Little Noby Vs Andrez - Vol 2 Issue 3 Nov 1998

You might know him better for his writing in InPress and Juice, or maybe you’ve heard him DJing in his own self-proclaimed Jean-Luc Goddard way ("I’m the master of the inappropriate jump-cut," he tells me, with a grin). Andrez Bergen is getting a lot of attention these days, however, for his new album which he produced with friends under the alias of Little Nobody. Called "Pop Tart", it’s a strange blend of different styles and moods and it’s already getting some very good reviews.

"The Little Nobody soundsystem is something I’ve been toying with for about two years now," Andrez says. "It started up as a bit of a shit-stir, really, when I released a track called "Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat" on our "Zeitgeist 2" compilation. It was one minute of silence, and the scary part was that some people told me they thought it was the best track on the compilation!" The first genuine Little Nobody sounds appeared on the 3rd "Zeitgeist" compilation. Called "Nobody’s Driving" it’s a sci-fi soundtrack with blunted hip hop beats that was later snapped up for re-release on the recent "Sunblock" sampler put out by MDS. "I thought that track was a one-off," Andrez confesses. "I had no real interest in making my own music mainly because I’m way too busy with writing and running the label (If? Records), but somewhere along the line I lost my head and went right into it. At first "Pop Tart" was going to be an EP with remixes, then it blew out into an album. And the strange part is that I really do like it - it’s different from anything else I’ve ever heard." Did the label, writing and radio work help with this project? "Definitely. I mean I’ve been exposed to so many different kinds of electronic music over the years, and in fact I did my uni thesis on ‘70s indutrial music, so I feel like I understand a whole lot of different styles and ideas. Then I’ve had the chance to work with Francois Tetaz (Shinjuku Filth) and Elenor Rayner (Sobriquet), who are both quite different in their approach and they really know their equipment well. It was easy for me to ask some of my favourite artists like Artificial, Blimp and Dee Dee to do remixes, and they did a fantastic job." What makes Little Nobody different? "That’s a bit of a doozie to ask me - sounds like one of the questions I’d ask someone! Soundwise I guess it’s the structure of the tracks and the way in which different styles of music are integrated into the mix. I wanted to make the album an interesting listening experience, but the DJ side of me wanted to make parts of it up-tempo as well. There’s a lot of mood in there, but most of it is facetious and fun. What else can I say? It’s something you really have to listen to. Even being a journalist myself, I know how hard it is to put these things into words!" You could try. "Okay, how about dubbed-out disco loops chopped together with hip hop beats, scratches, sampled acid house riffs and strange soundtracks?" He shrugs. "If you want influences, I’d cite DJ Cam, Shadow, Daft Punk, Blimp, Artificial and DJ Q." What’s the deal with the pedestrian walking man that appears on the album cover and in the new ‘Pineapple Slice’ video? "That’s the Little Nobody logo - it means we get free promotion every time you cross a road at the lights. Nice and subliminal stuff. The one on the cover artwork is the East Berlin one with the hat - apparently it’s being phased out because people think it’s sexist. You know, women don’t wear hats, do they?" You’ve mentioned that you recently took Little Nobody live for the first time... "Yeah, that was in Sydney a month ago, and it was weird but I liked it. The great part was that the audiences we had loved it as well. When I’m playing live I work with Elenor from Sobriquet and we call ourselves Little Nobody vs E. The ‘E’ in this case is Elenor’s nickname, not something else that’s almost as much fun!" What are your plans with Little Nobody? "Well, promoting the album and getting it out there is important. We played in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago, we’ve got a few Melbourne gigs lined up, then I’m going to Europe in November to try to get distribution and tour around a bit. It’s back to Sydney in December and Brisbane on New Year’s Eve - then there’s the chance of playing in Perth for Vibes On A Summer’s Day next year ... We’ll see what happens. The whole thing is that we’re having lots of fun, we’re getting a lot of positive feedback, and our sound is something different again for audiences to experience." So are you really a pop tart? "Nah, I’d say I’m more of a techno floozie."



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