Name: Alex Hall (member of Grails)
Nationality: American
Occupation: guitarist
Current Release: Anches En Maat on Temporary Residence Ltd
Recommendations: Med Andra Ord by Leif Andersson / The Lady In Red by V/VM

If you enjoyed this interview with Alex Hall, keep up to date with Grails on Facebook, Instagram and bandcamp.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Of course, there are lots of different kinds of listening, varying degrees of passive vs active. But I’ve noticed an inflection point recently in my internal dialogue with a certain kind of active listening, no doubt related to a transition into middle age. My mind often used to wander down various escapist fantasy threads, imagining future experiences not yet lived. But now I find myself in the same context reflecting instead on the experiences that I’ve already had, sifting through, trying to understand. It’s actually far more satisfying.

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

It’s easy to over-romanticise the notion of youthful naivete. There is of course tremendous value in the freedom of first attempts, in the absence of cynicism or pre-disposed ideas. But the actual first things produced by young people are almost always horrible.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

It meant everything. Not much has really changed in that regard. But the process of finding and consuming music is just much less frustrating now. And not just because of the internet or technology, but having a deeper knowledge or awareness upon which to draw. Back then I had the same emotional dietary needs from music as I do now, but I was forced to try to extract those nutrients from whatever I could find at the local music store, which was often pretty shitty. It was like a survivalist scenario, having to gnaw on a leather shoe for dinner every night.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

More than any single instrument, just getting access to the digital tools that allowed for recording and producing at home has been the biggest game changer. In the broke-ass underground, DIY is simply just how one survives.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I imagine it’s the same impulse that inspires anyone to create. It’s just waking up every day and trying to justify or rationalize one’s own existence.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I guess I’m agreeing with Paul Simon, yeah that makes sense. It’s the vibe factor that’s most important. And it’s the hardest to control. All you can do is throw some tracks into a bucket and shake it around and hope they recombine in some novel way that elevates each other and suggests some kind of new coherence.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I have a small collection of Japanese field recording LP’s which can be really nice to put on in the right context. The Japanese were definitely the masters of the field recording in the 20th century. Mostly forest sounds, or dripping water. Can be very meditative and soothing in the morning with coffee. But I’d never queue up one of those over Physical Graffiti on a roadtrip, you know?

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Extremes are only interesting if they’re leveraged to produce tension of some kind. Some of our favorite underground bands like Sun City Girls or Circle are masters of this kind of juxtaposition. Just last week I saw that one of the early great Pharaoh Overlord records had been reissued, and in the press notes there was an anecdote about the record being recorded with their amps turned all the way to 10, but playing the strings as delicately as possible. Gimmicky but effective!

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

I’m not really a “song writer”, but I have a lot of respect for the song writing tradition. And with Grails I think there’s some interesting tension to be found in the idea of an instrumental experimental band trying to work within the pop/rock idiom, often using conventional verse/chorus structures.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

It almost always starts with a sample of some kind. One thing just suggests the next and it snowballs. But it always begins with reacting to an external influence. The idea of creating within a vacuum has always seemed kind of arrogant, or unrealistic at best.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

After 3 glasses of wine, one’s perception of tempo changes dramatically. Have to keep that in mind and use caution when working with bpm settings.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I’ve long felt that being engaged creatively through music and other projects is the only thing that makes me feel genuinely ok with being alive. Thankfully I have other reasons now for sticking around, but there were definitely times in the past when that wasn’t the case.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?
 
I was going to say that any person who loves music appreciates the difference between a Beethoven symphony and a cup of coffee. But it’s a relevant question, as the primary challenge of any creative effort is just to transcend mundane task-oriented activities. So with that in mind, I’d say probably 95% of music I hear is about as emotionally riveting as a stack of pancakes.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

A lot of the Popol Vuh albums stir me in a way like no other music I’ve heard. I wouldn’t know how to qualify it beyond that.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

More killer, less filler.