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The Necks.
Inimitable Sydney-based improvisers The Necks have been treating audiences here and abroad for nigh on 17 years with their often-indefinable brand of musical eclecticism. Their piano, drums and bass format has seen them skirt around jazz, ambient and all that lies between. Their latest record ‘Drive By’ has been received with phenomenal praise, while recent tours of Europe have seen the group’s popularity rise considerably (in fact, the band recorded their website-exclusive ‘Photosynthetic’ CD live in Russia).
Bassist Lloyd Swanton is quietly proud of their overseas profile. "It’s building all the time. We’re taking on new towns in new countries and building new audiences in the places where we’ve already been. I mean, it keeps growing in Australia and we’ve been playing here since the mid-80s. It’s very exciting. Particularly the last few years in the UK have really taken off for us."
Swanton, drummer Tony Buck and pianist Chris Abrahams, each of them pivotal figures in the Australian jazz scene, will perform a string of shows this February. It has been almost a year since they treated their Governor Hindmarsh audience with two diametrically opposed sets, going from meditative minimalism to raucous free jazz.
Being an improvisational trio means the group is free to explore different textural and melodic concepts. It also means that almost anything goes in their live sets. "We have the choice of following that lead or maintaining what we are doing as a kind of a counterpoint to it or actually generating something very contrary to it," he says in earnest. "Maybe the most notable development in the band’s music in the few years is the way that we are getting quite comfortable at having three completely differing textures going at once; maybe harmonically quite removed and certainly rhythmically quite removed and have them interlocking at random intervals."
For anyone that has seen the combo live or heard their records, this remains a succinct summary of the diversity of sounds they conjure. While no member has a definable role in the group as conductor or the provocateur, Swanton is quick to point out, "I think it’s very much dictated by the instruments we play. Certainly the personalities come into it too. I think Tony and Chris are the most provocative."
Clearing his throat, he adds, "I like to feel that I can provoke occasionally. And I think sometimes I provoke by my stubbornness; I think stubbornness can be a force of good. Sometimes if I resolutely refuse to shift from what I’m doing it just drives the other two into greater frenzy."
The Necks accentuate the spaces between the music. In some instances Swanton might hang on the same three notes for well over a quarter of an hour, changing only the timing or the pause between his next strike on the strings. "My particular taste would definitely be to try and make the most music you can with the least amount of material. To me, sound only comes into its own when it’s framed by silence. Any sound you make is pretty amazing but if the last time you heard pure silence was at the beginning of the piece 15 to 20 minutes ago and you’re not going to hear silence for another 15 or 20 minutes, that sound doesn’t have nearly as much impact.
"It’s a metaphor we’ve used a lot, but it’s like the way a landscape very subtly changes when you’re driving in the outback. You see a mountain range in the distance and it’s so far away you’re not conscious of it changing but if you look up again half an hour later you’re seeing it from a different angle."
In the democracy that is The Necks, when it comes to ending a set, "You can certainly vote with your feet." Swanton believes that "where you choose to end an improvisation sheds a totally different light on every note you’ve played up until that point. And I actually think it’s the hardest thing to get right."
Lenin Simos
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The Necks play at the Festival Theatre on Sat 7 Feb as part of the 'Inspace' programme for 2004.
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