Interview with Jason Hann

October 9, 2007 – by Mister Bill
EOTO came through town last week and played a great show. I had the chance to pose a few questions to Jason Hann. . .

I understand that you and Michael Travis have been performing together outside of SCI for the past year and a half. What is your future vision for EOTO?
We see EOTO down the road as having a solid presence in both the “Jam” scene and the “Electronic” dance scene here in the U.S., as well as Japan, Europe, and South America. Immediately we just want to keep touring across the U.S., let people know what we’re up to, and let it develop so that it can stand strong on it’s own at venues and festivals.

So how did you come to call yourselves EOTO? And does it really stand for End of Time Observatory?
It did actually did stand for End Of Time Observatory at one point. It was a lot to explain and many thought we meant the End of the World Observatory – completely different philosophy, kind of dark sounding, and one that made interviews and casual questions complicated. At some point, we recognized the first letters spelled a kind of made up word that meant nothing and everything at the same time, and the name cemented itself when Japanese fans said that our pronounciation of the word (Ee-oh-toe) means “good sound” or “good music” in Japanese. If that’s not a sign…

Tell us a bit about your gear. What DAW software are you using, etc?
We use Ableton Live as our DAW on a MacBook Pro. All of our Keyboards, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, and Drum inputs go through this program via the MOTU Traveler.

What is your favorite musical device / sound at the moment? Tell us about it.
I really enjoy manipulating the effects in Ableton to create unique sounds. Stacking Beat Repeats with Delays and Grain Delays and automating them with MIDI clips provides such a personal approach to characterizing our sound during the night. There are other plug ins that I love, but can’t use with this project because it introduces more latency during live recording which is not an area we compromise on.

What is on your stereo? Any favorite DJs or producers at the moment?
Lovin’ Derick Carter’s vibe for House music, love the Glitchy downtempo (Tipper, Boards of Canada, Telefon Tel Aviv, Bluetech, Kelpe), love the nubreaks and glitch hop (Bassnectar, SOTEG, Glitch Mob), some psy trance (Shpongle, Ott, Hallucinogen). Into some of the bigger DJs as well (Tiesto, Sasha, John Digweed, Carl Cox,) – and Drum n Bass stuff (Goldie, 4 Hero, Andy C, LTJ Bukem). BT and Tipper are particular favorites because of their overall sound production as well. It’s so crystal clear and seems to touch each brain neuron. You can listen to BT’s stuff from the early 90s and, he was so far ahead of the curve, that his music from that time could be put out today.

Lately, we’ve also been playing other music on the ipod like early James Taylor, Elton John (Captain Fantastic days), Peter Gabriel, Phoebe Snow, Bill Withers, Mark Isham, John Powell (movie soundtracks), Traffic, Tiempo Libre, Hermeto Pascoal, Zawinul, Sixun, Youssou N’Dour, Decoding Society, James Blood Ulmer, Q-tip, Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Kanye West, Jay-Z. Gotta keep the variety going and let other influences sink in.

I love seeing music in a small club. Do you prefer the energy of a large crowd or the intimacy of a small stage? (Ignoring the financial compensations of a large audience, which everyone prefers!)
It’s just a different experience. With a large crowd, I feel the energy in waves as their vibe hits the stage. I sort of feed off of the venue and a few people that I can connect with and try to reciprocate the stage energy from the rail ridiers to the last person in the back row. In a smaller club, it’s more personal and I connect with many more individuals while still trying to project to the back of the room. They both are pretty demanding experiences.

How does life on the road as EOTO compare with the SCI experience? Is it more physically demanding? Do you feel more free to “move about the cabin”?
It’s very different for sure. SCI is the comfy tour bus with breakfast, lunch, and dinner and bed within reach. You’re sort of set up for maximum focus on performance. With EOTO, me and Travis are the drivers, tour managers, and crew, so we pace ourselves so that there’s energy for the show. There is a mentality, driving in the RV that has a certain “struggle” to it. Road life is tough and sometimes the power in the music is the satisfaction in that you drove all this way to get here, slept at a rest station the night before, not a lot of people in the city know who you are (as EOTO), and you want to play your hearts out to be able to bring them and their friends back out the next time you come through.

If you’re not loving the music that you’re playing, it would be difficult to keep up that pace night after night. For us, everyday feels like we’re opening new gifts to do our thing in front of different crowds, and, while on paper it’s a dense run, the fun musical element makes our schedule easy

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How regularly do you record your live shows; and how do you decide when and where to record a show?
We want to record every night and we’re set up so that we can send a dedicated stereo mix to a recording device. There are many times when we show up with just enough time to sound check, eat dinner, and start playing, so recording has been less of a priority. We’re happy every time we do it, though, and since every one of our shows is a unique improvised night of music, we know that eventually it will be best for us to record every night and have it available to anyone who attended that particular show. It’s in the plans to do it the most reliable way, but we like taking measured steps so that we don’t overwhelm ourselves on the road.

When was the last time you toured with Isaac Hayes, and did you play “Theme from Shaft”? How cool was that?
Beginning of September 07 was the last time I played with him. I play with Isaac whenever possible. String Cheese and EOTO rehearsing and performing schedule was pretty full this past year, so I wasn’t able to do a Europe and South Africa tour with him. We play “Shaft” every night. It’s his calling card, everyone is waiting for it, the band plays the hell out of it, and it still hits the crowd in a fresh way. Isaac is a true icon and legend of music and a great person to work with.

Would you tell us something about your interest in world beat, and your recent musical odyssey to Africa?I’ve always been interested in world music including my own musical heritage – being that I’m half Colombian from my mother’s side. My dad is a musician from Miami and he would always be playing music, with his band, from many different Caribbean countries and that also got inside me at an early age. I’ve been studying and playing African percussion since 89′ and have made a few trips to Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mali) to study and perform. I’ve done the same in Korea and Hati and have always played with Cuban, Brazilian, African and Indian musicians. I went to Mali this passed January and played at the Festival in the Dessert – about an hour’s drive north of Timbuktu. We formed a group that included me, Michael Kang, David Pransky (from Toubab Krewe), and Chris Berry for the event. I have many many stories from that trip, but it was amazing learning about the Tomashek (dessert nomads) people from the region, surviving the Sahara Dessert, seeing amazing music, and studying the music of the Bambara people of Mali.

Thanks a lot. And enjoy the rest of your tour!
Thanks for interview and we can’t wait to get back to Madison and throw down for the good peeps there.