Tuesday, November 24, 1998
And the beat goes on
MUSIC: Meat Beat Manifesto’s Jack Danger speaks about his newly
released album "Actual Sounds and Noises," his unique style of
music and his views on MTV and shaking your ass
By Sumyi Khong
Daily Bruin Contributor
Blocky beats. Spoken word samples. Sound effects dating back to
the ’60s. What the heck will he throw at the speakers next?
"My music is omni-directional," explains Jack Dangers, the
founder and meat of Meat Beat Manifesto. "It’s all over the place.
I listen to so many types of music that I just try to experiment
with as many different styles as possible."
His British lilt is infected with a hint of American twang – it
is appropriate that even his voice is a hybrid of accents. Playing
Tuesday at The Palace, Dangers and crew understand that beautiful
things come from a variety of sources. Dangers’ music has been
categorized as industrial, electronica, drum ‘n’ bass and jungle
(and being a mish-mash of Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails and Crystal
Method among others – any of the above genres is a fair, but
incomplete, description).
However, Danger sees himself as mostly powered by dub and
hip-hop.
Originally formed as a side project in 1987, MBM soon rocked the
rock world with its innovative sound. Although Dangers’ music is
too risky to make MBM an MTV regular, the group’s sound is widely
heralded by his musical peers. MBM’s 1990 release, "Radio Babylon,"
is considered by many to be the roots of jungle. The new crop of
jungle-ites: Prodigy, The Future Sound of London and The Chemical
Brothers have since sampled this creative single.
Casually explaining how he spawned a new genre of music, Dangers
says, "I did it because I wasn’t hearing anything else like it. If
you’re not hearing it, you got to do it yourself."
And he has done a lot of it himself. In addition to touring and
releasing an album almost every two years, Dangers has remixed
singles for the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Orbital
as well as recently contributing to the "He Got Game"
soundtrack.
His hectic schedule is a far cry from his days cleaning toilets
in his hometown of Swindon, England. At fifteen, Dangers made up
his mind that he wanted to be involved with music, but it took
several years – and many scrubbed toilets – before his intent came
into realization. All the while, his confidence of the future never
faltered.
"There were many people around me which would say the same thing
but they’d get a proper job and get stuck and just drift away,"
Dangers comments. "If you really want to do something, you’ll do
it. I mean if I can do it …" says Danger, laughing.
MBM’s newest release, "Actual Sounds and Noises" is a good
indicator of how he views everyday sounds as music. Danger agrees
with John Cage, the avant-garde composer who said "music is all
around us, we just have to hear it." The new CD expands past
just-conventional music samples by also looping in dialogue from
movies, whale recordings and Morse code beeps.
Although he acknowledges the more perverted connotation of his
band name, Dangers explains that the name, "Meat Beat Manifesto,"
was "just a random bunch of words thrown together that sounded
good."
The same could be said of his music. His first album, "Suck
Hard" (1987), blended the likes of James Brown, Kool and the Gang,
and sci-fi movie dialogue into danceable, textured tunes. What
guides him are intricate rhythms over simple bass lines. Many of
the songs in "Actual Sounds and Noises" have a pulsating,
trance-like beat that helps support the softer melody.
Dangers’ frighteningly vast knowledge of music enables him to
find the right samples to string together into overlapping layers
of coherent music. He claims that he is perpetually "lost in music"
– as would anyone who owns (and listens) to over 8000 vinyl
records. Dangers is a walking encyclopedia of musical history.
Throughout the interview, he easily slips into tangents of
historical facts, expounding more information than a typical
Musicology 13 lecture. The enthusiasm in his voice picks up as he
spews forth the socio-cultural influences that led to dub reggae
and punk – from the 1950s Jamaican immigration in England to the
sell-out Sex Pistols scene several decades later. He can also cite
the first copy of "experimental music" (a 1960s avant-garde piece)
or pull out any obscure spoken word recording from his row of
vinyls.
"I have a photographic memory for music and record covers and
things like that … it’s the normal, everyday important life
things I’m … pathetic at," Dangers says, laughing.
For now, the ‘everyday life thing’ is touring for the next
couple of months. Together with John Wilson on guitars and Lynn
Farmer attacking the drums, Meat Beat will be beating their meaty
music across the states. Although some of the music is
pre-programmed, the majority of the show consists of live
music.
In addition, large screens on stage will display live visuals to
correspond with the audio aspect of the performance. Playing around
with beats allows MBM to improvise on stage as long as they keep in
sync with the visuals. This means every night’s performance
varies.
Despite his band name, Dangers does not have a manifesto to
preach to his audience. Although the creator of MBM is a strict
vegetarian and has an interest in social politics, he does not want
to come off sounding preachy.
He would never "stand up on a pedestal over people with (his)
ideas," he informs. "It’s more about social awareness. It’s about
me noticing things and talking about them–but I don’t have any
answers for anything I don’t think anyone knows."
The one opinion that Dangers does not hesitate to voice is his
disdain for the media. The works of old-school dubsters, New Age
Steppers, The Clash and Voltaire inspire him because, "The scene
was never bastardized. The media did not jump on it and ruin it. I
used to say that about ska … but not now."
With their layers of dark and distorted beats, MBM is on the
other spectrum of mainstream – and Dangers likes it that way.
"You turn it into this trite, shake-your-ass thing on MTV, get
on the cover of Spin and Rolling Stone – that’s not about music.
It’s about ego. I don’t fall into that category," says Dangers with
a hint of annoyance.
Later, when asked about any crazy escapades with Keith Flint
when MBM toured with Prodigy earlier this year, Danger says with a
laugh, "Hey, we’re getting into that shake-your-ass area now!"
Although Dangers is against shaking his own rump for
popularity’s sake, there is no denying that by staying true to his
own innovative, if slightly off-kilter, style, MBM’s feisty,
energetic music compels his fans to do just that — shake some
ass.
MUSIC: Meat Beat Manifesto will be playing at The Palace
tonight. Doors open at 9 pm.
(Left) Lynn Farmer, Jack Dangers and Mark Pistel are the members
of Meat Beat Manifesto. They will be playing Tuesday night at the
Palace. (Bottom) Dangers’ album "Actual Sounds and Voices" is in
stores now.
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