This time in our section of interviews we know more about
the experimental composer and writer from Manchester, UK: Ray Kosmische.
CHECK ALL RAY KOSMISCHE WORKS IN :
How you define the concept and the name of your music Project?
I am a fiction writer and Ray Kosmische is where I make music with other musicians as well as on my own, using notebooks and unfinished writing ideas, instant composition and studio overdub experimentations to create recordings. My name is Ray Knight (as in ‘sun-ray’; not Raymond) and the Kosmische bit is because of the ‘K’.
Do you play live performances? Or you have a future interest in do it?
I am not that interested in performing live and haven’t performed as Ray Kosmische so far.
The whole project is basically about recording.
The process usually starts off by capturing a unique moment in the studio and then experimenting with overdubs. I never make music unless it is being recorded, so if I were to do any live event it would be recorded and released.
How you define your own music?
It was originally a sideline to a lot of socialising and has now turned into another part of my creative lifestyle.
In which year you start to make music? Tell us something about your first compositions
I have been messing around with tape recordings since I was a kid. I started making “music” as Ray Kosmische in 1998.
My first release, True Orbit, was a live studio mix recorded onto a Fostex 4-track tape recorder using a radio, synthesiser and effects pedals.
I played the first take back and treated it with effects, then listened to the overdubbed tape playing in reverse.
It sounded so good that I decided to use the whole recording reversed as the first track on the album as well.
What is Kosmische music, it seems that is a genre or sub-genre of rock music?
It’s experimental rock/electronic music that started in the late 1960’s in Germany.
I love bands and albums from this genre, but don’t claim to make kosmische music and never set out to do this kind of music. I noticed that the way me and my friends were putting tunes together was similar in approach to this style. It was just the natural sound that came out with our antennas up at the time.
There’s some esoteric, spiritual or any other kind of occult message in your music?
Not intentionally. It’s made for entertainment purposes really.
As writer, which is the importance of lyrics and poetry in your music?
As important as the drums.
Favorite composers, or inspirations?
It would make sense for me to first mention producers, which would include; Holger Czukay, Norman Whitfield, Phil Spector, Scientist, Brian Eno, early Frank Zappa, King Tubby, Mikey Dread and Joe Meek.
Musical inspirations would include; Johnny Cash, Malcolm Mooney, Eric Burdon, Nico, Syd’s Pink Floyd, Arthur Lyman, early Kraftwerk, F.J. McMahon, Lee Hazlewood, Bobbie Gentry, Ennio Morricone, John Foxx, Cluster and a lot of film soundtracks, including classic Sci-Fi & Spaghetti Western films.
Tell us more about the concept and the main inspirations about your latest work in Cian Orbe: Entrails Across the City.
It is a Science Fiction concept album originally released in 2011. Down-home. Craft arrives.
Witnessed by Mr. Ebbins, who then informs Mrs. Ebbins. Aliens have a Landing Assembly, transform themselves into an insect swarm, head to the city; entrails.
The bars, clubs, restaurants etc, and then houses of government take note.
Flame Mission 12 is established. The world changes, things move in a different way.
Good or bad? Who knows? Investigate.
Main plastic, digital, artists as inspiration for your cover artworks?
A local artist, Chien-Hui Lu, kindly designs a lot of the covers. I find her use of mixed media fits in nicely with the sound of my music.
Personally, I am into abstract painters and street photography from any era, photographers like Daido Moriyama and Henri Cartier-Bresson.
In some of your tracks you mix electronic and rock genres, from which artists you have that inspiration. And apart what do you think of rock musicians who don’t agree with add electronic effects or use electronic devices in their works?
Hawkwind, Brian Eno, John Foxx..
As far as not agreeing with adding electronics to rock; I get where they are coming from sometimes.
It depends, for example; I am a punk rock fan and love that classic guitar/bass and drums sound. So with some forms of music I don’t think there is any need to add electronics.
But for my music it’s everything I set out to do.
It should be done in a none-cheesy way, Roxy Music’s first two albums did it brilliantly.
Do you use some psychedelic substances for create your work?
I don’t. When I first started promoting the music, I thought calling it experimental sounded a bit serious, so called it psychedelic instead.
I naively never thought about the connection to psychedelic substances.
Which genres do you like to mix in your music?
Experimental, cosmic American music, musique concrète, easy listening.
Which are the main concepts or thematics in your lyrics?
Cities and word play.
How is the place where you live? Do you have some inspiration on your music from your city of residence?
I live in Manchester, which is a buzzing city; like the worker bee symbol of the Industrial Revolution.
There is of course, a big musical history from here. All of the reversed tracks by Manchester band The Stone Roses were an influence on Ray Kosmische.
I’d already heard backwards parts in music before; by Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, but to hear a whole song remixed in reverse was new. It fitted into the ambient electronic music that I was also hearing around at the same time.
The most musical inspiration I’ve had from any city I’ve lived in has been meeting musicians and interesting people.
Which are your favorite Ray Kosmische tracks and why?
Besides liking them all equally, I was pleased with the flow of the albums ’Lasso’ and ‘Bringing back Talk Over’ after they were edited.
What music genre you think that is the worst, and why?
Anything “retro” is very corny, because it’s pointless.
I’m not into musicians and bands who call themselves “Psychedelic”, but just don’t get that it’s all about what Acid Mothers Temple, Can’s ‘Mother Sky’ and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown achieve. You need to let that freak flag fly or it just doesn’t work!
You agree or don’t with have some of your music in the popular streaming platforms (spotify, i tunes, Apple music, etc) why?
I don’t use, or really know much about these sites. I think I’d have to set a price for downloads and don’t want to do that, so for now, I stick with Bandcamp only.
What you think about the current experimental music movement in the netlabels?
It seems healthy. I am pretty new to looking into netlabels at the moment though.
What’s good about them is that they provide somewhere accessible to everyone, to find similar music collected by people who actually like it for real.
Netlabel’s special powers are that they are great for musicians who don’t want to compromise their material. Especially if you remove the money making element, like Cian Orbe does.
Plus, it’s more fun to compute.
Any other not massive artists who release music in netlabels like you that you like listen it?
Modulator ESP, with the albums ‘Heliosphere’ and ‘Event Horizon’ being my favourites.
I also like Humanfobia, with ‘Atmósfera Lívida’ being my favourite release I’ve heard by them so far. Mist Spectra’s vocals send a shiver down my spine, in a good way!
Currently I am digging 101011010101/Pokemonolive. Her EP ‘101011010101’ is brilliant. The songs on her SoundCloud page and recent video ‘zombieland’ on YouTube are great too, she is a big star in my opinion.
You make collaborations with other artists? Any good experience or recommendation to some artists that you want to tell us?
At the moment I am working with multimedia artist Frank Abbott. We plan to release a video online this year.
It won’t be a music video, more like an experimental short film.
I can’t recommend any musicians I have played with, as what I’ve heard outside of my own stuff, isn’t my cup of tea.
Any anecdote in the creation of some track or an album that you want to share with us?
During a track from my second album, one of the guitarists grew a full extra arm! He had it amputated just in time for the next album though.
Any additional Words to your listeners?
Thanks for all the support. It means a lot.
I have been messing around with tape recordings since I was a kid. I started making “music” as Ray Kosmische in 1998.
My first release, True Orbit, was a live studio mix recorded onto a Fostex 4-track tape recorder using a radio, synthesiser and effects pedals.
I played the first take back and treated it with effects, then listened to the overdubbed tape playing in reverse.
It sounded so good that I decided to use the whole recording reversed as the first track on the album as well.
What is Kosmische music, it seems that is a genre or sub-genre of rock music?
It’s experimental rock/electronic music that started in the late 1960’s in Germany.
I love bands and albums from this genre, but don’t claim to make kosmische music and never set out to do this kind of music. I noticed that the way me and my friends were putting tunes together was similar in approach to this style. It was just the natural sound that came out with our antennas up at the time.
There’s some esoteric, spiritual or any other kind of occult message in your music?
Not intentionally. It’s made for entertainment purposes really.
As writer, which is the importance of lyrics and poetry in your music?
As important as the drums.
Favorite composers, or inspirations?
It would make sense for me to first mention producers, which would include; Holger Czukay, Norman Whitfield, Phil Spector, Scientist, Brian Eno, early Frank Zappa, King Tubby, Mikey Dread and Joe Meek.
Musical inspirations would include; Johnny Cash, Malcolm Mooney, Eric Burdon, Nico, Syd’s Pink Floyd, Arthur Lyman, early Kraftwerk, F.J. McMahon, Lee Hazlewood, Bobbie Gentry, Ennio Morricone, John Foxx, Cluster and a lot of film soundtracks, including classic Sci-Fi & Spaghetti Western films.
It is a Science Fiction concept album originally released in 2011. Down-home. Craft arrives.
Witnessed by Mr. Ebbins, who then informs Mrs. Ebbins. Aliens have a Landing Assembly, transform themselves into an insect swarm, head to the city; entrails.
The bars, clubs, restaurants etc, and then houses of government take note.
Flame Mission 12 is established. The world changes, things move in a different way.
Good or bad? Who knows? Investigate.
Main plastic, digital, artists as inspiration for your cover artworks?
A local artist, Chien-Hui Lu, kindly designs a lot of the covers. I find her use of mixed media fits in nicely with the sound of my music.
Personally, I am into abstract painters and street photography from any era, photographers like Daido Moriyama and Henri Cartier-Bresson.
In some of your tracks you mix electronic and rock genres, from which artists you have that inspiration. And apart what do you think of rock musicians who don’t agree with add electronic effects or use electronic devices in their works?
Hawkwind, Brian Eno, John Foxx..
As far as not agreeing with adding electronics to rock; I get where they are coming from sometimes.
It depends, for example; I am a punk rock fan and love that classic guitar/bass and drums sound. So with some forms of music I don’t think there is any need to add electronics.
But for my music it’s everything I set out to do.
It should be done in a none-cheesy way, Roxy Music’s first two albums did it brilliantly.
I don’t. When I first started promoting the music, I thought calling it experimental sounded a bit serious, so called it psychedelic instead.
I naively never thought about the connection to psychedelic substances.
Which genres do you like to mix in your music?
Experimental, cosmic American music, musique concrète, easy listening.
Which are the main concepts or thematics in your lyrics?
Cities and word play.
How is the place where you live? Do you have some inspiration on your music from your city of residence?
I live in Manchester, which is a buzzing city; like the worker bee symbol of the Industrial Revolution.
There is of course, a big musical history from here. All of the reversed tracks by Manchester band The Stone Roses were an influence on Ray Kosmische.
I’d already heard backwards parts in music before; by Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, but to hear a whole song remixed in reverse was new. It fitted into the ambient electronic music that I was also hearing around at the same time.
The most musical inspiration I’ve had from any city I’ve lived in has been meeting musicians and interesting people.
Which are your favorite Ray Kosmische tracks and why?
Besides liking them all equally, I was pleased with the flow of the albums ’Lasso’ and ‘Bringing back Talk Over’ after they were edited.
What music genre you think that is the worst, and why?
Anything “retro” is very corny, because it’s pointless.
I’m not into musicians and bands who call themselves “Psychedelic”, but just don’t get that it’s all about what Acid Mothers Temple, Can’s ‘Mother Sky’ and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown achieve. You need to let that freak flag fly or it just doesn’t work!
You agree or don’t with have some of your music in the popular streaming platforms (spotify, i tunes, Apple music, etc) why?
I don’t use, or really know much about these sites. I think I’d have to set a price for downloads and don’t want to do that, so for now, I stick with Bandcamp only.
It seems healthy. I am pretty new to looking into netlabels at the moment though.
What’s good about them is that they provide somewhere accessible to everyone, to find similar music collected by people who actually like it for real.
Netlabel’s special powers are that they are great for musicians who don’t want to compromise their material. Especially if you remove the money making element, like Cian Orbe does.
Plus, it’s more fun to compute.
Any other not massive artists who release music in netlabels like you that you like listen it?
Modulator ESP, with the albums ‘Heliosphere’ and ‘Event Horizon’ being my favourites.
I also like Humanfobia, with ‘Atmósfera Lívida’ being my favourite release I’ve heard by them so far. Mist Spectra’s vocals send a shiver down my spine, in a good way!
Currently I am digging 101011010101/Pokemonolive. Her EP ‘101011010101’ is brilliant. The songs on her SoundCloud page and recent video ‘zombieland’ on YouTube are great too, she is a big star in my opinion.
You make collaborations with other artists? Any good experience or recommendation to some artists that you want to tell us?
At the moment I am working with multimedia artist Frank Abbott. We plan to release a video online this year.
It won’t be a music video, more like an experimental short film.
I can’t recommend any musicians I have played with, as what I’ve heard outside of my own stuff, isn’t my cup of tea.
Any anecdote in the creation of some track or an album that you want to share with us?
During a track from my second album, one of the guitarists grew a full extra arm! He had it amputated just in time for the next album though.
Any additional Words to your listeners?
Thanks for all the support. It means a lot.
RAY KOSMISCHE RELEASES IN CIAN ORBE
24/10/2019:
Submersion Suite (EP)
27/11/2019:
Entrails Across the City (Album)
