The Monstrance Experience

Andy Partridge, Barry Andrews and Martyn Barker talk about the Monstrance project.

MONSTRANCE EXPERIENCE - Martyn Barker.

It’s always my favourite part of making music as a Drummer!
When you are in a room just playing with lovely dangerous people!
Making a creative conversation work or fall apart Thru Music and not knowing what will happen

Something will always trigger me off when Barry does his thing.
The rhythm’s just pour out and it’s so difficult to stop!

And now Andy’s Guitar making suggestion’s to where we could go.

BEAUTIFUL
Don’t think about it just do it
Off we went
Barry and Andy lock in, Fuck it’s so magic!

Snare on or off. Brushes, Reeds or Hands and who cares how long it goes on for I am there in the moment with the guys thru all the Battles and Bliss!

From periods of Ambience to Weird time changes, we went on a journey that went somewhere and nowhere

RESULT!
I Lovely Cosmonaut to Chain Gang.
Pure and untouchable Music!
Monstrance is Born.
Stroke it gently and Don’t drop it

‘MAKING MONSTRANCE’ ‘SO I SAY ‘PENGUIN..’ by Barry Andrews

So I say ‘penguin’ – in fact I say: ‘what about an armoured penguin with the head of a sheep? Worshipped as a god?’.. Andy and Mart accept this as a fair enough starting gambit, I can tell, but -i infer from Andy’s so far non-committal strumming- ‘worshipped by who?’ Well.. Mart makes a martial rhythm suggestive of pygmy samurai -and immediately, having found a constituency, I’m having fun being the Penguin God -bit of incense, some sardines -’thanks guys’- I’m in a charming english animated short for a little but Andy has other ideas: ‘These pygmy samurai are bastards, fucking sodomising cannibal bastards’ says his suddenly toxic guitar. That Partridge -always gotta spoil it when it’s getting vaguely devotional or sweet- but I am aroused by this perversity and go with it: bigging up that Penguin -whooah he’s a badass mutha now with his blowlamp eyes and anthrax breath -the pygmy samurai are definitely happier with this version and are dancing now in a brutal metallic way. Give ‘em the Penguin-God they deserve the little swine, that’s what i say. This dark oriental sabbat is going on for some time so I try out my wrathful god-form in various positions but there’s no getting round it -he’s getting pretty dam’ vaporous -almost translucent now and evaporating fast. The samurai can’t work with this obviously and stop for a fag break, clattering about like tired extras after the cut. Their evil forgotten for the moment -but wait- ‘whatever were we thinking?’ says Mart’s bell-like percussion, ‘not only have they all just become one big Jeff Koons bunny, they weren’t ever evil, they are lovely, very very lovely, -but -and now feel the Deep Wrongness: it’s not really lovely at all -it’s actually more horrible than before because it’s knowingly, deliberately grotesque: aping the form of innocence in order to be viler than ever, ‘godless, heartless enormous monster bunny!! ‘ We all stand beneath it’s dripping jowls and gaze into it’s hateful glassy eyes till we can’t stand it any more and stop playing, giggling a little.

So did we all just say: ‘godless, heartless enormous monster bunny!! ‘ AT THE SAME TIME? You know, I think we did…..

WHAT WE DIDDED ON OUR HOLLYDAZE by Andy Partridge.

So I plugged in my spiffing shinee guitar,what did not hav two much dust upon it,then I looked over and sawed Barrye. He have a pile of keyfobs what he plays,black and wight and all squelchee noyses that come out all over my trousirs, the stains,the stains. Then I notissed from the cornea of mi eye thair is a bloke sitting behind these bangy bangy bangy drum tins,with the name of Martiin{his name,knot the drums}. So like a good un I sticks my hand intoo my gitar like a playing bloke what nose how to makeup a rite proper sexy sexy futyure sound of Ludlow,and of we goes.

Crikey! what constelation and turbotlence we does. Sounds cummin out all wilde and bonkee with no one nowing ware we is all goin,but hoo cares? Not we, cos its hot good and liabull to berne your lips if them dirty girls sticks it in thair mouths all to kwik. And dont it go good and betterer each thyme us do have a crac at an other thing from down beelow in ars soles to pull out four you. And make a recorded.

Soon after threee daze of makin our hands get all overt the expensiv noizy instruments things, we are sitting behind all scared like,cos they do feerce tones as wel as softee lay down noisis propel out,to fright the cattle. Then we says its right desuntt and properlike to micks it up in to a disc record and give it too you for munny. Myselfs, Martine and Bary ar as pleesd as a punctyure to let you heer this all,what is gooderer than a lot of groops that evun try hard does. So lissun with your eers to make an enjoymentt of it all. We are.
Andy Partridge {product of the secondary system}

Buy ‘Monstrance’

Posted by steve on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 4:52 am, filed under text. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.