Part 2

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practice?

Once I feel like that I've finished a piece, it's definitely important to put it away for a while and let it just sit. Out of sight, out of mind. This could be for a week or a year. I've actually forgotten about pieces then suddenly discovered them again. I could not imagine a better scenario than this, but for the most part I'm still thinking about a piece in the back of my mind, even when I've put it off to the side.

Getting distance from the outcome is really important for me to get a more objective grasp on what I'm doing in general. Sometimes getting bogged down in the middle of a piece can be the worst thing for actually finishing it or moving on to something new.

Infinity Suite (2020) Jason Kahn // field recordings

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

Well, for work with sound I often try to get everything in one take, so to speak. But this mostly applies to work that has a performative or improvised aspect. I tend not to edit or re-work pieces like this, aside from correcting any technical problems or just trying to improve the sound quality.

For work that is more composed, there is an ongoing process of refining what I'm dong. This goes for text work as well, where I go through many drafts until I've reached a final version.

Köln (2023) Jason Kahn // electronics, Christian Wolfarth // percussion, Franzt Loriot // viola

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

I generally work with other musicians in the context of improvisation. And this means that personal relationships are definitely very important for the music. I like to think of this as a kind of social space that forms a large part of what the music is actually about.

I generally don't work with engineers or studios as I do all my own production work.

Translations (2021) Jason Kahn // electronics, Bertrand Denzler // tenor saxophone

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

I'm not really attuned to production, other than using this as means of getting what I've done as clear as possible. Perhaps if I actually wrote songs this would be more of an issue for me.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

After completing something I often experience at first a sense of accomplishment, then relief and, finally, perhaps a sense of something missing. I'd say the process is the most important thing for me.

Finally finishing a piece can often seem very anticlimactic in comparison the whole process beforehand. That first spark of an idea is what I find most exciting.

And I've never found a way to foster this. It just happens again at some point. I've learned to trust that I will get through a fallow period. It's good sometimes to have no ideas and to just let things go.

Bangalore (2021) Jason Kahn // electronics , Günter Müller // iPods, electronics, Norbert Möslang // cracked everyday-electronics

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

Being misunderstood can quite naturally be very frustrating or disappointing. But when this happens I tend to feel that I'm in very good company, as for sure many of my favorite artists were at one time misunderstood or even not understood at all by the vast majority of people. This just goes with the territory and should not be read as a critique on the value of one's work.

I myself might not even understand what a work is about and therefore I can't expect others to do any better in interpreting what I've done.

Sound Study Six (2022) Jason Kahn // electronics, Devin Sarno // sequencer

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing 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'm not actually sure I can express anything through music. Whatever it has to "say" is not for me to determine. Only a listener can realize what it is my work has to communicate to them.

Improvisation is definitely a line that I see through many aspects of my life, which can mean cooking a meal, making a recording or just trying to survive from day to day.

I think "mundane" tasks are just as important in a way as the "creative" tasks. Without being bored, I couldn't find the inspiration for something exciting and creative. Even when just doing housework I might come up with some pretty good ideas for the next work.