Telephone Exchange

Learning from the machines.

welcome once again to this, your space to discover new music and experiences, a few days we had the pleasure to interview our friend Cesar Saldivar from Telephone Exchange and he told us about his up-coming album, a new release coming in October and a few details about the recording process, the project itself, El Cochinero (his home recording studio) and his own persona. 

1.- You have kept us posted about your new project lately (something we thank by the way) So, what could you tell us about Telephone Exchange, what is it? What does it involves? And How it started?

Telephone Exchange begun as a side project, I still had a band and just had left Aguascalientes looking for a job (and I found a job… and heaven knows I’m miserable now…). I went to London, where all the computational design happens (that’s what I do for a living). One day I was walking somewhere in Seven Sisters and found an old building which was called “Telephone Exchange”. I came up with the idea of making a personal music project where I could convey the feeling, and all the experiences I went through at different places where I had been to; just like the old telephone exchanges, where operators connected cables in a patch bay to communicate different places and people. I had some recording gear in my flat over there and started working on ideas (some of them are part of my new album). I didn’t get a job in London; I was in the middle of the whole Brexit thing, and getting a visa was really tough by then; but I got a nice job offer in Mexico City, so I came back. Just after a few months, this “modern life” reality hit me up, so, Telephone Exchange transformed into that, a project where I could explore the daily intricacies of modern life. This project had a rough start. I didn’t have a place where to set up the whole recording studio I had back home, it just went one year that way. But it was not that bad at all, since throughout all that time I basically wrote the whole album and did some pre – production. Eventually I got a bigger flat, and finally brought almost the whole studio. It took me one year to record the album (just six tacks lol!), but I think it was alright, this allowed me to analyze a little bit better the concept I was working on. Working at an office became some sort of field trip in order to understand better the object and subject of study.

2.- As off we heard your brand new single this year, Machine Learning, What do you feel about it as a single? What’s behind those eleven minutes of music? And what were you doing during the time you compose it?

I really like it, it’s one of my favourite songs of the album for many reasons. It’s the last track of Maschinelles Lernen. This track is basically the conclusion or “epitaph” of the whole album (Yes, it is a conceptual album, sort of). The track pretends to be sung by a machine (you can tell by the processed vocal track). This artifact acquires machine learning skills, and is eventually able to discern between performing a determinate task simply by request, and thinking and meditating about the purpose of it all; this thinking is sort of transposed into the workforce components of modern life. The album tries to “humanise” the general aspects of a machine, and makes us reflect about the ethical and ontological aspects of simply performing a task by request.

What was I doing? My roommate was having a cocktail party and I wasn’t invited haha, but I had had a really bad day, and was pissed off about all I was asked to do, and was thinking as above.

3.- One of the first statements you told to us was that you will release your debut album very soon (not so soon) Machinelles Lernen, what are the elements and aspects you can tell us about in this recording? How did the Lo-Fi sound match with your ideas?

The whole album was recorded on a 4 track cassette recorder. there was so much fun, since I had to do a lot of bouncing (record 3 tracks, and pass them to an empty track, so I have 3 more available tracks). Part of the lo – fi sound is due to that. Also to the fact that I was kind of looking for a Velvet Uderground’s White Light/White Heat sound; so I recorded the whole thing at hi – gain levels. On tape this sounds really good, recording on tape is very different than in a digital fashion, since first, I think you get a more realistic sound, more organic and dynamic; and second, you don’t have too many options in means of editing. This forces you to become a better performer, and I think this is the real basis of making a good record, rather than relying on expensive microphones, outboard gear or studio tricks such as compression (didn’t use much compression during the tracking by the way). Classic records from the 50’s and 60’s were made using less gear than any average musician has in its home studio or home.

4.- How exciting was to track it with an analogue format and how was the recording process?

It was great, since I was putting in practice what I just had been studying for a while. It was exciting to pay attention to details, to nuances, to slight mistakes. I really enjoyed recording it in analogue format, also, because it was the first time I do this, and by my own, engineered by myself.

The recording sessions were basically Saturdays and mostly Sundays. I brought some drinks into the studio, and just recorded until I had ear fatigue (or got really drunk) and thought that I just shit that session. The next morning I would listen to what I recorded and then it was a few days of analysing the tracks and finally I just left it like that since it sounded good. Ear fatigue was a common problem in this recording process, but I guess it was due that I was so excited on recording, and also, because I wanted to finish the whole album and listen to it from start to beginning.

5.- You decided to track every instrument for this record, how difficult was it for you with these modern life schedules, how is you writing process in general? And how do you feel knowing that you recorded this by yourself?

It depends. The drums were recorded in a rush and under tight times. I was in a one week holiday back home, and recorded the drums there (in Aguascalientes). It was just one week to do all the drums perfectly, and then bring back the tapes to Mexico City. Besides that, the whole process was soft. The modern day schedules yeah, were hard to handle eventually (I work from 10 to 9!), but I managed to keep up the whole thing. My writing process depends, it’s very variable. Sometimes I grab the bass guitar and come up with a nice riff, then before bed, I think on a way of structuring it. Sometimes I get a really nice chord progression and even the structure on guitar. Even sometimes, there’s no music at all, just a technical concept in my head on how to perform a song based on simple rules. About recording it myself, it is really pleasant. I had done this before in an album I released on 2011 which is called Gusman (http://gusman.bandcamp.com), but this time, I hadn’t anyone else helping me in the studio with engineering stuff, or microphone placing, or moving the cables, or playing a certain track. I know in a recording process, it is best to record the whole band live, but in this case, I think the process I used gave the album a certain character, very intimate.

6.- where did you take the inspiration for this project and what is the music that influenced you at the moment of conceiving this material?

Everyday experiences, but transposed into a more “philosophical” focus, if we can call it that way. Also I had been reading some papers and books on the politics of parametricism, a little bit on neo-liberalism and social systems theory, and I think the lyrics got heavily influenced in that as well.

7.- About your previous projects, what kind of struggles and difficulties did you have to place them on people’s radar? How can you describe the musical scene in your natal state of Aguascalientes? And how did you survive throughout the years with your experience?

I think the only way is to make things happen, not to wait for them. That’s what I learnt when playing with Bleak Boys. I really struggled with that band, because of that, and because of the band-mates haha, but well, that’s a different story.

Aguascalientes has some interesting bands, I think the musical scene tends to vary a lot. You can find guys doing grunge / shoegaze, and people doing reggae and funk. But simultaneously, gigs get all mixed eventually! I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but bands, and good bands, yes there are a few. I find very exciting hanging out in town centre on a weekend. You get to go to a few gigs, end up pissed at an after party; it is all very innocent really.

It’s been a rough process, the one of growing up and keeping up with music. Many friends who were very talented musicians got lost in other projects, such as family, kids, work, or even having bands and playing the same stuff as they did 10 years ago. I am not saying this is a bad thing, we are all free to choose what to do with our lives. It’s just a matter of choices and willpower, and having ambition and clear goals.

8.- Previously known as NoLab, you are re-opening your own label, now under the name of El Cochinero. Will you be working on new projects and releasing your music via this label? How is it to start a personal label? Did the name was on your mind long before or does it hit you like a truck in the heat of the moment?

No!Lab was not a label really, it was a project studio I set up for the recording of Gusman, but eventually, bands came in and asked me to record them, so I set it up eventually. El Cochinero is a twofold project: El Cochinero Recording which is currently a recording facility exclusively for overdubs and mixing (I can’t do drums here, my neighbours will kill me!); and El Cochinero Records, which is actually a very very young “record label” project. I am currently trying to release and manage my music myself, and El Cochinero Records is a way of doing this. Eventually, I want to properly set up a very small record label, where I can help independent artists to release their music digitally and even in vinyl format as well, but I don’t have a concise plan for this now, I am just releasing my music via this platform, and I think it is important to set a precedent for these plans. The name was given by my mum, she says my place is a real mess (un cochinero, a place where pigs live), so the name stuck.

9.- Which will be your next release and  what are your words for people out there? The people who supported you from the beginning and the new listeners?

I will release a new single in October, there’s no official date yet, due to the next news: Maschinelles Lernen will be released in vinyl in the US via Ongakubaka Records! Their release times may be different to ours, especially due to the vinyl pressing times, so, this might vary. They will make 150 copies for a beginning and we’ll see how it goes over there, this is really exciting for me. Also I am trying now to set up a band to play the album live, and maybe do a few shows here in Mexico City, and the country; and why not, eventually a few gigs in the States, we’ll see. I would really like to thank everyone out there who has been supporting my music throughout my career, but mainly for this project; friends, family, supporters all around. I would like to thank as well to all the people who is no longer around… (dead and not dead). Very special thanks to my girlfriend, who has been crucial in the whole recording process of this album; very special thanks to my parents for all their help, support and trust. And also, very special thanks to yourself, Petit Mexicain! It’s always great to be here!

Maschinelles Lernen will be available in the next months following the release of Telephone Exchange's next single, we thank so much to Cesar Saldivar for this interview and hope this project start to fulfil its purpose.