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Video: Jason Urick – “Fussing & Fighting”

Jason Urick – “Fussing & Fighting”
Directed by Mark Brown
Password (if still locked): fussing

Thanks to the kind folks at Thrill Jockey (especially Paco Barba), we’re happy to premiere the video for the title track of Jason Urick’s new EP, “Fussing & Fighting.” Jason took a few moments to enlighten us on the EP:

Aural States: Could you give a little bit of the background on the track itself (any relation with the Bob Marley track of the same name?)

Jason Urick: The track has more to do with Jah Shaka in spirit and The Abyssinians samplewise… the title “Fussing & Fighting” just comes from the vocal loop that repeats throughout much of the track. The video hopefully Mark can shed some more light on(I’m sending him an email hoping for a comment). Mark is always kind of a natural choice to work with because he is a good friend and I am a big fan of his video work, so more or less everytime I’ve worked with him it’s pretty much me giving him a song and letting him just go where he wants with the video. I’m really pleased with this video; unselfishly I think it’s his best video to date.

AS: Could you say a little more about the influence of Jah Shaka, how you discovered his work and what about him/it inspires you?

JU: I’ve been familiar with Jah Shaka’s production and recorded output for a long time, I’ve always been a fan… but one day I was digging through Youtube for old soundsytem videos and came across a few Jah Shaka Soundsystem clips that were just mind altering… one clip is from the 70′s and the bass is just so blown out because the mic can’t handle it… it sounds amazing

The other is a clip from London in the 90′s and it is similar to the early clip, but even more over the top and harsh, while still maintaining a groove. Around halfway through the clip, it just settles into pure psychedelic noise bliss… there were multiple conversations around the house for awhile of trying to cover this jam, but I ended up just trying to catch that vibe the best I could on my own.

AS: How does the EP differ from Husbands?

JU: As far as this EP vs. Husbands the main obvious difference is the introduction of basic rhythm to the tracks, which is an element I hadn’t worked with in quite a long time… other than that I was trying to make a conscious decision to let sounds have a little more sonic space on their own rather than the semi-claustrophobic way of stacking sound I employed in much of Husbands.

AS: When you say that you could find the Husbands method of sound layering semi-claustrophobic, is this something that you felt while making it, or while looking back? Like, is that something you realize when relating Husbands to the material on Fussing & Fighting? Or was it a force moving you towards the more open sounds on Fussing & Fighting?

JU: I don’t think my life was particularly claustrophobic. I think that maybe since I hadn’t really worked on solo stuff in a long time when I was working on Husbands, I may have just tried to cram everything in at once…. I mean with Wzt Hearts there was 4 of us so you had to use some sort of restraint. I think that maybe Husbands‘ sound was some sort of separation anxiety… so I think that it’s more looking back… Paul Gold who mastered both releases pointed out the difference in an email while mastering Fussing, and I sort of stepped back and saw the difference.

AS: I know you have been into dubstep as well, which often feels very spacious in its use of sound, while at the same time incorporating a driving yet spare rhythmic element. did you find yourself inspired by this for the 12″ as well?

JU: I do like alot of the current dubstep stuff yeah… conciously I don’t think it played a part, but I think that all the music I really love whether it’s like Pinch and 2562 or Harry Nilsson and John Fahey all end up leaving their mark on me in some way…

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