Regular blog readers will certainly already be familiar with Will Treffry's music recorded under the name PANEYE as well as BRIRSTLES ON THE CARAPACE (posted recently). In fact he is one of my favourite musicians featured here on HLFP. I simply love those dreamy, very atmospheric electronic soundscapes. On "Lying Under Moribund Waves" some of the songs are in a more psych-folk direction, especially on the second half of the album, a style rather uncommon until now in the PANEYE cosmos. Anyway, this doesn't mean that those soundscapes are gone for good! Not at all. Will manages to use acoustic guitar playing to sucessfully create very dreamlike states while combining it with ambient synths and electric guitar sounds – and sometimes his often whispered vocals.
PANEYE also has one fantastic track, Pasta and Chalk, on the last HLFP sampler HLFP 04 SOUND EXPLOSIONS and will hopefully also be featured on the next HLFP sampler, which is in the making ... (Yes, you read right. Be patient - it will take some more time.)
Q: How did you record "Lying Under Moribund Waves"?
A: I'm no technical wizard when it comes to recording, so it was done very simply with a laptop, microphone and amp.
Q: What's your favourite track on the album? Why?
A: Probably Bay of Withered Gardens. I had been exploring an abandoned tram shed with a friend one afternoon and then went home and recorded it in one go. I remember being very happy with how it came out because of how unplanned and spontaneous the whole song was compared to most of the other tracks. Listening to that particular song now, it feels nice to have captured a single afternoon in a way that will always take me back to that day.
Q: Since when were you into recording music?
A: I was really into recording Sex Pistols jams with my brothers from maybe 14 or 15 years old on a crappy little mp3 voice recorder. I never thought of actually releasing anything because I had always assumed that I needed to get a studio and a professional to master my stuff for it to be acceptable. I then discovered the whole 'lo-fi' thing around 19 and began to appreciate the home recording aesthetic through bands like Satanstompingcaterpillars. I purchased a laptop not long after that and away I went!
Q: How many records did you already release? Please list them in chronological order. Which one is your favourite?
A: I've released 3 as Paneye and 2 as Bristles on the Carapace. In order they'd be: Wilt and Loom, Along the way to the bigtop my life just dissolved, Faded Suburbs, Eat the Moss and Bound Away and Lying Under Moribund Waves. - I also have several demos from before Wilt and Loom, but I never released any of them online.....but listening back to them now, they aren't so bad so maybe I'll share them sometime in the future. {Yes, please do so! m-f} - My favorite would be Lying Under Moribund Waves because I feel like it comes the closest to completing the Paneye sound and flows from song to song the most smoothly.
Q: Any feedback for your last records (except for HLFP)?
A: Not a whole lot. There's so much music out there on the internet that I feel grateful that my music has managed to grab the attention and loyalty of a few nice fellows and ladies. I certainly do appreciate feedback when it comes my way because it's important to know that my music stirs something in someone other then myself. One guy told me that 'Among Tomato Trees' moved him to tears and I got good feelings that day.
Q: Any previous bands worth mentioning?
A: The only 'band' I was in was a kind of psych-jam band with 3 other friends. Our jamming finally culminated in our first gig in a Sydney bar in 2006. We played 3 songs - The first song went really well, the second song was a bit iffy and the final song was a disaster. After the gig, the band and myself dwelled on the failure of that final song to the point where we never jammed again, sadly.
Q: How do you write your songs?
A: I pick up my guitar and start to fiddle......sometimes something interesting comes out, but more often then not I am disappointed. I think the way it usually works is the guitar and vocals go down first and then the synths, drums, saxophone or whatever come later. My lyrics usually come from a notebook I carry around.
Q: Did you ever consider to work with other people in a more "traditional" band concept?
A: Unfortunately I am self conscious musically around other people, and I am also a control freak. These are often a lethal combination when it comes to working with others.
Q: Would it be ok, if people call your music "psychedelic"? Or what "label" would you prefer?
A: Sure, I don't have a problem with that label. The most common words people seem to use to describe Paneye are words like 'trippy', 'spaced-out' and 'surreal'. Most of my musical influences also sit firmly in the psych realms. Some people seem to have a problem with the idea of psychedelic music being partially attributed to drug taking but forget that some of the best music in the world came from total junkies like Kurt Cobain.
Q: What is "psychedelic music" for you?
A: Music that connects in some way to the culture of kaleidoscopes and escaping reality. I am almost positive that I would be listening to totally different bands these days if I hadn't become acquainted with these ideas. That's me though, I know people that have never experimented with magic potions and still listen to extremely obscure and psychedelic music. I personally benefited from a friendly, neon hand gently lifting me out of my very un-psychedelic shell. I had always been a creative kid who drew intricate dreamscapes and was constantly off in my own world, but I think I had somehow managed to bury it all very deeply in my early highschool years when I began to spend a lot of time trying to achieve an idea of teenage normalcy by focusing on my immaculately gelled hair and observing a fitness regime that would consist of lifting weights most nights. Meeting Jasper Rice (1/2 of Bristles on the Carapace) in year 10 altered the course of my music life considerably by encouraging me to be more open minded in what I listened to. I might still be listening exclusively to Marilyn Manson, Slipknot and Korn today if I hadn't met him.
Q: What is your all time favourite psychedelic record? Why?
A: It really depends on my mood, but if I'm feeling meditative then one album that really captures my imagination is Dolphins into the Future's On Seafaring Isolation. When I put it on it really feels like there's a vast, brilliant, emerald ocean growing in my skull and I'm lying on a raft trailing my fingers in water filled with anime sea creatures. This, along with Emeralds- What Happened?, are some of the most evocative pieces of music I have ever listened to. What Happened? is a monolithic window into a spiral world.....at times beautiful and at times terrifying.
Q: Any plans for live gigs?
A: I've opened several shows for my friend Jesse Donald, who is an extremely talented guy. I just played with an acoustic guitar and my voice. I'd love to develop my live show more in the future as I think it's a little underwhelming at the moment, partly because I feel too shy to engage the audience and tend to just stare at my feet while I play. Maybe if I had some effects and pedals to hide behind then I would feel more comfortable. When it's just you and an acoustic guitar then there is nothing between you and the crowd and it's a raw feeling. Some people, like Jesse, thrive off of this intimate connection with the audience, but it's a vulnerable and unpleasant feeling for me.
Q: What are your main influences?
A: Direct influences are getting more complicated to discern as I continue to discover more and more bands. I guess Nick Drake, Peter Steele and Tom Fec have had an extremely strong influence on the way my music has turned out.
Q: Website?
Q: The last five records you bought?
A: I have illegally downloaded all my music for the past 2 or 3 years. Hopefully giving my music away for free online is part of my redemption. To be honest though, I have bought hundreds of albums in my life, just not since discovering the blogsphere.
Q: Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...
A: I think Paneye has possibly reached the end of the road and I will resurrect myself under a different guise. This is partly due to my second vocalist Jess Mutascio not being involved in Paneye anymore for personal reasons. Paneye started with her and, in a sentimental kind of way, it isn't really 'Paneye' without her. - I'm currently in Tokyo and have recorded more then enough material for a new album under my new moniker, whatever that moniker turns out to be.
(Questions answered via email in July 2010)
Favourite track: Octopus Pheremones (though difficult to name just one...)
PANEYE - Lying Under Moribund Waves
(AUSTRALIA 2010)
(mp3-zip, 14 tracks, 40 min, 49,2 MB, artwork incl.)
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