Paddy Steer

Paddy Steer é o convidado desta semana e é com um enorme prazer que trazemos até vós, um pouco da sua já longa carreira enquanto músico. Oriundo de Manchester, com diversas participações e projectos musicais, este é o seu Homelife Project. Fomos ver o concerto em Vigo no MARCO – Museo de Arte Contemporánea – que fez parte de uma série de concertos por Espanha e França.
Estivemos à conversa com ele e aqui vos deixamos a entrevista integral

 

1. Who is Paddy Steer? 

I am a 51 year multi instrumentalist, recordist,  dreamer, procrastinator and DIY enthusiast

2. How does it feel to be a mancunian musician?

I don’t see myself as  particularly mancunian even though I’ve always lived here.

Manchester is a good sized city  it’s fairly easy to navigate . it’s not too big and  but it has  just about enough cultural stuff going on .

geographically … it’s a good base to play other parts of the UK as I can generally drive home within 5 hours of most towns.

Of course Manchester has a large amount of successful musical heritage and exports .. but  I don’t feel particularly connected to any of those bands musically.

 

3. For how long are you playing?

I’ve been playing bass since I was 14 (37 years ago) and took up drums when I was 40 and then did my first solo show when I was about 44

4. What inspires you to create music?

other music inspires me to create music, whether I like it or not doesn’t always matter.

Colours of sound-  instrumentation

the physicality of certain instruments and delicacy of others.

Juxtaposition and contrast, playing with texture..

I’m not  afraid of certain imperfections ( although some will really bother me! which leads to procrastination and exploration in the studio

Playing live is a potential  plate spinning disaster area… but the inspiration to play live is for the travel and seeing new places.. This is a little cumbersome as my equipment weighs about 250Kg and is impossible to fly

So I have to drive … which is ok .. I just  drove 5600Km to Spain and back to manchester …

5. How did you started your homelife project? 

Homelife was started with myself and  Tony Burnside from a band we were both in called yargo, and Simon King who I’d met as a composer of student films

Somehow I got in touch with Rosie Lowdell a violinist from the manchester college of music , she brought a couple of string players  and Semay Wu .. Semay brought in Seaming To singer and multi instrumentalist.

we had and old school friend of mine Faron Brooks living in canada and sending his vocals on cassettes  we’d then place them into the recordings. And Tony Burnside would sing a bit also.

the recordings became rich … and we formed a large ensemble of around 12 people  with various other musicians for a few years …

until the stress – with little financial stability -of keeping everyone together, organising rehearsals, getting gigs etc  took  its toll. ..”Let me get off ! I want to enjoy music again!“

6. Please tell us what is the story of this wonderfull instruments you make, your search, what moves you in.

Making synthesizers  became fun interesting and a  new challenge..

If I was going to do more solo shows I wanted to have a unique set of colours.

I find satisfaction   learning how to build these things  and not just buying the latest development from some megalithic electronics company..

with the online feedback and troubleshooting help of Ray Wilson of ‘Music from Outer Space’ I built a few of his designs.

I put guitar pickups in our family childhood glockenspiel .. ( I remember it was always hard for our engineer to get it loud enough when we did the large homelife) Now it’s very loud.

I also remember shakers being quiet … so I made some electric shakers .. which give extra colour also … when effected and when playing drums gives an extra density.

I’m usually tinkering with some aspect of the boxes of stuff I’ve built … replacing circuits with bits of others, changing input resistors .. trying to set the levels of each mixer section …

putting in fuzz boxes … then taking them out .. trying phasers, delays, ring modulators or what ever ( where ever there is some knob space) … taking them out agin .. until I find something workable..

I’m fairly set on what I have at the moment … but have some ideas ..

7. If Paddy Steer ever come to Portugal, what can the audience expect from you?

They can expect a certain amount of chaos. which will mask  a sensitivity that exists in the home recordings. Hopefully they will see and hear humour, passion, musicality and a nervous breakdown.

Some will be appalled  by my lack of accuracy and will leave with their ears bleeding… but hopefully  they will see possibilities.

 

Short Answer (what comes to your mind)
1. A song?

Dois E Dois: Quatro Nara Leáo

2. A book?

If this Is a man/The Truce: Primo Levi

3. A place?

the Hills around  Coniston Water – Lake district

4. A trip?

Two nights on the River Nile on a sinking Faluka with some grumpy strangers, leaving boat then hitchhiking solo in Egypt  to nearest station then 18 hour train journey  sleeping on hard floor back to Cairo with a headache.. going to chemist getting headache pills.

5. A wish?

To earn enough to pay tax one day