Issue 3 Featured Interview-- Watabou

Local wizard Watabou tells us about who he is, what he does, and why he likes Ke$ha.

photographs courtesy of michael john bedra

Where are you from?

I'm from Ann Arbor. I don't currently live in town (I live half an hour out in the expanse of Hamburg Township), though I lived and spent most of my childhood in Ann Arbor, and feel that as time goes by I've only developed a stronger social connection with its scene.

What is your approach to performing?

Performing is something I just recently started paying attention to as an avenue for more applied creativity as opposed to just a recital of tunes. I tend to try and expand on my compositions to give room for more variation that can be specific to each performance, which is a lot more of a long term thing than I initially anticipated. I typically try and relate compassion to every aspect of my performance though, and I oftentimes talk a lot more than the audience feels necessary to try and thoroughly explain my actions.

I've been trying to develop the ability to play for the audience, essentially, though right now I just tend to universalize and bring what I know I'm totally capable of, and occasionally experiment with new concepts.

I'm playing around with a lot of things in my own time though, namely electronic improvisation, and hope to add plenty of new elements to my live performance within the very near future.

“I oftentimes talk a lot more than the audience feels necessary to try and thoroughly explain my actions.”

What style would you say you perform in?

Positive electronics. I think that's as specific as I can get without negating something or insinuating something else. This project has gone through a lot of different phases regarding style, and will probably go through a number of changes in the future.

The only real guidelines I create while writing music for this project are that it has to be an externalization of myself- which is pretty easy to maintain given that Watabou's a solo project- and that it's electronic.

I feel like I'm frequently pigeonholed into categories like "breakcore" or "cybergrind", but I also feel like there are aspects of my music that separate me from typical artists that perform those styles.

What are some of your biggest musical influences?

Wolves In The Throne Room. They're a newer black metal band from Oregon. These guys inspire me musically and more generally as people.

Their music is really intense, and while it seems.....

TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, PURCHASE BRAINRAPE ISSUE #3 AT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE (Where applicable). The full interview will be posted in its entirety November 27, 2011.