John Hughes - Chicago, IL
Song: The Black Monk

John Hughes - Artist, producer, remixer, collaborator, owner of Hefty Records and HFT Studio. Hughes started his label on campus at the Ohio University, originally set up in his dorm room, in 1995. He has recorded and released over a dozen albums under various aliases and groups like Slicker, Brood, Some Water and Sun, and Bill Ding, as well as under his own name. His new EP, The Black Monk is out this week. We were able to corral John via the internet to talk about the new recording, his love for modular gear and The Chicago Blackhawks.

Digital Music Marketing: Congratulations on your new EP "The Black Monk" which came out yesterday! TBM has been released on 1320 Records in conjunction with your own label Hefty Records. Can you give us a brief background on how you came to meet and work with STS9, both as a band and now as a label partner with 1320?

John Hughes: Our relationship slowly unfolded. Initially they were fans of what Hefty was doing and several years ago they put some of our artists on the road with them. We kept in touch and I did some remixes for STS9. Partnering up was a natural step.

DMM: Your last LP "Reset the Warehouse" was your first release on 1320. What new freedoms or opportunities are you experiencing with your 1320 pairing?

JH: Last summer I was able to step into STS9's touring scenario. It was a nice little shot in the arm since my live show had been laying dormant for a while. I'm studio oriented so my albums have generally been the end goal. It was a good change to put a live set together. 1320 has a great touring infrastructure to piggyback on.

DMM: You also have a recording studio in Chicago called HFT Studio. I saw pictures of it on your MySpace page while it was under construction. There are other pictures of some crazy looking gear and all kinds' of neat stuff. It looks pretty big. Can you tell us a little bit about the studio and when it was finished?

JH: The studio was completed about 4 years ago. It's the first time I've had a dedicated studio space outside of the house. It's set up so that it can operate like a conventional recording studio with a large live room and two isolation rooms. It also has a good sized control room. It's customized to my style of production so it's heavy on modular synths and effects. I designed a desk with a friend to house all my modular gear. It's a workstation where you can create sounds from scratch. I don't need to rely on sample packs or drum machines to make my beats. Modular gear is intoxicating because it leads to endless experimenting and accidental sounds. At the same time, as you get more familiar with your system and what it's capable of, you can make a patch to create a sound that you imagine in your head.

DMM: You recorded the Black Monk EP with long time collaborator Rick Embach at HFT. There seems to be a Hefty cast of characters (so to speak) that you've worked with on and off for awhile. Can you tell us about your relationship with Rick and your work together on the EP?

JH: I've been working with Rick since 1996 when I was a member of a group called Bill Ding. We have a deep connection and he really gets my sound. What's ideal about him as a collaborator is that he always respects the track and finds a way inside it. He's helped create the sound on several of my records. He's also good for some laughs on a long car ride.

DMM: Are there other collaborators or guests we should know about on The Black Monk?

JH: Charles Rumback played drums on a couple of the tracks which brought a nice live dimension to the EP. He was a breeze to work with too.

DMM: Is this EP a prelude to a full album?

JH: Actually, it's more of a postlude to Reset the Warehouse.

DMM: The 1320 website describes The Black Monk as coming from "a darker, more conceptual angle, but adding to the phonic framework set by last year's Reset the Warehouse (1320/Hefty)". I did get a quick chance to track through myself and at first listen; I'd say I have to agree. For those people who haven't heard Reset the Warehouse to use as a comparison, can you tell us in your own words what to expect from The Black Monk? Where does this record take us and is there a concept?

JH: The title track was inspired by a story of the same title by Anton Chekhov. I read it on a flight from Chicago to New York and it gave me some musical ideas that I jotted down. I tried to keep to the influence of the story broad, emulating the pacing and mood of the story and creating organic textures with the modular... the rushing wind sounds and the warbling, echoing voices and strings. There's also an excerpt of the story read in Japanese by Shin Tasaki who is in a project called Some Water and Sun with me. More generally, the sound I've been going for on the last two records is about gritty production and complex sound texturing. It's very live and analog for electronic music.

DMM: I read somewhere that you created and laid down a bunch of sounds in advance of the making of Reset the Warehouse. This provided you a kind of sonic palette from which you picked and chose the sounds used in creating and assembling the songs. Is this how you usually approach the songwriting process? Was there a difference in the recording process for The Black Monk?

JH: Yeah, that's true. I gathered a lot of sounds from patches on the modular that I had been recording. Sometimes it's nice to sit down and just make sounds. It keeps it spontaneous and since I'm not working with anybody when I start writing a track, it's a way to simulate some interaction...let the synths do some of the work.

DMM: Are you looking at any new 1320 artist collaborations for the future?

JH: Nothing in the works.

DMM: Have you ever used Soundcloud or other similar tools to collaborate remotely? What do you think about this technology? Are there any other internet technologies that you're onto in the recording world?

JH: I'm a bit of an old man when it comes to working with internet technologies. I haven't used Soundcloud. I have done several long distance collaborations where we've traded files back and forth, but I always prefer to be in the room with the person. I have a project called Brood with two musicians from Pompeii (both members of Retina.IT) and we did some file swapping after we had gotten together in Chicago to lay some basic tracks and sound design, but the energy from working in the same room was already there so it didn't affect the songs.

DMM: What were some of the highlights of 2010 for you? And what are you working on for 2011?

JH: There we some good moments in 2010. I saw the Blackhawks win the Cup in Philly. I did a string of summer dates with STS9. I released Reset The Warehouse and finished up the new EP. Lots of good time spent with my wife and three kids. Many books read and much music recorded. For 2011, I've been thinking about bringing my Slicker moniker back. I have stockpiled a lot of material with that in mind so we'll see if I can make sense of it for an album.

Wow, I Think I Love You, from the album "Reset the Warehouse"

You can listen to more songs, read John's bio and buy music by visiting the 1320 Records website at:

http://www.1320records.com/John Hughes

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Hefty Records on MySpace