＜Misophone＞
Misophone consists of M. A. Welsh and S. who have been recording for five years. They are currently working on their 13th album, and have hundreds of songs. S. is a classically trained composer who can play upwards of 20 instruments (a number which seems to increase on a weekly basis), M. A. Welsh is an artist and writer, and provides singing and lyrics , as well as banjo, found sounds and animal noises. All material is home recorded and self produced.
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/misophone

p*dis：We are Indie record label/company called Inpartmaint in Japan.
We are proud to import your CDs and introduce them to Japanese people, and we got really good attention ! People who have listened to your music have interested with who is Misophone or how you like. so, we are really happy to have a chance for this interview! let us begin with some basic questions...



Q1. I read your short profile on you myspace. could you give me a little more detail biography of you : S. Herbert & M.A. Welsh ?

A1. Not much to say about us really.



Q2. let me know your musical background! when each of you start playing or writing music ?

A2. S. Herbert has been playing and recording for many years and is classically trained on the Violin and Piano. The range of instruments he's amassed is increasing exponentially and includes: an 18th century mini piano, a phono fiddle, an harmonium, a meletron, lap steel, a theremin, an autoharp, an omnichord, a dulcimer, a singing saw.

I have no classical training, and it shows.

Q3. how did you meet each other ? and when did you start music together ?

A3. We've known each other for about seven years and have been recording songs for most of that time. The first 121 were fairly unmentionable. It was all four track, cheap tape, bad samples and a little loose use of the mouth trumpet. We recorded Castles In the sand which is on the new record on the same four track, six or so years ago. It was our first proper song so we wanted to put it on this album.



p*dis：let move on to some questions about your music.

Q4. what kind of process to make your music ? write songs and record them together ? or you have any divided part doing them each, and get everything together at the last ?

A4. I write the words, S writes the music, I'll sing on it and then we produce it together adding new layers of sound and noise together. That's how most of it comes around. It's all home recorded still. At the moment we are working on a new album which will have some other people on it. A French songwriter and trombonist called Alone with King Kong, and singer called Y la Bamba, who has a really beautiful voice. The trombone parts have been recorded. It's sounding much bigger than anything we've done before. it'll hopefully be finished this summer….

Q5. your music is so warm and nostalgic. I think everyone remind their own dear something (like old home or old memory) when listened to your music. I reminded my old memory which I went to see a circus with my grand father when I was 7 or 8 years old. is your music style is not changed from the beginning ? where is your inspirations from ?

A5. It's developed and changed as we've grown older and travelled to different places. But the core is still the same, to produce music that sounds like the sort of music we would like to listen to.
As for influences there are a few which stand out. Tom Waits, Daniel Johnston, Will Oldham, eels, early american folk music…. bukowski, moondog, Cohen, gypsy music….

Q6. are you doing some shows sometimes ? if you do, how do you organize your shows ? if not, do you have any plans to do ?

A6. We've never played live; we rarely play in the same room. But it might happen one day.



p*dis：let me ask you some questions about your private...

Q7. what kind of music you listen to recently ?

A7. eels' hombre lobo, alasdair roberts' farewell sorrow, daniel johnston's songs of pain, gavin bryars' jesus' blood, Ivor cutler-looking for truth with a pin, much and many.

Q8. what are you doing when you don't play or write music ?

A8. Hiding

Q9. where is your favorite place to be ? why ?

A9. high In the mountains. in the middle of nowhere. with some snow. and a big sun.



p*dis：for the last of this interview, let me ask more three!

Q10. what "Misophone" means ? everyone want to know it !!

A10. It’s the name we gave to the pitch bender on our old four track recorder. It made everything sound like a broken music box, or old movie soundtrack when we hit it repeatedly during recording. We didn’t know at the time but Misophonia is a medical condition which describes an extremely strong dislike of normal sounds.

Q11. your cover art and videos are so beautiful and cinematic, and really suit for your sound. are you doing art and visual by yourself ?

A11.the labels found the images, but we were really specific about the look we wanted. kning disk has some amazing archive victorian images, and another-record found some great old postcards of french scenes. we love that idea of something lost, forgotten and then finally found and we wanted the art to reflect that.
the videos we produced ourselves. We're glad you like them.

It was really important for us that the art matched the music and that each album as a whole was worth owning, holding In your hand, rather than just downloading It somewhere. Not for financial reasons, simply because the album as a concept seems to be dying out, which I think is a great shame. the romance is gone or at least is quietly dying.

Q12. on your 2nd album "Be glad you are only human", the man on the cover is holding something on his right hand. what is it ?? sorry, it's stupid question, but some people who listened to this album really want to know it. someone said it's bat, and someone said it's saury...!

A12. i think it’s a bat.



p*dis：sorry, this is the last question, for sure!

Q13. tell me your future plan as Misophone ! and some comments for Japanese fans !

A13.Well we have another set of songs almost complete for a new album. It might turn into two albums. We've got a whole load more instruments and people on it and it should be the best thing we've done yet. we plan on carrying on recording indefinitely. whoever's listening. keep writing, painting, making. and see what happens.
we're proud of the albums we've put out and there are a whole lot of earlier albums that are sitting around, but I think the music that we are going to produce In the future will be much better.

we hope you enjoy the new album. (some of the songs are very very early) and look forward to making more. thankyou for taking the time to write and ask questions…