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GOODING is an artist in the true sense of the word. He creates moods, illustrates emotions, and displays depth and understanding in every piece of music he molds. After releasing and promoting Songs From the Unrealized Film Script FACTORY BLUE throughout 1997, GOODING’s label Sixth Sense Studios took the largest step in it’s evolution, just as his career as an artist also became more established and promising. Quite frankly the man is a genious, and if anyone deserves to get noticed on a large scale, it would have to be him. I doubt however, that the sincerity, strength, creativity and emotional backbone of GOODING’s work could ever find it’s place in the dying planet described in Factory Blue...
IF: Describe yourself as an artist.
G: I’m 5ft 10 inches tall, deep green eyes, and I want to hear all your intimate fantasies - Seriously though - I play Drums and various Percussion, Bass, Keys, Classical and Electric Guitar; I write what is labeled Dark Ambient, Trip-Hop (whatever the hell that means these days), Neo-Classical, Industrial, and Acid Jazz compositions, that once I get right I fully intend to use to rule this cruel and hateful planet. I am a cocky bastard who spells his name in all caps. You do not have to shout it when you say it though. (Like that has anything to do with artistry - I believe that is marketing, huh?)
IF: How do you feel about your contemporaries on the extremes of the spectrum, such as VNV Nation, and Velvet Acid Christ, or Sven Vath and Aphex Twin?
G: To be honest, I don’t own records by any of those artists. I have heard three of four and think they are all very good, but I’m not sure who my contemporaries are, as I don’t have a heavy enough sound to stay on RPM charts, and most of my stuff (except my first disc from ‘92) is way too heavy for new age charts. I think the Twin stuff is much more suited for club play than my discs.
IF: Do you ever find yourself gearing toward any extremes, or do you shy from them to keep your albums more focused? I see elements and influences of everything hidden in your music.
G: Thank you - I like a lot of different stuff - I don’t really gravitate toward one thing or shy away from it. If I set out to make a chartable "Techno" album it would completely blow. Then again, I hate records where there is no flow to the songs, or it doesn’t have a thread that holds it together. Whether a thread production-wise, or maybe a concept (as I tried to do in Factory Blue), or (the ultimate goal), the few artists who have the ability to make all kinds of music with their little unique stamp on it that is so bangin’ it’s always tied together. As much as Pop can be a bad word in the "underground" genres, I think there are some mainstream acts doing this extremely well (with the help of some brilliant producers/engineers such as Mark Bell, Mark Stent, Nelee Hooper, and Howie B.) such as Bjork and U2 - you always know it’s them, but to me the stuff is never rehashed. A great lead vocalist makes a huge difference, and believe it or not I aspire to that.
IF: What is your ultimate goal in creating an album? Is it more like work, a hobby or both?
G: It is both. When I was making horrible little tapes on my four-track in Jr. High it was never work, and I’m not saying it is any less fulfilling now, but anytime you put your soul out in front of the public, a certain amount of weight will fall on the next thing you produce, thus making it a form of "work." For those who are truly unconcerned 100 percent as to whether or not their next release impresses anyone or finds new ears, more power to you - music is my entire life, and there is a pressure to evolve as an artist, and still sell records. These things very rarely coincide, but that is what makes it work - finding the middle ground to express yourself, and still craft a song that is exciting and evoking. Some days I would like to just bang on pots and pans and hum unintelligible melodies, but am I gonna put out 50 minutes of it? NO. (I’ll definitely sample it though!). A big factor in the Work vs. Hobby issue is, I work at the label (I started it), so as I am recording, unfortunately I am also thinking about marketing (what an ugly word), station ID’s, how many credit cards are weighing down my wallet, etc. The finances, promotion and recording are very hard to keep separate when you are "independent." I recorded about 100 bands to accumulate the gear at S3 - there were times when I wanted to SHOOT the groups that couldn’t play - and I couldn’t create because of it. There was no space, and no division of "business" and "art." People scoff at cats who go to some island for a year and don’t answer the phone so they can "create." Fuck it - I’ll take that in two seconds if it comes. Does leaving your surroundings and spending money make you a sell-out? I think making a shitty record just to fit a niche makes you a sell out. This wasn’t the question, was it!!!
IF: You are relatively young to be producing such complex and concentrated compositions. I rarely see someone your age dishing out such excellently produced material.
G: Thank you - that’s a kind thing to say. I started drums at 3, guitar at 10, bass and keys at 12, and have sung (terribly) for years. I am just now getting my voice in shape. I listen to complex and concentrated compositions, so it’s such a complement to think that it has rubbed off. I was a hermit through Jr. High and high school - all I did was practice and sequence. I have put out almost a dozen things before we (everyone at S3) started pushing my discs to radio, so it’s been a long road despite still being "young." When I wake up and internalize how far I am from my life goals (like I said, ruling this planet),I feel old.
IF: What CD’s do you find yourself listening to in a given day? Do you ever hear music and say, ‘Hey, that’s cool...I want to try that...’?
G: Great question. I do make mental notes of grooves and structures that I might want to have spring up in the subconscious, but I never make an overt effort to recreate someone else’s vibe. It all rubs off on you anyway. I have been listening to (as always) a lot of soundtracks lately. Ry Cooder and Howie B., The End of Violence (directed by Wim Wenders) - didn’t like the film but the soundtrack is tight (the score, not the band singles disc). Still listen to Eric Serra soundtrack for The Professional constantly (Eric Serra IS OUR HOLY SAVIOUR). Love the new Recoil disc, Shadow, some Sting B-sides (reading a Sting biography and trying to check it all out), Radiohead. And David Holmes - his work on Out of Sight is excellent. I’ll buy anything these artists put out.
IF: How are your record sales going now that you have established yourself as a credible and capable artist?
G: Dammit, how come everyone doesn’t share your view that I am credible and capable!!! Actually, almost all the reviews have been good, we are just still very small, so fighting the distribution battle with the majors buying up all the shelf space is still very difficult. We are doing decent indie numbers. When we are doing great you will know as my mailing address will no longer be in Kansas. One problem was that distribution was secured months after heavy airplay on Factory Blue had died. That is always a sales- killer. If you blow up on your local station with no distribution, whatever. But if 300 stations play you, that record is not gonna get another shot. It’s old news with 36,000 discs going to radio every year. But I have a Limited Edition 12 inch going out to radio and press Feb. 1, and the first in a numbered collection series of CDs full of B-sides and film cues I have done, that will be released nationally in March or April, so we won’t make the same mistakes twice. The website is GOODING-S3.COM. Tons of audio clips of this new stuff are already on there.
IF: Was it difficult to produce the soundtrack for Factory Blue? The record has a lot of symbolism and reference to the film, but were you pissed that Factory Blue was never realized after so much work and production?
G: It was realized on my own level as I had a film made for it that I performed in sync with (a la Pink Floyd, Queensryche, U2). But I won’t duck the question. I had higher hopes - I am troubled more people didn’t see the film, as the production was very extensive and (in harmony at S3 - EXPENSIVE!). The film was edited on Avid and very high quality. It helped tell the story, it wasn’t just Rorschach test images pounding the screen. I hope this record can be revisited when I get further up the ladder, or filmed live and released on video (oh GOD - more money flushed away!!!). The story means a lot to me, it is a very personal record. The concept of humans being wiped from the earth for the way we abuse animals and each other is frighteningly real. I am not a conspiracy theorist by any means, I think there are some very real, logical reasons as to why nature will not allow us to continue to grow exponentially and use every resource we find as if we are the center of the universe. The slogan for the tour and the shirts and all the other bullshit was "NO GOD CAN SAVE YOU NOW." Western religion has helped to instill this attitude that all things revolve around us - maybe today, but I do not believe technology will have the last word - and that is what the disc/film is about (plus little sub-plots regarding time travel, cloning, misanthropic scientists and airborne viruses from the sea, etc., etc.).
IF: What’s your favorite part of touring, and can we expect another soon? How did the last one go for you?
G: Favorite part is getting out of Kansas. The tour was great, but the houses were not full by any means. Some were dead. But we played like crazy no matter what. I went out with live drums and bass, I played Classical and Electric Guitar, and sequences and samples were on tape with the film. You can expect many other tours. But before I go out with a band again, I will be playing “in-stores” at Borders Books nationally for next few months and doing radio interviews. Spring should yield some larger live shows again.
IF: Any final thoughts?
G: Do not buy products tested on Animals…the Backstreet Boyz are giving me an ulcer…are Pacino or DeNiro starring in anything coming up?…GOODING-S3.COM…Please buy my records – they are at ALL BORDERS BOOKS locations…Buy In_Faction — don’t expect a free copy…and finally, If you think the world is going to end in 2000, PLEASE, do me a favor and scout out an isolated building to jump from — do not land on others. Thanks Daryl- PEACE.
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