Nimbus Coleman
Nimbus: from Indianapolis an amazing musician, three questions for him.
Interview by M. Conta and R. Stountner
Q: Can a musician work while listening to music?
NB: I do. I know other musicians who can’t…music is always foreground for them. I have to be careful though. Music never goes all the way to the background for me. It’s always jostling for position with whatever I’m doing. Sometimes that’s actually helpful. It’s a kind of struggle for attention that can lead to unexpected places. But I always have to check my work after!
Q: Seeing, listening, or somehow consuming a person’s product (work), If you listen closely enough or concentrate intensely enough, is it possible to hear the music a person was listening to while he or she was producing said product? If so, what might be required to extract the inner soundtrack?
NB: Listening, it’s pretty easy to find stuff from other musical sources. I don’t think I can from one medium to another though–to get to the soundtrack of a visual artist or writer. However, if the music is integral to the piece, if it’s more than just background music, finding the soundtrack can sometimes make the piece more interesting. I can think of an example going the other direction, from visual art to music. The composer Morton Feldman was inspired by visual patterns and textures to the extent that a lot of his music feels like it’s woven rather than composed–it’s like putting a physical design into time. Of course, I didn’t know his music “felt” like this until I read something about Feldman’s life, which is kinda cheating. But it’s made the music much more interesting to me.
Q: Who and what are your greatest influences?
in the music but also in the literatury.
NB: My influences are really more like idols. I don’t have the guts or talent to reach them. There are authors and poets who use deceptively simple and straightforward language, like Cormac Mccarthy or João Cabral de Melo Neto, but they know the exact right word, the right register to use. Their imagery feels very natural, even when it shocks. Musical influences are virtually everything. I admire the career and the craft of Leonard Cohen. If I only had his voice…it sounds like he’s singing from the grave!
Thanks.
Nimbus Coleman
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Music by Nimbus Coleman©