The Sine Community had the opportunity to ask Honeysmack a couple of questions after his performance in Il Brutto, New Zealand. Who exactly, is the man behind the madness?
Known for his energetic live electronic music performances specialising in acid house and techno, how on earth did this man receive a designation for a person who has obtained a doctorate? Let's find out.
Depends on who or when you ask!
I've never thought of myself as part of a specific "scene" and feel I've always resided on the peripheries of genres and fashionable scenes as they come and go. Of course, I love interacting and experiencing different sub-cultures, although I've never felt I was a member of any particular tribe. That's also the result and privilege of growing up in Melbourne through the 1980s where there was a real Bouillabaisse of music cultures. I'm interested in experiencing art and music that is provocative, that challenges ones' thinking. I want to be stimulated by the shock of the new.
Around the late 1970s and early 1980s, Disco, Punk, Synth Pop, and early Hip Hop all came together. For me, it all came together in the late 1980s in the form of Acid House, which later turned into Techno. As a media arts student at the time, it had a big impact on how I started to make music as I learned about synthesis, music technology, and studio processes.
Soon, it became clear to me that I was mimicking the music I heard in clubs, parties and raves. We didn't have the internet back then, so we had to go out to record shops, clubs, and parties to discover new music. Radio and TV didn't have a lot to offer, although the 1980s saw a treasure trove of great pop music that took greater creative risks!
My creative process has not changed all that much, maybe some technologies have helped along the way. The focus remains on how I connect to hardware and how I compose and perform with the studio-as-instrument. I never had any formal music training and music theory is just another code of rules that some people find useful, although I've never had the need for it. Music technology gave me the means to make music. The studio and all the devices within the studio form the instrument I perform with. Everything from the machines making sounds (drum machines and synths) to the mixer, effects processors and sync boxes.
I've been in and out of teaching in higher education for many years and pursuing a PhD was more so or less a prerequisite qualification to teach at universities. I kept going to universities to gain access to music technology and studios when I was younger because music technology was totally unaffordable and out of my reach at the time. I didn't give much thought about the qualification or where it would lead to. You could say I was an accidental academic of sorts as I never thought making underground electronic dance music would be considered an academic pursuit.
My exegesis (as it was practice-led research) investigated a range of real-time compositional approaches and the evolution of my creative practice as Honeysmack. Essential how I make Acid Techno bangers, titled: Bacharach, Britney, and Acid Techno Bangers: The Evolving Creative Practice of Honeysmack
The research is in the making and performing of the music, it doesn't stop, it continues! I'm not theorising about it, I'm making it. Overall, I've learnt electronic dance music, particularly its rapidly evolving traditions and how it is made is a growing area in academia. What I've learned more specifically is that I am an improvisor. I used to think that word only applied to jazz musicians, but here we are.
Every show is unique and different, they are all very challenging but in a good way, this is what drives me. As an improvisor I embrace the uncertainty of each show from the different array of gear of chosen to not knowing what will resonant with the audience. All of this contributes to the energy, flow and ultimate outcomes of the performance, it makes for an exciting experience for both the audience and me.
I always look forward to hearing and seeing something new that will challenge me. The current state of the industry seems a little flat at the moment, but this will soon pass, and the next wave will be spectacular as it always is!
How much time have you got? My studio is a mix of vintage and new gear, built over a long time. Doing this for as long as I have, my studio contains way more than I need, but I love how new bits of gear informs new ways to make and perform. Elektron boxes have always been the link between vintage old gear and the new. I often refer to Elektron boxes as the 'missing link'. From the Octatrack to the MachineDrum through to their newer boxes like the Syntakt and Digitakt II, Elektron offer a great performance interface balancing features versus limitation. Elektron boxes are a big part of how I perform and create music.
My career started with the TB-303, TR-909, TR-808 along with the SH-101 and MC-202. They are still very much part of what I do, and they will always be the key ingredients to what I do. For over 20 years I would take many of these machines out to perform with, but these days they have become more like museum pieces. They continue to get a workout in studio, although I tend to take them out lesser these days.
I love collaborating and the unique results it breeds. I'm always jamming with friends and peers, recording the sessions to see what comes of it. Too many to list here!
This was my first time in New Zealand and the Sine Community truly proved how engaged and connected they are with the global electronic music community. The demo and performances made for a great night and am humbled by the hospitality of Sine, everyone at Il Brutto, local Auckland artists and everyone who came out. Think it is safe to say I'll be back!
