Modney - Sunday Interview

Photo by Frank Heath

Violinist, Modney, released his most recent recording, Ascending Primes, on May 3. Here are his responses to the Sunday Interview's 12 Questions:

1. What is your greatest joy in improvised music?
   
   When an ensemble fills the room with complex, ecstatic sound. Not cacophony, but a sound that is rich and special in some particular way.
   
   

2. What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?
   
   The ability to connect technique, intellect, and heart.
   
   

3. Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?
   
   The musicians and composers that I admire the most are my peers. Some musicians from the past that inspire me include: J.S. Bach, Gustav Mahler, Gyorgy Ligeti, Pauline Oliveros, Ornette Coleman.
   
   

4. If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?
   
   I'd be fascinated to hear how Bach improvised.
   
   

5. What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?
   
   The first part of my career was focused on performing contemporary classical music and on collaborative projects with the Wet Ink Ensemble. It took me a lot of work and personal growth to shed the constraints of my classical training. Working collaboratively with the Wet Ink composers on new music, developing my improvisational practice on the violin, and playing with great improvisers like Nate Wooley and Ingrid Laubrock were very important for finding my own creative voice. In other words, I came to composing relatively late, and I have a lot more to say. Change and adaptation are things that I've contemplated a lot in recent years — it's obvious that adaptation is critical to basic survival, but I think this fact is often lost in modern life. Many people seem to be seeking a lifestyle that resists change to the greatest extent possible. As an artist, I hope to create a body of work that keeps changing over a long productive period.
   
   

6. Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like?
   
   I've never taken much interest in popular music, but I'm not against it. A few artists that I particularly like: Robyn, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, Radiohead.
   
   

7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
   
   Changing my stage name to "Modney" was a big thing, still figuring out what needs to change next...
   
   

8. Which of your albums are you most proud of?
   
   I'm proud of all three of my solo albums: Engage (New Focus Recordings), Near To Each (Carrier Records), and Ascending Primes (Pyroclastic Records). Because Ascending Primes just came out, I'm feeling particularly proud of it in this moment. It was also the biggest undertaking of all three of my albums, with the most people involved and the longest compositional process.
   
   

9. Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?
   
   Yes, I still listen to my albums occasionally. The editing and mixing process tends to make me tired of hearing the music, but after a bit of time passes I enjoy listening again. In many tracks, I hear things that I don't like, that I'd do differently now. There are a few special pieces that I can listen to with joy, free of self-criticism. Those are the tracks that I tend to listen to again when I'm composing and trying to figure out what's next.
   
   

10. Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?
    
    Paul Simon: Graceland. It was around the house when I was a kid, and I still love it today.
    
    

11. What are you listening to at the moment?
    
    Anna Webber Shimmer Wince and Ches Smith Laugh Ash.
    
    

12. What artist outside music inspires you?
    
    I'm a big fan of Ellsworth Kelly's work. His use of juxtaposition and natural/cultural elements to create an ineffable, higher space resonates very much with what I'm trying to do musically. It's a great honor to have Kelly's postcard collages featured in the album design of Ascending Primes.

 Modney on the Free Jazz Blog:

• A Context for Mutual Aid Music
• Nate Wooley - Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text Records, 2021) *****
• Ingrid Laubrock – Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Music for Chamber Orchestra and Small Ensemble) (Intakt, 2020) ****(*)
• Bojan Vuletic – Atemwende (Nate Wooley and Mivos Quartet) (Ignoring Gravity Music, 2012) ***½ 
• Ned Rothenberg