Igloo Magazine caught up with the analogue enthusiast (Jason Amm aka Solvent) to find out what makes this musical machine man tick. An exclusive mix of favorites for 2012 is also featured in this profile.
(January 2013) I remember as a bright eyed youngster traveling to Dublin to buy records. It was around the tender age of 14, in Spindizzy Records in Ireland’s capital, that I first came across a Canadian electronic artist Jason Amm (aka Solvent). Fourteen years on and the founder of Suction Records is still producing, releasing, mixing and curating. Igloo Magazine caught up with the analogue enthusiast to find out what makes this musical machine man tick.
Igloo Magazine :: For those of our readers who haven’t come across you and your music, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got interested in electronic music?
Jason Amm (Solvent) :: I’ve been producing electronic music since the early-90s, and have been releasing under the artist name Solvent since 1997. My first release was a split 12″ with Lowfish on our own Suction Records label, which we still run to this day. I’ve been totally obsessed with electronic music since I first starting hearing contemporary synthpop and EBM on the radio in the mid-80s, stuff like Depeche Mode, New Order, Front 242, and Skinny Puppy. I became especially interested in late-70s / early-80s synthpop from bands like The Normal, Soft Cell, Human League and Fad Gadget, because I preferred the analog sound and more primitive production of the early synth records. It was this same analog sound that later drew me to music like Aphex Twin and his Rephlex Records roster, which was the catalyst for me to start buying synths and making music.
Igloo :: Suction has been on hiatus. What have you and the label been up to since the doors closed, and now re-opened? Is Lowfish still making music?
Solvent :: Yes we decided to end the label officially in 2008, although it had actually been inactive since 2003. But then in 2010 in just seemed to make sense to start it back up, on account of an archive CD release that Lowfish wanted to put out, of old unreleased stuff, called Memories Are Uncertain Friends. This release just wouldn’t have made sense on any other label than Suction. Although not everything we release fits into it, there is a core Suction Records sound, best exemplified by certain releases by Lowfish and Solvent, and we needed to keep the label around in order to keep this sound alive. Regarding Lowfish, there is a reason that he hasn’t released much music in the past few years; I’ll leave it at that, except to add that we did put out a new Lowfish 7″ in 2011, and in my opinion the A side is without a doubt one of his best songs ever.
Igloo :: But Suction is back. Can you tell us about the process of getting Ceramic Hello back to vinyl.
Solvent :: We had actually planned to reissue the Ceramic Hello LP on Suction back in 2002. I don’t even remember how I managed to track them down originally, but I do remember it was 2001 and that I managed to make contact with the guy who ran the label that released it in 1981, a Burlington Ontario label called Mannequin Records. Unfortunately our reissue fell through, and then in 2006 it got reissued on a German label called Vinyl On Demand. However, I noticed that the Vinyl On Demand reissue sold out fast and was selling for huge amounts of money recently, so it seemed like a good time to finish what we’d started and make the Suction reissue happen. This time I’ve been dealing with the band leader Brett Wickens directly, which has been a pleasure. Technically speaking, the master tapes for this LP are long lost, so we had to remaster it from vinyl; luckily Brett still had a sealed copy of the original 1981 LP, so we used that. I haven’t done a direct A/B comparison with our reissue and the original LP, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Suction reissue sounds superior to the original, on account of the superb remastering by Stephanie Villa. Anyway, I do sort of wish we’d managed to reissue Ceramic Hello in 2002, but it obviously makes a lot more sense in 2012, with the massive renewed interest in early ’80s “minimal synth” music.
Igloo :: Bit of a precursor to the above; when did you get into Minimal Synth / Synth Wave? What do you think about the recent resurgence? Any labels under the genre you’re especially interested in?
Solvent’s Best Of 2012 Mix for igloomag.com
Solvent :: Well as I said earlier, I have been into early ’80s synthpop since the mid-80s. There really isn’t much difference between Fad Gadget, or even the first Depeche Mode album, and a lot of stuff that gets classified as “minimal synth”—the main difference is just that the former was well-known while the latter disappeared into obscurity. I did know some of the bands that were later classified as minimal synth, but to me they were just obscure synthpop bands. As far as the idea of “minimal synth,” basically the realization that there was a whole world of raw analog synthpop bands that I’d never managed to hear before, that came from Roger, a guy from Germany that we released music by on Suction, under the name Skanfrom (he also went on to do Television Set and Sleeparchive). He sent me a few minidiscs around 1999, full of the stuff. He labelled the minidiscs as Minimal Synth Volume 1 etc. I remember being totally blown away by Nine Circles, Vice Versa, A Solid Space, Dark Day, Absolute Body Control, and especially John Bender—these and several others were total revelations for me. I thought a lot of it was crap, too, and still do. I’m not one of those people who thinks every record with a synth recorded in 1981 is gold—I apply the same standards regardless of when it was made or how rare it is!
Regarding the resurgence, I think it’s fantastic, because raw analog synth pop is a sound I love, and now there are people digging up every nook and cranny to discover just about everything that was ever released. I think most of it is crap and was obscure for good reason, but then there are just some mind-blowing gems that make all of the sifting worthwhile. I think I’ve been turned onto the most new/old discoveries via Vinyl On Demand, with highlights including We Be Echo, Mental Code, and Years On Earth; plus they’ve reissued so many of my all-time favorites like Absolute Body Control, Polyphonic Size, Portion Control, and John Bender. The Minimal Wave label has also unearthed a few total gems like Oppenheimer Analysis and Das Ding, both so good it’s hard to believe that they remained in obscurity for so long. The other great thing about the resurgence is that there are contemporary bands doing this sound that are up there with the best of the old bands, including Martial Canterel, Medio Mutante, Brotman & Short, Staccato Du Mal, Black Marble, ASSS, so many great records coming out in this style.
Igloo :: With Minimal Rome, MRX, we heard one of your first forays into the world of Acid, a sound quite distant from the softer melodies of Suction. Could you tell us a little bit about your interest in the 303. What Acid artists inspire you? What are your feelings on the second coming of House? Is there more Acid goodness in the lines?
Solvent :: I really bypassed a lot of techno, house and acid, going straight from ’80s synthpop and EBM to stuff like Aphex Twin, Warp Records, Rephlex etc. Other than Plastikman, I thought that dance music, whether acid or house, was just totally mundane for the most part. The record that really opened my ears to acid was Luke Vibert’s The Ace Of Clubs alias. Personally I still consider that some of the best acid music ever made, but then my taste in acid is still pretty unconventional. Around the time that record came out, the x0xb0x project, a DIY 303-clone project, popped up, so I went for it, and I’ve been really obsessed with acid ever since. I’ve gone back and checked out loads of the old Chicago acid house stuff, and while most of it is too straight ahead for my taste, some of it is great.
I’d say my favorite acid stuff still has to be when some of the weirder guys make it, Luke Vibert and Aphex’s skewed takes on acid are still my favorite. I do love Tin Man as well. Although the Minimal Rome 12″ is the only acid release I’ve put out so far, I’ve been making loads of acid for the past few years, and even added a real TB-303 to my arsenal last year. I’m planning to release a lot more acid music in the future, though probably not under the name Solvent. As far as the huge resurgence in old school house these days, I don’t like very much of it, mainly on account of me not really being a fan of straight-up dance music. I do sort of like some of the weirder stuff from this spectrum, stuff like the L.I.E.S. label output, but even on that label some of the records are reviving sounds that I am permanently predisposed against; during the late ’80s I hated all of those early digital drum machine sounds and primitive s-s-sampling techniques, and I still hate them. Stuff like Linndrums and DX7 presets are fashionable again and I am never going to be able to hear those sounds as anything but dated and cheesy.
Igloo :: Now, you mentioned a very interesting project you are running. Tell us about I Dream Of Wires. What is it? Who’s involved? Who’s interviewed?
Solvent :: I’m the producer for this upcoming documentary about the resurgence of modular synthesizers. It’s a 2-man production with myself and the director, Robert Fantinatto. Actually, this has been my primary focus for the past year, definitely the biggest project that I have ever been involved in. Robert started it on his own, and produced an early teaser/trailer which got a lot of attention—to date it’s been viewed well over 100,000 times on YouTube. I came on board at that point, started an IndieGoGo campaign where we raised over $40,000, and went about getting us interviews with some amazing people, including many of the significant contemporary modular synthesizer manufacturers, along with some notable musicians like Trent Reznor, Vince Clarke, Daniel Miller, Cevin Key, Carl Craig, James Holden, Daniel Miller, Richard Devine, Jack Dangers, Chris Carter, the list goes on! I was actually the guy who conducted most of these interviews, and some of these people are amongst my biggest musical heroes, especially Vince Clarke, Daniel Miller and Cevin Key, so it was really a thrill!
Igloo :: Do you think there is a growing interest in modular synths? Is this a direct rebellion against the stripping down on the digital age?
Solvent :: There is absolutely a huge growing interest in modular synths—it’s like a phenomena right now—hence the film! There are so many factors at play as to why this is happening—this could be a very long answer, but I’m going to keep it short. (For the long answer, you’ll want to watch I Dream Of Wires when it is released next year). It is a rebellion against the digital age, definitely: there are a lot of people who were missing the tactile hands-on experience after years of music making on computers. Another key factor is the musical landscape: people are now more hungry for out-there electronic sounds than ever before, and the innovation going on in modular synthesis right now is opening up new approaches to sound and synthesis that are seemingly infinite, and totally inspiring. Finally, many people feel bored and even alienated by mass-produced products from China, musical instruments included, and feel a personal connection to modular synthesizers on account of the boutique nature of these companies and the communities surrounding the instruments; it’s a bonafide subculture in its own right.
Igloo :: So what is next for Suction and Solvent?
Solvent :: The next releases on Suction are a new LP by Skanfrom, a 12″ reissue of 3 classic early-90s EBM anthems by a Toronto band called Digital Poodle + remixes, and a Meat Beat Manifesto / Solvent split 12″, both remixing Ann Southam, a little-known Canadian electro-acoustic composer. As for Solvent, right now my efforts are mainly focused on I Dream Of Wires, particularly the all-modular Solvent soundtrack LP, which I am working on, and which is set to be released in conjunction with the film.
Igloo :: Finally, what were the last five records you bought?
Solvent ::
—An acid 12″ by MPIA3 (Label cat # AVN #004)
—Emptyset 12″ on Raster-Noton
—Years On Earth The Structure Of Chance 2LP + 7″ reissue on Vinyl On Demand
—Blawan His He She & She (actually I don’t own this yet, but I’ve heard it, and I need to pick it up ASAP)
—Pure Ground Daylight (Chronritic Sound tape)
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solventcity.com | idreamofwires.org | suctionrecords.com | suctionrecords.bandcamp.com
