MH: Could you elaborate on what being part of a “living organism” means to you? Is it the experience of a unified community, the sense of solidarity brought upon by a shared emotional experience, maybe even the physical sense of interconnection or anonymity brought upon by dancing together? A combination of it all?
SKB: Apart from music, people, venues, and lighting, a rave is also made up of less readily-identifiable things like frequencies, bodies, pressure systems, secretions, intelligence, chemicals, trajectories, impulses, breath, blood, emotions, energy. All of these things are variable, and every one of them acts on and influences every thing else. If a tune I love comes on and I start dancing my heart out, that will definitely affect how the person next to me, who's never heard it before, receives it. All that goes back to the DJ and acts on what they do next, and how they do it.
At the same time, if I had a terrible meal before going out and that same tune comes on when I get to the rave, but this time I feel miserable and just want to crawl into a corner and be left alone, I will act on the rave in a completely different manner, and the experience might end up going in another direction entirely. So, because every little thing is tied together, I consider the rave to truly be a living organism.
MH: That response makes me want to capitalize the word “Rave,” so I’ll do it here. Do you have anything specific in mind when you mention alternative ways for the Rave to live on?
SKB: If we see how easily things from what we consider outside the rave can have an impact on what happens inside it, like the bad meal example I gave, we can also start to see how things from what we consider within the rave can impact things outside of it. An easy image is the low thumping pulse you can hear when crossing the street to get to the venue, and the rush of excitement it can provoke in you while you're technically not even there yet — or how that same sound is perceived by the people living down the block. Bearing all that in mind, inside and outside start to not be such important distinctions anymore, and what we think of as the rave's boundaries start to get blurry. So maybe I don't need to physically see the DJ in order to be part of the rave. Maybe I don't need to have my head in the bassbin of a speaker. Maybe it's my speaker at home, or a set of headphones in the forest, or VR goggles, or butterflies in my stomach when thinking of a song, a place, or someone.
MH: You have a vast discography, going back to your first self-release in 2017, spanning a longtime involvement in Montreal's music scene, which includes two live MUTEK performances and multiple festivals and party series. What has your experience been like as an independent artist — do you prefer to self-release versus working with a label?
SKB: To be honest, my self-promotion game has nothing on my artistic output. I’m not a very outgoing person, so I haven’t always secured the good connections. Because of that, and because I’m not very real-world goal-oriented when it comes to my music, I’m much more comfortable in self-initiated frameworks, be they releases or parties. I should also acknowledge that I’ve been surrounded by talented and gifted people throughout my music-making years, and that I’ve ridden on a lot of coattails, and benefitted from a lot of energy outside of my own. Nothing I’ve done has been self-initiated in the strictest sense.
I have also had the good fortune to have people from the world at large show an interest in my endeavors, and they’ve only been good experiences up to now. I’m always up for more! However, I have a day job and a small family, so I really prefer going at my own pace.
MH: Where can our readers find you (if you're hosting any streams, live shows, online performances, etc)?
SKB: I don’t have any shows lined up right now, but I host a monthly radio show, Sober Ravers Union, which airs every fourth Wednesday on La Face B . I mix records for an hour or two, and usually have mixes from guests of the non cis-white-het-dude-DJ persuasion. I also co-host another monthly radio show with my partner YlangYlang, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which airs every fourth Saturday on n10.as. That show focuses on experimental music, found sounds and field recordings. Also, I used to put out a free download bootleg every month on my Bandcamp page. I may get around to doing that again, so that might be a good place to look!
