Evan Clarke Archives - Kreative Kontrol

I am Robot and Proud is the moniker of Shaw-Han Liem, a gifted musician and computer scientist who calls Toronto home. Liem co-designed and composed the music for the award-winning 2012 Playstation game Sound Shapes, and he continues to work as a video game music composer. Since the beginning of this century, he has been making a colourful kind of pop-oriented electronic music that blends organic and synthetic sounds, as I am Robot and Proud. His eighth album is called Light and Waves, it’s out now via Darla Records, and has prompted I am Robot and Proud to play shows across Japan in October and November. Here, Liem and I discuss a weather report from Toronto, making the new album with a live band, past collaborators and playing solo versus being in a band that can be a pain in the ass, camaraderie, being part of a music community, the Robot band, musical Stockholm Syndrome, touring Japan with the help of a local promoter, how Robot songs are made with the Robot band, Mike Smith, Light and Waves surprises, Robin Buckley, getting into video game music composition and co-creating Playstation’s Sound Shapes, knowing your steez, Jordan Howard, game versus film soundtracks, the gaming universe, how Sound Shapes works, that’s edutainment, Guitar Hero, growing up in Mississauga and playing music with Evan Clarke and Jeremy Strachan, Blue Light Blockade, how forgettable I am, being big in Japan and small in Canada, rock-centric electronicism, venues for weird music, gaming fans and collectors of all stripes, not knowing why things resonate more in Osaka than Peterborough, Yellow Magic Orchestra, what’s next for I am Robot and Proud, the song and meaning behind “Kira Kira Zig Zag,” and that was that.

Related links: darla.com robotandproud.com vishkhanna.com

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Andrew Nathan Hood is a published author who lives in Guelph. He wanted to interview me because he’s working on a book about Jim Guthrie for Invisible Publishing’s Bibliophonic series and so I said “sure.” For this 100th episode of the show, I present Andrew prying into my life by asking me about why we’re doing this, the band Captain Co-Pilot that I was in with Dallas Wehrle and Steve Lambke before they formed Constantines, people I used to make music with in Cambridge, Ontario, how I got into drumming via road trips in my parents’ car, lying to my parents about owning drums, lying about Superchunk and Tom Robbins, rear-ending my high school principal, storing illegal drums, Steve’s mom likes my drumming, playing the Albion Hotel in 1996, playing music with Jim, seeing Bluetip at 10 Ontario Street, merging hardcore and indie-rock scenes, punk rock, my tiny ex-girlfriend who caught Jim’s eye, the Hubble Bunk and Coby Dowdell, Holocron, Dioctave, Venus Cures All, Plumtree and community, recording a Captain Co-Pilot album with Jim and James Ogilvie, enjoying the Beatles, Justin Stayshyn, Stephen Evans, it got louder, the song “Where Have All The Heroes Gone?” and Jim’s notes on it, 517 the man, Jim might’ve been high, Steve McCuen and speech impediments, the gift of gab and generous humanity, Tim Kingsbury and nice, cool people in Guelph, the beginning of Three Gut Records, Gentleman Reg and his red minivan, Aaron Riches and Royal City and Leslie Feist, Aaron setting up Fugazi shows in Guelph and propelling people like Jim to do stuff, King Cobb Steelie and moving to Toronto, Lisa Moran and Tyler Clark Burke, my road managing Royal City’s first U.S. tour which lasted three weeks, Nick Craine, Feist being in Royal City, when crossing the border was easy, Nathan Lawr, it’s business and it’s personal, when Royal City stopped, the power of Constantines, seeing The Late Show with David Letterman and wearing coveralls for work like Steve Albini, the Constantines song “Nighttime/Anytime (It’s Alright)” and Jim’s notes on it, disbelief about things in The Believer, Andrew’s bare bum, why Jim is influential, Stuart Berman’s This Book is Broken, when Kurt Cobain died and live music venues went disco in the 90s, Arcade Fire, why people like Jim and his music, the fact that Jim wrote the “Hands in my Pocket” ad jingle, McDonald’s, Jim’s genius as a pop songwriter, Jim’s award-winning and lucrative work as a composer of video game soundtracks, Jim knows stuff, Jim O’Rourke, Stewart Gunn and Beethoven, Jim’s open-minded curiosity, making money by doing the thing you love and employing your skillset, the Jesus Lizard and American Express, Invisible Publishing’s Bibliophonic series, Tom Clancy books, why are we doing this again?, Jim gets surprised because he’s modest, Jim’s Juno nomination and our 2004 trip to Winnipeg, Canada has a small music scene, championing, Jim’s terrible car accident, the song “Before and After” and good lord, it’s done.

Related links: andrew-n-hood.blogspot.ca jimguthrie.org vishkhanna.com

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