Mary Ocher interview
Mary Ocher has been pushing against the current, dealing with subjects of authority, identity and conflict.
She’s influenced by variety of genres; from sixties garage psych, ambient to experimental music and even traditional folk music. Mary Ocher already released four studio albums on five different labels and a double anthology of home recordings, two EPs and collections of remixes. Other than being a musician, Mary makes film, visual art, documentaries, music videos, art installations and poetry. She’s very active and is currently finalizing an autobiographical comic book with many artists among other exciting things.
How did you first get interested in music?
Mary Ocher: I used to draw a lot as a kid and get lots of compliments for it, I’d draw on the blackboard in front of other kids… one day a new kid arrived in our class, I think her name was Bethany and she was American, everyone seemed to like her drawing better, I’m extremely competitive and narcissistic so obviously I had to come up with something else that was truly mine… at 11 that thing seemed to be writing little compositions in the form of tape recordings, it was much more solitary and my “compositions” were not shared with anyone for years, but I also had no competition for a while… until in middle school we got another new kid, she wanted to be an opera singer, she was also far less shy than I was… anyhow, I suppose while others moved on, I kept insisting and despite everyone’s discouragement, music has been my only job since the age of 19.
‘Faust Studio Sessions and Other Recordings’ was issued by Klangbad | Sing A Song Fighter. What’s the story behind it?
These are mostly additional pieces that did not fit into ‘The West Against The People’, which was released with an essay earlier that year. I’ve toured so much since both came out, and only just this past year had some time to record some more. This particular release had a European 10″ edition and a US tape edition (via Related Records).
I get very ambitious at the studio and tend to plan to record much more than a certain timeframe is normally meant for, which stresses everyone out with long editing and mixing sessions, but also tends to generate many more pieces than just a single record’s worth.
I was really surprised when I heard your version of Robbie Basho’s ‘Blue Crystal Fire’ featuring Julia Kent (Antony and The Johnsons). How did that come about?
Why, thank you. It’s a beautiful song that I did not quite do its justice. I can only hope that listeners who are not familiar with the original may dig it out and be amazed – that was really the purpose of putting it out. I met Julia on tour in Italy years ago, we were booked by the same promoters for a while and she’s awesome.
“I grew up listening to so much underground music”
Are you influenced by American Primitivism artists in general or just with Robbie Basho?
I was not familiar with the term actually, but I am familiar with the work of John Fahey, Leo Kottke and a few others associated with the movement. I don’t know how familiar you are with my work, but the acoustic folk is not quite most of it, it’s a mish mash of anything from ambient, postpunk, garage, instrumentals influenced by surf and afrobeat and lots of other things. I grew up listening to so much underground music, and grew attached to no wave, protest folk and industrial music in particular… my own repertoire has been growing ever since, and so has my collection of other people’s work, but it certainly was through growing up with punk (and turning your back to classical music) that really let things loose and allowed to try the same approach on other instruments, knowing that there are no rules and you can’t go wrong, you just keep trying to get a sound out of anything you can get your hands on.
How do you usually approach music making?
I try to mix different writing techniques to achieve more diverse results. Starting with a different instrument, using field recordings, computer edits, different analog effects, collaborations etc…
This virus crisis stopped the whole world. Are you working on some new music in isolation of your home?
I’ve been recording and mixing with various people in Italy, Germany and the UK for a year, between touring, lots of exciting collaborations, and enough material for over two full length albums. Ironically I took 5 months off that were just meant to be up in April, but the break was unintentionally extended to an unknown period as the whole world stood still.
We’ve also started an artist agency, The Underground Institute, whose launch event has been postponed three times now, while there are no shows everyone has a bit more time, and we’ve been curating radio shows (“Underground Institute Picks” or “UI Picks” for short) with guest artists for several awesome radio collaborators (Dub Lab, Soho Radio, Jolt, Reboot.fm…)… there’s lots of plans in the sleeve, and also lots and lots of new music.
Klemen Breznikar
Mary Ocher Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
Underground Institute Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
