RG Rough | Interview | New Album, ‘70’
RG Rough is a daring experimental musician with several albums under his belt. Rough collaborated with artists such as Richard Pinhas of Heldon and Makoto Kawabata, leader of Acid Mothers Temple.
’70’ is the latest album by RG Rough and it’s a musical jigsaw made out of sounds from the ’70s, ripped to shreds, reshaped, reassembled and coerced into fitting. This long piece in ten parts takes the listener on a different journey through that decade. ’70’ should appeal to fans of electronic German music of the ’70s and beyond.
Would you like to talk a bit about your background?
RG Rough: I was born in 1971, of French and English parents. From the age of 10, I was totally obsessed with music, records and the idea of making music although I didn’t actually try to play anything before my mid to late teens. After a brief phase of banging away on various objects and making an awful racket with a friend, I started playing the guitar, singing, and trying to write songs. I also played a lot of covers (Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and plenty of other stuff), on the street. From the mid 90s onwards, I had several bands and also did a lot of 4 track home recordings. I was very much into cheap electronics and samplers. I got tired of being in a band, singing and trying to write lyrics (which was always a drag) a few years ago and started experimenting a bit more.
You have a brand new album out, ’70’. How long did you work on it?
Probably about 3 or 4 months, pretty much everyday. That seems fairly quick. Dunno …
“All the music was composed using nothing but very brief samples from 70s records”
Would you say it’s a concept album?
It’s definitely a concept album as it was made around a rigid concept, with set rules, although not in the “Tommy” sense, as there are no lyrics, no story. All the music was composed using nothing but very brief samples from 70s records (usually just single notes) ordered in a more or less chronological way. The concept was to stick to those guidelines and hopefully make something not too unpleasant to listen to.
Do you see it as a continuation of your debut release, ’60’?
Yes, it’s very much a follow up to that record. The concept is the same but as far as the music’s concerned I think this one flows more and is probably easier to listen to. It is also much more based on rhythmic sounds. This might have been a semi conscious decision. I’ve forgotten. I’ve been told you could almost dance to parts of it! I guess I’ve gone mainstream without really trying to, haha.
What was the creative process for it and can you share some further words about the tracks?
First of all listening to shitloads of records (which is what I do all the time anyway) from the 70s and picking out whatever sounds I thought I could use. I tried to include as many favourites as possible although that’s not really the point. It wasn’t about making a list of the “200 or 300 greatest albums from the 70s” kind of thing. It’s very hard, if not impossible to recognize anything so the use of specific sources is kind of symbolic really. Once I had painstakingly collected a large bank of sounds (year by year, from 1970 to 1979), which I systematically modified before I actually tried to use any of them , I started trying out numerous combinations of sounds, creating melodies, riffs and loops out of isolated notes using rhythmic elements in the same way as you would with a drum machine Some bits were done using an Octatrack, which is my main tool when I play live. That’s it really. I don’t think you can call any of these pieces “songs” or perhaps I have too restricted an idea of what a song might be…
The pandemic really made it impossible to gig. Have you found the isolation creatively challenging or freeing?
I tend to be fairly isolated anyway and don’t really play live that much so it wasn’t a huge change for me. In fact it coincided with a period where I didn’t really feel like doing any live stuff at all, although I did do a couple of online or private gigs. As far as creating, recording et cetera goes, it was pretty much business as usual for me. Funnily enough I am starting to play gigs more regularly again these days. I’m just going with the flow.
Any hopeful plans for getting back to playing live this year?
Apart from my solo project, I’ve got a couple of things coming up with two different duos. One of them is called Rough Divine and it’s more or less song orientated although quite experimental. I even do a bit of singing again… We’re doing our debut gig in a couple of days time. The other is RG Rough & Léa Claessens, who is a great violinist. We made an album, which has been on Bandcamp for ages and is now being released on CD by Bam Balam Records. We’re playing live at the beginning of July. All this is around Bordeaux where I live. I would really like to start touring again but I’m too lazy to go round looking for gigs and I don’t have anyone to do that for me.
When it comes to music making, how do you approach it?
Wholeheartedly! Don’t know what else to say… I’ve never really wanted to do anything else and luckily I haven’t had to very much.
“I’d try to get a band together with Ray Davies doing a bit of everything”
If you could work with any other artist from the past (dead or alive) who would it be?
I’d try to get a band together with Ray Davies doing a bit of everything, Kevin Ayers on bass and Moe Tucker on drums. Jaki Liebezeit could play some additional percussion. Perhaps I would ask Pierre Henry or Bernard Parmegiani to provide a bit of weird shit and Mark E. Smith to write lyrics. It would have to be either Brian Wilson or Brian Eno producing. Perhaps both. We’d also record a few Peel sessions. Sorry, being silly but I’m enjoying it! Oh by the way I did get to play guitar for Kim Fowley in real life, a couple of times. That was fun.
Would you like to talk about your collaboration with Steve Dalachinsky?
It was JJ of Bam Balam Records’ idea to have us make this record together. Steve Dalachinsky had already released two albums with the Snobs, a Parisian duo providing backing, on the label. It was quite difficult at first to choose which poems to include among a couple of hours of recordings Steve had made. Once we’d sorted that out, I started composing backing tracks to his spoken words, which I would send to him for approval. Sadly, he passed away a few months after we had started working on the record and I never got to meet him in person.
I really enjoyed your work with Makoto Kawabata.
Thanks a lot! That was also an over the internet collaboration and an idea of JJ’s. I worked around an already existing long drone piece recorded by Makoto Kawabata, which I used as a kind of canvas. There are many different sounds from different instruments provided by me and a couple of guests, so in the end, the canvas was well covered in aural paint but you can still hear MK’s guitar drifting in and out of the mix throughout.
What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?
I’m not even sure what my “own style” might be. It tends to vary from one record to the next and I try to play a little with “proper” instruments (the ones that have got strings and keys and things like that ) these days. As far as ’70’ is concerned. I was definitely influenced by the 200 something bands/ artists whose records I borrowed tiny bits from, but I mustn’t tell…
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
Most of my favourite albums are the usual 60s psych/pop, experimental, punk/post punk records everybody else likes. For a few years until fairly recently I had gotten a bit fed up with rock ‘n’ roll, pop and so on and was deeply into electro acoustic, drone, noise et cetera but I seem to have drifted back to my roots a bit. At this very minute I’m listening to a record of traditional Japanese music (Sakura Ensemble). What else have I listened to today?
The first Cameo LP (some nice greasy funk), Coil’s ‘Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2’ (just picked up the reissue), some Albert Ayler. I don’t listen to much new stuff I’m afraid. It’s very much what I happen to find second hand before it gets stored away with my thousands of other records. I’m a big fan of Tomaga. That’s quite recent, although the duo no longer exists as Tom Relleen sadly passed away in 2020. I’ll just mention two of my all time favourite pop albums, which are slightly less famous than ‘Pet Sounds’ or ‘Revolver’: ‘I Often Dream of Trains’ – Robyn Hitchcock and ‘The Greatest Living Englishman’ – Martin Newell. Anyone who likes “songs” should have these. I can’t live very long without listening to The Fall. And give me a shot of Pere Ubu and a large dose of Cluster any day.
Thank you. Last word is yours.
I’m very busy being in love at the moment. Who knows what might happen? I might make a record that sounds like Marvin Gaye or even Barry White.
Klemen Breznikar
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Bam Balam Records Official Website / Facebook
