"The sampler is the bottomless pit of all musical instruments."
For years sample artists have been the "recyclers" of the world's sounds. Like classical composers, they crafted their works of art behind closed doors, only revealing them in their utmost state of completion. We are the new risk-takers of this medium.
Scatter-Shot Theory makes it's home at the Petaluma Radiophonic Workshop, a musical compound located in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area. We are a two-man operation featuring the explosive Damian C. Cohn and the volcanic Michael S. Rosen.
We approach our sample music much as jazz musicians approach their art form, by spontaneously synthesizing the music at hand. Just as jazz music balances form with spontaneity, we allow on-the-spot improvisational impulses to take over, in addition to maintaining a variety of preplanned routines and themes.
The sampler is the key to our sound. These days, electronic musicians seem to be mostly interested in instruments that were made particularly for the task of creating electronic sounds (tr808, Junos, 303s, "grooveboxes", etc.). The sampler, on the other hand, could be thought of as the "blank canvas" of all electronic musical instruments, catering no more to one sound than another. The options are unlimited. For those who don't know, the sampler can take a sound from any source and then manipulate that sound in almost any way through the use of: layering, filters, pitch shift, envelopes, looping, effects processing, low frequency modulation… an endless list which allows the artist unlimited freedom in the creation and manipulation of any kind of sound.
In addition to our extensive use of samplers when creating our music, we also on occasion incorporate saxophone, turntables and various percussion instruments in order to further enhance the sound.
By this time perhaps you understand what we are doing, but you are probably more interested in what we actually sound like. A Scatter-Shot Theory performance ranges from heavy "down tempo" sounds, to subliminal "ambient" soundscapes, to furious "jungle"-like rhythms, etc., etc. We dislike making any comparisons to other electronic musics, essentially because almost all of them are completely pre-programmed.
In actuality the best way to understand this new-format electronic music is to listen to one of our recordings or to witness one of our performances. You can visit the web site or call us for more information about this new sound revolution. Thank you for your time. --S.S.T.
