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Visit Jack Hertz

Jack Hertz
A Thin Drone Silence

A Thin Drone Silence was released on Cassette in 1989 on the Poison Plant Music label. It has been reissued here for the first time on CD and digital download as No. 1 in a series of reissues that will cover all of my 1980s cassette recordings. This release includes a bonus side from the Music From Distant Days cassette release.

Note: these recordings were transferred from the original 1989 analog masters to preserve the original sound and sequencing. Distortion, crackling, hiss and other sonic issues inherent to the medium may be heard.

Watch for review in a future posting.

Interview by Bryan Baker on 12/10/2010

What is drone?
A Drone can be any number of things. It can be a male bee. It can be remote controlled device. Etc. In this case, it is a sound that repeats itself harmonically. Not to be confused with a loop. That is chunk of recorded time that is spliced start to end. Drones in music are sounds which have no start or end. They create vibrations with apparent, but subtle changes in sonic characteristics such as amplitude or timbre.

To me, this recording remains as vibrant as ever. How has this recording aged for you in 20 years?
When it was released back in 1988. Most electronic music fans, myself included, associated electronic music with a pioneering attitude that learned towards developing established styles of music such as jazz and rock. In contrast, I was also attracted to the experimental works by artists like Eno and K. Leimer. Decades later, those experiments have evolved into a genre. It feels like "A Thin Drone Silence" can really be heard now. What was a kind of concept prototype at time. Stands on its own quite well as a proof of concept today.

Tell me about your recording studio circa 1989.
If I recall correctly, it was your standard studio in the parents basement affair. I had just graduated from the usual array of garage sale finds including cheesy electric organ, old reel-to-reel machines, pots, pans and assorted percussion junk. Here, I was riding in style with a Tascam Porta One, Furman RV-1 spring reverb, Yamaha D1500 delay, Yamaha CX5M, Oberheim Expander, and a Yamaha RX15 drum machine. In fact, I attribute a lot of the sound of A Thin drone to that Furman reverb. It adds a very smooth analog feel to the otherwise cold dry digital synths.

Why is it important to maintain past archived albums?
Music is a art form that builds on and devours itself to evolve and grow. The more we know about the past, the more insane we go in the future.

What is different about running a DiY label like Point Plant in the late 80s/90s and today?
With Poison Plant there was a visible, tangible audience. People were actively looking for an intense level of engagement via some new unheard music delivered by mail on cassette. People are overwhelmed today. Stopping to listen to something seems to be more a distraction from other modern forms of engagement. With labels no longer the shepherds of new music. There seems to be a kind Vaudville growing up where people interact more as individual folk artists than entertainers.

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