A lot of people only identify with music that is pleasurable or if they can dance to it. I’ve really been discovering the ambient/drone scene this year? What’s appealing about the genre to you?

To go back to what you said about what people perceive to be real music as it being entertaining or not… I don’t like to adhere to those rules personally. With music, I like to provoke thought. I don’t always want to deliver pleasure for people. I want people to be challenged by music. I want them to step outside their comfort zone and pay attention to something that maybe they’ve never paid attention to before. A lot of what drone/experimental/ambient music is about is environment, really. If you provide the proper environment for people to listen to that music, that’s probably the best way to keep them intrigued. For me, as an artist, it’s important to curate an event to fit the music that I want to play.

For instance, tonight, I would have much rather had a room full of couches where everyone could just sit down and listen and see where that music takes them. Close your eyes, imagine something, and picture something. It’s not just about instant gratification and feeling some beat or some rhythm that makes your body move and dance. There’s an experience for that everywhere. You can go to a rave or a party and experience that there. But, for what I’m doing tonight, for instance, that’s not necessarily what we’re trying to achieve. I do plenty of that with the Drumcell project. I have my outlets to do both, and I appreciate both spectrums of it, absolutely.

Do you get tempted to make easy pop music? Do you think you are consciously anti-mainstream in almost a punk attitude, or you just like what you like?

I think a part of me tends to take that punk rock attitude and be anti-mainstream. I’ve always been swimming up the river, going the opposite way. As soon as something becomes popular and your local jock at your high school is into it, and all the kids are playing it; I just have this natural inclination to go the opposite direction. But then at the same time, as I get older, I tend to not give a fuck really about anything. For me, I’m just doing what I love to do. I’m trying to enjoy it.

I think as a musician, or as an artist in general, pleasing yourself must come first. You need to be true to yourself and be true to your own ideas and thoughts. As soon as you start trying to adhere or fit into another person’s bubble…

Well, there’s the desire to get paid…

Sure, I guess I’ve been lucky enough to do whatever the fuck I want and get paid with it, but I think honesty speaks true. It’s been 15 years of fucking fighting and working our asses off; just blood sweat and tears to get people to listen to what we’re doing. In LA, I lived in a city of glamour and glitter. It’s all Hollywood clubs and mainstream world, there was hardly ever an ear for any experimental, outside-of-the-world thing. But, we stuck to our guns and stayed true. We just did what we did and continued to put it out.