Interview with Rachel Weldon

Rachel Weldon's piece 'Arena' is part of our New Works programming.

You can hear their piece on Tuesday September 16th at 7pm or Thursday September 25th at 7pm, as part of a double-bill with Mana Rouholamini's piece 'Brumes sonores' by tuning in to 106.5 FM (Gatineau) or by listening online.

Learn more about her piece and her creative process through this interview.

1. Could you tell us a bit about E-Tron Records and how you were introduced to their catalogue and community?

I was introduced to E-Tron in 2012 or 13 when I had a radio program on CKCU and was active with an online blog/community called Weird Canada, which reviewed several E-Tron releases. My friends in the band Doomsquad (RIP but check out their members in E-Prime and Alma) were coming to Ottawa to play a show I was organizing through Debaser and they had asked about playing with one of the bands from the label, Fet.Nat. They had also played a show with the label's other active project at the time, Scattered Clouds, who I soon connected with to have on my radio show and start doing shows with. Phil Charbonneau (E-Tron co-founder and 1/2 of Scattered Clouds) and I met that way and fell in love and are still together. Over those years, E-Tron Records and Debaser co-presented several shows and album launches for artists on the label, primarily Fet.Nat and Scattered Clouds. Whenever I think of Hull's creative music scene, I think of E-Tron. Its catalogue is rich in treasures from local sceniuses like Olivier Fairfield, Pierre-Luc Clément, Linsey Wellman, and Phil. 

2. What was the process like creating this work?

This is the first time I work on a project like this, so I've been figuring things out as I go. I thought that I would prepare for this like I would a DJ set, and then just record a one-take improvised session for 60 minutes. When I was at square one, I just hit record and captured what was more exploratory and research-driven–listening and trying out techniques on different tracks. I ended up liking a lot of moments from those recordings, but also there were a lot of dull or badly recorded moments. So I ended up picking my favourite moments from those exploratory sessions and editing them together, rather than doing it all in one shot. I think it is much more listenable this way ;)

I also went for a walk around Hull and captured some field recordings of sounds made by and in different natural and architectural environments, like under bridges, inside sculptures, on the river bank, under a dome, in the park. I find the architectural landscape of Hull very strange and inspiring, and if I had more time I would have liked to delve deeper into this practice. But I am still happy with the snippets I got, which have been woven into the mix here and there, offering a bit of grounding audio realism in a tapestry of static churning turntable frequencies. 

3. Why work with turntables? Does this medium/practice speak to your chosen themes of "circular time, land-based practices, and alternative temporalities"?

I think I was drawn to the tactility of turntables, and all the different ways you can make sounds with them. I started DJing with vinyl years ago when I was on the radio because CKCU has a great vinyl head community going through it, and also because record stores were where you would find other music nerds. Also Weird Canada, the blog I wrote for, would only review records that were released on a physical format, so my physical media pretensions were cultivated in that community as well. Finally, Ottawa had two influential underground physical media labels back then: E-Tron and Bruised Tongue. So there were a lot of reasons to get into collecting. Plus I think I remember Jas Nasty saying "Yes we need more women playing records in Ottawa!"; and Chris International sold me a couple of Technics 1200s for a great price.

I did a workshop with abstract turntablist Maria Chavez last year which blew my mind way open. I was already doing a bit of experimenting, but Maria's liberated approach to turntablism, developed in part by working with Pauline Oliveros in Houston, was incredibly inspiring. I picked up a lot of techniques and new ideas from listening and watching her work. 

I have been thinking for a few years about using the turntable to explore alternate time, time travel, and circular time, and relating that to themes of sustainability and land-based practice. I'm inspired and influenced by time-based media that is made beyond settler capitalist time, and how the turntable can free the work from the confines of linearity. I also think there are a lot of fun ways to explore loop-based media, particularly in relation to the theme of Radio Hull this year.

Records featured on 'Arena'

(in rough order of sounding)

H de Heutz - The Natural World

Linsey Wellman - Manifesto

Last Ex - Last Ex

Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock

Nick Schofield - Water Sine

Album - Album

Scattered Clouds - Fallen (lathe cut)

Orchidae - True Beginning

FET.NAT - Le Mal

FET.NAT - Gaoler

Scattered Clouds - Take Away Your Summer

H de Heutz - Study for Violence and Tape

Demars - Les Tele-Têtes

Ferriswheel - “Dusty Gentle Creature” 7” split

J’envoie - La vitesse des chats sauvages

Rêves sonores - Crépuscule