Awesome Air

By B. Chandrashekar B. Chandrashekar ( BC): could you please state for the record your name and where you are currently located… Mark Buzard ( MB): mark townsend buzard and i am currently a resident of freeland, washington. BC: never been there… MB: it’s on whidbey island. it’s located on the puget sound. pretty tranquil area. lots of variation considering i moved here five years ago from glendale, arizona. BC: that seems like a pretty intense move. what brought you to the northwest?

By B. Chandrashekar B. Chandrashekar ( BC): could you please state for the record your name and where you are currently located… Mark Buzard ( MB): mark townsend buzard and i am currently a resident of freeland, washington. BC: never been there… MB: it’s on whidbey island. it’s located on the puget sound.

pretty tranquil area. lots of variation considering i moved here five years ago from glendale, arizona. BC: that seems like a pretty intense move. what brought you to the northwest? MB: i’ve always had a connection here through my father. we lived here for a few years back in 1987.

the time we spent here made such an impression on me. it was always in the back of my mind growing up. so when i had the chance to move here, i jumped on it. it’s been one of the better decisions i’ve made since. BC: and what’s the name of your current project? MB: “awesome air” BC: could you tell us a little bit on the origin of the name? MB: “to feel air when you inhale deeply” it was an “idea” and more of an “in the moment” kinda thing.

you had to be there. BC: guess so. what instruments do you play? MB: the first instrument i learned to play was the guitar. self-taught. i started in earnest when i was 12.

pretty much taught myself piano when i played in the format. i was always buying old instruments in thrift stores and yard sales; glockenspiels, chord organs, anything that made a noise. i like the experimentation of self-teaching; no boundaries or borders. BC: is that the same ideal you put forth into music production, composing, recording, etc..? MB: well, i approached it like a scientist. exploring “traditional” aspects of the guitar in the vein of western music styles.

rudiments and “jumping off” points. when i was 14 i heard sonic youth and was presented with “de-tuning” and “prepared” instruments in the vein of branca ( edt. glen branca) and cage ( edt. john cage).

this flipped everything upside down and invited “un-explored” territories. i was presented with “exploring the guitar as more than a guitar.” naturally this intrigued me. “self-recording” or “home-recording” has always been around me growing up but i haven’t until recently explored the full richness of “home-production” for myself. everything is purely experimentation and applying past knowledge. i am happy to be exploring the documentation aspect of it all.

i want to expand more in that direction. i really can’t explain how i go about writing and composing music. too much rambling and “quotations.” ( laugh) BC: what inspired you to pursue “awesome air” and “meghalaya” MB: again, purely an experiment. i wanted sounds that i liked and haven’t heard. exploring frequencies, sustaining notes and drones.

it was music i needed and i did not have. “ Meghalaya” is not finished. yet. it is a living thing right now. i’ve never raised anything from the ground up, so i am trying to be as nurturing as possible.

it already has feet and is begining to right itself. or rather “write” ( laugh) “ Awesome Air” sounded like a good enough name. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..