Biepang: “Bypass The Body” puts him ahead of the game

Biepang: “Bypass The Body” puts him ahead of the game

22 July, 2009 | 6.59PM

• Written by: Dylan Joseph
• Filed under: Music News : biepang, open concept recordings

Christoper Kirk aka. Biepang hails from Tampa in the Sunshine State of Florida.  His future is getting a lot brighter with high praise coming in from the likes of Jori Hulkkonen, Ken Ishii, Clatterbox and Electro pioneer Cozmo D of Newcleus who said of his recent release “Bypass The Body” on Open Concept Recordings “That “Neon Parallels” track is AMAZING!  It made my iPod, which is reserved only for choice all time tracks that I love (mostly Jazz).  VERY few Electro tracks on there!”

Dylan J sits down with Chris to find out what goes in the special blend of herbs and spices and more importantly, to ask the native Floridian, which is more meaningful:  a soul clap or a booty clap? 

Read on and find out!

OCR:  So you grew up in Florida… Give us some idea of your early musical inspirations - inside and outside of electronic music.

Beipang:  Well, when I was a teenager I was really big on the old industrial stuff:  Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads, etc. but, I’d have to say that my first experience with electronic music on a deeper level was with The Future Sound Of London’s album “Accelerator”.  That album completely changed the way I thought about electronic music.  It showed me that not every square inch of space in a recording has to be filled with noise and layer upon layer of sound to make an interesting electronic album.  All those old FSOL albums still completely blow me away to this day. I think it’s great that they’re releasing all of the archived material now.

Outside of electronic music?  I have to give my Dad all the credit here.  He always had cool records playing when I was growing up.  Life didn’t revolve around TV in our house, it was always about music and I loved that.  When I got older and started showing an interest in jazz and fusion, he turned me onto stuff like Jean-Luc Ponty, Weather Report and John McLaughlin.

OCR:  I’m curious to know if you were influenced at any point by the “Miami Bass” movement.
If so, please feel free to fill us in on the details!

Biepang:  Hmm...No, not really.  That was a style that never grabbed my attention, but I wouldn’t say that I dislike it.

OCR:  Overall, I’d say that “Bypass The Body” has a very “musical” sort of vibe throughout:  there seems to be an emphasis on actual SONGS here as opposed to “tracks”.  Care to comment on that?

Biepang:  Thanks, man!  That’s actually a really big compliment for me.  As a listener, I would much rather hear a complete song rather than just a ‘track’.  To me, the idea of making ‘tracks’ is such a disposable approach to making music.  A good SONG, on the other hand, is much more likely to withstand the test of time.

OCR:  Do you or have you ever played any instruments other than synths and drum machines? If so, tell me a little more.

Biepang:  I started out playing guitar when I was about 12 or 13.  I liked all the corny thrash stuff back then.  I remember spending hours and hours with Megadeth tab books trying to learn all of the “blazin’ guitar licks” That shit got old really quickly and I gave up on guitar for a few years and forgot everything I knew - thankfully.  I did use quite a bit of acoustic guitar on the Outono Drift album though, mainly layered in the background behind the synths. I do miss recording with acoustic guitar and will probably end up working it back into the music again eventually.

OCR:  Your recent release, “Bypass The Body” got some outstanding reviews from artists such as Jori Hulkkonen, Ken Ishii, Clatterbox and Cozmo D of Newcleus.  The question is:  What is more important to you:  Having a strong reception from pioneers and people who really understand the music or having a lot of sales?  In the case of your sound which seems more for the love of the music, do you think that these two reactions are mutually exclusive?

Biepang:  I’ve gotta say, having guys like Cozmo D refer to Neon Parallels as ‘AMAZING’ or Shawn Rudiman saying that he was completely floored by Bypass The Body....Those are THE BEST compliments I could ever ask for.  First and foremost though, it’s always been about making music that I’m completely happy with.  I’ll spend weeks or sometimes months focused on just one track, “Neon Parallels” being a prime example of that.  I spent two months getting that track right; adding sounds, removing sounds, trying numerous patches for the bassline, mixing and more mixing. 

It’s always a stressful process for me, but at the same time very exciting.  When I can finally sit back, listen to a song and say “this is done” and then listen to it with a fresh pair of ears and be completely happy with it… THAT is the most fulfilling moment. 

As far as the whole “sales” aspect goes: I couldn’t care less about that.  The moment that making music becomes an issue of making money is the very same moment when you should throw in the towel and call it quits.

OCR:  “Electro” as a genre or musical form seemed to be regarded for some time as a “throwback genre”, “retro” or somehow limited by design.  Obviously, this is not true with artists such as Heinrich Mueller (Drexciya/Dopplereffekt/Arpanet etc.) Anthony Rother, Dynarec, Clatterbox and so forth continuing to break new ground.  At the same time, you have other artists like AUX 88, Luke Eargoggle and Egyptian Lover who as producers or performers really stay true to the roots.

I’m sure that to some degree, this just happens naturally but the balance between the original form and new ideas seems to be of particular interest to you.  In your own work, how do you balance the notion of staying true to the form and keeping it fresh?

Biepang:  I feel that I’m equally influenced by both the old-school style of Electro as well as the next-level stuff.  But honestly, it’s the forward-thinking artists like Clatterbox and Dynarec who really inspire me; The ones who refuse to let Electro be just a “throwback genre”.  For my own music though, the focus seems to be more centered around the idea of using Electro as the foundation and then working-in everything else that influences me.

For example: Steely Dan have long been my absolute favorite songwriters of all time, so I suppose their music directly influenced the way I use chord progressions and harmony shifts.  Goblin has been another huge influence on me.  Their music was such a weird blend of funkiness and really bizarre melodies with all these badass synth sounds!  So, I try to capture a little bit of that as well.  I guess what I’m trying to say is: for me it’s really just about balancing all of these different influences within the electro framework and hopefully coming up with something unique.

OCR:  Curious to know your thoughts on the notion of “Electro House”.  Translating music into words can be difficult, but I think that we can all agree that “House” and “Electro” are two time-honoured and legitimate genres of music.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that I think “Electro House” a completely bullshit tag and has absolutely no validity when it comes to an intelligent discussion of music.  What do you think?  Agree?  No problem?  Or are you completely Indifferent?

Biepang:  I couldn’t agree with you more!  It’s another unnecessary bullshit tag. I still don’t even know exactly what ‘Electro House’ refers to and honestly, I don’t want to.

OCR:  Last question:  If you’re in a live performance situation, which sort of crowd reaction would you be more likely to inspire:  a “soul clap” or a “booty clap”? I would hope it would be a booty clap! I totally just imagined the sound of hundreds of asscheeks slapping together so loudly that they overpowered the music.  Now THAT would be a real honor!

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