O Música de Peso foi falar com Timb Harris, violinista e trompetista de uma das mais completas bandas da actualidade: os norte americanos Estradasphere (que estiveram em Portugal pela primeira vez o ano passado).
Timb falou-nos da banda, do que os influencia, dos projectos e de todo o universo que rodeia a banda, musicalmente e não só.

Música de Peso- Most recently some of the Estradasphere members worked with Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls). How did the opportunity come out?

Timb Harris - So far it has gone really well. Amanda is a relentlessly creative and driven artist - her attitude is inspiring. Aside from arranging and producing several of her songs, we look forward to do some live performances together in the future. The performing we have done together so far has been tremendously fun - she came to our compound in Seattle and we put on a very theatrical live production of our shared material. It was all captured beautifully on audio and video, which we'll share when the time is right...

MP - How was it like working with her?

TH - Like I said, she is an inspiring creative force. She has great pop sensibility and is a magnetic front-person, while we are more comfortable with more involved compositional structures, arranging, and playing a supporting role. We really filled-out each others' strengths and shortcomings well. She gave us a lot of freedom on what to do with the songs, which we took advantage of - it was only occasionally that she had to reel us in a little!

MP - Besides the shows you gave in Seattle, will there be a record of your work together?

TH _ We are going to sit on the recordings for awhile to determine how and when we will perform together over the next time period. As that becomes more clear, we'll have some new music to tour on...
MP - Estradasphere's music is anything but simple. Where do you get the inspiration to write it?

TH - Well, we all are inspired from different (but overlapping) sources, but the similarities are that we always try to seek out people who are genuine masters of their craft from which to draw inspiration. The great classical composers, the giants of classic jazz, the geniuses of 60's and 70's film music, the fathers of soul and rock n roll, perpetuators of authentic folk musics of the world - any music (or other art form) that stands the test of time is worth paying attention to, as well as people who are currently breaking new ground.

MP - In Palace of Mirrors, the band seems to focus more in some kind of score work. Do you think you will ever be in a scoring production?

TH - Yes, I/we would love to collaborate with filmmakers in the future. Our music tends to be very (imaginally) visually stimulating, so it follows that a foray into that world would be fruitful. You can find Estradasphere's music in one film - a campy sci-fi epic called StarSlyderz that Tim Smolens scored with material from Buck Fever. Check it out if you like wrestling matches between GI Joe and Star Trek and puppet aliens snorting coke off large dildos!

MP - Video games score also appears on Sphere's music. Is there any reason for that?

TH - The majority of Estradasphere's sentiment is that time playing video games is time that could be better spent engaging with music (somehow we have to convince Lee that - he loves that Grand Theft Auto 4 thingy!). But we have licensed our music to video games before, most notable a game called "Gish" that won a bunch of independent video game awards a few years back...

MP - Is there any band or musician that had a special impact on you?

TH - Oh man, I could list them forever. The most special influences on me musically, though, have typically been my teachers and especially my colleagues, which I learn from with every musical and personal interaction.

MP - Many people consider you to be the musical heirs of Mr Bungle. Do you feel that way? Do you feel any kind of responsability/pressure when you hear that?

TH - No, of course we are not. Some of our music, especially early on, has been heavily influenced by them according to the degree that some of the people in Estradasphere were inspired by the music of Mr. Bungle in their youth. Over time, and especially from working so closely with Trey, though, we are more inclined to be inspired by the sources that Mr. Bungle were looking toward, not necessarily Mr. Bungle themselves. An astute listener will easily be able to tell where the silmilarities are and are not between our music and theirs.

MP - Before you signed with The End, you were with Mimicry. Why did you changed?

TH - We love working with Trey and Mimicry, and still do have a relationship with them, but we wanted to try and spread out a little, meet some new people and see the ups and downs of working in a different model. We've learned a lot from both situations and continue to enjoy the support of both organizations.

MP - What are your plans for the near future? Will you tour, will you release a new record anytime soon...?
TH - One of us is having a little one soon, so we are going to play fewer shows, often in smaller combinations of musicians, for the next year or so. We'll see what the future has to offer...
In the meantime, Jason has new record coming out called "The Orange Tulip Conspiracy", Jason and I have a bunch of Secret Chiefs touring to do in the US and Europe, and I have joined a trio with Gyan Riley (guitar) and Scott Amendola (drums), which will be traveling internationally.

MP - Changing subjects a bit, what do you consider to be the best of being on tour?

TH - I really like the metaphorical aspect of it being like traveling through space on a ship - each night you land with your trusted crew and set up your same little camp and do your thing on a very different planet every night. The ambassadors are usually wonderful, the food is different...most planets are special places to visit. I feel very honored to meet people all around the universe who appreciate our music.
MP - Do you have any literary and/or musical recommendations for Musica de Peso blog's readers?

TH - Wow. Um, I love exploring the writings of Borges - the collected short fiction is amazing. Phillip K. Dick has a way with showing us ourselves, of course. Musically, I just hunt for the stuff the stands the test of time - in the short term I've been listening to a lot of the great film music from the 60's; Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, Peter Thomas; on the other hand I've been enjoying the choros and samba of Brazil; and I can NEVER get enough of the string quartets of Bela Bartok, especially 2, 4, and 6. Scelsi's "Quattro pezzi su una nota sola" is in my player at home right now. Man, I could go on forever...but one thing that I think is often overlooked is to pay attention to the music around you, played by the people you interact with. That can be the source of a type of learning that cannot be learned or appreciated through reading or listening to the masters. I have been very lucky to know and play with people who I admire so greatly. Cheers, Timb.