SCORN INTERVIEW
Britain's Scorn is, in actuality, a one-man band consisting of Mick Harris.
Until recently, the band was a duo, but bassist Nick Bullen left the band
recently.
I recently obtained two new releases by Scorn entitled Evanescence and
Ellipsis. I found both of these releases (on the Earache label) to be
refreshingly different from most other electronic music. This could possibly
be because the music does not sound programmed and computerized. Instead,
the wild, electronics have a very organic sound, very often sounding atonal
but never harsh on the ear.
The combination of weird electronics layered over very soothing, almost
acid-jazzish drum beats is instantly likable, yet not so accessible forthe
general public.
Mick Harris was in New York recently doing interviews and I was fortunateto
be able to speak with him...
I didn't realize that you were British... Yeah.
What made you think I was something else?
I was not familiar with Scorn until a coupleof weeks ago. Where exactly are you from?
I'm from Birmingham, whichis the midlands. I'm not from the South. I'm not
from London. I f*cking hate London. I hate all the music people down there.
They can all f*cking go to hell. They've never been help to me. I've gotno
reason to want to be any f*cking help to them. I come from the midlands.
Born there, grew up there...and happy. I think there's a lot of attitude
that goes along with big cities. Especially in London. It's the worst. It
f*cking sucks, it really does. I hate it. I honestly do. They've given meno
space. I can't say I've got to give them any space. What do they want it
for? But no, they haven't been helpful to be quite honest.
How old are you?
28 this year.
Tell me about the band...
I left Napalm Death in June 1991 to form something different...a band using
machines and electronics as well as live instruments. A lot of live
instruments have been slowly phased out for the simple reason that I enjoy
working with the machines in this particular project.
What about the band name?
Scorn is a word that I came up with when I left Napalm Death. It's got no
real meaning to me. I was looking for something short. I quite liked what
"scorn" meant...to be scornful and to scorn somebody. Maybe Ifelt sort of
scorned, the way I'd been treated in Napalm Death. Maybe that had something
to do with it. I was looking for something short and sweet and quite strong,
and Scorn just appealed to me.
You formed the band in 1991 with Nick Bullen?
He's no longer with Scorn. It's just a one-piece thing now. It's just meall
on my own. This only happened six weeks ago, so quite a few people are still
shocked about it including myself...
I'm sure you'll survive. You sound like a survivor.
It had to happen. I just hope Nick gets his head together. He wasn't with
it...with music. He said the last thing on his mind was music, so I hopehe
gets his head together. I really do. I enjoyed all the work I've done with
Nick. There's been four LPs including the remix, three singles... I justto
go forward now. I just want to start on a new record as soon as I get back
from this trip and have that released in October of this year.
So the band is just you and whoever you choosewhen you play live?
Exactly. And it works. I take visuals out with me as well because Scorn's
not something to look at. We play on a completely dark, black stage. I have
just enough light to see my machine. I like that. I like the mood that
Scorn's music creates...
Can you describe the live show?
Well, they're just very hypnotic. They're quite loud. There's a
groove...tones...there's all sorts of things happening...the beats are
big...it's endless...it's seamless. We usually play for an hour...it'll
start with sounds and eventually a beat will come in. Things drop in and
out. It's half and half...it's improvised, but there's also a backing tape
that will always remain the backing tape that can be brought in and out...it
can be dubbed out...affected, etc. So, I dunno. It's a lot different than
the record but there's nice abstract images to go with it. It works.
I've been describing your music as electronicacid jazz. How would you
describe it?
I don't know. I hate having to put labels on this. It's just experimental.
I'm experimenting with electronics. That's really as much as I can really
say about Scorn. Make your own mind up. Get your own mood out of it, see
what it does for you. At the end of the day, that's what Scorn is about...to
create music that I'm happy with, that I'm getting a lot of feeling from.I
don't want to sound negative...that I'm not thinking about anyone else...but
Scorn comes first for me. I think about what I'm happy with...I'm not
thinking, "Oh, they're not going to like it." That's not the waythat I
write my music.
The thing I like about your music is that itdoesn't sound canned and
programmed...
I work in a pretty minimal way...and I heavily rely on a lot of processing.
That's all part of Scorn. Minimal beats. Very simplistic bass lines...and
then certain drones and sampled sounds that come in and out of the mix.It's
pretty random, but it's pretty machine-like as well which I like. But I
don't think it sounds 100% machine. I like a lot of live sampling as well...
Aren't a lot of the drums live?
Some of them are. Some of them are like live where we've made a two bardrum
loop and just thrown it back onto the sequencer after sampling it. That's
what I like. I like to have that warmth. I don't just rely on synths. I
don't use synths. I use a sampler, a sequencer, and effects. And now I shall
be using a bass synthesizer because Nick's no longer there and I don't wish
to find a replacement. I just want to continue on my own and continue
experimenting and exploring with electronic music. It's a good way of
expressing yourself in a lot of interesting ways... Yes, I am influencedby
a lot of things, but at the same time I think I'm doing my own thing. It's
something that I get extreme pleasure from.
It makes me feel good to listen to the music.
It makes me feel good. I've got absolutely no attitude. A lot of peoplewill
tell you that about me. There's no point in having an attitude. If you've
got an attitude, don't even f*cking bother. I'm a very quiet person. I'ma
little mixed up at times, slightly paranoid at times. I just like the way
that I work. I'm really excited about working on the next Scorn release.
It'll the the first time I've done everything myself. The whole thing I
shall write, record, and mix myself. That's a challenge in itself. I'm not
fearing anything. I've got nothing to fear. It's a good challenge. It'san
adventure, and that's what music should be. I've written nothing for this
record. I'm just going to go into the studio and put it out. I can honestly
tell people it's going to be a very strong record because my ideas are
already strong. I'm not going to overwork ideas. If you start overworking
ideas, you lose the original idea you were thinking about.
What you're doing is not commercial sounding...
It's not what I want to go for. I think this next record's going to be
REALLY f*cked up. I don't say I just want to make a f*cked up
record...that's not what...my English is not good so I can't find the word
I'm looking for...but something a lot deeper. Something that just takesyou
even further. Scorn is a journey machine that can take each listener on
different journeys. Miles Davis was good journey music for me. It always
took me on a different journey and I always got beauty from it and thisis
what I'm trying to create with Scorn. I hope things just continue. As long
as I'm involved in controlling it, I see things getting stronger and ideas
getting a lot better. Goddamn, you're not going to know if your ideas work
or not unless you're prepared to experiment.
It sounds like you're a lot more concernedwith artistic success than
commercial success...
For sure. I'm just looking for ideas and trying to make something fresh.
As you can tell, Mick has some very definite ideasabout what's he's doing
with his music. You'd never know it from listening to Scorn, however. The
music comes off sounding very spontaneous...as if the sounds and rhythms
just accidentally happened. That he has the ability to make something so
calculated and well-thought out sound so spontaneous is the real magic of
Mick's music.
I really did get the feeling that Mick is not into all the attitude andhype
that surrounds rock music. He certainly seems like he's making music forthe
sheer love of making music...and in the end, that's what really matters.
This interview was conducted by Steven Fievet, an-Atlanta based artist,
musician and all-around nice guy.
