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Ilya Monosov and Preston Swirnoff
American composers Ilya Monosov and Preston Swirnoff are two men brimming with ideas. Despite living on opposite sides of the country, the duo has found the time to record several LPs' worth of material, traversing elements of modern composition, free improv, noise rock and psychedelic dub. Their four-volume LP set on Eclipse Records is to be followed by a new LP on Holy Mountain, containing music from their heavy space punk band, The Shining Path. Both artists tackled questions via email, one after the other in an almost conversational style, their answers reflecting a deep understanding for one another's work and philosophy.
"My formative music experiences were the ecstatic voices in the old synagogue I grew up attending. That sound had a deep effect on me and I feel like I carry it with me in whatever music I make today," claims Swirnoff whose studio, The Habitat, in San Diego, is home to his dub project Habitat Sound System, of which Monosov contributes guitar. "I abandoned my classical piano training as a teenager when I discovered punk rock, free improv, John Coltrane, The Stooges, Gyorgy Ligeti and this whole wild musical world that spoke to me so much more than the sonatas I was fumbling with for hours everyday."
Continues Swirnoff, "My experience playing music with Ilya has been as organic as it gets...I think we complement each other really well, not only musically but in terms of our personalities. It's definitely the most rewarding artistic collaboration I've been involved in and I think it will continue in some form for a long time."
Volumes I and II of the duo's 'Recorded Works' find them working in close collaboration, the results detailed, personal, heavy with atmosphere and dynamism. Volumes III and IV go further out, featuring a handful of guests including composer Charles Curtis and singer Naomi. Both Monosov and Swirnoff have a hefty list of past collaborators, yet both are quick to clarify their relationship as working artists. "Preston is for sure the one with whom I enjoy working with the most; I am sure this will continue," writes Monosov.
As with Swirnoff, it is Jewish culture and music that was important in shaping the young Monosov. "As a child I grew up listening to Russian underground bard music, like Galich, Vysotsky and so on. My father is still to this day a big Mingus fan and so I grew up with jazz, though I tried to fight it. I think Jewish culture and gypsy art and music have influenced me a great deal."
Of the geographical distance between them, Swirnoff announces, "Since Ilya moved to the East Coast, our collaboration has been a challenge. But ironically, I think now we get more done than when we lived in the same city! This is probably because we have been so committed to continuing our music together."
"Ilya and I are alike in that we don't think or divide musics. Whether it's improv, rock, folk or dub, it's still us and it's still part of our collective whole...Even though our music has a wide range, I really think it still all makes sense together and is not a hodge-podge of elements thrown together with little thought. Everything is in its place for a rhyme and reason on our records. A lot of work and thought goes into all of it."
Monosov agrees adding, "When we are in a more 'rock' formation I feel that I must make it a ritual, an experience if you will. It is not a social device for me and I point this out specifically because the rock revivalists are actually murderers. Perhaps the easiest way to think about it is that we love music and we love it very much."
The duo plans to visit Australia in the near future, already feeling a kinship with the diversity of experimental artists, some of them dedicated to exploring several inter-locking disciplines at once, which is something Monosov and Swirnoff can certainly appreciate. "There is a very interesting scene in Australia, I like the fact that sometimes the same people do very different things," writes Monosov.
Concludes Swirnoff, "As for what we play live, I love our music and our ethic about performance because there are very few rules and I know that getting up there, playing the same songs every night is something Ilya and I could never do."
'Monosov/Swirnoff Recorded Works' Volumes I-IV are out now through Inertia
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