Image courtesy of Activision

Since 2001, Vancouver’s Scott Morgan has released four outstanding full lengths of ambient music under the alias of Loscil. His latest release is Strathcona Variations, a digital EP for Ghostly International. In early 2010, Kranky will release a new LP from Loscil titled Endless Falls. Morgan also works as a sound director in the video game industry. He was a vital member of the sound team for Prototype, a game that was released this summer by Activision and sold more copies than any other game in North America during the month of June. Morgan was so nice to sit down and answer some questions regarding the new EP, the upcoming full length, his work with Destroyer’s Dan Bejar and more.

Hugh Miller: Tell me more about the background of the three tracks that compose Strathcona Variations.

Scott Morgan: At work, I have a view from my office of the neighborhood of Strathcona (in Vancouver). It is pretty much the view on the cover of the EP (though I took that photo from the roof of our building). It’s a pretty inspiring view of the buildings and the mountains in the background, but its also led me to think about Strathcona now and then. In essence, the EP is a series of “snapshots” of Strathcona; very photo-inspired in a way.  The main track, “Strathcona,” is a general “musical impression” of this place – a kind of soundtrack to it. The Union of “Union Dusk” is a street name as is the Princess in “Midnight on Princess.”

Both of these “variations” are about seeing the same place from a different perspective which is exactly what the music is about. “Union Dusk” and “Midnight on Princess” are both variations of the main themes in Strathcona. One with a slightly “lighter” impression and the other with a considerably darker one – which is exactly how I see Strathcona – a place with light and dark sides.

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This is a re-post of my August 2006 interview with Chad VanGaalen. I remember calling Chad up just before the release of his second album, Skelliconnection. We talked a lot about his recording process, building homemade instruments, and his endless backlog of unreleased songs. Chad released Soft Airplane on Sub Pop last year and on August 11th Flemish Eye will release the debut from his alias Black Mold.

Hugh Miller: Who was the first person who encouraged you to release your music?

Chad VanGaalen: I was putting out tapes and CDRs independently for a long time by myself. Ian Russell, the guy that runs Flemish Eye [VanGaalen’s label in Canada], the label that put Infiniheart out originally, was probably the first person that was seriously interested in putting anything out.

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Photo by Angela Goodman

Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie have been crafting ambient symphonies under the Stars Of The Lid banner for well over a decade now. Stars Of The Lid’s latest album for Kranky, And Their Refinement Of The Decline, continues to develop the classical tendencies of 2001’s acclaimed The Tired Sounds Of. I recently had the opportunity to field questions to Brian McBride, who performed a solo set in New York City last month to close out the 2006 – 2007 Wordless Music Series.

McBride has lived in Los Angeles for several years now while Wiltzie resides in Belgium. They pieced together their new album by sending each other ideas by way of computer. I wanted to know how SOTL makes this work. McBride explains, “I can say that it helps if each of the artists are motivated. You have to send stuff back and forth on a regular basis. You often need deadlines. You gotta talk about what you like and don’t like no matter how abstract and obtuse it is. Talking about the minutiae of music is real difficult from far away especially with our music. The most comical thing in the world is for us to try to describe certain sounds that we like to the other person.”

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