TWILIGHT CIRCUS SOUND SYSTEM interview
Ryan Moore is maybe best known as a member of the
Legendary Pink Dots, where he has been adding his sonic touches as bassist and
drummer since 1991. He is also fully responsible for 5 solo albums (so far)
under the name Twilight Circus (Dub Sound System), where Ryan lets his dub
fancy run loose (and he gets to play all the instruments). His work twists and
mutates the whole dub sound into new areas, mixing in traces of electronica,
psychedelic rock, and playful experimentalism. The latest Twilight Circus
release, a CD called "Horsie", is his best yet, combining wonderful
pop melodies with his now-trademark dub/rock mixture. He is an artist creating
personal and unique music that's full of life and will even shake your booty,
if you are so inclined.
The mighty dubmaster Ryan Moore was interviewed for GODSEND in January, 1999.
GS-Todd Zachritz
RM-Ryan Moore
GS-First, describe Twilight Circus for someone who's never heard the mighty dub machine...
RM- A fun-filled dub fiesta - sometimes spooky, sometimes soothing....A heavy-ass bass and drum dub juggernaut!
GS-How did you meet up with the Dots, and what led you to join them? Seems like after you played with Hilt and the Tear Garden, you seemed to be involved with the Dots from then on...
RM-i hooked up with the dots via cevin key during the recording of the tear garden album 'the last man to fly' in 1991 - they needed an extra person to have some live jamming in the studio so, i came on down..i was looking for a way to escape from vancouver at that time and the idea of roaming around europe seemed interesting - i got called away on another nettwerk production but mentioned to the dot's guitarist, martijn de kleer, that i'd be interested in playing bass live...well, after a few weeks martijn called me up and asked if i'd come over for a jam session, so, a few days later i grabbed a flight - the next day we went in the studio and the rest is , as they say, history..
GS-You've been playing bass/drums/etc. around Vancouver for years, and for a number of Nettwerk bands, from dance to folk to rock, etc. Were you always interested in the big bad dub?
RM-for sure - when i first started out picking up instruments and playing in bands in 1981 i was grooving heavily to dub sounds. as a musician, the kind of music you listen to at a crucial early age really influences you for life i think. i'm a hopeless dubaholic!
GS-When you released the first TC works, these were more straight reggae/dub pieces, but now TC seems to be branching out to more diverse sounds, adding aspects of rock, pop, and other electronic accents to the mix...describe your intentions and aims with Twilight Circus.
RM-well, the 'master plan' for twilight circus was always to start out with a very traditional sounding dub record ala 'in dub vol 1', which is like a tribute to that 70's dub sound - very sparse with no electronic sounds - to use as a springboard to voyage into other realms of dub and wild electronic experimentation...basically just to see how far i can go with it..i haven't run out of ideas yet so, we'll just have to see what'll happen over the next few releases.
GS-Is M Records your own personal label, and if so, do you plan on releasing other projects through it?
RM-m records exists solely as a platform to put out my own stuff. for the amount of time and energy it takes to run the label - i'd rather not put out any other projects. basically, i have no interest at all in working with other artists, as great as the music may be. as it is, putting out my own releases takes away too much time from where i'd rather be - in the studio! i'm really just interested in getting my own productions into the world and have no aspirations to be a label boss! what a scary thought. i'd probably make more cash mind you!
GS-Since you joined the Pink Dots, there seems to be more depth (and of course, more low-end) to their sound. How much input do you have with the Pink Dots, and do you compose as a group?
RM-glad you notice! most people don't notice but the fact is that i'm fully involved in the recording, composing, and production of the dot's music. its a collaborative thing - for example someone will come with a simple sketch that will get expanded upon by others in the studio. i'm not a side person but have been a full contributor to the sound and music of the band since late 1991.
GS-Most of your Twilight Circus releases are numbered, signed, and even include unique hand-drawn covers ...this personalization is a lost art and sets your releases apart from others even further. Will you continue to do this on future releases?
RM-i've always wanted to have the customized look for the releases because the vibe on so many releases is a look of mass production. cds especially. i want to continue this idea as much as is possible for any future things too. i really like the thought of people sitting at home with this object, this twilight circus cd, thinking 'wow, how cool - this is totally personalized'.
GS-You played drums for Download when you toured with them in 1996. Do you plan other work with Download/Key in the future (besides the new Tear Garden)?
RM-oh man - that tour was a blast! we went all through europe, the states and canada. every night the show would veer into totally unexpected realms and there were so many times where i was playing the music and thinking - 'oh man, this is SO heavy'!! there were really a lot of amazing moments musically - especially on the us tour. it was an amazing experience i felt lucky to have been a part of - everyone who was on that tour was very cool too, even the bus driver, so, it was a lot of fun. it really helped get my drumming and sound mutating chops to a new level too. i truly hope i can join for live shows when download tours again.
GS-Your thoughts on the live Twilight Circus experience. You seemed to have a good time messing with the "black-clad" audiences at the LPDs shows!
RM-yeah, i tend to freak out live..it has to do with the boredom of having done like, 80 solo shows in 1996. things just started to mutate and it went to a bizarre place with the whole live show - i hope it makes it more interesting than someone sitting by themself onstage. its gotten pretty out there and i'm surprised myself as to the extent. as far as lpd audiences go - i just tend to go insane and have fun and 'mess' with anybody - doesn't matter to me if they're black clad or stone washed denim heavy metal rockers! luckily for me, most lpd fans have a sense of humour. i kind of see my role in those warm up slots as exactly that anyway, i'm there to warm up the crowd, break the ice..it gets me loosened up for the lpd show too so i can smash those drums like there's no tomorrow!
GS-I noticed in the latest Soleilmoon catalog, the Twilight Circus releases aren't all available anymore. Will you keep the TC back catalogue in-print and available thru them?
RM-hmm - i guess they were temporarily sold out of some stuff because i do keep the back catalogue in print. one of the good things about having your own label is that you can keep your releases alive.
GS-Your thoughts on the current electronic scene. What stuff is Ryan Moore listening to when he's not too busy with creating his own funkay groove thang?
RM-well, i listen to lots of music and go through phases as well. at the moment lots of killer dub stuff from the uk re-issue label, blood and fire, is on the home stereo. over the past days i've been spinning the likes of: charles mingus, astrid gilberto, booker t and the mg's, the beatles ' abbey road', chain reaction label techno stuff, - i listen to a wide variety of styles and artists really - i'm interested in good songs, timeless music.
GS-Your recordings have a definite analogue warmth to them. What are your thoughts on digital vs. analogue recording?
RM-there's certainly arguments for and against both formats. i personally think a lot of weirdness happens with digital and things like analogue/digital conversions, bit rates and so on. plus, the current digital format of 16 bits for cds is not as high as it could be - lots of digital recording equipment is now 20/24 bits so, what happens to those missing bits? i guess analogue is like - 5 million bits, infinity bits. it was kind of an industry mistake to settle for such a low resolution of 16 bits as the digital standard in the first place. to me, nothing sounds better than music recorded analogue and released onto vinyl - thats the real sound, no digital slices or mathematical, approximations of musical information . but really, it depends what you do - the ears and tastes of whoever is making the music, who is handling the mixing desk, who is producing the recording - there are so many variables and there's no real rule on how to do it. its possible to produce brilliant or equally horrible music in either format. myself, i use a combination of digital and analogue gear and always find myself doing things to mess up the sound of any digital stuff to make it more 'analogue' sounding whenever possible - that just sounds more interesting to my ears! sonic dirt rules!
GS-Whatever happened to the TC remix album that was planned?
RM-it was too much of a chore to co-ordinate so, its been shelved. only one person completed a 'remix' - third eye tribe from vancouver, a cool jungle 'remix'. actually it was much more of a totally different track than a remix anyway so, its now getting released as a third eye track. it was a fun thought though - other people messing with the circ sound. i think it would have been very interesting. maybe in 20 years i can get all the young kids making ' skwwwiiikkknk' music to wrap their brain implants around it and mentally 'remix' it then.
GS-How did you manage to perform with Muslimgauze for the "Mort Aux Vaches" CD? Did you ever work with Bryn Jones (R.I.P.) in any other capacity?
RM-basically, staalplaat from amsterdam organised that session. geert-jan from staalplaat called me up so, i took the train, arrived at the studio, bryn arrived straight from the uk and another guy - wind instrument man- arrived from berlin..then we improvised with tapes bryn had brought along which was recorded for a dutch radio show - then later edited for the staalplaat cd release, 'mort aux vaches'.. that was a cool experience..we all went out later for an indonesian 'rijs tafel' feast at a place nearby. i think the other guys later went to do shows in germany. i never worked with bryn again but he was on the list of prospective twilight c remixers. its really sad to hear that he just died - and so young! he was amazingly prolific and made something like 100 albums - so, his music will live on.
GS-How involved with the Twilight Circus website are you? Your thoughts on the internet and web culture.
RM-aaron campbell, the webmaster, is the net king and handles most everything with it - i just supply some information, artwork , help try and keep it up to date. i think it rules having a circ presence on the net. the net is great - but its a bit of a drag in europe because you have to pay per minute even for local calls - so, net surfing really adds up. plus its too slow. so, i mainly use the internet for email. i'm interested in checking out a new service here - internet over cable lines which is way faster than the phone and there's only a monthly fee - no phone charges.
GS-Your thoughts on remixing, and have you been invited by others to remix their work?
RM-i look at dub as 'the original remix', which it is. it totally revolutionized modern record production techniques and has really influenced dance music culture. as far as doing remixes of other's work - i once spent like, 6 solid days doing 2 'remixes' for an artist of considerable reknown, came up with two mixes that i thought were very cool, and even paid myself for the mastering costs. well, the tunes ultimately got shelved and i never saw a cent either so, nowadays i'd much rather spend my limited time on working on circus tracks. actually, that experience wasn't a complete waste of time because i learned some new ways of working, but having said that - the idea of doing outside remixes just doesn't interest me so much.
GS-Hints for the future from Twilight Circus (future projects, words of wisdom, etc.)...
RM-as you can imagine - i'm working in every spare moment to come up with new circus tracks. i'm getting excited about the idea of working with guest vocalists and hope to achieve that goal sometime this year too..be on the lookout for killer new dub plates, vocal stuff, and mad, psychotic dub freakouts! twilight circus is here and its here to stay!
Thanx to Ryan for his time and help in presenting this interview. Also, credit must be given to the photographers whose work graces this interview: Mark Nugent (Ryan up-close photo), Pierre-Andre Sonolet (Ryan with cEvin Key photo), and Elise Kincaid (Twilight Circus live). All photos and graphics from the Twilight Circus website. Thanx also to Aaron Campbell.
For further info on Twilight Circus and all of Ryan's projects, visit the Twilight Circus webpage at:
or email Ryan at: rmoore@globalxs.nl