The Tic Tok Men
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Name: Seven Graylands, Atian Kroft, Dieter Blank
(NOTE: This is taken from an interview with The Tic Tok Men on 07/17/00 which appeared on www.wMP3.fm. The interviewer was Cormac Strain.)
Atian) I feel it's the best form of art. It's more fluid then static images or sculpture.
Dieter) It was 50% off.
Atian) I started piano around the age of 10 or 11. I got into it much more when I was 16 (when I got my first synth, a Juno 6).
After that time, I was hooked.
Dieter) What time is it now?
Atian) Yes. I'm with Seven on that one.
Dieter) Yes. I'm with Atian on that one.
Atian) Those were the ugly months. I am remembering that. You cried like a baby every night. Boo hoo. I suck.
Seven) Shut up Atian. I seem to recall one time where....(chuckles)
Dieter) That's it. If you two don't stop it I'm turning the interview right around and taking you both home.
Atian) I'd will be saying Dieter. He is the Moog Machine
Dieter) Myself. I'm the Moog Machine.
Seven) I'd like to change my answer to Dieter please. He's the Moog Machine.
Dieter) Moog Machine, machine, machine, machine, maaaaaaachine.
Seven) I've got two really. Both I'm sure would be almost impossible to work with. One is Gary Numan. I think
he'd be cool to toss tracks around with. Plus, I think his voice is cool. It's never quite in tune, nor out of tune. It just is.
The other would be Matt Johnson of The The. Lots of passion in that guy.
Dieter) Right. First I'm the Moog Machine, now you don't want to work with me. I'm taking my Moog and going home.
Atian) Go on Dieter, tell them. Hewy Lewis. He is wishing to start a band with Hewy Lewis and be Hewy Lewis and the Moogs.
Dieter) Shhhh. What is the next question?
Seven) Blending your noodles?!?
Atian) Yes. Blending your noodles, popping your tart, smoking the tubby, you know.
Dieter) Someone has been missing their medication again.
Atian) Half pack or less.
Seven) 10-30. Depends on the day.
Seven) I haven't really had any embarrassing moments. More like frustrating ones. Losing power on stage, forgetting lines,
stuff like that.
Atian) I ripped the backside out of my trousers at a concert. That was mostly embarrassing. Not badly torn,
but I did not turn my back to the crowd.
Dieter) You didn't want them to see the boxers Gina makes you wear.
Atian) I have a close feeling to Remote Control. I just love how that song wrote itself. I also really enjoy Conduit.
The whole idea of on-line love affairs and the great sound Seven did with the vocals.
Dieter) Software-Hardware and The House of Mirrors.
Dieter) I'm busy working on Ubersetzer.
Atian) As am I with Ubersetzer. Plus, I am working on a few new ideas for the next Tic Tok Men sounds.
Atian) Blend their noodles
Seven) Whatever.
Dieter) George Foreman Grill.
Seven) What are we cooking?
Atian) I'm quite fond of the Akai AX-60. Lovely analoge synth like the Roland Juno 106, but the sounds are smoother, cleaner.
It's also very musical to work with. If I could just modify it to have aftertouch, I'd be quite happy. I would then run away
with it and move to Spain where Seven couldn't find me.
Dieter) This ashtray makes a rather nice sound (thunk-thunk-thunk).
Seven) I would like the rack version of the Roland JP8000 (the JP8080).
I ordered a Roland Trap Set. But, the company I ordered from messed it up. So, I'll be re-ordering it shortly from
another company. I'm a real gear slutt. I love it all. I'm also looking
into getting a bucketful of noise gates to quiet all the old synths in the Compound.
Dieter) Did you guys get a Roland endorsement you didn't tell me about? Sure, I leave and you get a fat, corporate
synth sponsor. I hate you guys. I'm taking my Moog and going home.
Atian) Do that CARTMAN!
Dieter) Cartman? O.K. fine. I want a new Akai sampler. Akai samplers are Hella-cool.
Atian) Shut up CARTMAN!
Dieter) Hella-cool, Hella-coooooooool, Helllllllllaaaaaaaaaa-cool.
Atian) Don't mind Dieter. He is mostly broken. As for me, I can't remember. What IS the first TTM song we wrote together?
Seven) Hmmmmmm? Was it "ASR"?
Atian) No. "ASP" was written later. Might have been '89.
Dieter) "ASR" was only a variation of the song with the big wa-wa-wa-wa sound.
Seven) HA. The wa-wa-wa-wa song. I forgot all about that one. I honestly don't remember the very first one.
So many of those songs didn't even have names.
Seven) Keyboards, drums, a bit of Bass, a smaller bit of guitar. Plus some odds and ends like harmonica, vibes,
stuff like that.
Atian) Mostly keyboards, mostly.
Seven) None.
Dieter) None.
Seven) I agree. I guess we will see more mp3.com type sites. I also would guess software much like Napster will start showing up but
it will be pay based. The user will start an account and through propitiatory software will browse and download songs for a small cost.
Dieter) Did they finally get that whole web thing off the ground? I am so out of touch.
Atian) Shut up CARTMAN! It was mostly an agreed thing. TTM started to slow of new ideas and regular life started taking over
for a few of us. It was just a natural progression of any band. We had picked a date for TTM getting back off the ground. So, it was more
of a break then a breaking up. Soon, we all lost contact with Brian. Until just a short time ago.
Seven) So far we haven't done a "complete" TTM song. Even after contacting Brian, we still haven't worked on a
song all together.
Atian) Which is still one thing we are hoping on.
Dieter) Did I tell you guys how much I hate Yoko Ono?
Atian) Quite true, but it altered rather quickly. By the third or forth song we had different sounds going on. A
different creation.
Dieter) Atian and Seven were coming up with cool new bass/bass drum beats. Funkier then the older stuff. A far cry
from anything Yoko Ono ever did.
Seven) The whole process of writing changed and the Compound underwent
a major redesign. In the old days we would all gather in the Compound and write a song. Now, we each have our own studios and MIDI files
are send in e-mail to each other. Changes are made (or not made) and the file is send on. I'll compile everything in the
Compound and the song is recorded. Then the recording is passed around and approved. Only just a few times with the last CD did we
ever all gather in the Compound together.
Without a doubt I think just a change is writing affected the outcome of the music.
Dieter) Distance has been an issue. It's proven to be very hard for me to write songs that way. The flow and "jam" process isn't there.
Seven) Bass and Drums were always the backbone of TTM. They drove the music, built the main themes. The Noisettes are totally
different.
Dieter) The Noisettes are great. TTM is great. There it is.
Interview Date: 07/17/00 - Interviewed By: Cormac Strain |