Hiram Discusses Artistic Journey & Music at Wonder Valley Experimental Festival 16 | Interview Transcript
Official logo for the upcoming Wonder Valley Experimental Festival 16.
I’m excited to share that the Wonder Valley Experimental Festival is just around the corner! The event kicks off on April 5th with a virtual edition streaming live on YouTube, and the in-person festival follows on April 6th in the beautiful desert of 29 Palms, California. I’ll be performing alongside a stellar lineup of experimental artists, and I can’t wait to be part of this incredible event.
The full Wonder Valley Experimental Festival 16 lineup includes:
Pablo Perez
Miser
TanukiSpiderCat
Hiram
Voluntary Null Compliance
Nathaniel Ober
Caroline Partamian
TV-MA
phogmasheeen
Erased From the Cosmos
Amanda Chaudary
Nihilanon
CLAY ANT
Jay Howard
Usufruct
Casino Space Travel
Insufficient Despair
Tarnminehead
Modesty
Prichard Nixon
Diaspora Focii Collective / Feral Luggage
Event Details:
📍 Location: The Palms, 83131 Amboy Rd., 29 Palms, California, 92277
📅 Date: April 6th, 2024
🎟️ Admission: Free
🕔 Time: 5 PM - 12 AM
I recently shared this video interview with Mark Soden for the upcoming festival, where I talk a bit about my own artistic trajectory, connecting to the Earth, and using music as a tool to try to calm down. It’s a bit off the cuff, but I think it turned out as a nice casual window into my background and my recent work, and I learned that ambient swooshing sounds don’t translate over Zoom.
I thought it would be interesting to transcribe the conversation and see how it holds up. Check out the full interview transcription below, and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
Interview with Mark Soden: A Window Into My Artistic Journey
Ahead of the festival, I sat down for a conversation with Mark Soden, where we discussed everything from my creative journey to my connection with the Earth and how I use music as a tool for relaxation. It was a fun and casual conversation, and I even learned that ambient swooshing sounds don’t always translate well over Zoom!
The interview offers a glimpse into my background, my recent work, and how my artistic practice is deeply influenced by nature. I thought it would be interesting to transcribe the conversation and see how it holds up in written form. I’d love for you to read through it and let me know your thoughts. The full transcription follows below.
Artist Interview: Hiram for Wonder Valley Experimental Festival
WVE: Hi, this is Mark Soden for Wonder Valley Experimental Virtual Edition. I'm here with Matthew from Hiram.
MH: Hi, my name is Matthew Hiram. I'm a musician and environmental sound artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
WVE: So the first question is, what started you down the path to the sounds that you are making now?
MH: So I've been making music for a long time in various forms. You know, I think a lot of people have kind of a lifetime journey that way and it evolves as we, you know, as we change and grow up. So I play a lot of different instruments. I went to school for instrument building, guitar and violin building and play guitar and drums and like to explore as many instruments as I can get my hands on.
I come from a punk, noise, folk, improv kind of development over my trajectory. And I've really kind of, over the last few years, I've been trying to really deliberately calm down and just bring a sense of calm and peace, and really realized how much art and music has become that for me in this sense of peace and a way to really channel and focus that, and have it feel deliberate, and it works. So I've been looking more and more for ways to bring peace to myself, bring that into my music. A lot of it is connecting with nature and the sense of, you know, that sense of connection to the earth itself and different ways to incorporate that into your work. Um, so, you know, from performing and playing outside or using field recordings and different ways, you know, thinking about different ways you can actually like engage with the environment or, um, you know… researching aeolian harps, and wind generated music, and this sort of like automatic, natural music that that could be there if you just harness these energies that happen. So, a lot of it has become more focused on the natural world as a source of inspiration, and a lot of the themes i use, you know, are nature themed, but then I kind of explore the different ways of connecting to the environment and try to bring many different sensibilities into the work to reflect that.
WVE: Do you have a favorite piece of gear that you were using for Wonder Valley 16 that you would like to show us?
MH: Well, it's a little tricky to pick a favorite piece of gear. That's a tough question, I have to admit. I struggled a little bit with that question and I'm going to take it because you got to pick a favorite, it's fun. What I decided to show, it's not necessarily a favorite, but it's one of the new ways that I've been using. It's called the PlantWave. It's a data-sonification device that's made to connect to plants and read electrical frequency variations in the plant. Then that's translated to MIDI and you can process it through your rig and have these frequencies to interact with and adapt. That's one of the latest things that I've been experimenting with as another way to really touch and feel what I'm doing. I have a little setup here behind me.
I don't know if you can see the electrodes here that are attached. And this is the PlantWave device. It's a very small rechargeable little brain processor that I have running down into a synthesizer.
(pause while Matthew reaches across camera, turns knobs, and nothing obvious happens.)
So it's currently coming through?
WVE: I'm not hearing much. Is it subtle?
MH: It’s subtle.
WVE: It might be too subtle for Zoom.
MH: Yeah. It may not translate in Zoom, yeah. This is some of the new gear that I’ve been using over the last year. I have a new album coming out called “Yucca Music” that was recorded there in Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley last year, which was connected to Mojave Yucca and Joshua Trees from there in the environment. So that's coming out here just in a couple weeks.
I'm not sure when this will air, but there in February. Um… so I’m trying to really kind of incorporated into the setup and find different ways to interact with it, kind of writing sequences around the different patterns that you're hearing and using it as a complementary tool in the setup. So it's a tricky thing to travel with, you know, driving from Minnesota with a potted plant or like what, you know? I thought about actually sourcing something there locally and different ways that you could do it. And part of what I love about it is the unpredictability. But that's also, of course, one of the challenges of taking that into a live scenario. It's like actual improv because you really don't know exactly what you're going to get. But that's what keeps it interesting. It's kind of lovely that way.
WVE: Outstanding. Where can people find your release when it comes out?
MH: So, yeah, “Yucca Music” will be February 2nd. It'll be available on my artist Bandcamp, matthewhiram.bandcamp.com. on CD and tape, and through the Bandcamp. And then the next weekend, it'll hit major streaming and be on all the different platforms.
WVE: So, how do you prepare for a performance?
MH: Well, this is kind of a unique setup where it's a good question. How would you prepare specifically for a plant performance? I probably won't take it much differently than any other performance. It's usually based on improvised themes that feel right. A lot of it comes down to establishing a time set. You have a 20-minute set, so you know how much time you need to have prepared, have the gear ready and know what your setup is going to be. With those two elements in place and you know the gear and you know the time, Then you explore different themes and you find different ways that feel dynamic and interesting to fill the time. It feels kind of reductive to look at it that way, but it helps me to kind of form what needs to happen. And then a lot of it is finding these themes and trying to repeat it. I'd like to try to get it to the point where it feels closer to jazz, where there's an established theme and you play around on it. And it's not like it's coming out of nowhere. There's a reason you're making these choices, and it's based on really exploring the material and understanding the different dynamic push and pull. So a lot of it is formed from improv. And then you kind of structure it to the point that you could repeat it, or have certain elements, maybe a sequence or field recordings that are always the same or different cues. But it'll come together based on the gear table, and I try to really get it to the point that it feels like natural repetition and really, you really get a sense of the flow and where it needs to be by the, you know… how to travel from the beginning to the end, and feel like the narrative is through and it really connects. And that's the rehearsal process.
WVE: Is there anything you'd like to add to end the interview? Do you have performances coming up before Wonder Valley Experimental?
MH: Nothing booked currently, no. Just to check out the music. Thanks so much for the opportunity. It's exciting to be able to talk about my music, I'm glad to have a chance. I'm really excited for the festival, it’s going to be a blast.
WVE: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
So this is Matthew Hiram, who will be performing at Wonder Valley Experimental No. 16.
And this is Mark Soden for Wonder Valley Experimental 16, signing off.
Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the interview!
I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Wonder Valley Experimental Festival. Feel free to reach out with any comments or thoughts about the interview.
-M.
