to face. I was kind of nearing a rough mix and shared that track with him. I was familiar with his work through another peer of mine. I basically gave him carte blanche to do what he wanted with it. I told him the piece was in three separate movements and that the first two were darker shades and the third had a shift in tonality and a different emotional quality to me. Thatās basically as much guidance as I gave him knowing what he does--he works with analog film stock and video effects. He said he had a lot of source material that had already been compiled that worked well with the track thematically. There are images of a church that appear towards the end in there that I thought was a quite nice reference to the space itself. For the most part, we were working in parallel: I finished the final mix while he was working independently on the film.
SILY: The video does seem to reflect the song. It fades to black to separate the three parts, and the abstractness of the imagery and color hues follow the dark-to-light trend as well.Ā
JS: I really enjoyed watching it for the first time. He went through his own creative process with some basic structural direction and took it and ran with it in a really great way. I hope we can work together again.
SILY: How has COVID-19 concretely affected you as an artist?
JS: It was significant as it has been for everybody. Artistically, I was supposed to be in the studio recording another record. That was cancelled. I couldnāt be in the studio at the time. I had a European tour which was also cancelled. I was supposed to perform for a lot of other players and projects. Basically, all performance things were at first being rebooked for the fall--and obviously, here we are--and so they were cancelled or rebooked for the summer of 2021. Thatās almost a year and a bit of not really performing on a regular basis in the way Iād be used to. It was definitely alarming. My wife and I also own a yoga studio in the neighborhood we live in, the Mile End of Montreal, and that was severely affected as well. It provided a lot of added stress on life that didnāt leave much room for working on things artistically. I was able to squeak out enough time to go through my archive recordings and came across this recording. It was a really rejuvenating thing working on this track. Retreating into the recording was a bit of a saving grace artistically.Ā
Things are being reinvented right now. I just did a live stream event for [Suno Per Il Popolo] and have resumed composing and have a recording date for an upcoming album for Constellation. Bands Iām in are picking up the pieces and dusting themselves off and moving forward in their own right with different ways of documenting work and planning for the future.
SILY: How important is it to you from an ethical and financial standpoint to be signed to a label like Constellation, whoās willing to forego their normal album release cycle for a few months to have its signees able to release these one-off singles?
JS: This particular initiative is amazing. Constellation has always been such an incredible supportive force for me and all the artists on the roster. Theyāre so artistically driven. I donāt have a lot of experience with other labels, but itās a very ethical and supportive relationship. This series exemplifies that. Putting out albums has become almost a calling card for live dates, in my experience. Now that weāre in a position where there arenāt live dates, itās okay to postpone these physical releases. Itās wonderful they can put out something as a label that showcases the diversity of the artists on the roster. Long-play, but small packages. In many ways, it gives people the opportunity to showcase another side of themselves. Putting out a single doesnāt come with the same gravitas as an album. It allows you to do something outside of what your main focus might be. This is my first acoustic saxophone recording--Iām generally using a lot of electronics or occupying an electroacoustic space. The record Iām working on is very much in that vein, using a lot of modular synths. Itās freeing to be able to step out of the box.
Financially, Bandcamp has been really supportive through this. Constellation stepping up and helping artists get these types of singles out into the world, with the support of their platform, and giving 100% of the revenue to the artists, itās obviously super supportive and very much appreciated and can do a lot for both the label and the artists involved.
SILY: To what extent do you see this type of release pattern as something that will continue post-pandemic?
JS: It may, and I hope it does. Record cycles are obviously changed right now, and maybe some of the solutions being put in place will find a new home and stick around. Constellationās mainly focused on vinyl releases, so all these digital releases have a totally different turnaround time. Itās obviously less expensive, and the singles themselves keep the stoke to the artistic flames instead of a usual album cycle. As people are coming up with these solutions during this time, a lot of them were needed, COVID or not. Thatās the silver lining, for sure. Itās been illuminating to see people reach people in different ways and create different relationships between artists, the industry, and the consumer. Something of a hybrid of the solutions of where weāre at right now and how we normally operate could be in store.
SILY: Do you think itās going to change the way you release music, whether self-releasing or doing digital-only releases?
JS: Iāve never really felt the need to self-release. Itās hard to get music out into the world. Iāve definitely been grateful for Constellationās support. Thereās a certain creative process that you go through when you know thereās gonna be a physical release at the end of it. It requires you to germinate a little bit more. Iāve never felt the need to be prolific or the need to constantly be putting something out.
SILY: What else is next for you?
JS: Iām working on this record thatās gonna come out in some form in 2021. I scored an amazing film by DaĆÆchi SaĆÆto. I did his last film and was able to do some live performances with that film in Europe. We worked together on his next film, which will be coming out in 2021. I have a couple more live streamed things and recording projects with different people, but the upcoming record and the film are the biggest documents that will be coming out soon.
SILY: What have you been up to in general during the pandemic?
JS: Itās been really busy, between keeping our small business afloat, which weāre in the second stage of, and spending a lot of time in my studio and sharpening my tools, so to speak. Iāve been working on electronics and building new modules for things I may use for music making in the future. My family lives on the West Coast of Canada, and during the summer, we went out and lived on a boat in the wilderness for a month in the Northern tip of Vancouver Island. We were really far remote and didnāt see anybody for a whole month. It was very special and rejuvenating. The perfect thing to do in these self-isolating times.
Jason Sharp | "Gates of Heaven" from Constellation Records on Vimeo.
