INTERVIEW: WET-WORKS E-ZINE - 7/17/2004
01. First of all could you give us a brief history of the project and who is behind it?
Naked Intruder: Naked Intruder was founded in 1996 by myself (Stag Ejector) as a way of poking fun at the dynamics of various music scenes of any style. The first iteration of the project was a web page and promotional documentation with a fake discography, appropriately overdone artwork, and related crude material, . When I went to create some audio clips of this supposed "Naked Intruder" project, I found out that I really liked manipulating musical structure.
At the time, I was working with Nicholas Downtain Read on recording his feats of improvised screaming, and these efforts were combined with a musical backdrop. I briefly considered the possibilities of making music as early as 1993, influenced mainly by Rob Hubbard's game soundtracks on the NES platform (especially Skate or Die 2). I remembered this as I went about experimenting with electronic music from 1997-98, and the first full-length Naked Intruder album (1999) featured a cover of one of Hubbard's better moments.
A few years later, I began formal study of music composition, resulting in a proper expression of the "Deadclown Hatecrime" album, which was a solo work. This was the first release of the Mile 329 label, issued in 2002. The "Prime Directives" series of 8-bit-inspired 3" discs were also solo works, created as a way of pure musical exercise without the burden of unnecessarily complex sound design. I guess those could be called "distillations" of Naked Intruder's pure musical tendencies.
In 2004, the "Iteration III" album was finally released, containing the last of the playful, partially atonal material generated from Naked Intruder's early moments from 1996-1999. This was combined with more recent works that follow this trend of musical oddity.
02. What is it about experimental noise music that intrigues you the most?
Naked Intruder: I like the infinite structural and sonic variations that are possible in experimental music. When working outside the restrictions of a musical genre, the motives and the personality of the composer become that much more obvious, while allowing for some really unique sound design and composition. This becomes less clear as music begins to conform to various genres and subgenres with rigidly established sonic and stylistic ingredients.
03. There's a still photo from one of your upcoming "video projects" on your website that looks, shall we say, interesting. What's the concept behind this video and when will it be released?
Naked Intruder: The video was inspired by Max Cannon's "Red Meat" comic, where an old strip featured a clown on a public access station "waving a gun around and yelling stuff at an Uncle Sam puppet". We took that concept and made it into a sort of advertisement for the Prime Directives 3" discs, with the clown character (played by Cordell A Jacques) demonstrating the technical specifications of the Atari 2600, Casio SK-1, and Nintendo Entertainment System to an offscreen audience of children, occasionally pulling out a revolver when he gets angry. We wanted to make something that was a cross between a children's show and a snuff film.
A few months ago, we re-shot all of the footage in higher quality (another still can be seen at http://www.nakedintruder.net/clownsk2.jpg), and made plans to shoot further "episodes" of the clown's adventures. If any of Naked Intruder's earlier work gets re-released on CD, I'd like to include an MPEG of this video project as a data track. Cory and I are also planning to put it on a local public access station, as well as making it a submission to the local film festival "just to see what will happen."
04. What would you say is your main goal as an artist?
Naked Intruder: I'd like to make a series of recordings and visual artworks that accurately manifest some of the bizarre ideas I've had about this kind of music. I'm satisfied with what I've done so far.
I was born on a toilet in a highly amusing fashion, and I like to think of the "birth" of Naked Intruder albums in the same way. I guess you can think of certain sectors of the independent music "community" as a toilet.
05. How long does it usually take you to gather all the sounds for one of your releases?
Naked Intruder: When considering how I would collect some songs into an album with a definite sonic direction, I'd spend a few nights making sounds and drum maps that would fit the direction of my composition. Later, when composing the songs, I'd often use patches created "on the fly", some of which were good enough to make it to the final recording.
Whether or not the final product resembled the initial sound design sessions is another issue altogether.
06. Are your albums conceptual?
Naked Intruder: Some of them start out that way, but it never seems to remain through all of the production. The 3" discs have conformed to strict concepts, though. We'll see if I can maintain my plans for the fourth album.
07. Your third album, entitled "Iteration III" was delayed for over a year because of "severe gastric disturbances." What happened and have you recovered?
Naked Intruder: I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, where my stomach emptied at a third of its normal speed. This came after a period of impressive vomiting (May 2003) and an inability to enjoy any sort of food. I lost 20 pounds in 2 months. It was a particularly awful experience, since one of my other hobbies is enjoying strange food. It was if deviating from a normal sleep schedule would trigger attacks of this stomach paralysis, which conflicted with my habit of traveling often. The condition seemed to go away in February 2004, and I'm back to my usual irresponsibilities.
The radioactive eggs they fed me at the hospital were the best eggs I've ever had.
08. There's a small mention of your fourth album "Where The Roads Come Together" on your website. Could you tell us a little about it and will the style differ from your current output?
Naked Intruder: Now that all of Naked Intruder's previous creative backlog is out of the way, I'd like to focus on an album that's a step forward in terms of compositional intensity and quality sound design. I'd like to work with more metal percussion and bass guitar this time around. It will be about strange things I've encountered while exploring Southeastern Arizona.
I'd like to dedicate this album to my great grandfather, who I'm named after. He was involved in the US-Mexico border region during the Mexican Revolution. I'd also like to dedicate it to my uncle on that side of that family, who truly went out in a "blaze of glory". It might take me another year or two to finish the disc, but it's already clear that it's of a much higher quality than previous recordings.
The title comes from a string of speech that I emitted while halfway asleep. I had stayed up for most of the night studying an atlas of Arizona, and woke up early while talking about how I "had an atlas and I liked to be rubbed. I like to be rubbed where the roads come together."
09. Do you think ones surroundings has an influence on the style of music they create?
Naked Intruder: Absolutely. The aforementioned fourth album is designed to be a soundtrack to my adventures on Southeastern Arizona's highways. There's a lot of really interesting history in that area, and just being there has inspired me to musically document some of the weirder things I've encountered there. The album's track flow, so far, is based around a map of the area that I've been drawing for some time. If work continues in this fashion, then the visual and musical elements of the release will have to be firmly connected thanks to the geographic influence that is being forced on the music.
As far as how greater cultural influences on music apply to this concept, I think it still remains applicable. After all, it's really easy to pick Japanese and Swedish artists out of a musical lineup (not a bad thing at all in my opinion!) Also look at such successful projects as "extreme music from Africa."
10. Do you have a typical process to writing or is it more random and spontaneous?
Naked Intruder: Sometimes, I'll get some piece of music stuck in my head and not be relieved of it until it's sequenced and recorded. Sometimes this happens while I'm asleep. Other times, I'll be sequencing nothing in particular and get some great, usable work out of it. Naked Intruder certainly has its share of "happy accidents". I'd like to get to a point where the premeditated and improvised methods of composition are able to converge with similar results.
11. What's your involvement with Mile 329?
Naked Intruder: Mile 329 was founded as a label for the publishing of heavily structured musical oddity. It was named after a weird encounter that happened in August 2000, where Jeremy Brown, my girlfriend, and I all experienced some weird stuff while exploring a highway overpass and some train tracks in the middle of the night. We got the idea to make some sort of media project out of it, and came up with the label configuration when Naked Intruder had some material (most notably Deadclown Hatecrime) that fit into a style of this music that I wanted to promote. I also wanted to give friends like Jeremy a chance to get their material heard, something he later accomplished with his founding of the Neutralizing Force project. He now helps out with some of the administrative work behind Mile 329. The label has established a strong discography full of our favorite music, joined by artists like Lamp Leaking Dead Flies and even the great Dissecting Table.
12. What have you been reading, watching and listening to recently? Anything you'd like to recommend?
Naked Intruder: Wreathy! That's some of the greatest stuff I've ever heard come out of Sweden (or anywhere else.) His album goes great with a large dose of Naked Intruder and Neutralizing Force. Get it at www.wreathy.com . The last album from Sedaye Marg was also amazing. I can get satisfied by listening to lots of Dissecting Table (http://www.dissecting-table.com) and Der Eisenrost (http://www.dereisenrost.com) , as well as by watching Shinya Tsukamoto and Jörg Buttgereit movies. If all else fails, repeated viewings of The Story of Ricky do the trick.
13. Which game systems do you currently own and what's your favorite game machine?
Naked Intruder: I've still got my Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800, though I haven't played them in a while. I think my NES get the most use, but I do play SNES from time to time, like when I get a craving for Super Metroid (one of the best console games of all time.) I also have a Gamecube, which is great because most of its library is remakes or rehashes of games that I loved to play 15 years ago.
My girlfriend has a PS2, so that works well whenever I feel like playing some GTA or Metal Gear. I never got into the Sega systems, that was Jeremy's job. I still thought that the Space Harrier scream was hilarious, as well as the exploding enemies in Black Belt.
The NES has the best sound chip of all. Don't let any of those SID-freaks tell you otherwise. The Atari Pokey comes in second.
14. Have you played live?
Naked Intruder: Not yet! I'd like to in the future. I'd need about a month to prepare a live sequence, and even longer to maintain sufficient instrumental skills for live performance. Onstage, I would like to perform with one or two other people depending on skills needed and geographic availability. People such as Nick Read, Cory Jacques, Jeremy Brown, or either of my brothers would be welcome to work with me on developing and performing a live set.
15. What would you do if a Naked Intruder came into your house?
Naked Intruder: I'd tell him to go away while naked, of course. If that didn't work, a good 125 grain .357 JHP or two would help remove him from the premises.