The March 2024 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast features theremin music from France, Spain, Japan, and Mexico. Host Rick Reid interviews thereminist Ernesto Mendoza.
FEATURED MUSIC*
- "Boucle La!" - Charlotte Dubois and Black Adopo (Lille, France)
- "Lianas de Cuchilla" - Tremor Nocta (Madrid, Spain)
- "Canon in D" [Pachelbel] (edit) - Yoko Onishi (Zushi City, Japan)
- "Cinta de Moebius" - Ernesto Mendoza (Mexico City, Mexico)
*The full-length recordings featured in this show were used with the knowledge and permission of the artists and composers. Please support the artists by visiting their websites, purchasing their recordings, and attending their performances.
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
- "Opera Glasses" - Phlogiston Theory & Ron Allen (Denver, CO / Seattle, WA, USA)
- "Time Shadows" - Phlogiston Theory (Denver, CO, USA)
- "No Static at All" - Phlogiston Theory (Denver, CO, USA)
- Various excerpts from the Syntheremin album by Ernesto Mendoza (Mexico City, Mexico)
INTERVIEW GUEST
CALENDAR OF THEREMIN EVENTS
- Visit the Theremin 30 Calendar of Theremin Events for links and details of events mentioned in this episode.
MEDIA LINKS
- The Theremin 30 Playlist on YouTube includes music videos and concert performances of songs featured in this podcast.
- The Juliet Shaw Legacy Project
CONTACT
- Write to the show: theremin30podcast@gmail.com
- Record a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theremin30/message
- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theremin30/support
CREDITS
- Producer/Writer/Host: Rick Reid
- Opening and closing announcer: David Brower
Copyright 2024 Rick Reid
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TRANSCRIPT
Please note: This transcript was created with the help of speech-to-text AI. It may contain some errors.
David Brower 0:04
This is Theremin 30. 30 minutes of Fairmined music news events and interviews with a new episode about every 30 days. Now here's your host from Denver, Colorado, USA, Rick Reid.
Rick Reid 0:20
Hey, welcome to the March 2024 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast. I'm your host, Rick Reid and I haven't had an episode for a while. Among other things, I got COVID Again, but I'm feeling much better now. Coming up in this episode of COP music from France, Spain, Japan and Mexico, and visit with Ernesto Mendoza about his new album. Let's start the show now with a couple of European therapists first it's a recent track from Charlotte Dubois with a special guest and then something brand new from Javier Diaz Aina under a different artists name. I'll give you the details about both recordings on the other side.
We started the show with a song called Boucle La by thereminist, Charlotte Dubois and beatbox artist black Adobo translated from French the song is appropriately titled loop it. The duo released a very cool music video for this song in November of last year. Be sure to check it out on the Theremin 30 YouTube playlist. I follow that with a track called Liana de cuccia which roughly translates as laid vines. It's a brand new single release from tremor Nocta music project of Javier Diaz Aina as you heard for yourself, it's a darker, more intense electronic sound compared to the lounge and exotic music he's done in recent years. The full tremor Nocta album will be available on CD starting March 6. After the break, I'll take a look at the Theremin 30 calendar and play an exclusive new single edit from Yoko Ohnishi. So stay tuned
It's time now for the Theramin 30 calendar of Theremin events. On March 2 My interview guests Ernesto Mendoza has a concert in Mexico City, Clara Rockmore His birthday is March 9, so play a favorite Theremin tune in her honor. On March 10 Arturo Fernandez will be performing in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. There are also performances coming soon from Pamela Stickney follow paths guav tour while Jorgensen and human toys so check out the full calendar for details at Theremin thirty.com. Also, I do want to mention one news item before we move on. I got a newsletter from Kip Rosser about the Juliette Shaw legacy project. He says that the archiving part of the project has been completed. And now they're looking for a museum or university or other institution to host the archive. In the meantime, the website's been updated, and it may not be around for long depending on where the archive ends up. So if you haven't visited the Giulia shell Legacy Project website recently, be sure to do that soon. I'll have a link in this month's show notes. A couple of years ago Yoko Ohnishi created a wonderfully spacey interpretation of Paco Bell's canon indeed, that features her remote ether wave pro and a boss loop station. The whole song is nearly 10 minutes long, so it's not really a good fit for my 30 minute podcast. Fortunately, she just created a single edit exclusively for the show. So here is Yoko Ohnishi with Canon in D
That was an exclusive single edit of Canon in D by Yoko Onishi. You can listen to the full length track on her 2022 album All Theremin too. It's also available to stream from her YouTube page. After this break, I'll visit with Ernesto Mendoza. So stay tuned
One of the first artists I played when I started the podcast almost five years ago was Mexico City multi instrumentalist Ernesto Mendoza, he just released a new album with reworked versions of songs from his previous releases. So I talked with him a couple of weeks ago to find out all about it. And when esto Mendoza thank you so much for being on the Theremin 30 podcast, I've been playing your music on the show, so I'm glad to finally have the opportunity to visit with you.
Ernesto Mendoza 18:05
Thank you, first of all for the support you have been given me. And second, I am very glad to be in your show.
Rick Reid 18:14
I invited you to the show to talk about your new album called synth Theremin. But first I want to learn more about your musical background. How are you introduced to the Theremin
Ernesto Mendoza 18:24
I discovered the Theremin more or less in 1998 I was studying audio engineering course. And that feature told us about the origins of electronic music. And then he spoke about the the Theremin the on the Smarty note and all the old electronic instruments. So that's when I discovered a Theremin. And I was fascinated by the magic of the instrument, the history and things like that. And I start to investigate by my own. And that's how I discovered the Theramin in those days.
Rick Reid 19:08
Do you play other instruments besides that Theremin?
Ernesto Mendoza 19:11
My main instrument is the bass. Oh, and I sing and I play a little bit keyboard and some guitar too.
Rick Reid 19:20
I was curious about playing live versus recording what what inspired you to go to that next level and start making records.
Ernesto Mendoza 19:27
It was a necessity of playing my own music because at first I was playing just covers different styles. I played classical music, some that stamp just standard music of the Beatles Mexican Bolero and so on as a necessity to go further I have in mind to create my own music and in those days is very important to have the music for the world for the net world. So I decided to compose and record add my own music, specifically for playing the Theremin as the melodic voice
Rick Reid 20:06
some of the tracks I've been playing on the show over the last year, have you collaborating with musical partners percussionist synthesis. And I was curious if you have a preference between working with other musicians or doing solo work by yourself,
Ernesto Mendoza 20:23
I like to do both. I love to collaborate with another musician as much as possible. And I love to record I love to being in Studio. I do have a small recording studio here at home. So I tried to experiment. But to play live as a musical partner as much as I can. It is very important to me, in order to promote the Theremin in my country, and melodic boys capable to do different styles of music. I do like to play Latin American music. So I am open to do different kinds of projects
Rick Reid 21:05
on your new album. Some of the titles seem familiar. A lot of the songs were on your 2018 album called Cosmo, which actually I played in the very first episode of my podcast. Why did you decide to rerecord these earlier songs?
Ernesto Mendoza 21:18
Yeah, in fact, there are three different versions of the same music. Oh, yes. I decided to do another version in order to improve my Theremin playing, you know, okay, I was not very satisfied with the two previous version and the sound. So I decided during pandemic days, to rerecord and to work on a new version and improving my performance.
Rick Reid 21:47
Besides your Theremin performance, how are these songs different from the original versions?
Ernesto Mendoza 21:52
In the first version, it sounds more like demo. It was recorded in my small multitrack Portastudio. It sounds more like they're more and still have the same name same thirimanne Because it was the mix of synthesizer and Theremin. It was a physical version in our physical city, and then I was not very happy with the results. So in 2018, my friend Oscar Rivero act as a producer of the second version, it was called Cosmo, a different name. And with a different production, I only focus in keyboard performance and synthesizer performance and record determing. But Oscar was the producer. And then the third version was recorded in pandemic days, I decided to have different timbers different sounds and improving my thermal performance. So you can hear different sounds different production, but it's the same music, but I think it's more like techno version.
Rick Reid 23:06
Do you have a favorite song on the new album?
Ernesto Mendoza 23:08
I have a favorite to perform live because it was the first song I did. That is seen as this year. This is the first song I ever created for Theremin so I think I have a special love for the song. But I love them all.
Rick Reid 23:26
What was the biggest challenge for you in creating the new album, especially considering that this was done during the pandemic lockdown?
Speaker 1 23:33
The big challenge was trying to sound a little different to the previous recordings I had in mind to create something that I can reproduce life trying to figure out how can I playing live in order to sound more or less the same that in the introduction?
Rick Reid 23:55
I really like the bass synthesizer lines in this new album. Are those being made with the actual keyboard synthesizer or is it something you're doing in software on your computer?
Ernesto Mendoza 24:05
There are both that are virtual instruments and live instruments. As an example, I use reason program to the beat to construct the skeleton of the beasts. Or then I have hardware synthesizers. I use Novation synthesizer, the Core M S 20, meno cool, and I use the bass pedal power rule smoked out.
Rick Reid 24:35
Oh, you have a Taurus? I am jealous.
Ernesto Mendoza 24:37
Yes, yes, I just I just love the instrument because my influence in this kind of music and in general is the progressive rock music. So I am a big fan of you know, Geddy Lee and Greg Lake and those music Chris Squire, of course, Chris. And I just wanted to make Make a small rendition to my bass heroes. This kind of sounds up with the bass pedal. And I use the Moog prodigy synthesizer. And obviously my Theramin.
Rick Reid 25:13
You mentioned performing this music live. I imagine it's pretty difficult to play. So how do you adapt it to a live performance,
Ernesto Mendoza 25:23
this is a real challenge. And I am very glad to do this work because it's not only to perform the Theremin life, but also adding some more attractive and play the keyboards too. So the first thing was to arrange the live setup with the Theremin and a combination of the synthesizers and how I can set my equipment in order to play with a good level of proficiency. Because you know, playing the Theremin is very difficult playing determine well in tune and with a good performance. Even more, if you add the synthesizers, it's another challenge. So with a lot of practice doing everyday rehearsals and adding the basic tracks for accompaniment,
Rick Reid 26:16
so you don't use a live band to back you up then
Ernesto Mendoza 26:19
I have been using music guests as another keyboard or maybe a drummer or a guitar player. But most of the time I prefer to play by my by myself with my basic tracks, and my Thurman and bass pedal. And I'm determined.
Rick Reid 26:38
Thank you so much for the time that you've taken to visit with me and congratulations on the release of the new album. I look forward to more music from you to play on the show.
Ernesto Mendoza 26:47
Sure. Thank you very much, Rick. It was a real pleasure to be with you.
Rick Reid 26:52
You can listen to sin Theremin music for Theremin and synthesizer now on most streaming services, including iHeartRadio, Spotify and Deezer. Let's finish the show now with a full track from the new album. Here is Ernesto Mendoza with st that the Mobius or Mobius strip
So I want to wrap up by thanking Charlotte Dubois and black Adobo tremor knock da Yoko Ohnishi and Ernesto Mendoza for sharing their music with us. Also thanks to Ernesto for allowing me to interview him. And a big thank you goes out to the listeners who support this show with small one time or monthly donations, or by shopping in that Theremin 30 Pro Shop and merch store on the website. I'll be back soon with another episode of the Theremin 30 podcast as we start season six. Thanks to all of you who have been with me from the beginning and I hope you will continue to go along with me for the ride.
David Brower 30:41
You've been listening to the Theremin 30 podcast. visit Theremin 30 on the web at Theremin 30 dot com
