INTERVIEW: Vinyl Williams

1) What do you want people to hear most when they hear your music?
The color teal, guitars, gradients derived from ambience, a palace in the mind.

2) Having music on Band Camp, along with other such platforms in music right
now such as Sound Cloud, Spotify and others, do you feel that music is moving into a virtual age? Personally, I fully support the idea of downloading songs for free from Band Camp and then if I like them buying them on vinyl.
Of course music is most experienced nowadays through its intangibility, through binary. I support the near-future method of listening: telepathy, without a medium. Maybe an entire composition can be experienced in one infinitesimal moment. That way its currency is no longer formidable, its just within thought.

3) How important of a factor do you feel that record labels play in music these days when pretty much anyone can put their music on the internet as opposed to having to hand out demo tapes at shows, the distribution record labels can offer, etc. It just seems like it’s a bit easier these days to succeed as a band- and even build up a strong fan base- before a label possibly comes calling for you.
Yes, Unknown Mortal Orchestra received their exponential success in this way, and yet they've signed on with Jagjaguwar to further plug them into their own scene. No Pain In Pop has been a swell addition to VW… they released Nite Jewel's first album, which I absolutely love. I'm not a very authoritative guy, the best thing about having some kind of administration above you is so they can do all of the rational bullshit that most musicians frankly suck at. I'm also pretty terrible at setting deadlines for myself…right now I have 4TB of improvisational material to go through. I have no idea how I'll find the time to re-discover the gems in all of this chaos. Having a MGMT team helps in terms of pressuring my own practice (it sounds bad) but truly…it has done wonders thus far.

4) If you could tour with any single band or musician who would you pick and why?
I would tour with Neu! as long as I could play drums - somebody needs to replace Steve Shelly of Sonic Youth, may as well be. No hard feelings for the guy, I love his playing for SY - but he does not capture the pulsating repetition that Klaus mastered…since when can drum tones become meditative in rock music? Since Neu!

5) Who is your favorite New Kid on the Block?
Ted Feighan of Monster Rally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6) Who would win in a musical fight: Jack Black or Jack White?
On the winter solstice Jack White would probably conquer with a joust in his left hand, and a Zulu blanket in the other. On Enya's birthday (February 31st 2050) Jack Black would win with a phallic obelisk on wheels as his pet and a cape from Saudi Arabia on his back.

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