april 27 - There is a new short film inspired by the truCulentEnigma track entitled drugless

Watch it here or at hesterglock.com or youtube ..........and here



Martin Headphonica interviews TE/Paul H.......

headphonica [hp]: "Paul H, there's a lot to say about music in general, the weather today, different uplifting aspects of human conciousness, the role art plays in the developement of capitalism nowadays and of course ensembles of organic fruit, so could you first tell us something about your breakfast this morning?"

Paul Hawkins [ph]: When the coffee is made I know my day is just about to start. I am not subject to any fasting under a religious trip or for any other reason, so I rarely have a fast to break. For that I am eternally thankful. When I was in the USA recently I did try grits and gravy once or twice, but I ate too early in the day to be able to tell you anything interesting, factual or otherwise about them really

hp: "Well, ok - sounds good [or maybe not, eventually]. But isn't it funny that there's nothing else to say about the legal registration of terribly tasting shoes and batteries? wouldn't we have to remark on a lack of concentration on the subject of glue?"

ph: "In the bigger picture it is essential to look laterally at these matters. On the subject of edible shoes and batteries I know non-artist Allan Happening Kaprow may have included them in the instructions to one of his pieces. Oh,  and I remember jamming the positive and negative terminals of a PP3 onto my tongue one time to see if the rumours were all true - and they were. The glue that holds the Okra album together is this killing fields soundtrack that was playing 24/7 in and around the disused bar where I live. That and cups of tea, hand-rolled cigarettes, the sun and the moon mixed together to form a solid bonding agent. Strangely enough it had a neutral smell. The decision to leave the long version of Gimbri on the album was partly dictated by the juxtaposition of those elements. Drugless in this state just appeared in the middle of the night."

hp: "No, I wouldn't say that, because there was no melody in it at all, or did i listen to the wrong track?"

ph: "Well, the melody is based upon a single riff from a song called Callers that Dug Degnin and I wrote back in the day when we lived in Brighton. It has a rolling motion akin to the ebb and flow of the tide in the melody that I found irresistable. The temptation to allow sounds to become both a backdrop and an alchemic reactive process, a response that takes to all the shit going on in the brain; the smells, itches, emotions, lies, politics, tastes, the impact of time, hunger and the enviroment the listener is part of, for example....  was overwhelming. Thats what this album is about, rather than relying on a more traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle eight-verse-chorus to fade  to hook the listener in under the guise of familiarity and safety. Take risks is the advice, my friends."

hp: "Oh, I see..."

ph: "There are samples of stuff I have made, contributed to or written over the years on the album, whether it is a drum beat, trumpets played backwards, guitar,  voices , whatever....as well as some live instruments, voices and other things. The track Bloke Likes Three has a line spoken by a good friend that runs through the tune. He sadly passed away in a freak accident a couple of years ago. He was like a brother in some ways to me, we played together in various Brighton bands and I miss him badly. To be able to create something out of the seemingly disparate sounds to me is magical"

hp: "Yes, absof*ckinglutely!"

ph: "I guess its my way of saying adios to him"

hp: "Well, ... ok. But maybe ..."

ph: "No. No. No... there`s no if`s, buts or maybes....it is what it is"

hp: "Before we digress too much, let me please focus on something specific. On your view on music as a kind of religion: What exactly do we trust in? and what is the meaning of rhythm?"

ph: "When it all boils down, I guess I trust in some kind of a higher power, and today its a favourite hat of mine, the sun rising and the love of friends and family. I dont think you can go far wrong with what one of the coolest musicians around, jazz drummer Steve Reid said : "the rhythm is my life".

hp: "Wow!"

ph: "Keeping it simple helps a lot. i like to meditate, erm, think on that for a while. We allow our brains to make some things as complex as some of Fibbonacci`s mathmatical theories. Its good to slow it all done and take stock.

hp: "Ok, but if I remember right [please correct me if this is wrong] a few years ago you wrote something like: 'in every single melody, as sweet or as harsh it may be, there`s a big, fat ignorant lie'
So, shouldn't we turn the music up louder sometimes? Is this effect caused by the extensive use of earphones on mobile-music-players - or is it just that ..."

ph: "Well, thats partly what I said. Taking that sentence on its own, I think that mostly everything in life has the attraction, maybe even the thrill or the danger of being or having an eternal truth woven into it, melody(s) included. Which takes us back to Steve Reid. Some pattern, path or indicator of harmony, of inner truth or of dis-harmony, dischord and madness. Of course it follows that it also has the possibility of being what my friend Chuck Prophet calls.....`either truth or a beautiful lie` . Its that dynamic that makes the wheels go round, isnt it?"

hp: "Pardon?"

ph: "The wheel of life, the circular motion of birth, life and death...the personal searching, the questioning of what is it all about.and then the expression of dealing with that..you know, what does it all mean? The sounds I have put together, in a kind of cut and paste way are all part of the circle. They are all elements going round and round."

hp: "Yes, I had already thought about it like that"

ph: "My next project is to make some kind of a spoken word album. Its something I have been wanting to do for a while now."

hp: "Really?"

ph: "Yeah. I write a lot, keep journals, diaries, you know? I make sounds too...... I like words and sounds. Seems to me I have a real addiction to them and so I guess thats what drives me to be creative in that way, maybe it reminds me the world is insane and that is its normal state.........once you take that on board it all makes sense. At least it did to Mark Twain and I can relate to that.....

hp: "We have to come to an end now because all the downloading folks already have an eye on this download-button over there and we shouldn't force them to wait any longer. Could you at least give us a tip-off what this is it all about? What is your music about and why did you make it?"

ph: "Its a response to my surroundings, both inner and outer at a particular time at the beginning of the summer in 2007. Its got joy, love, happiness threading through it. Also I had been through some doors I knew I needed to open, as well as some I wish had been locked and If This Is Your Best Shot Okra? is the sound of me slap bang in the middle of those moments. Its a kind of soundtrack and if others get off on it, can relate to the tones, the resonance, spaces and trance-like rumble and thunder or whatever then thats cool. Document it all. Soundtracks are important I think, especially in the crazy image-heavy world we interact with and create in. Dont forget the power that sound plays in our lives. And I dont just mean The Beatles or The Stones, James Brown or Public Enemy."

Download + artwork available now from headphonica

truCulentEnigma is one of the altered egos of writer, musician and culture vulture Paul Hawkins. You can read more about him and his words, music, interviews, reviews, fiction and non-fiction at his world wide serotonin sponsors hesterGlock


If This Is Your Best Shot Okra? was recorded in the summer of 2007 in a disused bar with a laptop, a Marshall amp and a curious mind. .....throughout the recording sessions a killing fields soundtrack lurked in the background.

Okra was initially released on the difficult patagonia imprint and sold via myspace and word of mouth in a limited edition run of 1000 copies..... now to be released in April 08 by the headphonica net label under creative commons licence. Unshackled and emancipated from a free-market derived currency value it will be available for FREE.