Most interesting interview?

[A_Northern_Soul]

The early interviews had a lot of myth building. They did a great job with that.

Reminds me of the story Eddie Vedder used to tell journalists when asked where the name Pearl Jam came from. He said he had a grandmother named Pearl who used to make hallucinogenic jam and the name of the band was dedicated to her. It was total bullshit, but a good story.

I don't know what to think of the idea that those early interviews were "myth building." I mean, making stuff up in interviews to build a public image seems pretty contradictory with the fact that they've generally shunned attention and seem to make music mostly for themselves.

Of course they worked on their myth and public image - I find it hard to believe that any artist is somehow above all that - Robert Johnson didn’t really sell his soul at the crossroads, Keith Richards didn’t really have all his blood replaced, Prince didn’t really have ribs removed to give himself a blow job; they’re great stories though.

[bdzz]

The Peel Session interview because they actually talk there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Ajjt4WryY

[dustbowl27]

What creates the myth is the fact that they’ve never let themselves go to the main flow of how things usually work as a signed band. I reckon it’s less of a calculated approach and more of a simple commitment to being themselves. They’ve just pulled it off with next-level class. Other artist try to make provocative moves but BoC have just been on this wavelength since day one.

They may be having a laugh at it all and their place in music while still taking their work incredibly serious. They're not the kind of band that can release music if they don't have anything to say or else it would undermine what it seems Boards of Canada means to them and their listeners. Plus, where do you go from TH?

I think the tension between these two quotes is revealing… at different times they’ve said, “We never expected to have this kind of impact,” and, “Boards of Canada is just the tip of the iceberg.” They’ve also talked about being haunted by a schizophrenic approach to making music. I imagine it’s really hard to keep the project on course without inevitably creating some controversy.

Odd Nosdam mentioned recently that BoC came through with the Sisters remix after two years of asking. They’re patient, but they always come through when they need to. In an interview, they said they were getting so many remix requests that they told Warp... “Don’t call unless it’s Beck or God.” They’ve pretty much exclusively collaborated with bands that are meaningful to them, like the decade plus relationship with Why?, Nosdam, and Doseone or working with another Edinburgh band like the Sexual Objects.

If we go to heaven after death I'm so stoked to hear a BoC remix of whatever song God is making

[SamuraiDrifter]

Of course they worked on their myth and public image - I find it hard to believe that any artist is somehow above all that - Robert Johnson didn’t really sell his soul at the crossroads, Keith Richards didn’t really have all his blood replaced, Prince didn’t really have ribs removed to give himself a blow job; they’re great stories though.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think they're above it. But those stories you mentioned are all fundamentally implausible or downright impossible, whereas BoC have mentioned their interest in the power of music and symbols to manipulate people in interviews, and have been well known for putting subliminal messages in their music over many years. And if anything, it seems like they've downplayed the mythology element - they've laughed off the suggestions that they are Satanists or cultists or whatever, and have maintained that their interest in the subject comes purely from an artistic perspective.

I'm not saying that their music has the ability to program people in the way that MK-Ultra experiments were trying to do or anything like that, but I do think it's plausible that they were creatively inspired by similar theories, and equally plausible that there are members of Hexagon Sun who are interested in the psychological power of images, sounds, etc.

Also, related question - do you think the suggestion that there's a Hexagon Sun book called the "THS Scripture" mentioned in that interview is myth-building as well? Or might such a book actually exist?

[Flory]

Of course they worked on their myth and public image - I find it hard to believe that any artist is somehow above all that - Robert Johnson didn’t really sell his soul at the crossroads, Keith Richards didn’t really have all his blood replaced, Prince didn’t really have ribs removed to give himself a blow job; they’re great stories though.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think they're above it. But those stories you mentioned are all fundamentally implausible or downright impossible, whereas BoC have mentioned their interest in the power of music and symbols to manipulate people in interviews, and have been well known for putting subliminal messages in their music over many years. And if anything, it seems like they've downplayed the mythology element - they've laughed off the suggestions that they are Satanists or cultists or whatever, and have maintained that their interest in the subject comes purely from an artistic perspective.

I'm not saying that their music has the ability to program people in the way that MK-Ultra experiments were trying to do or anything like that, but I do think it's plausible that they were creatively inspired by similar theories, and equally plausible that there are members of Hexagon Sun who are interested in the psychological power of images, sounds, etc.

Also, related question - do you think the suggestion that there's a Hexagon Sun book called the "THS Scripture" mentioned in that interview is myth-building as well? Or might such a book actually exist?

Maybe the book is hidden somewhere on the web.

[Alvin]

Many in this thread seem to have a preference for the earliest interviews but I like the NY Times Tomorrow’s Harvest era interview: https://bocpages.org/wiki/Brothers_Who_Make_Electronica_by_Hand

Some highlights:

SANDISON: “We usually get the titles down at the same time as writing the tracks. A title can be like a vessel… …There’s a kind of chronology and narrative in the track titles, they’re really chapters in a document of an event.”

It’s interesting that the titles can help shape the track rather than simply describe them. When he says “there’s a kind of chronology and narrative” I wonder if that includes both the regular running order and the palindromic one, or only one or the other?

EOIN: “…the texture of the strings in Semena Mertvykh. It was performed into a dissected VHS deck with the motor running super slowly, so you can hear all the pockmarks, the dropouts on the tape...”

It’s fascinating to get insights into their studio process like this. Redubbing from deck to deck would probably be the more obvious way of degrading the quality but using slow speed settings is another. I wonder if he means they modified the deck to run slow or it was one of those ones with different speed settings? It also demonstrates that not all of their gear choices are super rare or expensive.

Your most dedicated fans — and possibly your typical fans — analyze your every release down to submicroscopic levels. How does that affect your music making?
EOIN: “We really have to ignore that when we’re purely in music-making mode, because it’s important to keep in touch with your gut instincts with melodies and sounds. So we do seal ourselves away from it much of the time. I think we let that awareness creep in when we start weaving themes and messages into the music. I suppose we’re relying on people to be extremely analytical of the music, in order to get out of it all the work we’ve put in."

Interesting that he indicates that music-making is a different phase to the weaving of themes and messages. Surely not always though, I’d argue some of their themes are expressed in the interplay of the actual notes chosen not just the sound design. Also, nice to read that they expect listeners to be analytical since it’s easy to be discouraged by thinking that such focus is not cool.