Clark
The dark, distinctive producer brings his relentless sound to Odaiba

Courtesy of Brand New Made

The biannual Nagisa festival transforms the breezy, barren concrete behind the landmark Fuji TV building into a mammoth two-day, all-day party. This year’s event presents Clark as headliner for the Saturday hoedown. The Englishman’s latest album Turning Dragon, released on UK electronic label Warp, is a journey of relentless and forward-thinking experimentation, typical of the label’s pioneering spirit…

What’s the concept behind Turning Dragon?
Conceptualizing happens in idle moments after I finish a record, which sort of means it ceases to be a concept… When I saw the LP artwork that my friend Matt Burden did, I knew it should be married to the music: angular and full of sharp edges with a sort of heavy-handed grace and subtlety… kind of eroded and ancient, not trying to look too futuristic.

Tracks sometimes feel unstructured…
I don’t hear my music as chaotic; to me it sounds real neat. Even the abrasive elements are meticulously placed, melodies slotting in so perfectly that any other selection of notes sound almost mathematically wrong. Like the arpeggios in the last track—to me they just simply can’t be any other notes… The weird one is that most of the more nasty, loud stuff gets made in a tranquil, homely setting, i.e., at home with loads of cups of tea.

How do you take such energetic material and turn it into a live set?
I don’t mean to sound obtuse but, it feels really easy, I just crack on and push the midi into the sweet spots. Just drink tea, and it sorts itself out. I’ve got about 15 types of tea at the moment. Rooibus and chocolate... it sounds disgusting but it’s really pretty proper. Oh yeah, and this weird “witches” tea, which is pretty tasteless. You’d think it would be full-on, because witches are generally quite full-on characters, aren’t they? But it ain’t. It’s like drinking the smell of old grass..

What influences you?
If you free yourself from your ego and become a bit blasé, just sculpting out of nowhere, not thinking “this is a single,” it ends up on your computer as huge chunks of distilled energy… It’s the industry that pushes the “LP” format, a totally illusory form. Music is just as powerful when it’s a continuous ebb and flow, like a pitch-black forest that you can only navigate if your brain is a super powerful torch.

What can we expect at Nagisa?
I’ve no idea. I haven’t been to Japan before. I’m looking forward to it. Should be fun....

Clark (live + Flat-E visuals)@Nagisa, Saturday April 12. See club listings for details. For the full two-day lineup and further information see www.nagisamusicfestival.jp.

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