What are your thoughts on your presence at iTunes? Do you think it will help your listening base?
KYLE: Being on iTunes is great for several reasons and we are very excited to be a part of it. First, it brings some responsibility to artists and producers to make a solid album. For the listener, if you like a song and the other songs on the release are complete crap, then guess what? you only have to buy that one song! And from a business side, I think alot more artists are getting better percentage deals for downloadable music since there is no physical product to make for the label. I definitely have seen an increase in people to our website since we have been on iTunes, especially when were featured in the new releases section, so definitely it is helping our listening base. People that love electronic music love to dig & discover new things, and iTunes is a perfect platform for that type of discovery.
When did you first realize your passion for electronic music?
RYAN: I discovered that electronic music was an art form that I was drawn to naturally when I realized that I had been creating some sort of soundscapes by making sounds and rhythms from recording blips of audio
cassettes in random order form one tape to another in a very primitive editing form. That experimenting led me into music that was using a lot of samples and chopped up sounds other than traditional instruments to
make music and I identified with that process and was hooked.
What other styles of music were you interested in growing up, before electronic?
RYAN: There was a lot of nature scape experimental music that was always playing in the house like Paul Winter and also a lot of jazz. Years later I became fascinated and addicted to electronic music after blindly buying Aphex Twin?s ?I Care Because You Do?.
KYLE: Being from Texas I was obviously exposed to country music, but my parents had a wide range of tastes so I was lucky enough to have exposure to everything from musicals to classical to rock. Neil Diamond was a favorite in my very early years, and his music still resides in my head today.
How influenced are you by early electronic artists like Brian Eno?
Great early influences were probably more along the lines of Kraftwerk, Laurie Anderson, & 80's bands such as OMD, Depeche Mode, and Howard Jones.
What's the most exciting track you've had the opportunity to remix?
Gus Gus - "David" It's on our website.
What are some of your favorite records as of late?
KYLE & RYAN: Casino vs Japan ?Go Hawaii? and Thin Films Eskimo.
What was your first memorable concert you attended?
KYLE: For me, and I am going to date myself here, I think it hit me over the head and I said, "WOW I need to be doing that!" Was when I was in Junior High School and our parents let us all go to see Depeche Mode's Black Celebration Tour. It was at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth Texas and it was a "My mom can drive us if your mom can pick us up kind of deal" I remember very vividly the energy that exuded from the stage with the amazing stage production, lights, sound - the works. I could not stop listening to that record after that. (and it was a vinyl record!) I also remember my friends mother who was picking us up had asked a security guard if she could come in and watch the ending & she told us in the car, "That looked like a vision of hell on earth!"
How long have you been together as a group?
We've been making music under the name Test Shot Starfish for 4 years.