Catching up with Randy Randall

April 15. 2019 | By Wayne Jessup
arthur_king_randy_randall
Randy Randall

No Age’s Randy Randall never stands still, whether it’s his continuing adventures in the LA outfit, or side projects like Rat Fist. His current venture is Arthur King Presents: Sound Field, Volume One (Dangerbird Records), an entrancing sound cycle, as opposed to a song cycle, focusing on I-10, from the desert through Los Angeles.

The Owl Mag: How did you connect with the Arthur King collective? It seems a natural fit…
Randy Randall: My wife’s good friend Brian Canning introduced me to Aaron Espinoza from Arthur King and we hit it off.

TOM: What was the inspiration? Something as mundane as being stuck in traffic, or a pearl hatched through endless touring? What was the ‘aha moment’ that brought the project to life?

RR: I was talking with Aaron Farley, my partner in the film component of this project, about creating an audio map of LOS ANGELES and why that kind of project could look like, just some rough sketches. And one of the ideas that came out of our brain storming conversations was using a freeway as a framing device to examine the myriad of different environments in Southern California.

One thing I did learn from years of tour is how unique California is as a singular location. It is geographically and population wise larger than some of the countries we’ve played in. California is a strange collection of cultures and ecologies. Growing up here we take a lot of things for granted that people from other parts of the world thing are insane, for example; sitting in traffic all day and living in a desert and going to the beach all the time.

TOM: Instantly relatable having spent a fair chunk of time on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix 🤢, which I appreciate more with distance… Given the breath of I-10, it seems like a whole tapestry of America is out there waiting… is this a one-off, or is there any kind of larger vision, future revisiting or expansion of the concept?

My hope is to do a series of these projects, Sound Field Vol 2 could be Amsterdam and Vol  3 could be NYC or SF. Every city has a unique experience of transportation that informs your experience in the city. How we get around a place tells us a lot about the place. My goal with these projects is to reflect the abstract emotional resonance of what it feels like to move through a place.

TOM: What is the live experience going to be like? (Context of the three shows in LA, Ojai, Du Nord) Is it simply music, more like Amoeba pop up, or as elaborate as the Naud Gallery exhibit?

Hopefully these shows will be some where in between those two experiences. There will be a video projection component and live music accompaniment of course. Playing with Tim and Arthur King is a great way to explore experimental live presentations and hopefully have a deeper meditative experience in a live music setting. 

“Shore Sunset, Pt I”

“Desert Sunrise, Pt II”

Catch Randy Randall at one of his upcoming tour dates:

April 18 /// Zebulon /// Los Angeles, CA
April 19 /// Greater Goods /// Ojai, CA
April 20 /// Café Du Nord /// San Francisco, CA

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