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Little Nobody

Author: Andrez
Sunday, January 1, 1995
Over the past year and a half here in Melbourne Little Nobody has been prolific in the live performance stakes, bobbing up at many of the IF- Records gigs as well as at Club Filter and at last year's Dreadnought warehouse party alongside Voiteck and Zen Paradox. Little Nobody's work has appeared through labels like IF- Records and Eat At Joe's here in Australia as well as on Sweden's Fitja imprint, and at present he's preparing his debut album. With the working title of 'Pop Tart' it features some previously released tracks and a swag of new ones that blur the definitions between electro, techno, disco, hip hop and old skool acid house. It's a soundscape that's made its mark in Melbourne through the live shows and consistent radio airplay on stations 3PBS and 3RRR.


Aside from his own production activities, Little Nobody has remixed tracks by Guyver 3 and Jammin' Unit while his own work has been remixed by fellow Melbourne underground interns Blimp, Artificial and Dee Dee as well as German producers Brixton and Subsonic 808. In keeping with the anonymity of his title, the interview that follows was conducted entirely by fax and email sent back and forth a number of times, and never a spoken word was uttered - which made the whole transaction somewhat suitably kooky. Read on . . .


Q: The first track you ever released contained 60 seconds of silence and absolutely nothing else. Why-


"Why not- At that stage in my career I think I had delusions about being a quiet achiever."


Q: Your subsequent track titles are something else - think of 'Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat', 'Fear Of A Black Bat', 'Jack My Kitsch Up' and 'We Call It Crack House'. Are you taking the piss or just being facetious-


"No, I think I'm just sprouting self-indulgent verbal diarrhea. I can't help it. To tell the truth I don't take many things all that seriously when it comes to music; I just try to enjoy myself, have a bit of fun, and hopefully create something interesting in the process."


Q: Why do you make music-


"To pass time. It's amazing how quickly time flies when you're stuck in an airless studio with absolutely no food in your stomach, no friends, and no life."


Q: The music you've made to date and the sounds you play live incorporate elements of old skool acid house, electro and industrial references, breakbeats and sampled hip hop riffs. These all come together and seem to create something quite unique under the banner of Little Nobody - for instance your track 'Nobody's Driving' on last year's 'Zeitgeist 3' compilation was described as 'sci-fi soundtrack meets breakbeat' in these very pages, 'lo-fi trip hop' in another review, and 'downright barmy' in the UK's Wax magazine. What do you think defines Little Nobody's sound-


"The lack of definition at all and the overwhelming desire to do whatever I feel like. I mean there's no particular sound that I attribute to myself - I'm into anything from hard techno to phunked-up house, drum 'n' bass deviations and electro experimental stuff, and I think all these things come through in the music I hack together at one stage or another. I also like old film noir soundtracks, kitsch 70's funk, and my favourite track of all time is 'Brazil' - no matter what version or who recorded it; no matter what style or interpretation. I've got 17 versions and I'm always looking out for more. The definition of Little Nobody's sound, I guess, is that anything goes according to the whim of the moment."


Q: What other influences make an impression upon your music-


"I think it'd be more pertinent to ask me if there are any influences at all that don't make an impression! Apart from the usual things like alcohol, nicotine, mull, amphetamines, hallucinogenics, chocolate, sashimi, hmmm . . . I'd have to say putting my feet up and reading a good book like 'Watership Down'."


Q: I mean other producers and/or labels.


"Oh, right! Let's see . . . I'd h

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