Interview with Chris Richford of SIRKH, MATTER, MEAT LOCKER RECORDS, and divers other activities
You recently sent me - along with a cassette I bought - a bunch of strange reading materials authored by an individual who calls himself J.G.Boson. Who is this Boson person?
Yes, well I've had a stack of those mini-zines sitting in my cupboard for years and as well as leaving them in pub toilets I occasionally sneak them into orders for people I think might be on a level. The name alludes to J.G.Ballard and the Higgs Boson and is a pseudonym for a collaborative artistic entity created by myself and a previous partner in grime, Malakai Fox. As over analysing artistic types, we found that collaborating through this anonymous third entity was very liberating and playful and as the work of Boson grew the character took on a life of their own. As well as the photography and occult sculptures that we created and left around the city of Norwich, the blog, the letters to Praeterlimina zine, mini-zines and facebook page are all a product of that life.
In said materials, I read about the antics of an individual who - from what I can tell - is sexually attracted to various everyday objects including bicycles and chairs. However, I'm more curious about where you took the photos.
Well, the chairs were asking for it.. swanning around in that cheap torn-up upholstery.. but anyway the photos were all taken in Norwich where we lived at the time. In the manner of Duchamp we re-purposed things into open public sculptures and left them for as long as we could for people to appreciate and interact with.. There is humour in them for sure but I think they also speak of a transcendence through commodification of the self, as well as a sort of mundane pan-psychism. Anima mundus maybe.
Did you ride the bicycle to the location with the dildo attached, or was it attached on-site?
It was tricky but once we figured out the optimal position for the straps, yes we rode it. Cruising Norwich like that was very amusing. I was disappointed that not many people actually seemed to notice though! Maybe they thought it was just a tire pump.
Amongst these reading materials I also found a link to an old blog. It includes various images of people in questionable congress with sea animals, as well as photos of everyday objects arranged into signs, sigils, etcetera. Why the sexual - or should I say erotic? - interest in inanimate objects?
(For those minded to look at esoteric and mildly pornographic things... https://geniusloki.wordpress.com/tag/genki-genki/)
Both halves of J.G.Boson understood the many intersections between dehumanisation, sexuality, consumption, transcendence, mundanity and the sublime. We both also had a terrible habit of finding odd innuendo in technical language. “Split jamb” and “solid jamb” for instance. Cutting up and rearranging texts about science, home DIY and esotericism became a way to narrate the sort of generally wordless exploration and experimentation we were carrying out by combining our bodies, the bodies of animals and the household objects which I saw as the body of society (or perhaps of mundanity). I hope that makes some sort of sense, and if not well take from it what you will!
There's an interesting image on the blog involving scarification. In the captions you write something about rearranging bodies into new sentences. Can you explain what you had in mind for your audience? What effect were you going for, here?
I think that image as an artwork is more a legacy of its incubation period than an entity crafted for a specific purpose.. The idea with Boson was to create a world of hyperstition around this character so that, when discovered, it would inspire wonder though its mystery, titillation and horror. Cults and serial killers were definitely among the inspirations for the horror aspect. The sigil carved into flesh is based on the Gnostic circle which has nine points. Beyond specific religious meanings, nine pointed sigils became something of a running theme simply because, aesthetically they had that effect for us, wonder and horror.
The pseudonym allowed us to experiment with ideas freely and as I remember this photo came together from that early mixing of ideas. It stands out from the others, at least the ones we posted on the blog, but more than saying anything specific I think it speaks of the general atmosphere and mythos we were putting together. The Boson work as a whole is symbolic of many things but it's up to the viewer to discover and put the pieces together. We cut and rearranged things to make the art, then cut and rearranged the art to present it to the audience.. So that quote is really a key for the audience that they will have to do some cutting and rearranging to come to their own conclusions about it .. such is life I suppose!
In your mind, are your visual-artistic endeavours connected in any specific way with your music?
I'd say the connection is essential but quite general, there are specific points of intersection but they are difficult for me to pin down in hindsight. The sound of the forest is intimately connected to all the animals and plants in it, as well as the weather.. but when standing there it's hard to say which squeak and rustle comes from exactly where. Another analogy would be that it takes time to digest an inspiration and by the time a faecal offering comes forth it's hopelessly intermingled with many other meals.
Who is Arnald Geulincx to you?
Though he's the source of the title of my latest release under the name SIRKH I have to admit I've not read his work, or that much proper philosophy! In fact I'd found the quote “Ubi nihil vales, ibi nihil velis” somewhere else entirely. It struck a chord with me and made its way into my lyrics notebook. The translation “When worth nothing, you should want for nothing” seemed to sum up my own thoughts on what I'd call Positive Nihilism. The modern capitalist discourse tells us our lives have intrinsic value and this sense of self worth is supposed to motivate you to work hard, do right and leave some valuable legacy. I've always valued the scientific perspective and ultimately what science teaches you about the universe is that “worth” is a subjective metric. What is truly real about the universe is that all things are of equal value in the end. Your life and a mote of dust. Stop placing value on yourself and you'll stop misplacing value in everything else. Realising that is very freeing.
We have been listening to your new band, MATTER. Its fairly different from your previous output, in particular the last SIRKH album, which in turn sounds very different from the first one, and again, different from other Meat Locker output. Why?
When I'm feeling self critical I say this is because I have a short attention span! Positively speaking I think it's because I have an open mind and I don't see the point in repeating myself... or repeating anyone else! I started music with a brief stint on Trombone (mainly to annoy my family) then I took acoustic guitar lessons. I took up didgeridoo, djembe etc, I'd jam on whatever I got my hands on. Growing up I just loved sound! I consumed any music I found that felt like it came from somewhere real and heartfelt but I also loved oddness and humour. In an afternoon I'd skip from Bonzo Dog Doodaa band to Motorhead to Prodigy to Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and System of a Down and maybe some Jamiroquai! I thank my mum for introducing me to prog classics like YES, CARAVAN and KING CRIMSON. Nowadays I'm listening to KRALLICE, MESHUGGAH, BILLY WOODS, KING GIZZARD, ULTHAR, MESSA, DEATH GRIPS, AUTECHRE, AGRICULURE .. to name the merest few.
At Norwich Uni I had access to music tech rooms with apple software. So my first recorded output was electronica based, under the name Mantid Snip. My first live band was definitely prog-rock but it was pretty soon after that I got drawn towards heavier and heavier bands.
The earliest recording on Meat Locker is by death metal band GRIMACE who I joined as bassist in 2010. The actual Meat Locker didn't come into being until around 2016 when Grimace guitarist had left and remaining members formed black metal band PATIENT. By this point I had also been playing in post-punk/noise-rock band SOYUZ RATS for some years and we all wanted a permanent place to practice. We found an ad for “office space” to rent for dead cheap and the location turned out to be an old building behind a pub, right round the corner from where I was living! Walking down the alley I immediately remembered I'd bought an old sofa from the geezer There a few years before. The building was a disused slaughter house, now a warehouse this family business was using to store and sell collected furniture, appliances and all manner of odds and ends (emphasis on the ODDS). A large central space which was now also a motor workshop surrounded by enormous walk-in freezer rooms, all fairly dilapidated. The space that was advertised was one of these old freezers with a heavy door and insulated walls, powered and basically sound proof but bloody hot in the summer as the actual temp controls and ventilation was broken! Anyway that's how the Meat Locker was born! Eventually it became a shared practice room and recording space for three Norwich bands: Soyuz Rats, Patient and Host (as well as other side projects). Sorry that got a bit long winded but yes, variety is the spice of life, don't pigeon-hole yourself and you'll wind up in some interesting places!
What happened to Meat Locker? I know some of the projects involved are still active...
Someday I'll write the full story of the Meat Locker… but to cut to the end of things the building was eventually raided by Norwich police. They found a large amount of cannabis growing in the loft area so the council disconnected power to the building and that was it for us! Also a shame for the others who had been renting parts of the building. There was a woodworker and a guy who built banger racers. As for the music projects only HDO and Sirhk can really be considered active. Matter and my other project 9Hx5+5x9nxl will be added to the roster soon though. All of them do have the potential to return from indefinite hiatus but for now, life and geographical location of band members is a barrier to that.
What is a HERMETIC DEATH OSCILLATOR? And what, if anything does it have to do with Mr. Boson?
Well that's what you get when you combine the minds, instruments and computers of myself and Norwich based friend and collaborator, J. Solsice. The connection with Boson is not direct, certainly occult. That is to say all of us know each other through what I like to think of as the wyrding currents of that city. People say there's something in the water out there but I know whatever it is lies beneath the stone and in the air. J is an audio voyager and guitar explorer (definitely check out his latest release on bandcamp) When we started Paeterlimina zine we put together an exhibition/happening called Urbanmancy, J played an improv guitar set that blew my mind.
Honestly it's difficult to talk about HDO inspirations in concrete terms but I can say the project began after the very untimely death of Will Croft, a close friend of Js and someone I knew well. The three of us were planning a band together when it happened and for me it was the last of four deaths of friends I'd made in Norwich and the closing chapter of a truly weird and often dark time in my life. Practice recordings from the band that never was as well as foley from the stone heart of Norwich city made it into the HDO release. So yes the psychic construct of inspirations for HDO and for the more occult output of J.G.Boson share many threads. I hope if you listen to HDO and read the Letters of Boson published in the Praeterlimina zine you might experience something of what we were going through back in 2014-2017.
Let's speak about your tarot deck. Tarot is something I am entirely unversed in. Why a new deck? What's wrong with the traditional Rider Waite deck?
So if you only know tarot as the nag champa scented cards found in headshops with miniature dragons then you're missing the full picture. It has a fascinating history and folklore that's a window into a pool of esoteric thought and into human nature really. I often describe it as the oldest form of art therapy! My dad had a tarot deck when I was little and kept it in a mysterious wooden box wrapped in red silk. I remember it being an odd discovery among the biology and bird watching books in his study. Of course at the time I associated it with crystal balls, smoke & mirrors.. but I kept being drawn back to the images themselves, the strange details and dreamlike placement of objects. Though it wasn't till years later that I learned how to read them I think their occult power wormed its way in back then.
It's true though that many artists who get into Tarot end up thinking they could make an awesome new visual interpretation of the archetypal imagery... And I am one of them! So was Aleister Crowley, though he got Freda Harris to actually do the sick artwork for the Thoth deck. We all love the Rider Waite deck (Art by Pamela Coleman Smith of course) It's dripping in that 16th century romanticism but it's also bogged down by the social and political standards of that time. Crowley saw that the archetypal symbolism goes far beyond that and wanted to emphasise the hermetic and mystical elements. With my deck I'd like to do that in my own style but also strip away the sexism and gender duality.
Did these objects ever tell you something you didn't know? Or perhaps: something you didn't know that you know?
Yes. You have to develop the skill and knowledge to use them properly. Don't expect magical results on yourself without doing the reading! The way they work once you've immersed yourself in the constellation of interconnected meanings is like reading a chapter in a book about your life but written by someone else! On a good day you lay out the cards and there you are, staring back at you. But they mediate that connection with your own mind in a way that often illuminates things you weren't thinking about. Or they present a different way of thinking about it. The truth is we lie to ourselves pretty much daily just to get through and the cards can force you to address these falsehoods and face up to hard truths.
Some find the idea of an artists' "style" to be reassuring, or at least prefer that an artist develops linearly in a certain direction, rather than suddenly changing. Do artists owe their audience such reassurances?
No. If an artist owes their audience anything it's to be authentically themselves in a given moment. If my “style” changes it's because I'm exploring or I've found a better way and grown or I'm simply expressing something different. I think working to perfect a “style” is definitely more than just a satisfying game though. A well honed style cuts more cleanly to the audience's perception. But when aesthetics become their own reward, then you're just swinging a sharp knife blindly.
What is your take on the idea that explaining art - or music - is like explaining the punchline of a joke?
Mostly I agree. Though explaining art (and jokes) can be educational I've rarely legitimately enjoyed a piece of art or music more after it's been “explained” to me. HOWEVER that doesn't mean I as an artist don't hopelessly yearn to explain all my work simply to feel seen and understood.. luckily I mostly suck at it! It usually feels like wrapping my mouth round a bowling ball.
Relatedly - what do we gain from understanding who an artists' inspirations and influences are? Is this not a way "around" the art, rather than a way "into" it?
So this is the interesting thing to me. If inspirations and influences are like brain food for the artist then partaking of the same mental meals is like coming into someone's culture. It's like travelling to a foreign country, you can't really understand life there until you've sat and ate the food, or better yet sat with the locals and shared a meal. Even then it takes time and exposure to really “get it”. That said, I think even the most self indulgent art can be appreciated in complete isolation, on the viewer's terms, without any context.
In my own work I try to think about both the surface layer (that will hopefully hit regardless of the viewers specific knowledge or cultural background) & the deeper layers that can be unfolded with more insight into my philosophies and inspirations. Ideally the first points the way to the second.
Any final comments?
These questions have been fun.. and a total memory hole for me! So thank you. Keep an eye out on my socials for my current art & music projects, prints and workshops. @Matter_doom and the new tarot deck are just now emerging.. Also check out @MantidSnip for my alt/anti-fashion creations. Come to Satanic Fleamarket (London), the Others Market (Hastings), Nightfair etc if you want to say hi and bag some artwork, up-cycled wyrd/Goth clothes or sick patches for your jacket!
Cheers!
Interview by O.G.