Dear Readers,
this is the third HNW-Questionary. I am really proud, that I could convince Sam McKinlay ---- the originator and inventor of the acronym HNW ----- to contribute to this feature. The canadian Sound-Artist McKinlay is one of the very few really consistent inventors and conceptionalists in the experimental music scene today and one (if not THE) inventor of a brand of electronic minimalism - now all too easily known, identified and copied as HNW.
McKinlay has pioneered this "genre" as a very clever synthesis of deeply personal obsessions, dark desires, artful conceptualism, musical minimalism, live-electronics and deeply inventive soundsourcing including the serious research and mapping of the "nature/technicity/behaviour" of minimal sounds in a given experimental site and compositorial situation. His main project is called THE RITA.You can visit his blog, get more informations about his impressive discography and support him here.
McKinlay has pioneered this "genre" as a very clever synthesis of deeply personal obsessions, dark desires, artful conceptualism, musical minimalism, live-electronics and deeply inventive soundsourcing including the serious research and mapping of the "nature/technicity/behaviour" of minimal sounds in a given experimental site and compositorial situation. His main project is called THE RITA.You can visit his blog, get more informations about his impressive discography and support him here.
The HNW-Questionary consists of 32 phrases to be completed in a playful, insightful, poetic, prolific and philosophical manner. The featured artist decides, which phrases he wants to accomplish. It is the task for the reader to perceive the voids and to think about the subtle interactions between Being and Nothingness, which are also important ingredients of the HNW-Artform. But, it is always important to see and hear, what someone is saying and what he is not saying.
The idea of the whole feature is to help the few real HNW-Artists to show and establish themselves as leading artists and to give them an encyclopedic space for their aesthetic and artistic convictions, conceptions and beliefs. It is a space to publish serious, original and important thoughts and ideas for the future of HNW as an important artform.
It is first of all exclusively for leading musicians, but in the future painters, writers and philosophers could also be invited to contribute to the seriousness of HNW and to the interrelatedness of HNW with other artforms. Maybe one day I will fill out this Questionary myself. I have several completed versions of it in the upper drawer of my mind. This HNW-Questionary was only conceived for the best. Consequently, my deliberately very elitist motto for this Questionary is: Light for the Best, Darkness over the Rest !
All lines in green ink are written and copyright by Sam McKinlay. All lines in italics and normal ink show you the HNW-Questionary written and copyright by me. This is the third HNW-Questionary brilliantly completed by Sam McKinlay:
The idea of the whole feature is to help the few real HNW-Artists to show and establish themselves as leading artists and to give them an encyclopedic space for their aesthetic and artistic convictions, conceptions and beliefs. It is a space to publish serious, original and important thoughts and ideas for the future of HNW as an important artform.
It is first of all exclusively for leading musicians, but in the future painters, writers and philosophers could also be invited to contribute to the seriousness of HNW and to the interrelatedness of HNW with other artforms. Maybe one day I will fill out this Questionary myself. I have several completed versions of it in the upper drawer of my mind. This HNW-Questionary was only conceived for the best. Consequently, my deliberately very elitist motto for this Questionary is: Light for the Best, Darkness over the Rest !
All lines in green ink are written and copyright by Sam McKinlay. All lines in italics and normal ink show you the HNW-Questionary written and copyright by me. This is the third HNW-Questionary brilliantly completed by Sam McKinlay:
The HNW-Q No. 3:
[1] I discovered and invented HNW for myself, when: I realized that MERZBOW, SICKNESS, and the INCAPACITANTS are not all just simply 'harsh noise', but very different artists that manipulate abrasive and harsh sound via different complexities. I wanted to take my favourite crunching and crumbling episodes from my favorite HN works and extend them into massive avalanches of sound more akin to projects like DEAD BODY LOVE and OVMN.
[2] The initial radicality of HNW would be preserved, if: There is no radicality as HNW is just an evaluation of and deconstruction of harsh noise; construing your favorite aspects of harsh sound. There is nothing 'radical' about liking certain extended sounds.
[3] HNW is Harsh noise that doesn't feature violent shifts, edits, or changes. Massive walls of harsh sound that utilize textural / minimal static lines (WEREWOLF JERUSALEM) or many different building elements (INCAPACITANTS).
[2] The initial radicality of HNW would be preserved, if: There is no radicality as HNW is just an evaluation of and deconstruction of harsh noise; construing your favorite aspects of harsh sound. There is nothing 'radical' about liking certain extended sounds.
[3] HNW is Harsh noise that doesn't feature violent shifts, edits, or changes. Massive walls of harsh sound that utilize textural / minimal static lines (WEREWOLF JERUSALEM) or many different building elements (INCAPACITANTS).
[4] HNW is not:
in subtle contradiction to [1] - only subtly and analytically different from
harsh noise as a whole.
[5] I invented the acronym H.N.W. as simply a title for harsh noise described in [3].
[5] I invented the acronym H.N.W. as simply a title for harsh noise described in [3].
[6] HNW is pure evaluation and appreciation for walls of abrasive, harsh sound.
[7] The sound of machines are always playing a part in my comprehension of harsh noise and 'noises that we love to hear'. Anyone from your dad, to the race guy, to yourself can 'love' the sound of a dragster engine. People outside noise fandom pay for CDs of various engine sounds.
[8] HNW helps the building blocks of all different subgenres of harsh noise technique to be revealed and appreciated singularly or as a mountain.
[8] HNW helps the building blocks of all different subgenres of harsh noise technique to be revealed and appreciated singularly or as a mountain.
[9] Monolithic walls are:
INCAPACITANTS, OVMN, MONDE BRUITS.
[10] The future of HNW would be more and more personal evaluation and discovery via source, field recording, and very personal analog textural manipulation.
[11] The death of HNW would be people doing it for the wrong reasons - manifesto based without proper listening or historical mandate.
[11] The death of HNW would be people doing it for the wrong reasons - manifesto based without proper listening or historical mandate.
[12] HNW should be related to HIJOKAIDAN and INCAPACITANTS to understand it better.
[13] Singularity and originality in HNW are not always needed if you are studying abrasive sound elements you enjoy and want to look closer, but personal and developmental angles toward HWN can be very exciting.
[14] HNW should be called Static Minimalism, because ...............
[15] HNW should not be called Static Minimalism, because 'static minimalism' is but one vehicle and studied aspect of the subgenre.
[16] The permanent repetition of the HNW-Mantra (No ideas, no change, no dynamics, no development etc.) leads to only a few creative artists and their personal direction.
[17] Volume in HNW is not
always mandatory - dependent on the venue, the textural presentation of the
sounds - the size of the sound system as canvas.
[18] Distortion in HNW is not always mandatory - some harsh noise artists such as TASKMASTER like to sometimes work with aspects of heavily amplified hiss and solid tones, FLATGREY with subtly manipulated feedback squeal.
[19] My Unconscious is ....................................... in HNW.
[20] Narratives, Analogies and Metaphors in HNW can be very important
for personal representation through your harsh sound work.
[22] HNW, when looked at the 80s and 90s masters is not about absolute Nothingness.
[23] My HNW amplifies interests, obsessions, a sincere interest in my favorite aspects of harsh sound.
[24] Minimal Music and Cosmic drones are some building blocks of HNW.
[25] Conceptualism is the backbone of HNW; from building the sound around a manifesto, or intensely studied single distortion line or personal field/source recordings.
[26] The main ingredients of brilliant HNW are sincerity and understanding of your medium.
[27] The purpose and the concept of my HNW are magnified appreciation of crunched and crumbling harsh noise lines, personal interests developed into harsh sound pieces via source work.
[28] The distinction between ANW/HNW is gain and volume.
[29] The philosophy of HNW can change as you listen to more proto-HNW such as MAUTHAUSEN ORCHESTRA or BLACK LEATHER JESUS.
[30] My first words about HNW were "DEAD BODY LOVE and OVMN represent the direction and inspiration for the style of harsh noise I'd like to make".
[31] My final words about HNW would be "The sound of DEAD BODY LOVE, OVMN, INCAPACITANTS, vintage 2-stroke dirtbike engines, and nitro dragster engines are still perfect".
[32] The phrase I would like to add to this Questionary is ..................
Cordial thanks
to Sam for the
HNW-Questionary
and for creating his unique soundworlds !
and for creating his unique soundworlds !
SKG.
(All photos by SKG)
