Q&A – Pete Swanson 4
1: Analog or Digital?
one or the other? man.. For recording any one by itself is unsatisfying.. analog always lacks the extreme ends of the spectrum.. I don’t want to do without my 20 hz.. Digital always sounds too much like all these isolated sounds sitting next to each other.. not organic or cohesive.. gotta have both.. last YS record, we were dumping all these rough mixes to tape and then back onto the computer..
as for gear.. well.. you know, it’s always more about how you use your gear than what you use. I use a lot of terrible, cheap, digital stuff and it all works fine for me. Sometimes I’ll try and switch things out and try “better” gear, but the good stuff always ruins the sound.
2: What time did you wake up today?
I’ve been having jet-lag issues since getting back from Barcelona.. I actually fell asleep on the concrete floor of Liz’s art studio last night at 9:30.. no padding, no blankets.. just me in my clothes on hard concrete.. I woke up for a second to get home around 11:30… woke up around 5am and then read for a bit and went back to sleep for another two hours or so.. so.. maybe 7:30am?
3: Last thing you read?
I just started The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano.
4: Whats your first memory?
I have a lot of very vague memories from really early childhood.. but the earliest memory that is still fairly vivid, was from when I was 5 and living in Japan while my dad was on sabbatical. We were on some road trip to go see pearl divers and on the way, we passed this huge boat that was a museum and had a lot of rides on the main deck. I really wanted to check out the boat, so after we saw the pearl divers, we went to check out this boat.. my parents and sister checked out the exhibit, but I was super impatient and I ran ahead to scope out the rides.. I got to the deck, and there was this slide where you would climb up these stairs through the back of this enormous human head and slide out through his mouth. The inside of his head was a fairly realistic re-creation of the inside of a human head.. so.. I went on the slide a whole bunch of times.. and after awhile, I realized that my parents weren’t anywhere around. I ran back through the boat, couldn’t find my parent and FLIPPED.. just started running and screaming and all these Japanese teenagers were chasing after me and shouting in japanese.. totally horrifying.
5: Tea Or Coffee?
dude. I’m from Oregon.. Coffee.. I had an espresso machine in my bedroom when I was 13.
6: Last thing you cooked?
Breakfast: Nancy’s plain non-fat yogurt, chopped up fuji apple, banana, sunflower seeds and local raw honey. All mixed up.. starts my day off right for sure.
7: If you’re reborn who or what would you like to be?
I don’t believe in any sort of spiritual afterlife or any sort of separation of the body/spirit. I wouldn’t want to be reincarnated or “exist” outside of the earthly life I am currently living.
8: What inspires you?
Recently it’s been a lot of “modern classical” records.. Tudor, Ashley, Basinski…. And hanging out with Liz while she’s getting ready for her art opening.
9: Last record you played?
Catherine Ribeiro & Alpes “Le Rat Debile…” LP.. Scored this in Spain for 20 Euros..
10: Favorite piece of musical equipment?
my sony reel to reel tape machine with sound on sound.
11: Last movie you saw?
I watched Conspiracy Theory on the plane.. BUMMER. Hopefully I’ll make it to Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay at the cheapie bar theater this week.
12: Who do you love?
Liz. My family….
13: Do you have any pets?
I can’t claim ownership, but I live with Liz and her dog, Gypsy… and have for years.. so.. I’m sort of a step dad to a miniature long-haired Daschund.
14: Are you useful?
I don’t think that’s for me to determine. You have to walk your walk as best you can and other people can do the judging.
15: Biggest fear?
I work with people who are mentally ill and suffer from chronic homelessness.. a lot of people who come through the place I work were totally normal people at one point. there was just a point in their lives where something happened, external or internal, that left them at a point where they were unable to reintegrate fully back into society. I find the possibility of developing debilitating mental illness totally frightening..
16: What do you value the most?
living. working.
17: Famous last words?
“don’t expect much from the end of the world” – Stanislaw Lec
Pete Swanson lives in Portland Or. & is one half of (R.I.P) Yellow Swans. He plans to record a solo LP for RS sometime before we all die.
