the dope report

Earlier this month, a new collaboration between two of the most creative forces in the electronic music scene – Brendan Angelides known as Eskmo and Amon Tobin produced their first single under the guise of Eskamon. The single “Fine Objects” can be purchased at Eskamon.com along with a free WAV package of the field recorded sounds they used to compose the music. You can also watch an Ableton tutorial on what to do with sounds created by Ill Gates. Amon Tobin was traveling during the time of our inquiries and could not be reached but Mr. Angelides was kind enough to spend some time with us in a recent interview and give away some of the finer points of the project.

TDR – Why did you start working with Amon Tobin?

BA – I have always been a big fan of his and he inspired me musically back in the day. We had played together a few years ago at Yuri’s night. We met there and enjoyed each others music so much that it ended up being a real natural thing. It was an easy process, the creative process is natural and we can both move quickly through the studio.

TDR – How did the project begin?

BA – It started with the idea of bringing odd sounds together. Even before working on it, the idea of banging on a chandelier or rubbing pots together seemed like a natural progression for both us. It wasn’t just 100% one thing, there was a broken harp that after being plucked for awhile would take the sound a lot of ways – resonating off my fingernails. Snoring was even considered although that never actually happened.

TDR – Why did you do you decide to turn the sounds recorded for “Fine Objects” into a free download with an Ableton tutorial?

BA – We wanted to give out the sounds we recorded as a gesture for people to be creative with it. It could be a natural hype and something people might be able to dig. So many people have access and are using this program. My friend Ill Gates is trying to work more and more with Ableton and is now teaching classes on how to use it.

TDR – Why did you choose to release the single on your independent label Ancestor?

BA – It’s a track with a vision and why not bring attention to your label. We can have total control over it and seemed to make the most sense. It allowed me to present it the way I want to without all the different people in between. Everything from the art direction to the name of the label being a representation of what we are doing with the project.

TDR – Are there more tracks from Eskamon to come?

BA – Amon is working on a big next album and in general I am busy but we do want to show people that we are stoked to be working together.

TDR – How would you describe the music you two are making?

BA – We don’t know how to classify it and that is fine by us. It’s also tongue and cheek and it made us laugh while we were working on it.

TDR – What type of equipment did you use for the recordings?

BA – All the field recording was done on a Roland Edirol MC-909 – a little hand held recorder. It is super compact and really easy to carry around. We then used Logic and a bunch of it was done in Q – Base.

TDR – What is the intention in your music and are you trying to achieve something special?

BA – I want to inspire people to create. If I was writing books I’d still want to be doing the same thing. Music has totally saved my life a whole bunch of times. Because of the younger age range of the people listening, I would love to inspire them to be creative, not only with electronic music but in any way. Music is therapeutic to me and if there is any way that it can be for other people than that is amazing.