Artist: OOOD - Unconscious Collective

[mars]

Artist: OOOD / Unconscious Collective (Colin Bennun)

Date: 05-15-02

By: Mike Indidginus

 

Q: [Tape starts] [Wind noise; rustling clothing; the scrape of plastic on rock] Good evening Colin, and may I say that's a lovely frock you have on. Could you please describe for us in words of no more than 1 syllable your OOOD/Unconscious Collective projects. Your time starts now...

A: Hello… one, two… is this thing recording? Ok… ahem… Actually, Michael, it’s not so much a frock, rather a US Special Forces camouflage poncho. Admittedly, the camouflage pattern does look somewhat floral, but I thought that seeing as you wanted to do this interview up here in the mountains on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it would be better to keep out of sight. But I digress… Let’s see now… one syllable… “Good vibe for you, fun for us, good vibe for us, fun for you”.

 

Q: Are there any differences (other than name) between the two? For instance, does one have special dietary requirements and the other an odd shoe size?

A: Well, OOOD has always had a fixed membership; me, Steve and Nigel. We’ve developed our own style over the last 8 years – mainly concentrating on powerful, melodic psy-trance intended to make you smile and dance uncontrollably. The Unconscious Collective is a much more fluid entity, more based on collaboration with as wide a variety of musicians and genres as possible. With this we’re able to experiment much more without worrying about what genre it falls into, although much of what we do still works very well on the dancefloor. The two overlap though; if Steve and I do a track together it will be either OOOD or U.C., depending on its vibe. By the way, I can’t help wondering if you’re not a little too visible in that bright yellow ski-jacket and jester’s hat. I’m sure I can hear gunfire over the brow of the hill… Tell you what, let’s move down to that gully, I’d feel safer down there.

 

Q: Indeed learned colleague. You have also worked with various other musicians. Can you tell us a little more about your experiences, please?

A: I’ve been lucky enough to have had side projects with a few people, including Mark Allen and Tim Healey; in fact Tim was one of the original members of the Collective back in 1996. Tim’s a highly intelligent man and a talented producer and engineer, but, and this is strictly between you and me and that sniper… SHIT! DUCK! … Fuck, that was close… Er, where was I… Oh yes, between you and me Tim suffers terribly from a rare form of Turette’s Syndrome and can only speak in Shakespearean English. You can imagine the sessions we had: “Colin, methinks ye Basse Drum could perchance be raised in volume”, and “I have conceived of ye most Splendidde and Turbulent idea for our Acidde Riff; mayhap I could perform it upon ye Electronic Clavichord device?” … Hey, Michael, I think the sniper’s gone for now, You can get up off the ground. I told you that hat was a bad idea. Yes, take it off… Good move. Hey, check it out! I can put my finger right through the bullet hole! Ha ha… As I was saying, I also play keyboards with a band called Cosmic Smiles; we’re a five-piece band doing the blues/fusion hippy music thing; you know. The leader of the band is a brilliant songwriter and guitarist called Geoff Smiles – a truly one-off original kind of guy, devoted to saving the planet. I could tell you some stories there, but they’re all covered by the Official Secrets Act. Why? Well, you’ve heard of ‘Black Ops’ – government operations that are so secret that their existence is officially denied – well Geoff does the same for the good guys; Cosmic Smiles are effectively a kind of ‘White Ops’ unit run by the Pagans and Druids of the West Midlands.

 

Q: Are there any musicians out there whom you would like to collaborate with that you haven't managed to yet? You never know, they might be listening

A: Hey, that gunfire’s getting closer, you know… Anyway, I’m up for anything, me. I’ve heard from a friend that Elvis has been gigging again, and I’d love to get some of his classic falsetto on a track. Kajagoogoo… we’re working on a version of ‘Too Shy’ at the moment and we’re keen to get Limahl involved, but he’s so busy at the moment it’s impossible, so we’re considering getting a session trombonist instead. Limahl’s well into our version though, except he keeps telling me he wants it ‘more metal’. Apart from that, I’m always open to offers. I find that it’s when you work with someone else that the music takes on more of a life of its own, and it’s a great feeling to be involved in that process. Hey, what’s that face for? I know it sounds pretentious, but that’s just the way I feel about it, ok? … Shhh… The shooting’s stopped.

 

Q: [Whispered] What instruments do you play?

A: [Whispered] Let’s see… Piano, keyboards, bass, percussion, vocals (badly), guitar (worse), didgeridoo and the Balinese chtu-phid, a bass instrument which consists of a 12-foot elastic band. You hold at one end between your feet and the other goes over the top of your head and is held with a hand behind the back. You pluck it and vary the pitch by straightening your back. Hang on… Can you hear footsteps?… No? Must be the wind or something. Anyway, there is also a version that uses a high-tensile steel string, but it’s a specialised technique and I can’t find anyone to teach me, although I’ve been told that having dreadlocks helps… Er, Michael… Turn round slowly, we’ve got company. [Louder] Hello, gentlemen of the Northern Alliance. Having a good war? [Whispered] Michael, say something!

 

Q: âyâ (šomâ) mifahmid nemitavânam nemifahmam mitavânam kojâ ast? Ha, ha, ha! (Roughly translated as: “Gentlemen of fierce and bearded appearance, what are your favourite tracks at present? Don't be ashamed to mention "Barbie Girl" by Aqua We know how popular that is here at present. May there be much rejoicing and wearing of festive hats!”).

A: Afghani Soldier: I am liking very much the sounds that is coming from the East Side, some of those rappers are knowing their shit. But I am wanting to say you are very stupid to be talking here, the al’Quaida are not far, it is snowing and you in the yellow jacket are not wearing a hat. Please to come with us, we will take you to Kandahar where there is a plane to be taking you to Kabul. You will be safer there. Please, come. You are not journalists, no? A pity… Tell me, do you know a band called Out Of Our Depth, the man with them, his hair is long like yours, you look like him… [Tape stops] ********************** [Tape starts] [Diesel engine noise; the rattle of a vehicle driving at speed on a dirt road]

 

Q: What are your favourite OOOD/Unconscious Collective tracks?

A: Eh? I can’t hear you… Favourite tracks? For the Unconscious Collective, the Fluorostan EP has got to be up there, I suppose, along with more recent tracks like ‘Slowflakes’ and ‘Squatter And The Ant’. My favourite OOOD track I think is either ‘Kundalini’ or ‘I’m Funk Definer’, but really, I suppose my favourite track is always the one I’m just about to write! God, these seats are hard and I’m being bounced around like crazy. Looks like we’re heading into the mountains again.

 

Q: Do you have any thoughts about the direction trance music may take in the future?

A: Check out that view… Wow… I think trance music will continue evolving as long as there are new studio toys and tricks. But I also think that many of the ideas developed in the trance scene are finding their way into other scenes too, I mean there’s some deep house around at the moment that is really quite trippy. It’s a lot slower than much trance, but really hypnotic and with more than a touch of psychedelia. Talking of speed, I don’t like the way we’re taking some of these corners; it’s a bloody long drop... Anyway, I think it works in reverse, too; trance is always taking in influences from other styles, and I think this is what will stop the scene from stagnating. The boundaries are becoming blurred – trance, house, techno, breakbeat, Country & Western, it’s all just one big… thing really, isn’t it… Say Michael, how long has it been since we last stopped? I really need to take a leak and all this bouncing around is making it worse.

 

Q: What other styles of music do you enjoy?

A: Hang on, I’m going to have a word with the driver… Yeah, cool, he says he’ll stop at the pass just ahead… The only thing I don’t really get off on is heavy metal, but that’s only really because I value my hearing too much to go to many metal gigs! I’ll listen to anything, really. Like I said, good music is good music and is always worth listening to (except heavy metal, of course). And it’s everywhere, too. I mean, check out the sound of the engine as it changes gear and the stones bouncing off the bottom of the truck; lead line and rhythm, right there. I live in a house where there is always music of some kind either being made or listened to; the rest of the Collective have very eclectic record collections, from Englebert Humperdinck right through to Alice In Wonderland – The Musical, so there’s always something on the stereo... Ok, here we go, we’re stopping… Back in a minute… God, I’m bursting…

 

Q: What is your understanding of the relationship between pony trekking in Iceland and the Argentinian Transport Ministry? Come on Colin! Chop, chop! We haven’t got all day you know! I’m meeting the Queen of England at 5, and she’s on a tight budget!

A: Can’t you wait until I’ve finished? Oh, alright… From what I’ve heard, the Argentinean Transport Ministry has been importing ponies from Iceland because they’re adapted to the cold weather in the region of the Andes where the Argentineans found all those crashed UFOs. The region is inaccessible to vehicles so the ponies are being used to retrieve alien artefacts from the crash site, but because of the large number of UFOs – the story is that the landing beacon at the Roswell airbase malfunctioned and sent a whole ET tourist fleet to South America on autopilot at 16,000 kmh – the Argies haven’t got enough ponies of their own. They’ve imported over 3/4 of the entire pony population of Iceland, which has obviously been disastrous for the Icelandic tourist industry; there are now thousands of European tourists wandering around the tundra, looking for something to ride and finding only Eskimos. You know, the Inuit have had a hard time recently but now they have their own country north of Canada, they… [shouting] Hey! Stop the truck! Where are you going, I’m just… Stop! You can’t just drive off! Michael! Stop the fucking truck! Stop!!…

 

And to end... thank you for your answers Colin. I am sure those reading will find them interesting yet somehow educational Looking forward to our live set at the PsyNews party in June, if you make it back from Afghanistan in time

[shouting, faintly] Stop! Come back! I’ll give you a free CD! You can have my US Special Forces camouflage poncho! Please…! [Tape stops]