Point of Memory

Tell me about this new project.

Jason Crumer: Point of Memory started out as just my project, where I wanted to stop using my own name and develop an entirely different style of working – or at least, a different style of recording – but still maintain high fidelity, and maybe make it a little bit more mysterious. That's how it started. When I went to S.A.N.S. [Strange And New Sounds] to track the very first parts, it wound up becoming something totally different. Ever since that first session, I had been looking for excuses to go back because it's a new, beautiful place. I decided I would return for each season of the year and try to catch myself in every mood that every season brings. After the first two or three sessions, I started realizing that I was having mixing problems – just theoretically – so, Tim [Gick]’s initial involvement was like a mix guide. He has a very good ear, especially for abstract stuff. He wound up helping a lot, in both mixing and setting the final sequence. I set a few rules, but he ultimately set the final sequence of the album.

How collaborative was the mixing process?

J: At the beginning, he was a second set of ears, mostly because he had attended the sessions. I was drinking then, and we would get hammered and party. He was the most knowledgeable on what I was trying to do. But he deserves the production credit he got. He did a ton of mixing. I don’t think there is a song that he did the final mix of, but at least five of the nine songs there are giant parts that he mixed, including key parts like the marimba. I played that, but it sounded corny, and he fixed it. He did a lot. It’s hard to say, since there was a lot of pre-mixing. But if I could count it, it's probably a 60/40 split.

Tim, how was it working with Jason on this record?

Tim Gick: It was quite a unique challenge, because I've never worked with someone before who had such clear ideas about what needed to be done. We also operated on the same level, as far as starting with tons of sources and arranging those in a way that would make it sound like a finished product. Otherwise, a lot of it's just strings of sounds. It was really cool to work with Jason on that, because it’s not something I’m used to at all.

Are you more used to trying to build something out of chaos without as much structure?

T: If we go back, the music where I got a lot of my editing and mixing chops from was Crazy Doberman. We would record sometimes 30 hours of 20 tracks simultaneously. I would take all of that and cut it down into a 35-to-40-minute album. I was finding parts and collaging. "Oh, this guitar sounds good with this bass that was recorded the previous day." Things like that. It was definitely more of a grab bag with Crazy Doberman; whereas working with Jason, there were ideas already in formation. It was taking those ideas that were already starting to come together and asking, “How do I amplify the idea that's already here?” Trim the fat a little bit, as opposed to full-on collage.

What is “acoustic computer music”?

J: That was the original thought. I was going to do soft cut ups using my ‘06 [Apple] MacBook and GarageBand. Then I was going to bring them into the studio, play them through Marshall stacks and a PA. Then I was going to record it. technically live, while manipulating it a little bit, but not that much. I was hoping, honestly, that it would be like – this is a terrible reference – U2’s Rattle and Hum. I wanted there to be rattling in everything. I wanted it to sound like it was happening in a room, and it does. The idea of acoustic computer music is that I like where noise is headed with software, but a lot of times it feels like you're sitting under fluorescent lights. It has,...