Its
not easy breaking new ground for pop and rock music in the 21st century
but the Holland-based band called A Cure For Siri gives it
quite a go with their 2013 CD entitled Methods Of Truth.
Apple computer fans might know Siriwho is the voice
of the Apple iPhone. Siri can tell you anything you need to know but
what about a cure for Siri? Siri (he or she) will find hi-tech solace
on the debut CD from A Cure For Siri. With a number of highly memorable
tracks, the Methods Of Truth CD is sonically revolutionary,
both in its musical style and recording style. As described on the
bands Facebook page, A Cure For Siri makes music with the aid
of machines and the result is an ingenious mix of wild, high-tech
sounds with human voices in the form of both pop songs and electronica-based
instrumentals. With such a bold bag of sonic tricks up their collective
sleeve, A Cure For Siri might
just be the Art Of Noise of the 21st century. Methods Of Truth
is just so diverse sounding that, while often veering from hippie
rock to disco in the blink of an eye (or ear), A Cure For Siri is
also not afraid of performing deep, swirling synth / electronic instrumentals
that would make Kraftwerk blush, while on their vocal numbers, A Cure
For Siri sounds like a futuristic Velvet Underground from another
planet. Methods Of Truth is truly an experimental CD, but the
music created by A Cure For Siri still maintains a human edge over
the onslaught of the technological madness known as the 21st century.
www.acureforsiri.nl
/ www.ACureForSiri.bandcamp.com
mwe3.com presents an interview with
A CURE FOR SIRI
mwe3:
A Cure For Siri started off at a fundraiser for a childrens
hospital. How did the original ideas expand and lead to the CD release
of Methods Of Truth, the first CD by A Cure For Siri?
A Cure For Siri: Well, with the fundraiser we made music with
a goal: to raise money for the childrens ward. The thought arose:
why not make music to get other things across, like ideas, philosophical
thoughts, to make music with a mission, a vision. And have some fun
with oscillators and filters along the way!
mwe3: Can you tell us who plays what instruments and sings
on the A Cure For Siri album and what did you set out to achieve musically
and conceptually on the Methods Of Truth CD?
A
Cure For Siri: The "who" is not important. One of the
cornerstones of A Cure for Siri is to try and free yourself from ego.
The music is what is important, not personal recognition or praise.
Sometimes difficult - we're all human - but if you succeed you feel
liberated. Having said that, A Cure for Siri consists not only of
musicians but also of other artists, like dancers, graphic artists...
The music is mainly produced with piano, synthesizers and some percussion
and we've got some help with the vocals from our friends Jacqueline
and Caroline Bosch. We set out to make, well, not necessarily a concept
album in the traditional sense, but a concept in feel; it should be
"a trip". Some of the ideas we feel strongly about should
be addressed along the way.
mwe3: The music on Methods Of Truth has some great instrumental
tracks such as the brilliant What You Get Is What You See,
but theres also a number of pop and rock vocal tracks that are
said to be
influenced by a range of words written by some of your favorite philosophers.
Who are your favorite philosophers and how does using their philosophical
text fit into the A Cure For Siri mindset?
A Cure For Siri: Even the "instrumental" tracks have
a subject matter. "What You Get Is What You See" for instance
is influenced by Eckart Tolle, who took some ideas from Buddhism and
made them more "user friendly"... and we mean that in the
most respectful way. See the title of the track; take a good critical
look at yourself ("wake up!"), try and rid yourself from
ego. But see the good things also; see what you've got, not what you
don't have. Bill Hicks, the late American comedian, has some thoughts
along those lines too. The "curse" of humankind is that
we know that our life will end some day, we are aware of death; but
don't let that awareness immobilize you from living ("Tragic
Hero").
A lot of the ideas come from science and people like Richard Dawkins,
Richard Feynman and James Randi, (not a scientist) who advocate a
kind of honesty, a clearness in thinking without prejudices. The philosopher
Peter Singer looks at and challenges the way we treat animals, especially
in industrial farming ("Anima Mundi"). The title track sums
everything up in a way; the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizet basically
says something along the line as: "...The creation of earth (and
humankind).... is a cosmic imbalance; something went terribly wrong.
How can we justify this? Answer: with love." Well, we don't know
for sure whether this is exactly what he meant, but it is a wonderful
thought.
mwe3:
Siri of course is the famous speaking brain of the Apple iPhone. Is
that the artificial intelligence you speak about on your
Facebook page? Do you feel people are becoming more and more accepting
of artificial intelligence in a world of confusing / multiple answers
and conflicting cures? Has technology made us better or more colder
and more confused? What is the cure for Siri then and how can we learn
to be more human and humane in an artificial world?
A Cure For Siri: Siri stands for all forms of artificial intelligence,
technology, machines. Siri can understand human language and can speak,
but Siri doesn't know irony, sarcasm, metaphors; these are very human
characteristics. And yes, technology has made us better, colder and
more confused. This wonderful invention called internet makes it possible
that we are having this "conversation" while being thousands
of miles apart, it is a wonderful source of information, it makes
the world smaller in a good sense. But there is definitely a very
dark side too, like lack of privacy, and new forms of crime. Industrial
revolution has brought
a lot of welfare, but also a lot of abuse to people and animals. The
answer to the confusion, the "cure"? Awareness. Education.
Fight ignorance. Empathy. Love!
mwe3: How has the Methods Of Truth album been accepted
in Holland and throughout Europe and what other artists do you feel
are also making groundbreaking music these days? What artists and
albums had such a big part in your musical influences?
A Cure For Siri: So far reviews of the album have been, without
exception, very positive. And it is great to see that everyone gets
something different, musically, out of it. That is probably because
our influences are so diverse. Of course,s progressive rock is at
the heart of it; the great bands and artists of the seventies like
YES, Tangerine Dream, ELP, Pink Floyd, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre
expanded not only the musical and technological possibilities but
also showed that an album could be a piece of art (Close to the
Edge, Dark Side Of The Moon, Phaedra, Albedo ... etc.).
In the 1980s, the technology of especially synthesizers got
incorporated into pop music; people like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
and groups like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails were, and are, very
influential. Then there is that other side of the musical spectrum
that is influential to our music: minimalists like Steve Reich and
Michael Nyman, piano based modern composers Ludovico Einaudi and Olafur
Arnalds. Most progression in sound nowadays comes from dance based
music, like Gold Panda and James Holden, and from post-rock bands
like Sigur Ros and Archive. We could go on and on!
mwe3: Can you tell us something about the great album art work
on the A Cure For Siri album and how does the artwork reflect the
music under the cover?
A Cure For Siri: Raymond Hamers could probably answer that
one better, but the thing we can say is that it spoke to us immediately.
Most artwork these days, certainly in prog, is dark and the work of
Raymond is bright, colorful. For us, it stands for hope. Like the
music, we think. The song "I Won't Let You Go", a pop song
to which we made a little video, says: it doesn't matter if we don't
always understand each other, or if we disagree, or even if we're
completely different, we still could and should take care of each
other.
mwe3:
What plans does A Cure For Siri have moving forward into 2014?
A Cure For Siri: Making more music. To be inspired and to be
inspiring!
{Afterword: we're thinking about making a video for the song
"Science". No actual filming has to be involved. If anyone
who can connect with our ideas, could help (ideas, video-editing etc.),
or knows someone who could help? Please get in touch: info@acureforsiri.nl}