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 GEARED chats to MR MAPS guitarist, sonic visionary and Hangar man CHRIS PERREN about his “modest” rig, recording software and the making of the collective’s new album.
GEARED: Hey Chris! I hear the new Mr Maps album is nearly finished...
CHRIS PERREN: Well, not quite, but it’s mostly tracked – it’s yet to be mixed and there’s still a few little things left to be done. Most of the songs are done, it’s just the ... recording process.
G: I’m very much looking forward to hearing the new tracks.
CP: It should be interesting – it’s a lot more toe-tapping than the last one [Mimicry Of Lines And Light], more upbeat and fun, I think. There are a few slow songs, but it’s still intense and there are some epic moments ... I’d say there’s a definite shift towards more upbeat songs.
G: Now to the guitars – how many of them do you currently have and which ones do you most often use?
CP: I’m not much of a gear guy and I only really use one guitar with Mr Maps, which is a greenish Corvette. Aside from that, I only have one other guitar – an old Vesta, which I’ve kind of modded, but I never play it live. It’s very unreliable as the modifications were done by me [laughs]. I’ve also got an acoustic and that’s it. For the recording, I called in the cavalry and had about seven guitars on loan from people.
G: As far as the effects pedals go, what’s on your board at the moment?
CP: Live, I use a Zvex Distortron, an old Boss DD-3 delay and an Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man, which is a loop pedal that does lots of cool reverse echoes that are pretty interesting. That’s all I really use live, actually – and recently, I’ve been using an old ‘70s Fender Blender. It’s a proper, authentic one, but it’s actually [Mr Maps bassist/re:stream linchpin] Andrew White’s, so I’m just borrowing it; it’s crazy old and it doesn’t even have an on/off light – it’s a pretty wild one, good fun. With recording, I’ve called in lots of phasers and had about thirty pedals in front of me, which was crazy. I’ve used Andrew Sydes’ from Skinny Jean board and a couple of other people’s, so I kind of was like a kid in a candy store [laughs]. I don’t have that much gear of my own, so that was fun.
G: You also use a MacBook live.
CP: When we play live, Briony [Luttrell, cello] and I share the same set-up – it’s a Korg Micro Controller connected to Ableton Live, which has the synth samples that we trigger.
We also effect them live and there are no click tracks – it all just happens live, with no headphones, which is hard these days but we try to do it that way to be organic. I use Logic, so all the samples are made or recorded with it and then I export everything to Live and use it to run everything.
"I only have one other guitar – an old Vesta, which I’ve kind of modded, but I never play it live. It’s very unreliable as the modifications were done by me [laughs]."
G: It seems that the Mac is a musician’s friend these days...
CP: Certainly – sometimes I find there are too many possibilities, I think; that’s why we only use the laptop for less than half of the set. The reason why we use it so little is that sometimes it’s just overwhelming what you can do with it, you know, whereas you have a guitar and you’re clear about the kinds of sounds you can make with it, so you make those sounds. With the Micro Controller and the Ableton, the possibilities are so overwhelming it’s hard to know where to start sometimes – it’s certainly a revolutionary tool.
G: Have you guys been recording the new album at the Hangar studios?
CP: Not at the Hangar – we actually went out to Mt Cotton. Do you know Steve Bartlett? He’s got a studio out there, which is where we’ve been recording – it’s really lovely and it’s out in the woods [laughs], very relaxing. He’s got some amazing gear and he’s a very talented producer.
G: Do you also compose and record your own music?
CP: Myself? No, but most of Mr Maps songs start as my songs. I usually try and demo them, so I go through the process – I’ve got Logic on my computer and a little studio set up at home. I like being able to hear my ideas before I give them to the band, so I’ll demo them up as whole band compositions. When I write, I kind of try and mimic the way Chloë [Cooper, keyboards], Jac [Hicks, drums] and Bri actually play and their style when I do the demo, and after I make it sound cool, I’ll bring it to the band and we’ll tear it to pieces and make something out of it. Often, that’s the starting point and then when it comes to the band, it starts to change and become more interesting.
G: When is Mr Maps’ next gig?
CP: Not until May 27 because I’m actually going overseas, to Hong Kong, as an composer-in-residence at the performing arts college, which is really exciting. I’m going to be there for a month and then I’m going to Japan again for a week and a bit, and then I’m coming back and we’ll play some gigs and finish the album ... and then release it, I guess [laughs].
G: So when can we expect the new album to come out?
CP: We’ll have a single ready by late June and the album will be out shortly after that – the following month; not far off, but the single will come out first.
MR MAPS most recent post/math-rock masterwork MIMICRY OF LINES AND LIGHT is out through Lofly. Check out www.myspace.com/mistermaps for more info.
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