Fred Giannelli - Kooky Scientist

I first met Fred on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Sheffield, he was playing that night at the Leadmill with Psychic TV, he didn't say much, but it kinda hard to stand out in a room with the three ring circus that is Genesis P. Orridge present. I'd already checked out his early recordings with The Turning Shrines and his work on the new PTV albums, you could tell he'd made a difference, his guitar playing perfectly puncutated the beats, I wondered how long he'd stay!
 
Since those dark days Fred has been, IMHO, producing some of the finest techno and minimal tracks as the Kooky Scientist, as well as his working with Richie Hawtin and Dan Bell on the Spawn project for Plus 8, many have noted the Fred is one to watch in the future - we suggest you start watching now...
 
How the devil are you?
OK, I guess. Things could definitely be better.
 
Why could things be better Fred?
2 things: Women and Money. Would like to have both of them in my life.
 
How would other people describe you in 23 words?
I have no idea how other people perceive me, or if they would bother to waste any time in describing me.
 
First time I came in contact with your work was The Turning Shrines, was there anything before that?
Not released. Just production work for friends groups and a few tape only releases for local radio. Lots of unreleased tape experiments.
 
I was once in band that had a show taped, I watched it back the next day and then quit, we where shit! Do you ever dig your old stuff out and have a listen?
I don't really do that especially with the PTV stuff. There were too many technical problems recording all that stuff and I remember them all.
 
You spent a bit of time in Psychick TV what was that like?
Those were strange days. Actually, very hard work. We toured a lot in very difficult conditions. I'm not sure how we survived.
 
You toured with them a lot as well, what was the best and the worst thing about touring with PTV?
I guess dealing with some peoples' enormous egos was a serious drag. Another thing about touring with PTV was the lack of money. We certainly weren't paid enough for the amount of work we did. The venues were always full but the money always managed to disappear. Of course our tours were self financed so that made everything a black hole/money pit. On the plus side we had some fun and we have a lot of crazy stories of our adventures.
 
Gen, I've always had him down as a bit of a genius that is just too easily led to make it, agree/disagree?
Definitely disagree. I would NOT consider Gen a genius at all. Just a confused old man.
 
Really, some of his early work was very good, his art, poems and music seemed to be full of ideas but I would agree that it all seems to have gone wrong somewhere, mainly down to surrounding himself with yes people and being a pathological liar wouldn't you say?
Your words not mine but I wouldn't disagree with them however I think there is a big difference between genius and creating some very good work.
 
Is techno dead?
Perhaps so, but there is still a faint pulse compared to rock and roll.
 
And do you care?
Not really, I still make silly electronic noises even though there is not much of an outlet for it these days.
 
Don't you think the Net offers a new outlet?
Hopefully. There is great potential for some type of digital distribution of music however nobody seems interested in paying for it and that is a real problem.
 
What's the future sound of techno?
I think the whole purpose of techno is to come up with sounds and noises that nobody has ever heard before. If a producer comes up with something unique that the listener hasn't heard yet then we are on the right track.
 
This is getting harder though, it used to cost a fortune to make music now it just cost a couple of hundred and a PC, do you think this has made it harder and do you think it also been the down fall, i.e there so much rubbish out there now because it's so easy?
We are all drowning in the sea of mediocrity of people's creations. But there is nothing wrong with everybody having the tools to produce something. However, possessing the tools and knowing how to use them effectively and also being able to judge your own work may never happen for some people. It can take years to develop a critical judgement.
 
Loads of people have ripped off techno and given it a bad name, I'm thinking about 2 Unlimited and Scooter, do we deserve it?
Don't think so.
 
What are you working on at the moment?
Working on a new Kooky Scientist EP for Plus 8. I did a remix for Akufen a while ago and that is supposed to be released one of these days on Force Inc.
 
Your Stuff's a lot funkier than I expected it to be, especially considering your work with Shrines and PTV, even in some of your more minimal tracks it very evident , when did you catch the funk bug Fred?
I guess now that the material is primarily for dance tracks I guess it has to be funky. I think I always could do funky tracks it's just that the boxes are better to do that stuff than with the equipment that I was using for my older material. One thing I learned is that going back to the step programming of rhythms like on the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 really makes a difference in coming up with groovier drum patterns.
 
You also do house and minimal tracks, do you just let the tune find the genre or do you have a firm idea before you start a track?
I don't really plan anything out. Just experiment and mess around until eventually I decide to put together a somewhat finished track. Usually, the tune finds the genre however I tend to avoid strict or traditional categorizations of genre and usually shoot for some type of grey area between genres.
 
What the philosophy behind Telepathica?
I guess I used to be Psychic and now I'm Telepathic.
 
Who's the true godfather of techno and who do you think is going to be making waves in the next year or so?
To me, Todd Dockstader is an important figure because before there were synthesizers he was creating musique concrete that was very techno. Then when synthesizers came on the scene all his technique became obsolete and the sounds and noises that he worked so hard to achieve became easier to get. Of course Bebe and Louis Baron who created the "Forbidden Planet" soundtrack are very important figures also. The list is long and possibly endless.
 
Who would you like to work with?
It would be nice to work with a vocalist that can actually sing well and write their own lyrics.
 
Conceptual Art, shite or Art?
All depends on the artist.
 
What the hell is baseball all about?
Wasting time.
 
I used to play when I was young. Started as a left fielder, then a third baseman. Played shortstop also. My last year in the league I was injured in a freak accident. I was attacked by a horse just before the season started. Bitten on the neck twice and my leg was stepped on. My right calve was sliced open and the wound had to heal openly. By the end of the baseball season my leg was still messed up but I was able to pitch my first game ever with it bandaged up. Couldn't run at all but threw a great game. Struck out 11 in 7 innings. The last game of the season and my last game ever.
 
Jesus H, that's one mean horse, what the hell did it have against you?
I don't know, I used to joke that she liked me and gave me a hickey.
 
Did you have any strange rituals before a game?
Nope.
 
Top 5 all time albums.
Hmmm... I can't be bothered thinking of this.
 
Top 5 all time techno tracks and why.
Hmmm…. I can't be bothered thinking of this either.
 
Listening to at the moment.
Silence. Although I recently did a promotional thing for Apple Computer and received an iPod as payment. Perhaps I'll start listening to more music with that.
 
Hasn't Richie Hawtin been Djing on iPods in NYC?
Actually, I helped Rich get that gig. He did the store in NYC. I did the one up here. Apple did this at all their stores in the USA that day. It was a promo event for the new iPods and the Apple online music store. But you can't really dj on iPods. Only play music off of them. Just slight seques between tracks and even then the iPods don't work well. Makes even the most experienced dj capable of only doing Paul Oakenfold style mixes.
 
The idea of two iPods and a mixer sound pretty cool don't you think, no more heavy bags?
Well, I don't dj so I don't care but I think the whole Finalscratch/Traktor thing on a laptop is good enough. Taking it down to 2 iPods is a bit overkill.
 
Fave Club/Night out.
Don't leave the apartment much these days. Around here the only nights I go to or play at are Wednesdays @ the Phoenix Landing and Saturdays @ the River Gods. Local nights that friends do in Cambridge, MA. Haven't been traveling that much this year, thanks to George W. Bush for fucking up the world.
 
Ask yourself a question you'd have liked to have been asked.
pass
 
Ask yourself a question you wouldn't like to have been asked.
pass
 
Story behind the photo:
The finger brace is from an incident @ Richie Hawtin's birthday party last summer.
 
Great party in Brooklyn, NY. Some friend of Danny Tenaglia's had a funky little warehouse that held 300 and could go all night. Rich went on the tables at about 2. At 2:30 the soundsystem crapped out. Tim Price says to me "Hey Giannelli, want to come over and see if you can get the sound going?"
 
I go over to the corner where Nigel Richards and Tenaglia are scratching their heads. I figure it out, get the sound going and save the day. Go up to the dj booth to tell Rich. He goes to high five me and bam !!! comes down so hard on me that he dislocates my finger..................
 
Links
http://www.mp3.com/fredgiannelli
http://telepathica.com