Wow & Flutter 012 | Facsimile
Daniel Klag on synth minimalism, what to read next, and an introduction to small and brilliant label, Soap Library.
Would you like a foray into being a person experiencing the world offline? Let me recommend Daniel Klag, his long body of intentional work— and label home Soap Library which I will now crown as one of the best small labels out there.
Wow & Flutter: Hi Daniel, your bio says you're a New York-based artist— are you writing to us from a city context or mountains and valleys? Did you grow up in New York?
Daniel Klag: I grew up in suburban New Jersey and moved to NYC in 2006 after graduating from college. I am currently writing from a one-bedroom apartment in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, where I have lived with my wife for the past 11 years. We try to escape from the city periodically, often taking trips to go hiking in the Hudson Valley or sometimes further up or down the East Coast.
W&F: I am going to say it. Facsimile is just a great tape. I felt so many things while I listened to your sonic notebook. If you had to identify a prevailing tone or emotion for Facsimile, what does that feel like for you?
DK: A unifying emotion is a little hard to pin down, but perhaps “hope” or “contentment.” This is a pandemic album – It reflects the socially distant, mostly domestic routines I adopted starting in 2020, while also serving to help ease stress during an anxious time.
A loose theme running through this album is “portability.” Facsimile was recorded in small spaces (hotel rooms, train cars, my apartment) using only portable battery-powered devices. Living in small spaces has compelled me to only acquire new gear if it is something that can be tucked away nicely in a closet when not in active use.
W&F: Each track opens with a field recording, which might be easy to dismiss in its composition (almost like for lack of a better term— a "butt dial" on a smartphone) but I find myself trying to make sense of it and listen for cues. What's happening here? Where are these recordings being gathered?
DK: Facsimile acts as an audio diary of sorts, documenting not only my musical sketches of the past few years, but also my physical surroundings. I wanted to be able to listen back to each song and be reminded of the spaces I inhabited, including Acadia National Park in Maine, the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, Minnewaska State Park in upstate NY, and the ambient city noise heard through my apartment window.
W&F: I feel like I heard a Wingie 2 resonator in there. I know that's specific and I might be wrong, but I like to live process my outdoor environment when hiking—my personal small synths kit includes a Wingie 2 and Lemondrop. What's in your kit?
DK: You’re the first person to notice the Wingie 2! I used its built-in microphone to pick up the clicking of the keys, then did some digital processing on the recorded results. On this album I also use a Critter & Guitari pocket piano, the Samplr iPad app, and several devices from the Czech company Bastl: the Kastle 1.5 synth, Kastle Drum, and Microgranny sampler. These are great tools not only for apartment living, but also to be able to toss in a backpack and take with me wherever I go.
W&F: To be the kind of person that listens with intention and collects information in this way is unique. What do you think is the driving mechanism in your personality or curiosity?
DK: I have always loved music, but never learned to play any instrument with any real proficiency. That said, I’ve always been pretty good with technology, and so I threw myself into audio production as a way to express myself. A lot of what I do is experimental in the sense that it is trial-and-error— I try something out, record it, then listen closely to the results and keep only the elements that I like best.
W&F: This tape is literary— tell us why.
DK: The “portability” theme is partially inspired by Enrique Vila-Matas' A Brief History of Portable Literature, a novella presenting the fictional history of a secret society of writers and artists whose work is intentionally small and lightweight. I first read the English translation when it was released in 2015, and its ideas stuck with me. The literary themes extend to some of the song titles, with nods to printmaking, mapmaking, etc.
W&F: You're releasing with Soap Library which adds a sensory object to your respective album, in this case a notebook will be packaged with your tape. What made you arrive at this particular object, and would you mind sharing a bit about the label? I have some feelings on physical media as a trinket or touchstone that may feel controversial, but in this case we are incorporating an actual item.
DK: Soap Library is a small Brooklyn-based label run by Kerry Santullo. The label first came to my attention when they released Jacob Becker’s cassette Meta Flux back in 2017, which was packaged alongside a small packet of bath salts.
I loved the idea of including an object along with each cassette tape, and was thrilled to join the Soap Library family with my last release in 2021 (which came packaged with a small vial of chaga mushrooms). For Facsimile, the inclusion of a small notebook serves as an invitation to join an imaginary secret society.
W&F: It's been a few years since your last release Arbor, when do you know it's time to make an album? Is that process fast or slow for you?
DK: I used to work very quickly, recording an average of one album per year from 2013 through 2020. Since then, I have slowed down a bit. I still record whenever I have free moments, though I try to take my time, edit more, and let things sit a while before I am ready to share them.
W&F: What's coming up for you over this Autumn?
DK: On October 11th, I’m playing a release show at Topos Too, a fantastic bookstore in Ridgewood, Queens. Also playing are Nat Homer and fellow Soap Librarian Eve Essex, who is celebrating a recent vinyl release.
After that, I have a collaborative album due to come out in early 2025. It was recorded remotely with five other guys through an exquisite corpse file-sharing approach at the same time I was working on Facsimile. Kerry jokingly refers to it as my “boy band.”
W&F: Softball question— what's in your book stack right now? Thanks for chatting with us, Daniel.
DK: Thank you for the thoughtful questions! Some recent reads include Ling Ma’s short story collection Bliss Montage, Hua Hsu’s memoir Stay True, and Brian Eno’s diary A Year with Swollen Appendices. Up next on my list is David Toop’s essay collection Inflamed Invisible. ➿
Go get a tape:
Facsimile, available October 4th via Soap Library Connect Daniel Klag on Instagram.
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