voices #48
◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
here we got:
Daron Key
answering some questions. We have already observed his drone / ambient work here.
[1. IDEA]
■ The A. O.: The track from “On The Slopes” that we prefer is “First Light”. Can you tell us how it came to light?
► Daron Key: When I first moved to Hawaii Island I ended up living and working in lower Puna at a place named Puʻalaa, this is where I first heard the story of Papa and Wakea, the Hawaiian story of creation. This particular location is also known to be the first location that sunlight hits in the archipelago. These ideas were the focus of my intent as the piece starts abruptly like when the first rays of light break through the ocean horizon then slowly forms into the ball of the sun.
[2. CREATION]
■ The A. O.: How do you usually approach composition? Do you start with a concept, a sound, a state of mind or what else? How do you generally proceed from the initial seed to the complete work?
► Daron Key: I have a few ways that I approach composing yet they all ultimately rely on my ability to be a conduit. Lots of times the outcome is completely reliant on improvisation and piecing together themes of music. With the songs made for “On The Slopes” the inspiration came from living in the rainforest and being able to hear the Kiluea Caldera erupting, which inspired me to create some pieces around the ideas of eruptions and creation. The first logical step for me was to find a guitar tuning that was going to be representative of both the sounds I was hearing as well as appropriate for the location. The tuning I chose is a traditional slack key tuning that is named after the mountain in which I live. Even though my music has very little to do with traditional slack key guitar this particular tuning lends itself to all sorts of low end rumblings as well as melodic picking in the higher register. When all of the above elements come together is when I feel I get my best results, a concept or idea to guide a meditative improvisation while utilizing appropriate instruments/tools.
[3. FEEDBACK]
■ The A. O.: What do you hope listeners feel or experience when engaging with your music?
► Daron Key: That is not for me to say. Art and music is a very subjective experience. Over the years I have had people tell me that my music was transformative for them and I have also had sound people turn off power to the stage mid set, creating situations which included me getting kicked out of the venues. My only hope is that the music I share finds its way to people who enjoy it, but my understanding is that I can not control the personal lens that people consume it through. Lots of times people will think a certain type of music is “scary” or “angry” yet what I hear might be focused on the “technical” prowess or maybe I find it “energetic”, neither of us is wrong we just have a different life lens that we are absorbing through.
[4. IDENTITY]
■ The A. O.: In a world saturated with digital music content, how do you try to keep your sound distinct and personally meaningful?
► Daron Key: Being self aware creates freedoms in your life. I don’t need to validate what I do as an artist for it to be meaningful to me. As a creative person the act of creating is the place where I feel comfortable, it is the action that makes me a whole person, whether it is making music, painting, writing, the format doesn’t matter. It’s about the shift that happens in my brain and spirit. I recently had a conversation with an old friend and we talked about how music and art is and always will be there for us as an expression, it doesn’t require an audience. Once we capture it, it morphs into something else, then it morphs again once we turn it into a consumable. We live in an age that places a huge amount of worth on the ability to be noticeable through the saturated world of curated musical content of every genre and subset. Sometimes folks forget that there are still communities around the world where a small group of people will gather around with no cameras/phones to hear their cousin or friend throat sing and play a mouth harp. Purely enjoying music for music’s sake. Currently sharing and distributing music via the internet is a double edged sword. Being able to share art and ideas at large scales is truly a blessing. On the flipside is artist exploitation and consumers’ sense of entitlement.
[5. INFLUENCES]
■ The A. O.: Mention 3 albums that you consider relevant to your musical path and why.
► Daron Key: ○ Sonic Youth – Goo
This record is not my favorite SY record but was definitely the gateway record that led me down the path of adventurous music and counterculture. When I first got a copy of this album on cassette in 1990 I was already getting exposure to weird music through the local punk scene but there are 3 stand out tracks that really had an effect on me and changed how I listen to music. The first song is “Scooter and Jinx”, second “Mildred Pierce”, and third “Titanium Expose”. SY led me to Glen Branca which led me to Harry Partch, John Cage, Stockhausen, and other 20th century musical intellectuals, which became a pathway for exposure to ethnic music from around the world. SY also led me to having a better understanding of what “punk” was and that it was not a sound that could be defined but an ethos, leading me to bands like The Dead C, Boredoms, and The Ex among others. In a long round about way the wild guitar tunings on this record led me back to finally appreciating the Hawaiian guitar music that my grandmother would collect tapes of. Strange that a New York based “art rock” band could help me find my roots.
○ Sonny Sharrock – Black Women
This record was on heavy repeat for a long time. The soulfulness of the melodies is absolutely beautiful, touching on blues roots but don’t get it twisted this is a “free jazz” record. One of the things that really sets this record apart for me is that even when the instruments build into a fury there is always a solid sense of togetherness rooting the music. No matter how out a performer goes it never seems to fall apart. A sense of rootedness is something that I try to incorporate into my music however there are times where finding or recognition of that root might be hard for the listener to find. Considering when this record was made it is also fair to say that it was a game changing record in the world of improvised guitar playing.
○ V/A – Harmony of the Spheres
I cheated on this one! This 3 LP box set features some outstanding artists of the 90’s Drone, Experimental, Psychedelic Rock scene. Each artist has their own side of an LP in includes,
Bardo Pond, Flying Saucer Attack, Jessamine, Roy Montgomery, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Charalambides. I got a copy of this box when it came out in 1996 and was in love with the pacing of the songs and the ability for all of these artists to all fit together so well on a singular release. There isn’t a stand out track but at the time I was super excited that such an awesome collection of time defying, droned out psychedelic guitar music was all in one box set.
[6. REGARDS]
■ The A. O.: Leave us with a quote you love.
► Daron Key: “For there is never anything but the present, and if one cannot live there, one cannot live anywhere.” (Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen)