Man Made Hill
‘Mirage Repair’ is the first studio album (after 20+ home recordings) by Canadian lofi pop musician Randy Gagne aka Man Made Hill.
It contains a combination of 80s pop and electronic funk (mainly Prince) brought with an underground / experimental attitude.
“I like to take the pure spirit of fun and enjoyment and make it sort of murky or perverted”
Ok, this is what your music reminds me of: from the past: Michael Jackson, Prince, Sugarhill Gang, Herbie Hancock, Jan Hammer. From now: James Ferraro, Ariel Pink, R. Stevie Moore, Keith Fejeran, Thundercat.
Randall Gagne: Those are very good reference points, spot on… I am moved by most funky music, especially from past… the unbridled sexual energy of Prince in particular. One of the nicest compliments someone said to me after a live show was that I “reminded them of a witchy Prince”, which is something I’ve kept as a sort of touchstone in my music… there will never be another person with the pure musical talent of Prince though, he’s in a class all his own… I like to take the pure spirit of fun and enjoyment that is in a lot of funky music and make it sort of murky, or perverted… Fun, sexy, funky, but also unsettling and haunting… this is the balance I aim for… Another artist from the past that I would say is particularly influential to me also is Suicide…
I attempt to make funk music with very limited musical abilities, so it always comes out a little strange, or “off”, even confusing…
As for the newer artists you mentioned, I love them all! Ferraro’s ‘Nightdolls With Hairspray’ and Pink’s ‘Worn Copy’ were game changing to me when I discovered them… I just found out about Keith Fejeran via Pacific City Sound Visions. Also, I think what Spencer Clark does with Pacific City Sound Visions and his own music is some of the freshest and furthest out music going, he always surprises me with his taste and his releases. It’s nice that my music reminds you of these people, I’ve definitely got these comparisons before.
Is what you do pop or rather pop art, a comment on pop?
It is an attempt at pop… I love consuming pop…I try with all sincerity to make pop music, in spite of myself… It always comes out a little strange no matter how hard I try though… It has been a lifelong goal of mine to craft a perfect pop song, still chasing that dream, and can’t really tell anymore if I’m getting closer or further away… an example of perfect pop to me is ‘Zoot Kook’ by Sandii – it has all the elements I’m craving, beautiful bright production, bubbly but also haunting… when the chorus hits it is like a drug… you ache for it… it’s very sensual… I guess it’s up to the general public to decide if I’m pop or not, but I consider what I do to be experimental pop.
Is what you do tongue in cheek? Or as Frank Zappa asked: does humor belong in music?
I wouldn’t call it tongue in cheek… I would call it 100% sincere… Humor is a part of what I do though, but it is never my objective, it’s sort of a by-product of me groping around for what I’m trying to say… I empty myself into the recording, and I think that makes the humor a little uncomfortable – like a self-defense mechanism. Clownish maybe? I recently attended a public event dressed as a clown, and I was delighted to discover the sorts of things you can get away with, and the possibility of connections you can make that you wouldn’t otherwise have… I suppose I play the clown to some degree, but it is only to make a connection, transcend my awkwardness, and to otherwise hide the emptiness inside. Humor absolutely belongs in music, but I think it is very hard to pull off well… I was raised on Frank Zappa, he was incredibly important to me growing up, but I think some of his stuff hasn’t aged very well, and a lot of his humor relies on inside jokes… he never really laughed at himself, did he?
Maybe I did not look well enough, but I couldn’t find any other interview while preparing for this interview, so you’ll have to tell me all yourself: who are you? Where are you from? For how long have you been making music? Ten years, or so?
I am Randy Gagne… Man Made Hill is the staged character I portray, he has a life of his own within the music, sometimes he’s contained, sometimes not. I am based in the blue collar stronghold of Hamilton, ON. I have lived all my life on Planet Ontario… I live a hard-working meagre existence here with my partner Nitasha, and my young son Sidney… lately I’ve gotten very into the whole dad thing… but all my other energy is concentrated on music and art. Always digging for new tunes – I have a weekly radio show with my friends.
I started making solo DIY music in my mom’s basement around 2002… going on twenty years… this was long before lo-fi was a “genre”… I started home taping goofing around probably around 1996 or 1997 (some of these tapes still exist too!). I started performing live solo around 2005 or 6. This was a time before I had synthesizers, I just played whatever I could find, records bass, drums, junk, et cetera… I finally did acquire a synthesizer and borrowed a drum machine off a friend (sorry, I still have it!)… This changed my approach to some degree… I basically started recording at home non-stop for the next 6 or 7 years at least… making little weird sketches of songs… almost always instrumental at first… I started incorporating lyrics / vocals in my music around 2009 / 2010 on my first LP ‘Puzzle Answers’, I remember I woke up one morning and just had this whole idea for a song in my head, and I recorded the whole thing from start to finish without stopping and added in lyrics on the spot, that song was called ‘Existing Is Fun’, and I think that set me on my path of attempting pop music… that changed the presentation of the live show into more an entertainment act too, to make it fun for me and the audience, I began to wear weird costumes and get into different characters on stage… the character was always kind of crazed… the folly of the male ego on stage… baffling and ecstatic, the energy through the roof… That performance art aspect is very important to Man Made Hill, this will always be present in the live show, and will continue transforming…
After 20+ DIY albums I reached a natural turning point where I really wanted to expand on my ideas and be a little more intentional in my approach. Up till now my approach has always been a little rough and ready, which has always served me well, but I wanted to slow the process down a bit, and certainly get the production value better… This is the turning point for ‘Mirage Repair’… I started working with a producer in a legitimate studio, my friend Jeremy Greenspan – who has produced incredible material with Junior Boys, and Jessy Lanza among others… We co-wrote a bunch of the material (which was also a new thing for me) and took our time to really get it sounding top-notch. It’s a lot of the same themes I’ve been exploring for years, but I feel like I could properly and intentionally expand upon them this time.
Lou Barlow said: no, our influences are not Velvet Underground or Can. Let’s face it: we’re middle class white suburbia. Our influences are what we grew up with: pulp TV shows, ads, FM radio, MTV, VHFs from the video store, cartoons, comics. The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, Yo! MTV Raps, But Spencer and Terence Hill, that’s what made us.
I am part of this generation that really had unprecedented access to media, this of course only continues to multiply… I am proud to say that I remember a time before the internet… before it was popularized anyways (I don’t think we got a personal computer until the early 2000s)… and I delight in the thought that one day I will be an old man and the youngsters can ask me about the days before the internet and phones et cetera, it will be fun to be the last generation to remember this in the 2070s or whatever…(whoops my nostalgia is showing)… Part of my artistic mind was certainly shaped by going to video rental stores, and taping your favorite song off the radio and TV, and discovering weird old tapes et cetera. The hunger for media was maybe a little different before, you ate what you got, and always cleared your plate… nowadays you can pinpoint exactly what your vibe is, and become an expert in it overnight, and discover a dozen similar things… which is a great thing and has, and will continue to produce amazing art… but a little part of me takes such glee in thinking of digging through huge trash heaps to find that sparkling gem.
Joeri Bruyninckx
Man Made Hill Facebook / Bandcamp
