Vue Magazine Review

From Vue Weekly, October 26 - November 1, 1995

STATE OF MIND
(Cover Story)

by Wendy Boulding

Shawn Pinchbeck makes music that turns your brain into a marshmallow and lures you towards an open flame where your gray matter will be melted and melded into a pit of your deepest thoughts and his personal insights. For the first time in four years, his creations have become more than on-stage performances and self-fulfilling experiments. Resonance is Pinchbeck's latest CD - a glimpse into what one of Edmonton's more eclectic musicians has been up to. Pinchbeck has the playfulness of a little boy and the mind of a mad scientist. His medium of choice is electronic music and it allows him to live vicariously through a never-ending stream of technology that offers no boundaries and virtually no structure. Freedom may be a distant passion for some, but for Pinchbeck it is his reality.

"Sound is an element rather than a performance," he explained.
"You can manipulate it any way you want and use it in any context to gain the effect you desire."

Layers of tones combined with elements of chaos and a palette of self-reflecting emotions comprise a Shawn Pinchbeck instrumental. Starting with a drone, a rhythm or a melody, he manifests a piece of music that is only finished when all possibilities are exhausted. On this CD Pinchbeck finds himself collaborating with flautist Marion Garver. Garver contributes three of the 10 songs on the disc and brings a sense of peace to Pinchbeck's chaos. As much as this project is touted as a duet, it lacks a sense of unity. This is a Pinchbeck adventure with Garver merely serving champagne during the intermission.

"I like subtleties when I am recording and composing," Pinchbeck confessed.
"I work hard at creating soundscapes that have multitudes of layers and levels to it. I like creating texture. It's what I do. I want there to be different ways of listening to it and different things that come out depending on your state of mind."

Resonance personifies his techniques and reveals how Pinchbeck takes the coldness of electronic music and turns it into spun angel hair. The lack of aggression and boldness on this recording is evolutionary for this self-taught musician.His last offering, '91's Penetration, showed signs of depth but lacked the necessary inspiration he acquired over the last four years of mental wandering.The music he has contributed to film, to performance art and his interest in environmental sounds and pirate radio add to his creativity as if they were patches on a quilt that only Pinchbeck himself can visualize.

"All of my ideas have been generated from my own interests and my own approach to things. I don't pay attention to formal structures. I enjoy freedom and I'll always make it a part of my music," he said.

Inspiration by English ambient band Tangerine Dream and recordings by other industrial bands were brought into Pinchbeck's life via his older brothers. He remembered being drawn to sounds and would eventually begin creating his own by using a four-track recorder to capture his surroundings and fusing what he found. Originally, he wanted to compose solely for performances by dancers and other musicians. But somewhere along the way, it became more personal. His fascination with electroacoustics and a need for expression caused him to forge his own creative path of composing that now, 10 years later, he is confident to follow and leaves occasionally to collect new ideas for future pieces.

"Traditionally, electronic music has unnatural elements associated with it," he explained, justifying why he chose impersonal technology over working with other musicians.

"But I try hard to make it sound natural. I want to give the music a warm, easy feeling."

In a previous interview, Pinchbeck admitted he wanted to perfect using the recording studio as an instrument. With this new CD, he came a little closer to reaching his goal by bringing forth a sense of intimacy. For many musicians, the recording studio is an extension of their live acts. For Pinchbeck, this is not the case. Onstage, his music whips circles of energy around the room and leaves one breathless. That's just what he offers in a recording of his observations of things past.

"These pieces are very revealing. That always worries me about my music because it is totally reflective. It's kinda creepy, but that's the way I work. These are thoughts and feelings that need to be expressed."

Pinchbeck is a resident at the Banff Centre until December. Being influenced by his environment you'd think the location would spawn creative jolts, but it's been more of a networking experience for Pinchbeck. Last summer, he took part in the International Computer Music Festival and is now working with and composing for other acoustic musicians. He plans to perform when he arrives back in Edmonton to promote the CD. After that, he's open for suggestions. As personal as Resonance may be, and as much as it documents the last four years of changes Pinchbeck has been through, it still remains a CD which draws you in.When a musician can take self-indulgent perceptions and twist them to create a looking glass meant for your subconscious, that musician must be doing something right.

"I feel fairly confident that what I am doing has some appeal to it. Often in the past, I didn't feel that way. But this CD seems to have something going for it. We'll see if anyone else agrees."

hear some sound clips from RESONANCE

go back to see more reviews of RESONANCE