Cyprus Avenue
Member
Cyprus Avenue
Caroline Street, Cork
AUTAMATA
Sat 13th November
Doors:9pm Adm: €10
autamata is the creation of Dublin-based artist/producer Ken McHugh.
Even Ken McHugh - aka autamata - doesn't quite know how to describe the breathtaking eclecticism of his debut album, My Sanctuary. "A lot of people ask me and I still haven't worked out the answer," he admits. "It's influenced by just about everything I've ever heard and you can't even begin to pigeon-hole it. The only answer I have is that I hope you can put it on and by the end you feel you've been taken somewhere."
From the limpid beauty of 'Out Of This' to the irresistible electro-pop beats of 'Jellyman', Autamata introduces the Bjork-influenced experimentalism of 'Registered User' and the joyful Lambchop-meets-Lemon Jelly vibe of 'Jive County'. Add to this the floating trip-hop of 'Let's Normalise' and change direction once more with the clanging industrial beats of 'Little Green Men' and its extraordinary orchestral coda.
This proved too much for the major labels who wanted to sign autamata. "They all liked different things about it," Ken recalls. "Then they all said, 'but we can't put out a record like this. There are too many ideas. You've got to concentrate on one style'."
Of course, in the real world, real people don't compartmentalise music in such narrow-minded fashion. "Exactly," Ken says. "The only people who think like that are marketing people. So I told them to piss-off and decided to put the record out myself."
My Sanctuary was released in Ireland on his own Left Hand Records in 2003 to wonderful critical acclaim and has now been picked up by the London-based independent, RGR.
Hot Press readers poll voted it 'Best debut' & 'Best dance act', the Irish Independent claimed My Sanctuary as 'One of the best Irish albums of recent years' and the Irish Times agreed; 'Altogether a real treat'.
Yet given Ken McHugh's own personal musical odyssey, the kaleidoscopic diversity of My Sanctuary becomes far less surprising. Born in Co. Mayo in West Ireland, he grew up playing Irish traditional music. At school he got into the Pixies and Nirvana and played in rock bands. After moving to Dublin, he discovered sampling, dance music and breakbeats and fell under the spell of acts such as Orbital. When he grew bored with that, he became fascinated by the sonic adventures of Bjork and Stina Nordenstam. Then he fell under the three minute pop perfection song-spell of Brian Wilson.
My Sanctuary was recorded over a year long period, while he was also working on other projects. Originally, he had conceived it as a purely instrumental album. "I had some very chilled rhythms and beats and noises. But then I realised I also wanted something you could whistle in the shower and so I moved to a more song-based approach."
In addition to Ken himself, vocalists on the album include Carol Keogh of The Tycho Brahe and Cathy Davy, now signed to Parlophone as a solo artist. Keogh played a particularly important role, singing on half a dozen tracks and contributing lyrics.
And in case you're thinking autamata is purely a studio-based project, nothing could be further from the truth. A live band featuring drums, bass, guitar and female vocals as well as Ken's own synth's, samplers and background visuals has already made a powerful impact on the Dublin club scene. They have masterfully taken the album from disc to stage with flair and imagination, picking up live reviews along the way hailing autamata as 'One of the best gigs I've seen in quite some time... mightily impressive (Hotpress March 03).
"I approach my live shows with the same attention to detail as I would in the studio" Ken explains "I rehearse a lot with my band, jamming and trying out new things to really bring the songs to life. Playing live, experimenting, it's the best way to keep developing my songs which is why it's such an important part of what I'm doing with autamata".
"There's so many possibilities in combining live instruments and electronic programming," Ken says. "It seems completely natural to me. It's all music and it can work just as well on stage as it does in the studio."
Music is his sanctuary. Let it be yours too.
Caroline Street, Cork
AUTAMATA
Sat 13th November
Doors:9pm Adm: €10
autamata is the creation of Dublin-based artist/producer Ken McHugh.
Even Ken McHugh - aka autamata - doesn't quite know how to describe the breathtaking eclecticism of his debut album, My Sanctuary. "A lot of people ask me and I still haven't worked out the answer," he admits. "It's influenced by just about everything I've ever heard and you can't even begin to pigeon-hole it. The only answer I have is that I hope you can put it on and by the end you feel you've been taken somewhere."
From the limpid beauty of 'Out Of This' to the irresistible electro-pop beats of 'Jellyman', Autamata introduces the Bjork-influenced experimentalism of 'Registered User' and the joyful Lambchop-meets-Lemon Jelly vibe of 'Jive County'. Add to this the floating trip-hop of 'Let's Normalise' and change direction once more with the clanging industrial beats of 'Little Green Men' and its extraordinary orchestral coda.
This proved too much for the major labels who wanted to sign autamata. "They all liked different things about it," Ken recalls. "Then they all said, 'but we can't put out a record like this. There are too many ideas. You've got to concentrate on one style'."
Of course, in the real world, real people don't compartmentalise music in such narrow-minded fashion. "Exactly," Ken says. "The only people who think like that are marketing people. So I told them to piss-off and decided to put the record out myself."
My Sanctuary was released in Ireland on his own Left Hand Records in 2003 to wonderful critical acclaim and has now been picked up by the London-based independent, RGR.
Hot Press readers poll voted it 'Best debut' & 'Best dance act', the Irish Independent claimed My Sanctuary as 'One of the best Irish albums of recent years' and the Irish Times agreed; 'Altogether a real treat'.
Yet given Ken McHugh's own personal musical odyssey, the kaleidoscopic diversity of My Sanctuary becomes far less surprising. Born in Co. Mayo in West Ireland, he grew up playing Irish traditional music. At school he got into the Pixies and Nirvana and played in rock bands. After moving to Dublin, he discovered sampling, dance music and breakbeats and fell under the spell of acts such as Orbital. When he grew bored with that, he became fascinated by the sonic adventures of Bjork and Stina Nordenstam. Then he fell under the three minute pop perfection song-spell of Brian Wilson.
My Sanctuary was recorded over a year long period, while he was also working on other projects. Originally, he had conceived it as a purely instrumental album. "I had some very chilled rhythms and beats and noises. But then I realised I also wanted something you could whistle in the shower and so I moved to a more song-based approach."
In addition to Ken himself, vocalists on the album include Carol Keogh of The Tycho Brahe and Cathy Davy, now signed to Parlophone as a solo artist. Keogh played a particularly important role, singing on half a dozen tracks and contributing lyrics.
And in case you're thinking autamata is purely a studio-based project, nothing could be further from the truth. A live band featuring drums, bass, guitar and female vocals as well as Ken's own synth's, samplers and background visuals has already made a powerful impact on the Dublin club scene. They have masterfully taken the album from disc to stage with flair and imagination, picking up live reviews along the way hailing autamata as 'One of the best gigs I've seen in quite some time... mightily impressive (Hotpress March 03).
"I approach my live shows with the same attention to detail as I would in the studio" Ken explains "I rehearse a lot with my band, jamming and trying out new things to really bring the songs to life. Playing live, experimenting, it's the best way to keep developing my songs which is why it's such an important part of what I'm doing with autamata".
"There's so many possibilities in combining live instruments and electronic programming," Ken says. "It seems completely natural to me. It's all music and it can work just as well on stage as it does in the studio."
Music is his sanctuary. Let it be yours too.
