1 - a lot of questions in one : Your age, from which social condition you come... Can you talk about the way you create CROUTON MUSIC... the label & the magazine... Why combine a zine & a label ? can you talk about the idea behind the title.

I'll be 32 in July and I started the label back in 1999. I had been working with Chris Rosenau in a few different music projects and we finally decided to put some things out ourselves. Labels are strongly based in opinion. So, we became dissatisfied with the opinions of some of our friends who ran labels and thought, "that is not the way," and did it ourselves, the right way - ha, ha!

Because of a series of personal events, and the seeming demand for web presence, I decided to start the web site, www.croutonmusic.com. This is how the magazine formed. I wanted to have something more on the site, instead of just me, me, me. I think it benefits all, as people have reasons then to visit the site more often, there's a lot to read, and I get to communicate with people who's work I enjoy.

The label name "Crouton" comes from a story I used to tell people. It involved coming home from work and heating up the newspaper in the microwave before reading it. It involved boiling soda before drinking it. And it involved filling a bathtub with very hot water and then filling it with salad croutons. In the story, I believed that if you got into this bath, and let the seasonings enter your pores, you could become invisible. I would usually tell this to people I would meet in bars or wherever, as a sort of test, to see how they would react, and then know if they were someone that I could get along with, have an understanding with. A litmus test, if you will. In a way, the label does the same thing. I put my music out there not for everyone, but for those who might have a similar understanding of the world.

2 - STNT is usually influenced with "rock" & so on... and people who will read this interview will be certainly influenced by Noisy Guitare etc ... How could you describe CROUTON & convince them to hear stuffs on CROUTON ?

No matter what type of music you are listening to, most often, you like the way it makes you feel, the ideas it inspires, etc. You can enjoy the technical aspects (recording, production, technique, etc.) but for the most part sound connects with you on a more personal level. Therefore, it is safe to assume that feelings can be inspired regardless of the instrument. If someone likes rock music - the way that music makes them feel, they should realize that other sounds can inspire similar feelings and even more. But again, the music on Crouton isn't for everyone. You know, some people like to eat only carrots, and nothing else!

3 - Can you talk about the music you listened to as a child ?

My parents had me when they were teenagers and it was 1970. So, my childhood was filled with rock music. At a very early age, I became obsessed with it. Kids in my neighborhood were learning to ride bikes and I was making noise on a guitar, drawing pictures of people playing music, and listening almost non-stop to my parent's records and 8 track tapes. Some of the bands were Uriah Heep, Kansas, Black Sabbath, and Queen. As time went on, I just followed the natural progression of this kind of music and the bands that followed. But at some point (1979) I discovered (as did many) certain new wave music and I then became obsessed with Gary Numan. As excited about music as I was, I noticed that my friends were not really conscious or interested in current music at all. So, I began to see music as something that separates people, like a secret world or something. I still see it as such. Music can bring people together, but only if it is shared and enjoyed equally between people. If not, it can be a blatant divide. This is how I eventually became interested in punk rock. This music seemed to flaunt a "divide." Although, it crossed over into a type of all encompassing code to follow - uniform, attitude, activity, etc. There was a proclaimed unity, but only for those that followed. Rediculous. Unfortunately, late in my teens was when I finally discovered music made by people who were interested in doing different, yet personal things with sound - not for popularity or for any kind of social group, etc. This is what I had been looking for and is the type of music I'm interested in today. Honest, personal music.

4 - You are a musician & a writer too, and i will love to know, as it's usually done with CROUTON, if you want always combine music & writing... perhaps one day, you want to release a "book" ?

The writing I do with the Crouton releases is usually based on extensions of ideas that occur during the time the music was made (except in the case of Pianobread, which was written years earlier). Some things can't be said with words that can be said with music. Yet, words can support some ideas communicated in music. So, I like to combine them. But hopefully not in a way that tells people what to think. They should get out of the music and the text what they will.

I'm working now on a book with an illustrator in San Fransisco that will hopefully be out this year. I don't know if there will be music included with it or not. The title will be, "Endings."

5 - Do you work music as you work as a writer ? Talk about your work in other mediums (painting ?) and describe how your approach and themes differ or coincide. a word concerning the beautiful sleeves of your records ?

I think music and writing have similar characteristics for me. Both involve trying to communicate something without being so straightforward. In both cases, I hope that people interpret what I do in different ways. I used to draw and paint all the time, but eventually gave that up as my feelings changed. So, I don't really remember how it compared. Writing and music seem to capture more - or at least be a balance - as each one trades off on their potential to communicate a direct idea, and then become ambiguous.

Scott Kawczynski does all of the design for Crouton. Sometimes I will have an idea for starting, but usually it's all Scott. He does quite nice work, very professional, but also very interesting and the perfect accompaniment to the music. The first project he worked on was Crouton No. 2, where he hand designed this nice, sturdy folder, with surgical tape as the binding, and a hand letterpressed cover - very involved and hard work. Fortunately, for his hands, there were only 100 made. Since then, I have really watched his work develop, as he has gained a better understanding of what we do, what we try to say with our work, and has created designs that, in my opinion, make the releases succeed.

6 - How do you meet musicians on crouton...

I think it's just like anything else. You do what you like to do and maybe meet others whose work you enjoy along the way. Sometimes you work together, sometimes you don't.

7 - how does this tie in to your opinion of improvised and composed music ? What does 'free music' mean to you? - What degree does improvisation play in your work ?

The trick with improvisation or free music is that, to the listener, not all of it 'works.' And why is that? A person can listen to something that was improvised and say, "this isn't good, it doesn't feel right." So then you start selecting tracks you like based on your concepts of composed music. You might like a specific improvised piece because it has a great dynamic, flows nicely, etc. because that is what you admire about certain composed music. So does it matter then that it was improvised if you listen to it based on your criteria of composition?

But there are some people who have an amazing sense of improvisation and can blast through these preconceptions, making music that transcends the rules and takes the listener away. Sad to say, I am not one of those people - ha, ha! But the music I put together for recordings does involve a great deal of 'chance' - meaning that not everything is preplanned, but different experiments must be tried until the right combination comes together to make the piece work. Not 'anything goes.' The only instance where pure improvisation comes into my work is in certain live settings. The Raccoons project, with Chris Rosenau and Hal Rammel for instance, is essentially live improvisations, even on the studio recordings. In this case, we still select the strongest tracks to include on the records, so again, a certain criteria is involved.

8 - is there something you want to say or ask to the french people we are...

Hopefully I will make it to France this year as we are trying to organize a tour. It is a mysterious country to me, as I only know it through books and movies, of which I have read and seen many. Also, through stories from friends there and friends who have visited. So, my imagination has probably come up with a pretty inaccurate picture. I want to get lost in the country.

Out on CROUTON MUSICS :

Late May:

Folktales No. 3 (Kevin Shea, Adam Sonderberg, Dan Warburton) 3x3"CD

Late June:

Collections of Colonies of Bees: fa.ce...

Crouton Music P.O. Box 070352 Milwaukee, WI 53207 www.croutonmusic.com