Jon Ehler (Bangladeafy)
SPB: As a duo, you tend to maximize your sound or highlight things a “more traditional” 3-5 member band would not. Who is a musician who inspired you to look at new ways to use their instrument?"
Ehler: In terms of a duo that specializes in some degree of musical acrobatics, I'd have to say that Zach Hill, hands down, became a reference point for filling in a lot of space with just a few tools. Zach Hill, nowadays, is known as the drummer of Death Grips, but it doesn't take much to uncover his impressive resume' from the early 2000s up to and including Death Grips. I think his solo albums were crafted by using drum trigger data,and matching it with wild soundscapes. Upon learning about this, I suggested the idea of using triggers to Atif (drummer of Bangladeafy) and he hated the idea of gadgets hanging off his kit. Rather than eliminate the possibilities of this idea, I simply just taught myself a lot of Atif's drum rudiments and matched them by finger-drumming on a sampler and synth. That is currently the bulk of our big sound. No laptops. No triggers. Just a compromise from two stubborn freaks who love Zach Hill. (For reference, we use: A Yamaha maple drum kit, an Akai MPX16 sampler and a Yamaha ModX6 synth.)
