Channel Eau Communications - Interview

Interview

Interview with Channel Eau Communications Director, Vincent F. Evans - Victoria, BC, Canada, 12 / 2001 E.V .

By Naomi DeBruyn - Editor, Linear Reflections:

www.linearreflections.com

NDB: Why did you decide on this as a career choice?

VFE: (laughs) I've been passionate about music since early childhood, so this is just a natural evolution of my musical endeavours.

NDB: Tell me about your newest project.

VFE: Well, the latest project is the BC Island Music CD Compilation Project and we now have a name for the CD - "Music from the Islands of British Columbia."

The idea behind the project is we're trying to locate the best of all the music that is produced on the islands - on all of the islands in British Columbia.

And by the best, we simply mean the best quality; great songs or compositions, great performances, great musicians, great recordings.

To that end we have been soliciting and receiving submissions to the project.

We're trying to get as many people who are producing music on the islands as possible to submit their music, so that when the panel evaluates the material, we can feel confident that we're listening to most of what is available.

We want to produce the definitive collection of island music, unlike many other compilations where rock and pop bands enter a performance competition and whoever brings the most friends to cheer the loudest wins the prize, and then they put a CD together.

We're not trying to do that.

We're trying to produce a very listenable, collectible, and even archival compilation.

We'd like to think that, when we've done this, it will stand for some time as the definitive collection of the better music from the Islands; better is a qualitative thing, right?

If the selections are determined through a systematic adjudication process, by a panel of skilled individual’s then I think we can safely say that, in all probability, what we chose will be, for the most part, the best.

NDB: What does it take to start up a CD label?

VFE: First of all, it takes the will.

Second, I think it takes relevant experience.

Third (relates back to will): diligence and perseverance.

And, obviously, it takes money.

It takes commitment, co-ordination, and particular skill sets, which are not necessarily fixed, and not necessarily definable; a lot of it is fairly nebulous.

Contact with a variety of high calibre musicians, and a refined sense of musicality.

Understanding what good music is versus what isn't good music.

And when we talk about good versus not so good, although it is a qualitative judgment, I think it is safe to say that the people in the business who have been doing it for awhile, can tell the difference between a good song and a not so good song, and a good recording and a not so good recording, and a good performance and a not so good performance.

Notice how I'm not using the "B" word, "Bad," because not good doesn't necessarily mean bad.

NDB: What are the steps one would take to have you produce their music? I'm sure some musicians out there might be interested in taking that plunge.

VFE: Well, it can vary.

For example, I receive material from people looking for a label.

I receive material from people wanting to participate in our Island Music project.

If somebody sends me something, I will listen to it.

NDB: Regardless of how it is sent?

VFE: I request that they submit it on a disc and I'd like people to understand that the best way to capture my attention is to send me something that is essentially finished quality product.

What a lot of people would call a finished product, is often merely a good demo.

However, if they're looking for me to physically and technically produce their music, then they need to send me something innovative, interesting and unique, that really captures my attention.

If somebody comes to me with something I am interested in, I'll express my interest right away.

If they come to me with something I think is good but needs a little bit of work, I'll talk to them about that.

Not just with an eye towards having them affiliated with our label, but to say "well it is really good, but I think you could stand to focus a bit more here," or "next time spend more on the recording," (more time, more money) or "use a better or different studio," or "work with someone that can help you."

NDB: What is the role of a music producer?

VFE: Anybody can put out a CD if they have a bit of money, but just putting out a CD isn't what it is about.

The role of a music producer is to take raw music and refine it to the point where it is distinct, well defined and highly polished.

There are certainly the mechanical and technical aspects, but there's also the interaction between the producer and the musicians.

Coaxing a better performance, focusing on refining the little details, and conceptualizing the flow of an album, and so on and so forth.

NDB: Where do you see Channel Eau in 20 years?

VFE: Twenty years is a bit of a long stretch!

I mean, I'd like to think that in 20 years Channel Eau is a solidly established and globally recognized label that has consistently produced high quality work.

NDB: So, say on a par with Virgin Records?

VFE: More along the lines of a combination of Peter Gabriel's RealWorld and the now defunct EG Records would be nice.

NDB: Do you find the community welcomes what you are trying to do?

VFE: To a degree, I think.

As far as the concerts go, we are still at a stage where we are trying to develop an awareness through various means of publicity.

The aim of the label isn't to be a little cottage label in a local community in Victoria (that's simply where we happen to be located) but rather, to be an international label.

NDB: What about off-island and out of country clients?

VFE: We have received submissions from Italy, Spain, throughout the U.S.A. and Eastern Canada and we have received some really fine music.

A lot of people are hopeful that someone out there will pick up their material, but it is my preference to work with people that are more proximate.

It's not a qualitative thing, but rather the fact that it is easier to deal with people you can interact with directly.

NDB: Do you find much competition from anybody else in town?

VFE: I don't think about competition; this is art, not sports.

If what a person, or group, or organization has to offer is truly unique, competition isn't a consideration.

For example, do you think Monet and Degas were competing?

There may have been some kind of rivalry or even enmity between them, but I don't think they were competing.

I think they each recognized the value in what the other was doing.

Was Picasso competing with Dali?

No, they didn't need to, they were both giants.

NDB: So what you are saying is that there is room for everybody?

VFE: Yeah, I think there is. I think that is the beauty of music.

I mean, some people will say "I don't like that very much," and I'll say, "well, why not focus on something you like?"

For example, there's a common practice amongst people who claim to be CD reviewers (they're actually CD critics); they spend most of their article telling you why they don't like something, not what they don't like about it.

To my mind that seems like a pointless exercise, and I can't believe that publications would pay writers to say negative things about stuff they don't like, when they can just as easily say positive things about other stuff that they do like.

It is a matter of focus; if you don't like a certain thing on the menu, don't order it, order something you like!

Or, as the old saying goes, if you've got nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

NDB: What about airtime for your artists?

VFE: We vigorously promote our artists, or family, if you will.

We promote them in as many avenues as we can find that we feel are appropriate.

For instance, whether it be radio stations, publications, WebSites, you name it, if we feel that it is aligned with our aims and ethics, and we feel that it will be mutually beneficial to both parties, then we will pursue some form of alliance that is mutually acceptable.

It is about mutual advantage rather than competition or one-upmanship.

NDB: Just going by the CD's you've given us for review, is all the music you deal with either foreign in basis, or new-age / esoteric?

VFE: No, there is no one particular style.

What we have out so far is simply representative of what we have to offer at this time.

It's just a circumstance of the evolution of the company.

For instance, we have some rock music that is waiting to be released, we have some experimental music, we have techno, we have a wide variety of styles, that so far none of our products have necessarily represented.

I look for quality over a particular style.

However, the more typical and common it is, the less likely I personally will be interested in it as a potential Channel Eau product.

NDB: How do you decide when you are going to release something? Is there a set time from when it comes in and you first hear it until it is released on disc?

VFE: No.

There are a variety of factors that influence the process, not the least of which is the financial aspect.

Without the financial means to produce a CD, you can't.

Therefore, things that we have had submitted to us earlier (that we were aware of through personal associations and such) are already slated for a release sequence.

As an example, we're a little overdue with the release of the sequel to Blue Planet - Consortium I, Millennium Shift - Consortium Two, but the material exists and it is simply a matter of time and resources before it will be released.

NDB: Do you have a philosophy where music is concerned?

VFE: The fundamental human action for sustaining life is breathing and the fundamental basis for music is rhythm, so if you think about cosmic event, such as stars - stars pulse, the light happens at a rate, a frequency.

And if every object in the universe has a geometric relationship to every other object simply by virtue of its placement in space, well, that geometric relationship is, at it's root essence, the same as music or as architecture.

I mean geometry is geometry; a rhythm is simply the repetition of a figure or statement over a period of time and within space.

So, if you have events in space, whether visual or auditory, they are musical.

Whether or not we can hear or perceive it as music is another matter.

If you take your hand and notice your pulse, you'll feel the rhythm of life, literally; that rhythm you feel there is a harmonic, if you like, of the rhythm of night and day, or the rhythm of the four seasons.

And most aspects of life are rhythmic in the same sense that a few times a day you get hungry and the various other bodily functions also occur rhythmically over time.

We have a rhythm of, well, most people work 5 days a week and get a weekend off, so we have the rhythm of the calendar and the calendar is simply an abstraction from cycles that exist in Nature.

If you were to chart your daily activities at a job, you would see that they too constitute a rhythm.

NDB: I just got a mental image of you in a lab coat in a laboratory. How weird is that?

VFE: That's not so inaccurate.

I mean, I don't wear a lab coat when I play or produce music, but the science involved in the technology that we use today to record music is rather ironic - all that just to capture the sound of a handclap or simple drum!

We want to get the most "natural," or "realistic" imaging of an acoustic instrument, but we use a great deal of sophisticated technology to achieve and possibly, further "enhance" it.

By imaging I simply mean the representation of it that you capture in the medium you record to.

NDB: What do you see the 'flavour' of Channel Eau Communications as being?

VFE: (laughs) Diverse. eclectic, innovative and unique.

High calibre, high quality, world class.

NDB: What advice would you have for some kid who is just starting out and wants to be a big star?

VFE: I'd tell them to focus on the music and not stardom.

I'd say to them that, If they just WANT to be a musician, they may find that, after awhile, when they've experienced a little of what it means and takes, they don't want to anymore.

But if they genuinely NEED and HAVE to be a musician, I'd tell them to focus on it as diligently as possible.

It's always a good idea to learn from someone with experience, so do your research, study, take lessons.

Listen to what people who can do what you'd like to be able to do say about how they do it and if it doesn't make sense to you, go and listen to someone else who explains it in a way you think you can understand.

Listen to as wide a variety of music as possible; don't just say, "Well, I only like this kind of music."

Learn how to do the things you like the most, but don't limit yourself to just that or that is all you'll be able to do.

Interact with other musicians as frequently as possible and ask them to show you how they do what they do that you like best.

Learn as much as you can about the process of making music both individually and collectively.

I think as an artist or a performer your obligation is to do the best you can because you are representing yourself.

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