Nick Hennies - Lineal

Until the end of his life my grandfather, Charles Nichols, could recite several poems and stories from memory. He never showed much interest in his family or anything else and never smiled, but for some reason he would memorize poems and recite them at family gatherings. As I got older the family paid less and less attention to these recitations, despite constantly insisting he perform at every holiday. The last time I remember listening to him recite “The Land of Beginning Again” (I think I was in college) my mother and aunts were whispering to each other and laughing quietly about something throughout the poem. After his death and long after my childhood I started to wonder why he ever bothered to memorize so many poems and how he decided on the material he would learn.

When I was 15 my aunt heard that I had recording capabilities and insisted that I record Grandpa Nichols. A cassette tape was made and distributed among family members and eventually forgotten about. Years later, long after I’d left college and distanced myself from family as much as I could, my father (ironically not related by blood and no longer related by marriage to Charles Nichols) discovered one of these cassettes in his house and, wanting to rid himself of it, gave it to me.

The tape sat on my desk unplayed for years until one day I decided to do a digital transfer and I was overcome by the dignity and sadness in the tone and content of Grandpa Nichols’ recitations. The common themes among the various American poems of family, memory, and devotion are made all the more poignant with the knowledge that they were recited by a man who seemingly spent most of his life feeling unhappy.

I used these recordings in a way that not only pays tribute to an unhappy and soon to be forgotten man, but to somehow synthesize them into my own personal history and musical language. Charles Nichols was drawn to memorize and recite poems much in the same way I am drawn to bow a piece of wire on the head of a snare drum. Neither is completely rational nor are they without a clear purpose and intent.

This is not a memorial to Charles Nichols; it is an homage to memory.
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Source material: poetry recitations by Charles Nichols, snare drum, no-input mixer, wine glass (with thanks to Kunio Kato), ice cubes, guitar, piano, "Coal Creek March" as performed by Marion Underwood (circa 1927), "Soldier’s Joy" as performed by Taylor’s Kentucky Boys (circa 1927)

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Who is Nick Hennies?

I am a percussionist and composer in Austin, TX. My composed work is primarily focusing on repetition, meditation, and re-contextualizing conventional acoustic sounds. I regularly perform solo and with The Weird Weeds, the Austin New Music Co-op, Waco Girls, Amy Annelle and True Vine and have collaborated with a wide range of composers and performers including Charles Curtis, Arnold Dreyblatt, Ellen Fullman, Jandek, Radu Malfatti, Sean O’Neill and Greg Stuart.

What is Lineal about?

Lineal was an attempt to draw connections between my family and myself via our various natural inclinations (my grandfather’s memorization of poetry, my great-grandfather’s bluegrass dance band, my idiosyncratic musical proclivities, etc.) and to singularly represent several generations of a disjointed family while keeping the integrity of the disparate elements in tact. Among other things, it’s an experiment that asks the question of whether or not the whole (of a family, a collection of unrelated sounds, etc.) is actually worth more than the sum of its parts.

How did you start in sound/music? And do you have an educational background in this field?

I was naturally drawn to music at a very young age (as early as four or five years old) and began taking drum lessons in a music store at the age of nine. I have played in punk/indie bands since I was 13 and became interested in experimental music not long after that and have continually pursued both alongside each other since then. I started pursuing percussion more seriously in 11th grade and eventually went to music school at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign for my undergrad studies then received my M.A. At University of California-San Diego in 2003. That said, I have never considered myself an academic or "classically trained" though my education has obviously had an influence on what I’m doing now.

Could you explain how you work, what themes or concepts you use and what is important to you?

I try to let the material dictate my decision-making process and often begin working without a clear purpose or idea of where the piece is going or what it will be when it’s done. My process has become very "hands on" in that I find it incredibly beneficial to play the piece and see how it evolves, what works and what doesn’t that way rather than deciding on everything up front. I find it almost impossible to sit down and compose a score without some kind of actual physical engagement with the sounds.

John Duncan - whose ideas and music have been a big influence on me - said that his work "has always been to somehow find a way to tap into my inner self, and hopefully encourage others through my work to do this" and I am very much operating in the same manner. Specifically, there are sounds, concepts, or behaviors in my life that I’m naturally compelled to engage with and through exploring these things in music I am asking the question, "Why THOSE things, specifically?" There’s a certain amount of mystery in human nature and understanding it is a lifelong pursuit that will hopefully not only result in some powerful music but will also increase our understanding of who we are.

According to you, what is contemporary sound art?

I don’t see a need for or understand the distinction between "music" and "sound art". A musician is an artist that works with sound.

What is your perspective on piracy and creative commons?

File sharing has only been good for people who make non-commercial music. It’s here to stay so it’s best to embrace it whole-heartedly and just accept the fact that if someone wants your music for free then they can probably get it. The amount of money I might lose in sales to downloads is minuscule compared to the amount of music I never would have heard if I hadn’t downloaded it. Most of us want as many people to hear our music as possible so I’m in favor of anything that increases the number of listeners.

Do you also work in commercial fields of sounds or music?

Not often since I don’t actively pursue things like that but opportunities arise from time to time and I will happily do most of them. As a musician I’m not concerned with making money but will happily do it when I can.

How important is the reaction to your work by the audience?

Of course I want people to have a positive experience with my music but I have no way to account for or predict the innumerable ways an audience may react to something so I don’t place much importance on it. I try to compose in a way that eliminates undesirable interpretations but still encourages people to ask questions or to listen again.

What is your next project about?

I am collaborating with electronic musician Sean O’Neill on a piece for percussion and multi-channel electronics called "Clots" that will hopefully be a CD as well as an ongoing installation-style performance (an early version was performed in Austin last February). The focal point is a solo percussionist who repeatedly performs brief cells of rhythmically complex music over extremely long periods of time within an "environment" of multi-channel electro-acoustic sound. It’s an examination the role repetition plays in our lives and how it pervades almost every area of our existence, either through the rhythm of our every day lives or the repetitions present in our bodies and nature.

You can hear a sample here:
www.soundcloud.com/nhennies/clots-section-1-excerpt/