Announcer: Now then, if you like the music of Frank Zappa, Stockhausen or Jimi Hendrix, then you may or may not know that you're a fan of experimental music. Well, thanks to a PhD student at De Montfort University, Richard Hemmings, Leicester may soon be the new hotbed of random music. Jo Hollis went to find out why...
(In the background we hear John Cage's "Music for Prepared Piano")
JH (Jo Hollis): It says here 'My humble intention is to raise the profile of experimental music before it vanishes all together into the world of academic thesis and faded memories'.
ED: Yeah...
JH: Is that really what you meant?
ED: (Sniggering close up to the microphone) Ah...well...you know... Um... Basically I think raising the profile of experimental music is always a good thing. There's a wave in the music industry to repress such fun and frolics as inventive behaviour and experimentalism...I just think it should be at a higher profile - and allowed in venues.
(Cuts to extract of ED's "Who is Emma the Nazi?")
ED: I'm looking to find a group of people, musicians preferably, with an ability to play instruments, interested in playing unusual music. I'm not really looking for people who have a very fixed idea of what they want to do or what they want to achieve from it. There's got to be a high level of freedom for exploring different ideas. Part of it is going to be an off-shoot of my PhD research.
(Cuts to extract of ED's "Feet are on the Ground")
ED: I'm using a computer system, basically a sequencer connected to keyboards and samplers. For my PhD I'm using a lot of the random facilities which sequencers can offer to try and generate scores, and that sort of thing.
JH: And tell me about that track using all sorts of things that you found around the home.
ED: One of the tracks is basically samples of everyday things you've got lying around. There is an actual tin tray for a snare drum and the side of a filing cabinet for a bass drum...other things like stupid whistles and squelchy noises just to kind of like enrich the blend.
(Cuts to Zappa's "Cletus Awreetus Awrightus")
ED: I'm not looking for virtuoso performers, although if someone is a virtuoso I probably won't turn them away either...an ability to play your instrument is a good start. JH: So where will this music take place that you're trying to achieve with the band? ED: I'm hoping that it will be a regular gigging band. I don't want it to be hidden away. I want to take it out there and play The Shed! Huh huh... JH (Laughing) Aim high! ED: Oh yeah. Pub gigs especially. When you actually look at audiences, they're so indifferent, really, about what a lot of the musicians are actually doing on stage. It takes a lot to actually grab the publics attention. I think, fair enough, they just want to go out for a pleasant evening and they don't want to have this weird music pushed in their faces. But, at the same time, that can be an enjoyable experience too, I find. It would be nice if it could be taken to the stage of having a record company involved. I mean, I don't want it to turn into a kind of like Hearsay or some "Popstars" type scenario...you know? JH (Laughs) Heaven forbid. ED Heaven forbid. Spare us that. JH Any idea what you'll be called? ED Well the current title is gonna be Evil Dick and the Banned Members...but that's another story altogether...
(Cuts to extract of ED's "My Feet are on the Ground")