Demolishing art you make is a frequent occurrence while creating a masterpiece. Well, my boiii 회사AUTO not only intentionally creates sonic disaster areas, but thrives on hearing what DOESN’T work. And having smashed together 10 releases, he JUST RELEASED something WAY different than before, drawing from intentional mistakes to a variety of thought-provoking tunes.
As both a producer and vaporwaver, he’s making something extremely different. Sorta. Entitled Neon Beige, 회사AUTO’s new album continues his initiative to grab from all across the musical spectrum, but this time he’s gone almost entirely hands-on in synthetic sound creation, as opposed to having been perceived before as a mostly sample-based musician. From Zaturn Valley to 회사AUTO, we spoke about everything you need to know to prove the fellah is human, but without a name.
Now, 회사AUTO, you are in FACT a human, yes?
Half human, half emoji ^_^. Emojis express emotions deeper than any Shakespearean sonnet. Our generation’s Sistine Chapel. Religions, tears, and rebirths all condensed into text form. Now here, we have something very strange, let us observe this thing: 회사AUTO = company car. Half-Korean, half-German. Always taking you to places; some desirable, some horrid, yet nevertheless, perpetually moving. Is this more of the same or something new? Let’s see and discover together, at first in the third person, then finally a bit more personally and naked.
Do you find people have trouble initially understanding the name?
How can a trans-human aesthetic be created and also related to message more than a cultural lens or individual ego? How can music serve rather than take and require? There is little to no ego to 회사AUTO and no one face to this project. It is faceless. While masks are liberating, facelessness creates a void that helps fill the listeners’ minds with personal subjective reality, not the creators; thus we are freed as little to no imposed image or cultural willfulness is pushed onto the audience.
Are there any other major challenges/problems have you faced since establishing 회사AUTO?
Maintaining individual ethic amongst a sea of seemingly similar aesthetic and/or labels, 회사AUTO never equals anything and serves no one for nothing, thus can appeal to anyone. The project takes, creates, samples, spins, chops, and glitches out. The listener and the creator have a similar connection: neither knows what to expect. Where is this music coming from? Is this reality? Is this creation? Who is creating it? Is there an actual person or merely just a house of mirrors? This is not known.
Where along the line did you aspire to make the change in 회사AUTO from _N to Neon Beige?
There is a push and pull, ebb and flow between accessibility and experimentation. What makes Bruno Mars and Brian Eno both appealing? Sometimes we want sugar; easily digestible things that can make us feel instantly good. Overdo this, and sickness happens. Sometimes we need something deeper; instead of reading Dick and Jane we read Dostoevsky, instead of listening to Mariah we turn on Liszt.
*GASP*
Pop music is fun, easy, and cool, but it is reminiscent of [this is reworded] the High Fidelity Cusack quote, “What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable or were we miserable because we listened to pop music?” Slavoj Žižek describes this so clearly [also reworded, ad libbed], when he stated, “What we desire is what is cool. Like a can of Pepsi, we drink it because we think it is cool. It should refresh and quench, but au contraire, it leaves the consumer feeling more thirsty and unsatisfied.” This is how pop music feels; this is our perpetual desire to consume; this is our reoccurring problem; this is our ideological trap. Sometimes a soda is wanted and we will continue to want, but never be filled. Mostly, we need water and something with actual substance.
Changes made for this project have not followed the conventional path of what should be; why follow the path so often traveled? There is no hype to fill or aspect to assimilate into; this project centers on the rectification of inspiration. There is no genre or label or face, there is continual change, and there is consistent creation. There is no failure and there is consistent failure — it is life! It is also dreams, but are dreams not part of life? Nevertheless, it actually occurred. This music was created and couldn’t have been created any other way. What was released is released; it happened and there is no turning back.
회사AUTO was born from rotting garbage that would eventually be used against the system it came from; this became a new creation that was blessed by the interwebs, only to be destroyed and birthed again. The cycle perpetuates.
What’s been your greatest failure as 회사AUTO?
회사AUTO began as a representation of Shiva. The embodiment of the metaphorical form — not creation, not maintenance, but destruction. This was done with the purpose of leading to new life. Previous work was created, and then maintaining this finishing product became stale, so destruction was necessary in order for new seeds could germinate.
In the beginning was destruction, and destruction was 회사AUTO. The destruction was aimed directly at icons. 회사AUTO started as iconoclasm. Iconoclasm begat staleness, and this staleness yearned to rot. Rotting lent nutrition and begat life. Thus, 회사AUTO was born from rotting garbage that would eventually be used against the system it came from; this became a new creation that was blessed by the interwebs, only to be destroyed and birthed again. The cycle perpetuates.
And as this cycle perpetuates, what’s been the most difficult decision you’ve made as a musician in the last two years, and how did you come to that decision?
After receiving a telephone call regarding PR and promotion for previous work, there was the realization that music in this day and age inevitably fed the capitalistic marketplace. 회사AUTO began as the rejection of PR, the rejection of indie, hipster, buzz, hype; it embodied self-destruction and annihilation. All these things required money, and while money was never a problem for these things, it was for this project. Thus, the beginnings were inspired by accelerationist theories manifested through song in an attempt to move the system from the base instead of critiquing the apex of the hierarchy. Inevitably, the movement became solidified as vaporwave and was incorporated into the hegemonic ideology and the constraints that the movement once fought against; it became publicity. It birthed some wonderful artists but also some narcissists.
This was the demise and first challenge; this particular project fought against this by pushing past the set sound and aesthetic while maintaining the core values. The images and genres continually changed in an effort to eliminate any desire to converge with the ongoing solidification [and halting] of the movement. As sloppy or as beautiful as the creations from this project have been, creation will continue in an effort of pure human will. The main message: this can be done, anyone can create, and money should never stand in the way of personal art.
As an educator IRL, do your students support you with your URL artistic endeavors?
Anyone can appreciate art, but art is easier to appreciate knowledge, understanding, skills, and a proper disposition. While some teens and students may like these artistic endeavors, most desire to fill five basic needs that William Glasser easily defines as:
1. Survival — Feeling safe at school
2. Love and belonging — Not being rejected
3. Power and/or Recognition — Actually being significant through control or accomplishment of goals
4. Freedom — To have choices
5. Fun — To be satisfied
While I’d love to share my music, I feel like I am there to help these students move past “Identity vs. Role Confusion” — they don’t want a cool music teacher, they really just want someone who will fill their needs. I have shared with a couple students, but it left them really confused. I mainly keep it a secret, it’s more fun that way.
It seems as though you’ve a slew of instruments in your possession (via school AND especially at home). Which are your favorite and what are your most revered, but still used?
The bread and butter for all these songs from ÄmírecÄ onward is the Korg EMX-1 (ElecTribe). It’s an incredible analog sequencer that creates all of the beats, bass, arps, and numerous textures and sounds. The Fender Telecaster has been central to creation — instead of creating guitar riffs with this, Neon Beige took a left turn and made the tracks sound really dry instead of laying on the reverb to change things up. The electric guitar is a very active machine; playing it requires active human motion — beyond beats, it has been the main, hands-on instrument for 14 years of work.
They take sample work that was sampled and create something that was sampled. Each time this is done, a company tries to own it. But the distance between creator and actual music becomes greater and greater — it’s now a sample of a sample of a sample. And then we sample that, slow it down, chop it up, add some layers, and do it again. Is this disingenuous? Does anyone own this?
A MicroKorg with vocoder — songs such as “Goes Around” and “Spent Money” use this for texture. The chaotic Boss ME-50 multi-effect pedal (seems like everything is eventually plugged into this)… lends a variety of sounds to work with, reverb, delay, overdrive, chorus, harmonizer, sustain, etc. The harmonizer effect on this pedal coupled with the Tele has been used to create bass on some tracks. Ableton Live to sequence, loop, and linearly edit. Midis never used, but samples and heavy editing occur often in early work. Ableton assists creation through filters, sequencers, and the freedom to edit. Editing takes the most time for the majority of these albums and songs. An Akai MPK49. And a vastly diverse folder of music from Peruvian pan flute songs to Terence Trent D’Arby.
One of the most revered but awful tools from Neon Beige is a microphone. It was discovered in a pile of trash on the street outside of a Nori-Bang (karaoke room) while living in Daegu, South Korea. This instrument personifies the: pulled from the trash and unwanted, creation can occur with focus and persistence. This equipment is the accumulation of 14 years of playing music (gifts, gift certificates, lots of spending cuts, eating beans to save). Beans, beans, the magical fruit!
As a musician who relies occasionally on samples, as well as someone who has releases a slew of digitally available albums, and a cassette, how do you perceive “ownership” of music in the modern day?
The current marketplace of independent music relates to American neo-liberalism in South America under the Reagan administration, with fixed low prices because of commodity artificially flooding the market place and drowning the competition. This may sound complex but it is simple. Big music creates images and sounds of new movements, and then moves in on the turf of these new movements. Independent artists create fixed low prices (or no prices), which perpetuates a system of poverty UNLESS they succumb to paying for or giving in to business methods of promotional marketing, product-pushing, and promises. The only way independent artists can compete with this system is to either a) not charge for anything or b) begin charging (which will not spread their art) OR c) continuously release music at an incredible rate. This third option can only be done by massively ripping, altering, and sampling previous work in order to meet deadlines. This is where the accelerationist theories come in — we are speeding up the production or garbage in an effort to destroy the system within — BUT we are also competing against huge companies that have means. We do not.
Think about this — why do so many people refer to the 1970s to mid 80s as the golden age of music? Was this not directly tied to a capitalistic anomaly? Many poor people who lived in the rust belt were able to buy instruments for their children. These children went on to create bands in their garages and thus: soul, punk, funk, disco, etc was born. Soon, these jobs disappeared with outsourcing and Reaganite neo-con policies. These families went broke and we have current-day Detroit. The children sold their instruments but realized they could use mom and dad’s turntables to create. They used previous work “owned” by companies to make new sounds. This was their only means. Thus, hip-hop, house, techno, etc. was all born. This was their only means — to take from those who came before. Fast forward 25-30 years. Kids don’t have turntables or instruments, but they have used computers with pirated music software and pirated music. They realize they can take this music and sample it like the previous generation, but digitally. They take sample work that was sampled and create something that was sampled. Each time this is done, a company tries to own it. But the distance between creator and actual music becomes greater and greater — it’s now a sample of a sample of a sample. And then we sample that, slow it down, chop it up, add some layers, and do it again. Is this disingenuous? Does anyone own this?
On one end you have Bosch, Renoir, and Botticelli. You have hours of masterpiece creations with the substance. On the other you have Hundertwasser, Dadaists, Warhol, Pollock, or even further out — Homer Simpson’s failure to create a BBQ pit: art. What is art? Is someone creating something from scratch better than someone taking something or destroying something? What makes Marcel Duchamp’s “L.H.O.O.Q.” better or worse than the “Mona Lisa”? Is that painting owned? Is ownership just commodity? Would I be angry if someone sampled my music? No. Would I be angry if a corporation used my music to promote something I didn’t agree with? Most likely, yes. Can I actually own something? Now we are getting into something beyond creation, getting into the philosophical ideas of humanity, mother earth, people, identity, etc.
Oh man, I need to take a quick break from this interview, eat some beans, and then reevaluate what I said….
[회사AUTO powers down to power up by ingesting some beans]
I’ve been living off of pinto beans all summer. You can buy a 4lb bag for $4, and that will last you about a month. Things I do for music…
What if Saint Pizza freaked and found out 회사AUTO was doing something against the law, like fraud (LOLOLOL), what would you do?
Ahhh, oh, no! Wait, am I? Oh, shoot… copywriter laws, yeah? But…artistic freedom… Parody? Uhhh, where’s my lawyer? Wait, I don’t have one because you can’t pay a lawyer with beans. Am I the Weird Al of this movement? Is there a movement? Can I not be part of it? This is all confusing, I plead the fifth.
If I were to ask your parents to provide you additional musical training or exposure, what would they suggest?
Time machine? Parents, please force me to learn piano at a young age, and especially jazz chords and runs. I heard they were going to do this, but I refused to put down my SNES. So I picked up the trumpet, dropped that and learned guitar back in 2000. In reality, my family has been my biggest support for music. I have a highly musical family (everyone at my family reunions plays a different instrument). I have cousins in bands, aunts that sing in choir, music-teacher uncles, aunts that sing on stage and opera, uncles and my dad, [who] play in all these bands, a mom who plays piano, and a brother who got me into non top-40 music in the first place back in 1994. I picked up playing piano later on but I am no where close to where I wish I was, so that’d be the one thing I’d change if I could.
Has 회사AUTO ever gone on tour? Are you planning on it? If you have, or ARE planning on it, what is/would-be your set-up/gear?
I played some shows as Zaturn Valley back in 2012/2013, but I have been too busy recording and teaching/lesson planning to play shows since then. Online SPF420 concerts probably don’t count — or wait, do they? I feel like the Steely Dan of this scene — I love studio work but feel like it may not translate as well live. If anyone wants to see me play live, come knock on my door in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle and I’ll pull out all my equipment.
Do I need to play live? The Beatles rarely did in their second wind. I’d rather create an art-piece installation for my music than pretend to dance around and turn knobs like so many electronic musicians do — I don’t want to fake it or lie to my fans. Plus, the way I’ve produced my songs really does sound best as a final piece rather than an aerobic attempt by me to play 16 tracks all at once. Who knows, if there is a demand, I just might. I want to! Maybe this fall, winter, spring? Portland, I’m looking at you.
If you had to choose one signature dance move on tour as 회사AUTO, what would it be and WHEN would you deploy it upon the audience?
I’m all about the 90s’ Oogachaka dancing baby. That bald dancing baby (and maybe I say this because I am bald) has the best darn dance moves out there. I’d strike up that dance when I play Futurismo from HyperMedia and dedicate the whole thing to Luxury Elite. That’d be my move, and I will do it live. My girlfriend actually does the dance better than I do, so I say, “Work, Work, Baybay!” and take notes from her.
Inevitably, the movement became solidified as vaporwave and was incorporated into the hegemonic ideology and the constraints that the movement once fought against; it became publicity. It birthed some wonderful artists but also some narcissists.
You only get five choices here and one sentence for each explaining WHY, but: what are five of your most significant influences upon your art as 회사AUTO?
1. The Mother Series (Earthbound for SNES, Mother 3 for GBA): My first experience as a child with the eccentric and eclectic challenged me and imbedded a curiosity, which persists today in all art forms.
2. DIY Ethic (From Sun Ra to Fugazi): Never sell out, always do everything yourself, give it your all, and if it sucks, it’s still art and expression and at least it’s honest to yourself and not some forced corporate image.
3. Convergence of electronic & soul music from the 80s-now: The blend of hard hitting Euro beats & textures with the warmth and grace of African-American musical expression, composition, and vocals helped me yearn and groove at the same time.
4. Swimming: The freedom and peace water gives me continuously is beyond therapy — it emancipates me from gravity, both literal, emotional, and helps transcend me to places eternal.
5. The tingling feeling on the back of my neck before I get inspired: Sometimes, I just feel inspired to write and songs come out of nowhere from a gracious spirit, angel, or holy presence — is this the ghost of jazz past, Saraswati, or Saint Cecilia…Ommmm?
With your current mindset, what’s the most important thing you’ve yet to do as 회사AUTO?
I’ve always struggled with reifying ideas from my head; what I hear internally, I’m not always able to replicate. Where it’s the timbre of the synths I’m working with or specific textures I’m seeking, I sometimes feel quite limited with my resources. While I have more musical equipment than some folks, I feel like I have yet to create a song with sounds that come across as completely future. I would also really like to create a whole new genre, sound, style, and feel. I’m always looking to expand and am never content with my previous work. I almost need to have my past work in order to create something new and different. I’m never there and there is a lot I have yet to do. I also want to make an R&B song as simple but heartfelt as a Keith Sweat or R. Kelly song. OR Prince! Prince is my favorite artist and my biggest inspiration for all music — I want to continuously create until I am old — he is SO funky and the most underrated musician.
If you could be anywhere right now to inspire your music locationally, where would you be?
The island of Ko Tao in Thailand. I spent a week there and it had everything I wanted: snorkeling, beer, thai food, and partying on the beach. If I could live on that island with all my musical equipment, I’d be in heaven. I’m in love with water and would be so inspired by the coral and sea life.
Where do you see the future of 회사AUTO after the change in your newest album?
I’ll continue to make music in the same fashion as Sun Ra — releasing stuff with no budget, millions of albums, until I die. All DIY with a Fugazi music-ethic. Pushing beyond boundaries, continuously getting inspired by news sounds, experiences, and textures. Each time I pick up a new instrument, I get inspired to create a whole new album. Sometimes inspiration comes randomly while listening to the pop radio — a snare hit or a guitar riff often leaves me hurrying home to take notes on what I just heard and how I can incorporate those ideas or sounds into my next song. Creating music is super-exciting. Destroying it is just as exciting, and then reworking it.
Are you planning on any future collaborations with any other musicians?
As of the moment, no. But! There are tons of collaborations on Neon Beige. Ultra-grateful for all of them. Just finished up working with: Nmesh, Topaz Gang, Skeleton Lipstick, Chaz Allen, Luxury Elite, Destiny-Erotica, Soul Ipsum, Kyle Michael Porter, EvChan / Everett Phillips, Linckoln, and Golden Living Room. LOVE how songs that began as one idea in my head end up as something completely different and way beyond anything I could think up myself once the collaboration process begins. Nmesh and I have collaborated with three times, and the products have always blown my mind. Working with him is such an honor, and I love how our work compliments each other.
I am working on a song for Unsound America’s Orphan’s project. Unsound America is run by Kyle Porter (he sings “Smile” on Neon Beige) and is the Seattle-based musician who is the brother of Vox Mod (local artist who not so long ago collaborated with Shabazz Palaces). The Porter brothers went to my high school and are incredibly talented and humble. I always looked up to them as artistic role models, and the fact that Kyle is including me in his work is such an honor.
If you could cover an entire album, which would it be, and why?
I choose…. Boyz II Men’s second album titled II, released in 1994. It was the first album I ever purchased, I was in the forth grade, and it changed things for me. Lots of younger readers may not remember, but R&B/New Jack Swing was way cool in the early 90s. This album wasn’t a typical boy-band, pop-vanilla production; these four could sing harmonies like non-other. With R&B, you need to give yourself fully over to the music; if you don’t, it sounds corny, but if you do, it is highly emotional. The earnest and spirituality of this album was mind-blowing to me as a 9-year-old white boy living in the Pacific Northwest — I can listen to the song Vibin’ nonstop even to this day. BUT, I would create this album by doing something similar to what Dirty Projectors’ David Longstreth did with Rise Above — create by not revisiting the original material, but only going off of memory of the songs.
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