So, how did you begin machining electronics in your life? Obviously you make electronics in your day job.
Well, in high school I was doing some extracurricular geek clubs where we would design electromechanical gadgets for competitions, so that got me started. I then went to school for mechanical engineering with a focus on robotics and control systems. That taught me both electronic circuit design and how to machine metal. This was all in parallel to playing and singing in metal bands… well, one called Falkirk in Troy, NY up until 2001.
And were these, not to bring like an external issue in, but were these universities or trade schools?
I went to a university. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for my BS then UCSD for my Master's in Art, kind of like MIT or Caltech… geek techy school.
And you played guitar? bass?
Mainly guitar. I learned piano, which is my main instrument, and how to read music. Now i play my own machines mainly, and some keyboards and various commercial controllers.
And when did you first begin to marry your technological passion and your musical one?
I used to build light controlling pedals for my band, but I think it started when I went back to graduate school about 9 years ago and I decided that I could make interfaces for sound that felt and worked much better than those available. I then made the Throttles and then the Drone Machines. At the same time a friend in school taught me how to make speakers, so I replaced all of the cheapo guitar cabinets with real heavy loud, custom PA speakers.
Soo, chicken and egg. was it: Tristan creates instruments, therefore he makes Author and Punisher, or Tristan wants to become Author and Punisher, therefore he creates instruments?
A&P started in 2004 as me with guitar or bass along with sequences on my laptop. I didn't like the idea of just pressing play and playing guitar… I wanted more control of the sound live, so I decided to make different types of interfaces of the sound, where the idea was: if I wasn't moving, there wasn't sound. So A&P came first, the machines came next.
And was there an immediate change in the music when you introduced the machines?
More or less, yes, but not all the music i play is machines based. I Would say 75% is. The stuff with the machines just has a more organic nature to it… kind of out of control, but I haven't picked up a guitar since like 2009.
But in your live show it's all the machines, right?
Yes. My new album has a lot of other electronics.
Meaning Ursus Americanus?
That one is 100% machines. I mean the new one coming out in a few months, Women & Children, is a blend. I won't tour that until fall.
I didn't even know it was happening!
Haha. Yes, I am excited, this next one has some stuff that is a bit more developed, mixing the machine sounds with all sorts of samplers, vocals, very heavy, but also more melodic, textured… and well, very industrial. Hope the doom metal folks dig it!
I probably will, then, but do you think that, you know, people will cool their interest without the machines? they're certainly part of the appeal.
That's always a concern, but actually the most popular songs on the D-Machines album were the sequenced ones without machines. But, you know, I can only afford to build machines every 3 years or so, because of money and time, so I will begin building the machines that I have designed already late this summer/fall, for a new album probably fall 2014. So, in between building new machines, I still write all sorts of music that is not necessarily machine based. The most recent machines I created were these electromechanical masks, and I am writing music for them, but they are far more on the performance art side, although I may incorporate them in to a doom set at some point… I'm just so damn busy with shows and writing, that it's hard to get to all of it
how important is the physical aspect of your performance? You know the machines tend to sort of obscure your body in an artistic way.
Hmm, I certainly pay attention to how my body plays in, and the aesthetics of the interplay….man machine, but only in relation to how it affects the sound. Mainly I focus on how to most effectively interact with the sound on the computer. I design these for months and months thinking about each component interacts with another. I guess I like that the dither mask reveals your mouth as it opens, but it was more of an accident rather than my goal.
When i first heard Author and Punisher, in a way, it was like hearing Rage Against the Machine, because you're blending hard rock music with electronic and sample based music in this new way that isn't totally tied into the computer. What's it like working in those in-between zones?
I would add art or contemporary art/sculpture to that, but yeah, it's fun working there, because I don't always play metal shows in shitty dive bars and I don't always play friday night art walks with wine and cheese. I like that when I am writing music I don't feel genre specific …I just grab sounds and mess with them the way I want to. I think it helps that when I tour I try to mix up my shows to include all sorts of venues and styles of musicians. In Europe I play with breakcore, dub and more experimental bands…in the US I get paired with either noise or doom bands. They are both fun.
Ursus Americanus kinda felt like a big game changer for you. I think your prominence greatly expanded with that record. Why?
I am not sure, but Seventh Rule [Records] had a huge part in that. Scott Flaster and I have become great friends through the process and I consult with him on a lot of things. He really helped get the word out. Also, I think Ursus was a very direct record… it is exactly what I played live.
And people respond to that?
Yes. I am pretty happy with the direction and future… meaning I think I am in line with a lot of people in terms of how to excite that same feeling for heavy music as a catalyst. That is why I wanted to do this new record before making new machines, because I have a lot to say and it is coming out faster than I can afford to make instruments.
My mom would call that a good problem.
Yes exactly. But when you are working all the time on stuff outside of your job, the shit never happens fast enough.
Author and Punsiher will play at Mickey Finn’s, 602 Lagrange St., with Encrust and A Life Once Lost on Thursday, March 21 at 7pm. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. 419-246-3466. www.authorandpunisher.com.
