Singer/guitarist Robert Poss has ploughed a distinctive furrow since the demise of Band of Susans in the mid 1990s by continuing to explore his lifelong love of sound, particularly those that can be wrought from the electric guitar.
Whilst he’s been working continually, his five solo records since 2002 have been infrequent, with the records often collecting together some of his more recent works in the one place.
These records have often been more experimental than anything in the Band of Susans canon, bringing in electronics and percussion. But, with his latest release ‘Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust’, Robert has re-focussed his attention on his guitars.
In fact any BOS fan is likely to be punching the air on hearing opener ‘Secrets, Chapter and Verse’ for the first time and other examples of BOS-esque songs are sprinkled throughout the rest of the record. Many of the instrumentals would have fit comfortably within the parameters of a BOS record whilst ‘Hagstrom Fragment’ sounds like the sort of melodic guitar exploration under-taken by Chris Forsyth.
Yet, Robert has hardly forsaken his experimental edge with the rest of the album including drones and ambient guitar noise. Nevertheless, the overall impression is that DS&FD is his warmest and most approachable solo record to date.
Robert spoke to itm? to discuss both the new album and the plethora of archive material he’s been putting on his Bandcamp site in recent years.
Firstly, he discussed the circumstances that led to the release of ‘Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust’.
“Since my last release, ‘Frozen Flowers Curse The Day’ (2018), there have been some major changes in my life.
“During Covid, I retired after 24 years of location sound work for television. I have been spending a lot of time up in the Boston area where I recently was able to convert an old painter’s studio into a rough music studio, but have not been able to continue with my work playing guitar in Heroes Of Toolik and The Whimbrels in New York.
“I began recording new material in a rather haphazard manner (which is not uncommon for me), improvising sounds and textures into structures and songs. Having sold off my large modular synthesizer system (bills to pay…), I’ve been focusing almost exclusively on guitar and bass, with a bit of mandola. At a certain point, I had assembled enough material to do a digital and limited run CD release.”
Robert acknowledges that circumstances have combined to focus his attention back on the guitar.
“I think about this release in terms of my renewed interest in drones, and what I see is a neo-psychedelic romanticism. I still love writing “Rock” songs, and there are a few of those, but my focus has been on drone-based instrumentals and layered interlocking guitar parts.
“In many respects, I think DS&FD is my most accessible solo release. I think the rock songs on this release are stronger and more prominent than on my previous releases, and no longer having my large analog synthesizer setup, nor working with choreographers or filmmakers, I see this as a purist expression of where I’m at now.”
Band of Susans may represent Robert’s most overt attempt to engage with the rock mainstream, but his interest in sound was apparent on even those records. With his previous bands Western Eyes and Tot Rockets & the Twins also focussing on a blues/punk aesthetic, he attributes a BOS bandmate for firing his original interest in more experimental sounds.
“As a teenager, Susan Stenger introduced me to the music of Julius Eastman, John Cage, Christian Wolff, Fred Rzewski, David Tudor, etc., so I always had one foot in Blues/Rock/Punk and one in what was then called “New Music”.
“When I was a student at Wesleyan, I was mentored by Nicolas Collins, and of course was greatly influenced by Alvin Lucier. When I moved to New York in 1980, Phill Niblock became a major influence, mentor and colleague, whose music I performed, and whose records I played on and often engineered. Working with Rhys Chatham over many years was also deeply inspiring.”
‘Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust’ is dedicated to Niblock who passed away recently and Robert is keen to pay tribute to his friend:
“Here’s something I wrote about Phill in an online memorial published by The Wire that I think expresses it best:
“My best friend and musical collaborator Susan Stenger introduced me to the music of Phill Niblock in the late 1970s when she took me to one of his Solstice events at 224 Centre Street.
“I thought that Phill’s music was one of the most “Rock” things I had ever heard. I found his music visceral, mesmerizing, and enchanting, and his anthropology-meets-minimalism films were the perfect accompaniment. His dense sonics filled the room with a palpable ocean of radiant energy – a soundtrack for flowing blood and beating hearts; turn one’s head a few degrees and the universe shifted.
“It was life-changing. I ended up performing and recording his music over the next several decades, working with Susan, Jim O’Rourke, Thomas Buckner, Stephen O’Malley, David First, Seth Josel and David Watson among others. It was an honor that I treasure more than ever with his passing.”
Anyone who follows Robert’s Bandcamp account cannot have failed to notice that there’s a quite a treasure trove of music on the site. Since he has control over his previous recordings, the site encompasses not just his solo work but also archive releases from Tot Rocket & the Twins and Western Eyes as well as a whole raft of Band of Susans rarities.
“I’m a rather late adopter to things like Bandcamp. At a certain point, because of renewed interest expressed to me about my ‘back catalog’, it seemed like a good time to put stuff out.
“I’ve also in my old age learned to embrace the youthful naïveté and flaws of my early recordings. They’re actually quite fun to listen to, as snapshots of the late 1970s, early 1980s scene.”
Close observers of Robert’s channels will know that there’s been several remixes of BOS material on the distortiontruth YouTube channel and the Bandcamp site and Robert explained how these came about
“Years ago, I had the 24-track 2” master tapes digitized (since the tapes were deteriorating and I could not afford temperature/humidity-controlled storage space), so I have access to virtually all of the multi-tracks.
“From time to time, I fool around with remixes. There should be more to come. It’s great fun to revisit those recordings, and because of the studios and engineers we worked with, they are astonishingly well recorded: Neve consoles and Studer recorders….”
Band of Susans’ fifth album ‘Here Comes Success’ was given a vinyl reissue in France a few years ago and there may be more BOS records to come as Robert explained:
“I’ve recently been approached about doing a super limited edition colored vinyl (one or two disc) compilation of BOS stuff. I’m hoping that happens.
“I should add that our back catalog is available on Spotify, YouTube and other streaming and download services and that some rare live recordings, demos and outtakes can be found on my personal Bandcamp page.”
Finally, for all guitar nerds out there, Robert described his Desert Island Guitars set-up.
“A G&L SC-1, a vintage 100-watt 2×12 Park 1215 combo, and an Amptweaker BigRockPro.”
‘Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust’ is available as a download and limited run CD, is available from his Bandcamp, along with other solo recordings and the archival material discussed above:
https://robertposs.bandcamp.com
Further information is available from:
- King Creosote / Emily Barker - 17 November 2024
- Jill Lorean - 15 November 2024
- The Room - 2 October 2024