Mid-January, Tim Koch Thug sat down to discuss a few issues concerning his musical direction and various upcoming projects for his Thug, 8 Bit Orchestra and DJ Fish Finger creations. While the Thug nameplate has been receiving international recognition, Tim has recorded for Aural Industries (AU), Defocus (UK) to name a couple, and has recently established himself as a key contributor to the success of Surgery Records; helping to develop, compile and coordinate the long awaited and excellent ambient electronic Initial Release compilation with Surgery Records.
My first question for Tim (after coordinating our 15 hour time zone difference and meeting in a chat session) was to find out when and how the Thug project began its revolutionary journey.
Tim Koch: Well I guess it may sound clichéd, but way back in 1991 or so I happened to tune into a local station that was playing that Autechre track ‘”Autriche” from their first record and it was unlike anything I had heard before. It instantly changed me musically forever. Up until that point I had played saxophone for years at school.
Igloo: So you had a previous project beforehand, or was it (not) entirely electronic based?
TK: I had been in a guitar band for three or so years playing bass guitar and some drums (mucking around a bit with a reel-to-reel 4 track –just experiments with guitars).
Igloo: At that time did you set the name Thug? And why so?
TK: Well the name Thug came only at the last minute when the first CD needed artwork and someone said thug is the opposite of what you are really like, and I thought that the tracks on the Isolated Rhythm Chock CD were not Thuggy in the least. So it stuck for some reason. Maybe a bad move in hindsight as people think I’m some macho man wannabe.
Igloo: So was Isolated Rhythm Chock your very first piece of output with Aural Industries?
TK: Yes. The first release with Aural Industries. Prior to that I had 10 or so tracks released on a PC game CD called Ultra Violent Worlds.
Igloo: Which brings me to my next question, how would you describe the Thug landscape? From what I see and hear, it’s usually a quirky yet funky approach at molding video game styled electronics with casual melodies and soothing rhythms.
TK: Well yes the latest CD Please Don’t Tell Me That’s Your Volvo is very much like that –tracks that were playful for me to write, and that I had a lot of fun writing. Where as a lot of my other stuff is more like therapy for me to write.
A lot of my emotions are channeled into the more melancholy tracks and mark periods where I have been depressed etc.. Basically I can’t write a track unless I have some sort of fragment of imagery in my mind; Everything musically I do is inspired by visual themes, even if it’s a simple image in my mind of a robot living on a floating platform in the clouds.
Igloo: That might even describe how your music seems to involve many (weird?) elements.
As far as other projects are involved; There are two or three that come to mind that are quite mysterious, and seem to have a central focus in each, that is 8 Bit Orchestra, and the new DJ Fish Finger. How did both of these evolve? Or did they spawn from various Thug sounds?
TK: I guess that’s just a way of escaping the more normal way of writing stuff. I get sick of getting into a routine of doing tracks, so I’ll sample a bunch of Commodore 64 game SND effects and then just play around and make something that puts a smile on my face.
Igloo: Is this how the 8 Bit project began then?
TK: Well that is just to show my massive respect for the days of old on the C64 with Rob Hubbard & David Whittaker etc.. They are the guys that inspired me way back to even want to do music. I wish life was a big computer game where I can get a free life by jumping on top of a building and killing that big shiny bee.
Igloo: You seem to have released a whole range of music on a variety of labels in the past few years. Was Splashdown one of the first to pick you up?
TK: Well not really. My discography on the site is just misleading. Most of them are just compilation appearances. Lucky Kitchen put out that track ages ago on their Soundtracks to Imaginary Video Games compilation that I was very happy about.
Igloo: What track?
TK: “Tsunami Brothers”. I guess that was the beginning of this video game inspired tag that sticks to my stuff.
Igloo: The music of both Thug and 8 Bit and now DJ Fish Finger inspires one to rip out the old C64, Coleco, and/or Atari games and fall into a nostalgic state.
TK: Well the Isolated Rhythm Chock was a bit serious/downbeat to have that video game feel. But the other stuff for sure I can understand the comparison. I guess I never grew up. I still want it to be 1988 where I can fire up the C64 and just play, and not worry about registering my car, or getting a job etc.. The child in me just wants to come out or something stupid, and that links to music. That is writing music is like an outlet for me; As I get older I find it harder and harder to feel the same height of emotions that I felt as a kid, and that worries me a lot. But I find I can get that rush from music, whether writing it or playing live etc..
Igloo: So, does the music you create take you back to those childhood moments? I assume that it does so, and that it becomes a direct path, and/or route to that special place in mind..
TK: Sometimes it does. But it can also be very frustrating, and also that’s perhaps why I buy so much I guess. To find music that takes me there as well, apart from my own stuff. And yes in a world where so many things are going to ruin.
Music is a ray of light, kind of. Like if people are becoming more and more unfriendly/cynical, and everything is just technology technology removing us from each other, I guess the DSP flavor that has swept over electronic music baffles me a bit also.
Igloo: Do you blame computer technologies for this separation in human communication?
TK: Not solely the technology. The technology just encourages our bad points. I have discovered from correspondence with Surgery Records matters that email is very difficult. So many statements are miss-interpreted and ill feelings result from email and communication that is less sensory. Like no inflections or facial expressions etc.. And I feel that it is almost a step back.
Igloo: As much as it is a step ahead..
TK: Yes that’s right. Everything has repercussions. I don’t know, I think everyone has this looming fear of where everything is going to go next. Like “shit when are we going to look like it does in Kubrick’s 2001? Surely we will soon be walking around in velcro anti gravity boots on a shuttle to the moon”.
Igloo: Are you afraid or do you embrace this technology as it molds your musical visions?
TK: I think I get bored by technology. But I am lazy as well. Like I know my sampler has n+1 thousand different things to mess with, but can I be arsed? I think machines like the Sid-Station get past this curve, and for me I don’t want to get too immersed in the intricacies –well not always. It is a big shame when I have a really nice idea for a track and then something to do with screw ups with either sampler/synths hold me back, and then I lose interest.
Igloo: You’ve been working with many labels, as you mentioned before, such as lucky Kitchen, Merck –as well as Splashdown, Surgery, AI, and now Defocus. How did you get involved with these folks, i.e.) Defocus (of which you made an appearance on their second sampler Two You See)?
TK: Well it’s just that old snowball effect. Like it all stems from when I bought an Amig500 and started making mods. I then joined one of the bigger Australian scene groups (Cydonia) and then for my tunes out on Amiga demos. Then I hooked up with John Bus who used to be in another group called Digital Access. He started Aural Industries and put out my CD.. and then put an mp3 up that Defocus heard online. Then I met all Merck/Lucky kitchen/Seeland/other labels through the net.
All to do with networking, really. All the friends I met on the net that make music. I wanted to get together, and the Surgery compilation, Initial Release is the result of that. But yes, I get a lot of enjoyment from meeting all these people online and seeing what drives them to make music, and keeping in contact etc.
Australia is not a good community for electronic people writing. Much easier to swap ideas etc with dudes on #// IRC channel etc. So basically without the internet I would have had not a single release or any opportunities that have come my way.
Igloo: I have had a similar experience in that the internet has literally connected me with several people I wouldn’t have otherwise met.
TK: Yes it is a very useful thing; Gives one much more sense of being in a community especially with the style of music we like. More obscure electronic stuff.
Igloo: Upon listening to your DJ Fish Finger release, it made me wonder who exactly was behind the boards (I didn’t know it was you). Perhaps you spilled coffee on the sampler, or was it an intentional thing to fully concentrate on a more relaxed downbeat sound?
TK: Well, ha ha, that whole thing was a joke. A really good friend of mine moved to a different city 900 km away so I thought I’d write a little joke album thing to send him on tape. The tracks turned out funny and comical sometimes. I grabbed samples from all over the place and let these silly samples dictate what the tracks would sound like. For instance the track that has the fishing alarm clock sound; Just a laugh to put stuff like that together. You can never take yourself too seriously. If someone says my stuff is crap I am proud to say I have got to the point where it doesn’t hurt me –I am not offended..
Igloo: Well I certainly wouldn’t call it “crap”, but a unique side of the Thug/8 Bit Orchestra sound that seems very loose, comedic, and generally fun. There are loads of samples that splash around all over the place on this full length (21 tracks at that).
TK: That was all it was –some fun to keep my buddy amused while he moved into his new house. Yes a lot of samples I found on the net or on an old hard drive from a machine of my dad’s that got left at his work. Even my 2 cats that dies a while ago are on there –a well-hidden weather report sample? And some other silly stuff.
Igloo: This should see a full release with Aural Industries, correct?
TK: Yes hopefully soon. After the Sense release(s) and the Thug remix challenge in 2001.
Igloo: Which brings up another question. Is this the internet remix challenge you’re referring to? How did this start? Did you supply all key sources for friends to mess about with?
TK: Well I put some samples together and made them available on the site for anyone to remix. Funnily enough people mainly just extracted bits directly from the album rather than using the separated sounds. I think it is healthy to hear other people’s remixes (or interpretations) of your own music
Igloo: You mentioned earlier that you’re also working with Aaron Rutledge (aka Pliant and Systorm Technologies label head). Are you doing a video for his Frogbomb project?
TK: Funny you should mention it. My music is being transferred via this computer to the Systorm HQ as we type this interview.
I had a track on the Systorm compilation Sound Options. Another “video game” type track. Apparently it sounds like it came straight from Zelda although I have never owned a Nintendo machine. So I have no idea what Zelda soundtrack is like but on the visuals tip. I definitely want to get more visual stuff going. Like I want to get my friend James to play games projected on top of me, or on walls –or just interesting visuals in general. My girlfriend, Esther Lamb, did a film clip to one of my tracks, which turned out brilliantly.
Igloo: Do you think that with the abundance of labels spawning from every corner, that it is time to implement the visual aspect (video that is) of the music?
TK: Well it is becoming a problem. I mean there is so much saturation of the market with any music genre these days. I have become very lazy and don’t have the energy to track stuff down and follow up etc.. It is much harder to stand out from the crowd these days. Almost like really amazing and good music sometimes can unfortunately go unnoticed. But Aaron’s Frogbomb project is a step forward. He mentioned the possibility of eventually getting the Frogbomb episodes on DVD –this may change the market a bit.. although I hope vinyl stays with us.
Igloo: Is there anything you would like to add, as far as projects you’re working on, people you’d like to thank, things you are doing aside from the music that is somehow molding the sounds you create?
TK: Just to say I want to work more with other people. I recently did a remix of Australian string quartet called Fourplay and I find live instruments really nice to sample and play with. Also trying to get a console game developed with friends, and really want to take sound and music further in multimedia environments such as PSX games etc.. But other than that I am just pushing Surgery Records forward and writing tracks as I am inspired etc..
I guess I would like to mention Simon’s net label Monotonik. Props to Simon (h0l/Monotonik) for putting out cool stuff. And sometimes I find I get the most satisfaction from an mp3 released online more so than a more physical release like CD/vinyl etc.
Igloo: How so?
TK: Well just a lot of friendly people give feedback thru email. Even if they don’t like the track sometimes they’ll mail just to say hello or something, and that means a lot. Whereas if my CD is in a store and people may buy it –I have no immediate connection with them. Not that I want them to stroke my ego by saying it’s good, but just to have some kind of connection with the people who take an interest/disinterest in anything I do.
Igloo: Feedback is a definite bonus then. And being able to bring people who are 1000’s of miles away into one massive online community pleases you.
TK: Yes..using the internet to cancel the distance that separates us all.
Igloo: For the DJ Dish Finger release Gone Fishing, where did these track names come from? i.e.) “Tiffany’s Tuna Farm”, “Take a Dump 1”, “Catfish” etc.?
TK: Ha ha just in jokes really and some of them were just in tune with the fish theme. That is a problem with me –I often have trouble naming songs, so just whatever comes to mind.
Igloo: They seem to follow a theme.. indeed.
TK: Well the DJ FF guy was meant to be some crazy guy with a big afro who got his studio filled with water so that he could record in his natural habitat. I have a crazy press release for it somewhere (like he was this underwater creature etc.) –really silly.
Igloo: Coming soon?
TK: In terms of what’s coming up: Defocus release, Meson Octet (not sure), Yunx Remix, Fourplay Remix, MD remix on Merck vinyl, and various other projects in the works.
There will be a Vim/Lackluster 7″ on Surgery Records. Well that is kind of a little vinyl promo for the Surgery compilation and hopefully they will be exclusively available through Igloo Magazine. It is only a limited run of 50 copies on lovely white vinyl!
One of the tracks from my 8 Bit Orchestra CDR will be out on vinyl with Mooner Industries real soon –C64 remix project!
-End.
With all this in mind, there are, as you can see, many things to look forward to, and many items to look out for including the Initial Release compilation on Surgery Records that Tim has compiled for the world to absorb. And as you can see from the picture on the right, Tim has his hands full trying to finish off a beef burrito at New Zealand’s World of Music and Dance, so let’s leave him be.
Tim also appear’s on the With Naive Assurance That Their Injuries Were Wrongs Inflicted compilation with Intr-Version. The track featured is “Binoce” –weaving its way subtly to the back of your mind with its shiny metalic melodies and classic Thug soundscapes. Tim is featured amongst a host of established experimentalists such as Richard Devine (Schematioc/Warp), Tomas Jirku (Force Inc.), Hermann & Kleine (City Centre Offices) and more.
Tim Koch; creating electronic waves across the pacific ocean faster than you can say “Please Don’t Tell Me That’s Your Volvo”.
