it 15 Questions to Andreas Paolo Perger

"Play a Concert" Andreas' internet site says. So we do. We see him standing on stage at the Top Kino Vienna, in front of a video loop with the camera zooming backwards through a subway shaft, holding a double-necked guitar and mixing almost violin-like string-scratchings with solitary warm chords and occasional scents of harmonics. "Play a Concert" Andreas' internet site says. So we do. We hear him performing at the Jazz Festival Munich, ripping through poignant melodic lines, which manage to sound both fluent and torn apart at the same time. "Play a Message" Andreas' internet site says. So we do. We find out about his <<forward backward songs x.1-x.6>>, lofi compositions for concert guitar and mp3 compressor, which can be ordered by email and played by up to six friends in infinite variations on up to six different players. We press the "info" button and find out about his studies at Berklee College Boston, master classes with John Scofield and John McLaughlin and about winning the newcomer of the year award in 1997 by renowned German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (based in his place of birth Munich). We check the internet and spot articles on him inventing the "5.1. Guitar" in unison with Stevens Custom Guitar, releasing a series of eleven (!) CDs with Fenn Music/Hamburg, as well as about his interest in the sculptural aspect of music. We do an interview with him, which ends up with him inviting us to his first imaginary festival of "Art, Music and Science". "Go to Concert" Andreas internet site recommends. So do we.

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
Hi! I’m fine. Currently on a crowded train somewhere in central Europe.


What’s on your schedule right now?
o record and <<forward backward songs x.1-x.6>> from my program cycle “The six keys of the cassette recorder”. A solo concert for surround guitar and a laptop performance for concert guitar and mp3 compressor. Can’t wait returning to Vienna for some challenging concerts and recording sessions later this year. Furthermore I’m preparing a new lecture.

What or who was your biggest influence as an artist? Do you see yourself as part of a certain tradition or as part of a movement?
There is not a biggest influence, but many important influences. I do not see myself as part of something. But I’m inspired by certain traditions and movements. I believe in open pluralism and us individuals to selectively, subjectively compress it.


What’s your view on the music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
The scene is more vibrating than ever. Industry may have some problems. Not very surprising...


What does the term „new“ mean to you in connection with music?
Not very much anymore. New music may be almost everything today. But in some particular 20th century approaches it still sounds good to me. It is still a good label. But its meaning depends on the perspective.

 

How do you see the relationship between sound and composition?
A more or less dense relation, reflecting a very personal attitude. This discussion started almost hundred years ago and has not really any relevant influence on music anymore. I’m interested in the sculptural aspect of sound. I slightly turn it around while playing and I learned to hear from different perspectives.


How strictly do you separate improvising and composing?
I love both and do both and do absolutely not separate them. Just two different aspects of the same thing. Music. But you forgot to mention interpreting. That belongs to improvising and composing equally.


What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach to erforming on stage?
Ability and sincerity. I play there.


A lot of people feel that some of the radical experiments of modern compositions can o longer be qualified as “music”. Would you draw a border – and if so, where?
Yes. Around these people. No, just kidding. I’m not as intolerant as hem.


Are “serious” and “popular” really two different types of music or just empty words without a meaning?
It has nothing to do with music. It is a typical 20th century music industry and copyright law category.


Do you feel an artist has a certain duty towards anyone but himself? Or to put it differently: Should art have a political/social or any other aspect apart from a personal sensation?
No. Not in general. But we are free to feel responsibility.


True or false: People need to be educated about music, before they can really appreciate it.
False. But openness helps a lot. The best would be an free and open all day life discussion. In the supermarket. In the bus. But this is probably a very far away vision…

 

Imagine a situation in which there’d be no such thing as copyright and everybody ere free to use musical material as a basis for their own compositions – would that be an improvement to the current situation?
In some cases it would be helpful. But I do not consider the copyright discussion as very important. There are already free musicians sharing their music through the internet, and older works are free, too.


You are given the position of artistic director of a festival. What would be on your program?
Art, Music and Science. Furthermore I would serve a delicious slice of pizza and finally veryone would get a fine cool beer plus two cigarettes for free. You can’t wait joining my festival? So do I. You are welcome!

 

Many artists dream of a “magnum opus”. Do you have a vision of what yours ould sound like?
Yes. I recently finished a series of nine works for orchestra.

Discography:
Ethnomorphocology (2000) Fenn Music
Big City (1999) Fenn Music
Heart Pop (1999) Fenn Music
Standards (1998) Academica/ Fenn Music
Visions in Multitrack (1998) Academica/ Fenn Music
Liebe in den Zeiten der Cola (1998) Academica/ Fenn Music
Spielt Werke von Bach, Giuliani, Torroba, Martin (1996) Academica/ Fenn Music
Konzert für Gitarre und Streichquartett/ Kompositionen für
Konzertgitarre (1996) Academica/ Fenn Music
Seelenmann (1996) Academica/ Fenn Music
Happiness is a warm gun (1996) Academica/ Fenn Music
Frühe Bänder (1996) Academica/ Fenn Music


Homepage:
Andreas Paolo Perger

By Tobias Fischer, published 2007-05-28

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