Novel23 is Roman Belousov from Moscow Russia, and has had albums released on Art-Tek and Pitchcadet, as well as appearing on a number of compilations.
Igloo: At what point in the process of recording music and then releasing it do you gain the most satisfaction ? [ eg. making sounds / hearing that someone bought it for their mother’s birthday / reading reviews etc. ]
Roman Belousov: It is the process of making music that is the most exciting and satisfying, especially when you feel that something you had in mind turned into real thing, one more melody was brought to life. Of course positive words from friends and strangers, applause after live performances etc. are very pleasant, but all this is not so important to me.
Igloo: Do you think that the practice of MP3 bootlegging in the electronica genre has an impact on smaller labels? Have you experienced this with any of your releases ?
RB: I don’t think that MP3s do any harm to small labels. First, the print runs of records released by small labels are not large. Very often a record becomes rare very soon just because there were too few of them pressed. MP3 is the easiest way to find this music for those who didn’t manage to get a copy of an out-of-print record. Second, I’m convinced that if someone really likes the music he found in MP3s, he’ll go and buy the original record if it’s available.
I’m sure that MP3s of my music are floating around on the net. I never looked for it intentially, let it keep floating :) I have no commercial interest in making music and I don’t mind if someone makes MP3s of my tracks, but I never do it myself. My music will never appear on mp3.com.
Igloo: I often find the music that leaves the biggest impression on me is music that reminds me of my childhood – do you see your music as a means to re-capture some of the heightened emotions and feelings that we all felt when younger?
RB: Yes, of course it’s true. The music like ours is directly connected to some childhood memories, to some moments in life that aroused strong emotions or feelings. One can notice this in many musicians’ work, including yours and mine :)
Igloo: Do you think that Melody is slowly becoming a more prominent and acceptable ingredient in electronic music today?
RB: Yes. Time goes by, technologies of music creation change, rhythms get more and more sophisticated, the sound gets more complex, but the melody stays the same forever. I think, Kraftwerk brought us this idea, their melodies are over 20 years but people still love them.
Igloo: If Novel 23’s music was used as the score to a Hollywood movie, what would the plot be?
RB: I think it would be some harmless and positive sci-fi movie or an educational film for children. :)
Novel 23 and Ambidextrous have a split EP coming out soon on Shaped Harmonics called
Cross Split EP. See the review section in Igloo!
Related posts ::
No Movement No Sound No Memories :: Removed / Acetate (Lux Nigra, CD/12inch)
TX Connect :: Replacing Memories (Lower Parts)
Kode9 + The Space Ape :: Memories Of The Future (Hyperdub, CD)
ODAE :: If Things Had Memories, The Stories They’d Tell (Morning Hour)
Franz Kirmann :: Random Access Memories (Photogram)
