Longtime OSEES drummer Dan Rincon is throwing us a different kind of beat on his new solo LP, Spotlight City, his first solo record. The concept of the new record comes from Rincon's exploration of artificial landscapes, as he calls it, making melodies with Moog Grandmother, Mellotron, and "a kinky Modular system."
Today we're excited to premiere "Motor Rhythm, Wooden" from the LP below.
With a little help from our friends, SPB caught up with Rincon to better better understand the grid of Spotlight City and where "Motor Rhythm, Wooden" fits into the synthy cityscape.
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Is there a role in the narrative of the imaginary Spotlight City that “Motor Rhythm, Wooden” plays?
“Motor Rhythm, Wooden” is a track about physical modeling synthesis, which is a form of synthesis that uses various algorithms to imitate or replicate acoustic sounds (i.e. a string on a violin or the skin of a drum) and often, also replicate the "exciter" of said sound (i.e. bow for the string, or mallet for the skin or vice versa), all of which can be interchangeable or modified to create really interesting acoustic sounds, electronically. Its my personal favorite type of synthesis to work with and a large part of my modular rack is made up of physical modeling modules. I wanted to make a track that melds acoustic and electronic music relatively seamlessly and the image I have in my head while working with physical modeling synthesizers has always been that of a motor made out of wood, or some organic material.
You said that the LP was “a years-long learning experience of getting all components and ingredients to link arms and blend comfortably.” This album is so sonically intricate, when does a track feel finished?
A lot of the time I would realize that a track was finished only after I felt that I had overdone it and started ripping tracks out of a song. I would even say that after listening to the finished record, there are a few tracks that I wish I would have kept a bit simpler, so each instrument or sound has a little more room to breathe.
Can you share more about the learning process that went along with making the LP?
Before recording this record, I had never recorded my own music. I have been playing in bands and making records since I was a late teen but never had much to do with the production side, other than playing drums. OSEES' recording process is a pretty well oiled machine at this point and whatever John and the engineers were doing during a recording session might as well have been magic to me. I had no idea how complicated and involved everything was.
I had been buying and playing synthesizers for years, but usually just as a hobby while I had down time from touring or for playing the occasional live show. I started making really primitive recordings of myself and over the course of a few years, and under the advice of some producer friends of mine, got to a place where I felt they sounded good enough to release a record. I still have an insane amount of stuff to learn. I barely know what I'm doing but I'm making it work with the limited knowledge I have.
I could go into a studio and have everything recorded professionally, but I feel that that would get rid of organically figuring out the nature of some of these synthesizers, and songs...a lot of this record is made up of happy accidents.
Spotlight City will release via CastleFace Records.
Spotlight City LP tracklisting:
01. Cessna
02. Cloud 10
03. Metropolitan Doctor
04. Motor Rhythm, Wooden
05. Factory Tour
06. Lover
07. Introduction To The Club
08. Stoney Brook Peasants
09. Harold and Brian
10. In 5 (Meditate On That!!)
11. Spotlight City Flyover
12. To The Lake Bed
13. Seperation Soiree
14. Mikey's Tune
