Interview: John Patrick Hastings

Today, we released the Processor Remix of the song, The Mayo Clinic, by John Patrick Hastings.  Hastings is an LA-based experimental composer and musician.  As part of the remix project, I’m going to do short interviews with the remix artists to give people some background on the song and the music.  I didn’t do one for Nancy Hess but I’m going to and then we’ll get to Alex Lauterstein and a bunch of the other artists that are working on these tunes.

Interview with John P Hastings

1. Describe your background and how you came to be working in music?

I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and starting playing music when I was 13 years old. I was initially influenced by punk music and the D.C. scene and eventually started my own band in high school. That band played and toured throughout my college years before breaking up about 8 years ago. I drifted about, playing in other bands and such until realizing that playing rock and pop music, while certainly enjoyable, was no longer what I was really interested in. I went back to school and began studying music again and now I primarily compose longer form music to be performed by various ensembles.

2. Who are your primary influences?

What sparked my initial move into different realms of music and music making was Brian Eno (as he is for many musicians). Just from him you can move to so many different places, his work with Bowie and U2 obviously, but also Krautrock bands such as Neu! and Harmonia, minimalists such as La Monte Young and Steve Reich, and even to modern art and design. So he was a biggie for me. And since going back to school two composers have influenced me in a big way, James Tenney and the previously mentioned La Monte Young. The influence of Young is music as life, literally. He creates tonal environments, these sound spaces that people’s lives move through. With some of his works lasting 4 to 6 hours you really are experiencing your life in a musical fashion. James Tenney, who died in 2006, was someone who created music conceptually wound into the physical properties of nature. His influence has instilled in me a sense of logic and structure that might not have been there before.

3. What ideas were you working with on this remix?  What story or stories or images were you evoking or conjuring?

I started this remix with a preconceived notion of creating this absurdly long, beat driven track. But after trying that, and really listening to the song, the next logical step was to just strip things away. The lyrics to me reflect a sadness, with hints of deception. I had this idea of waves: waves of sound, regret, tension. I really just wanted to distill the song down to a few notes and to characterize it in an effective way.

4. What artists or albums have you been listening to recently?

I’ve been really enjoying the latest Flaming Lips album. I see it as a return to form, though I enjoyed their last couple albums. This one though is crazy, sprawling, chaotic; everything that I love about the Lips. I’ve also been listening to the German techno label Basic Channel. They released a series of 12″ cuts during the mid-90s that I only recently found out about. Amazing stuff. For me its the perfect melding of long form music with beats. If you like the Field, prepare to get blown away by their music.

5. What’s next and upcoming for John P Hastings?

I’ve been organizing this experimental music festival out in California so that has been taking up my time as of late. I’m also working on a few new pieces at the moment to be premiered in 2010, one for a septet of my own devising and one for solo trombone with pre-recorded sound. And I’ve been asked to perform on several upcoming concerts. All in all pretty busy.

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