Plateprat med Martyn Reed

Hei!
Om noen spanderer i baren. Hva drikker du?

Ah, kicking off with a music question. Which for me, this is. I was watching the film “The Last Days of Disco“ and there’s a scene in the legendary 1970s club Studio 54 where some banker douche presumptuously orders a couple of Margaritas for the two woman he was with. One of the woman was rightly offended and said no, she didn’t want a Margarita, he laughed and said “well what do you want honey?”… she thought for a while and to his horror responded with “I’ll have a Whiskey Sour”. At which point he knew he had no chance. I ordered one the next day and have drank it ever since.
Other than that, my go to standard is “Rum and Coke”, preferably dark rum, a left-over of being raised in a mixed Caribbean family in the Industrial North of England maybe.

Beskriv deg selv med minst 5 ord.
An introverted extrovert passionate about disseminating cultures from below, full of self-doubt but knows bullshit when he smells it. Fight the Power.

Om du skulle valgt et pseudonym/artistnavn?
ART ´n´ READ

Hva blir tittelen på din selvbiografi?
From Rags to Polyester

Om du ønsker å få folk ut på dansegulvet, hvilken låt spiller du?
Depends on the crowd, but Alison Limerick’s “Where Love Lives” never fails

Hva er ditt forhold til Musikkbiblioteket? Hva kjennetegner en god platebutikk?
Stavanger’s Library is exceptional, the fact that it occupies such a central place in the cityscape, literally the city square, I don’t think we fully understand or appreciate what this contributes to our collective identity. Such an unassuming yet powerful force for knowledge, integration and culture. The music and film section and the fact you can recommend additions to it, is unique in my experience.

3 favorittalbum? Terry Callier : The New Folk Sounds of Terry Callier; Gil Scott Heron : Winter in America and The Smiths : The Queen is Dead

3 favorittlåter?
It changes with the phases of the moon, but the perennial favourites remain

Billy Paul : East

Sivert Høyem : Prisoner of the Road

John Martin : Don’t want to know

Hva har du hørt på de siste dagene?
I bought some airpods this year as I started a mission to hit 10000 steps a day and thought a little musical accompaniment would help, the only playlist that stops me turning around and heading back home or striking up a Marlboro, is a four hour 80’s playlist I made. It’s also acting as research for an upcoming solo exhibition that I’m having in January which explores how cultural power shapes our collective and individual memory.

Undervurdert plate?
Soft Cell : Non Stop Erotic Dancing. A underappreciated cult classic despite the commercial hits.

En klassiker som du aldri har forstått deg på?
All Heavy Rock after Sabbath’s “Paranoid”. Anything by Blur and all EDM

De 3 tøffeste/beste platecover?

Joy Division : Unknown Pleasures, New Order : Blue Monday, Primal Scream : Screamadelica. Anything designed by Peter Saville

Hva betyr det visuelle ved et platekjøp?
The two don’t exist independently, as both John Cage’ s “4.33” and The Beatle’s White Album proved. They’re very literally symbiotic.

Samler du på plater? Hvorfor?
6000+ and counting, probably a symptom of mental illness or childhood trauma disguised by being a Dj.

Favoritt blant fysiske platebutikker?
Any second-hand store with vinyl that promises a discovery.

Ditt beste plate kjøp noensinne?
Cheating because the PR company sent it me, but a promo of Röyksopp’s debut album “Melody A.M” with a hand painted cover by Banksy, now worth a cool 180.000 kr.

Hva er den viktigste forskjellen fra da du begynte å samle på plater og hvordan det er nå?
Knowing I’m unlikely to ever move house again due to the amount of vinyl I’d have to pack.

Om du måtte velge:
Beatles vs. Rolling Stones - Neither, but if forced to choose, The Beatles after discovering mind-altering drugs.
Penger vs. Berømmelse - Beryktet
Talent vs. Flaks - A talent for luck

By vs. Bygd - City

Beat for Beat vs. Hver gang vi møtes - No comment
Vinne Melodi Grand Prix vs. Øyafestivalen - Øyafestivalen everytime

Favoritt sang på dialekt (ikke din egen dialekt)?
Anything by Sleaford Mods

Favoritt film/TV-serie?

Tarkovsky “Stalker”, don’t have the patience for TV series but went through every episode of “Peaky Blinders” this year which was entertaining.

Vinyl, CD, kassett eller strømming når du spiller musikk hjemme? Er du en lyd freak?
Home 70% streaming, 30% vinyl. Studio, 70% vinyl 30% streaming. Content over sound quality anytime.

Hva hører du hjemme?
Music born of struggle and injustice. Melancholy but with fire and passion. This years favourites, Sault and Michael Kiwanuka.

3 låter for å hylle kjærligheten?
John Martyn : Run Honey Run

Massive Attack : Live with me.

Gil Scott Heron : I’ll Take Care of You.

Hvilke 3 plater har påvirket/inspirert deg mest de siste 3 årene?
Michael Kiwanuka : Kiwanuka ; Sault : 5 ; Sleaford Mods : Spare Ribs

Noen ord om en fet spilleliste du vil dele?
“Freedom” playlist, anything with, about or expressing a desire for freedom. Such a powerful word rooted in slavery and the oppressed desire to be free of their physical, mental, literal and metaphorical chains. The default setting for all good music. You want to get fired up, stick this on and take to the comments section.

Musikkbøker som du vil anbefale?
Good question, Ruth Finnegan’s «The Hidden Musicians, music making in an English Town”, A rare gem of a book that challenges every assumption we might have about the place of music in everyday life.

En roman som gjorde inntrykk på deg?
Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” changed my life, if not saved it. Hamsun’s “Hunger” for creating so much from so little. For my art practice, Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”, a book that enables me to experience the world anew every time I step outside the door.

Sakprosa du vil anbefale?
I’m heavily indebted to French philosophers and critical theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Foucault, The Situationists and latterly the writing of French botanist Giles Clement, Criminal Sociologist Jeff Ferrell, Mark Fisher and David Graeber. All of whom help me navigate the very worst aspects of neoliberal ideology and the madmen who facilitate it.

Favoritt sitat?
"If I can't dance, it's not my revolution," Emma Goldman (1869-1940), feminist heroine, anarchist activist, editor, writer, teacher, jailbird and general trouble-maker.

Musiker/DJ som du har stor respekt for?
I respect any artist who dedicates their lives to expanding and explaining what it means to be human, and I learned from programming Numusic for many years, that you don’t have to like it, to know it’s important and relevant and to book it. I can’t tell you how many concerts and artists I’ve booked and stood there thinking “I don’t like this” but also knowing it was important to give it a platform.
Musician/Composers of note : Karlheinz Stockhausen/Arne Nordheim. Dj : Jeff Mills and Underground Resistance.

Minneverdig musikk øyeblikk?
Too many to list really but creating a purpose-built venue with architects Helen and Hard for Karlheinz Stockhausen in Storhaug was historical. Having Jeff Mills music transcribed for a full orchestra and performed by Stavanger Symphony Orchestra with Jeff on turntables was beyond anything I ever dreamed. Playing maraca on stage with Happy Monday’s is a fixed memory. Seeing my name on a flyer alongside Francois Kervorkian and Masters at Work, the whole class skipping school to see The Rolling Stones, seeing both Michael Jackson and Madonna at Roundhay park, bringing Lee “Scratch” Perry to Stavanger, twice. Seeing my good friend Simon Harmer hosting Mark E Smith and The Fall, presenting Datarock at Sonar Festival in Barcelona and hosting their wild “Rock Opera” at Stavanger Concert house. Being in a half empty Hacienda on LSD with George Clinton and Bootsy Colins is an experience I’ll take to the grave. The Smiths at the Hacienda in 83/84 and later the same year at Leeds Warehouse. John Grant performing his debut album at Tou Scene before he broke internationally. Locally, hanging with The September When and Cloroform in the studio, having a very young Thomas Dybdahl hand me his first demo CD and of course, the hundreds of gigs and club nights I’ve programmed at Sting, Tou and Folken between 1995 and 2015 under the Numusic banner. Quite a ride. Thanks for the memories.

Beste konsertopplevelse?
George Clinton, The Hacienda 1985 for obvious reasons. Early The Smiths gigs were always a great family affair. If I’m not dancing to it, I’m generally not going to be listening either.

Favorittfestival?
Sonar Festival, Barcelona

Hvor vil du reise for å oppleve musikk?
The globe

Drømmejobb nå og da du var 13?
A ninja like International jet setting jewel thief. A ninja like International jet setting jewel thief. Important to hold on to your dreams.

Har du noen hobbyer eller interesser utenom musikk?
I’m blessed/cursed with a disorder whereby one of the symptoms is hyper fixation, to the detriment of everything else, on subjects that trigger my passions. I’m also a lifelong “collector”, from stones and pebbles as a kid, to coins, medals, vinyl, books and for the last 20 years or so, visual art and cultural ephemera. From disorder to order and inevitably, back to disorder again. Rinse and repeat.

Hvordan tror du dine venner oppfatter din musikksmak?
Never thought about it.

Er det en musikksjanger som du gjerne skulle brukt mer tid på?
What used to be erroneously called “world music”, a record industry marketing term from the 1980’s to define anything none-western, now usually called “global music”.

Om du kunne ta med deg en musiker på en øde øy, hvem/hvorfor?
Cardi B for the laughs, understanding and humanity, also in the knowledge she’d get us out of there if she wanted to.

Hvor gammel var du når du «oppdaget» musikken og hva gjorde at du ble hekta?
My Uncle Raymond, professional Teddy Boy and amateur artist whose sketches adorned the local dentist’s waiting room, introduced me to instrumental rock n roll acts such as The Ventures, The Tornados and The Shadows when I was around 9 or 10. It felt like the drum and bass was in my DNA and I took to it immediately. He’d give me albums for Birthday’s and Christmas. This what the future sounded like and of course primed me for techno later in life.
Around the same time, I either found or was given 50 pence. And passing a record store in Leeds Merrion Center, saw a bargain bin outside with tapes for 10pence which included Alan Lomax’s ethnographic recordings of “Negro Prison Blues and Songs” from Mississippi and Louisiana State Penitentiary, early A cappella songs from chain gangs with their roots in slavery. A music that also entwined itself in the helix of my DNA.
Alan Lomax,Negro Prison & Blues Songs , The Ventures , The Tornados , The Spotnicks

Hva slags musikk hørte du på i ungdomstiden?
All of the above followed by the inevitable slide into liking what the charts and the market dictated until I was old enough to enter the wonderful uncompromising world of youth subcultures, missing punk, but being a teenage Mod following The Jam, Madness, The Specials, The Beat and the Ska movement which included a good dose of reggae before we morphed into the “Casual” movement of football hooliganism soundtracked by the likes of The Smiths, Echo and The Bunnymen, James and the like before New Order, Primal Scream, Happy Monday’s, The Farm, Stones Roses all running parallel with electro from the USA and then into rave and club culture.

Hvilken type musikk likte dine foreldre?
Dad was Perry Como, Crooners and The Beatles, Mum was Rock N Roll to the bone until shacking up with our future step-dad of Caribbean origin when it shifted to reggae and dancehall. The Smiths in the bedroom, Yellowman in the Kitchen, Elvis in the living room.
Yellowman

Har musikksmaken din endret seg?
The style, no doubt, but the bare bones, the content and the concerns expressed in the music, absolutely the same.

Blir du lei musikk? Hva gjør du om du blir?
It’s never occurred to me that you could get tired of music, even in my most lethargic depressed and suicidal state it’s been a loyal companion, perhaps more so in those times.

Et musikalsk 10 år som du ville reise til om du hadde en tidsmaskin ?
I don’t really understand the question, but I would just say, music IS a timemachine.

Er du nostalgisk?
Nostalgia is a disease that I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid so far. Touch wood.

Er det noe du har lyst til å lære deg?
To be more compassionate, failing that, calligraphy and how to drive a car.

Er du forfengelig?
No, absolutely not, I’m full of self-doubt about my innate intelligence, beauty, style and impeccable taste

Har du en tatovering du ønsker å vise?
Another unwitting music question. My first tattoo age 12. The letter A which was to be the start of a AC/DC tattoo. Having stolen a friend’s dad’s homemade tattoo kit consisting of a small bottle of Indian ink and a sewing needle. Fortunately we were busted half way through, and after giving his son the belt for stealing, he taught us how to do it properly on the other arm. I’ll save that one for later.

Er du en maximalist eller minimalist?
Maximalist with a secret yearning to be a minimalist.

Er du Introvert eller Ekstrovert?
Like all good Sagittarius, an Introverted extrovert with a three-day recovery period.

Hva begeistrer deg?
Seeing marginalised groups rising up against injustice, Pornhub, fireworks and waterslides.
"To see a world in a grain of sand, or heaven in a wildflower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour."

Hva er du redd for?
That as a species, we’re too stupid to save our children from experiencing a dystopic future.

Har du hatt en interessant drøm i det siste?
Not recently, but as a youth I had a period where I was lucid dreaming which was an unforgettable experience.

Favorittdyr?
All of them

Favorittmat?
Dessert

Favorittsport?
As a participant, I’d have to say table tennis. As a viewer, football.

Favoritt kjøretøy/transportmiddel?
On foot

Din livsfilosofi?
Peace and Love meets Fight the Power.

Har du et forhold til religion?
Hail satan

Noe som du irriterer deg over?
The Petit Bourgeosie

Noe du angrer på?
Ever needlessly hurting anyone. Once buying a Phil Colins album.

Har du noe forhold til platebransjen?
Not any longer, but have worked with various independent labels in the past such as 9Bar Records and Nuphonic.

Har du noen personer som har viktig for din musikksmak?
I always check out (digitally stalk) what my good friend Simon Harmer has on his radar.

En mentor som du har lært noe spesielt av?
A good question. I shared a tutor on my foundation art course with Damien Hirst, a chap called Glyn Thompson, a Duchamp scholar who first proposed the notion that Duchamp’s urinal “Fountain” was actually created by Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. He was the first person to buy my work and instilled in me a sense of self-worth and belief that up until that point had been missing. I was later mentored by an irascible pioneering “light artist” Professor Danté Leonelli, who taught me that the art world was a sham and that I should continue on my path of “making things happen” rather than simply “making things”.

Hvor viktig er det tekniske utstyret for deg når du lager eller spiller musikk? Favoritt «dippe-dutt»?
Indestructible Technic 1210s and a Rane rotary mixer is where it starts and ends for me.

Hva er de viktigste inspirasjonskildene når du lager musikk?
Good artists borrow, great artists steal

Favorittinstrument?
Technics 1210 Turntable

Akustisk eller elektrisk?
Acoustic turntables are not really a thing. But if you mean Dylan. Electric, just because it annoyed the traditionalists.

Falskt eller Auto-Tune?
I’m with Malcolm X, By Any Means Neccessary

Favorittprodusent?
Arthur Baker and John Robie

Favorittstudio?
The Black Ark

Favorittplateselskap?
Factory Records

Beste/fineste sangen til en begravelse?
Nothing beats an A cappela Amazing Grace, but personally, I hope to go out to Labi Siffre’s : Something Inside so strong.

Er det en musiker eller band fra Stavanger som har fått altfor lite oppmerksomhet?
Nylenda should be world famous, a breath of fresh air blowing through the scene. I’d sign them up tomorrow if I was a major label.

Har du noe du vil spørre deg selv om?
I don’t understand the question.

En eller annen i Stavanger som du vil sender stafett pinnen videre til, sammen med en låt denne personen burde høre?
Kjetil Brandsdal from Noxagt. I always had the desire to put a Krautrock influenced 4/4 under their music so I could drop it in clubs.

Alle sangene: