“fuzz” an interview with DJ/Musician Ursula 1000
December 15, 2010
fuzz:
n. A mass or coating of fine, light fibers, hairs, or particles; down: the fuzz on a peach.
v. fuzzed, fuzz·ing, fuzz·es
v.tr.
1. To cover with fine, light fibers, hairs, or particles.
2. To make blurred or indistinct: fuzzing the difference between the two candidates; worked quickly to fuzz up the details of the scandal.
v.intr. To become blurred or obscure.
Ursula 1000 is the alter ego of Brooklyn based producer/DJ Alex Gimeno. However, you would be hard pressed trying to categorize his brand of music. Both his albums and mix sessions have taken on a broad scope of retro tinged spy grooves, bumping Latin disco-funk, hints of post-punk, electro, go-go, and sleazy glam rock. His collaborations with Dr. Luke, Shag, Cristina, Los Amigos Invisibles, Misty Roses, Federico Aubele to name a few, brought forth sheer magic on his four previous albums — The Now Sound of Ursula 1000, Kinda’ Kinky, Here Comes Tomorrow and Mystics.
Fuzz EP - Cover art by Richard Majchrzak
On his upcoming E.P. entitled FUZZ, Gimeno tackles the garage rock sounds of the mid-late 1960’s. Named after the guitarist’s fuzz pedal, (the tool used to produce a rich form of sonic distortion) FUZZ drips in snarling guitars, savage drums and creepy Farfisa organs. Inspired by the genre’s elder statesmen like Count Five and The Sonics to revivalists like The Gruesomes, Ursula 1000 takes his obsession with the period’s soundtrack and flips it for a new generation of listeners.
The E.P. features the incomparable Fred Schneider from The B-52s on opening song, “Hey You!” In the late ‘70s, Schneider and his Athens, GA party band paved the way of mixing B-movie retro trashiness with punk/new wave. Decades later, Ursula can be found doing the same thing with his blending of vintage grooves and modern electronica. But how did their unique collaboration come about? As with most chance encounters, serendipity was in the air, literally. “We were on a flight together; I had just DJ’ed in Milwaukee, I believe. When I got on the plane, there he was sitting in business class by himself. We have a mutual friend who had been trying to get me to mix B-52s stuff. When we finally landed in New York, I had a good icebreaker so I approached him. I mentioned how I was a big fan.” However, Gimeno was somewhat taken aback when the “Rock Lobster” singer turned out to be a fan of his own work. “I don’t know if he said he had all of my records but he did say he had a ton. I thought, oh shit, crazy. But then again he is an avid collector and DJ in his own right. I figured it wasn’t so out of the ordinary that he would dig it. And from there we just swapped info.”
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Shortly after that initial meeting, Ursula 1000 was approached to do a remix for Schneider’s side project, The Superions. “Totally Nude Island” was their debut single that was released in late 2008. “It came out pretty cool,” Gimeno says in a modest tone. “I was just given this a cappella and it was Fred reading a weird, twisted Hawaiian love poem. Looking back, I could have gone anywhere with it. “
But where is Ursula 1000 going now? Delving into the raw and primitive realm of garage rock, naturally. “I’m just fascinated by that period,” Ursula enthusiastically states. “My first couple of records I was trying to focus on the more polished, groovier end of the‘60s sound. The bossa nova, Barbarella-soundtrack kinda stuff. With this album, I went back to the 60s; I don’t know what it is about that time. Now, looking back on it they are calling that era ‘garage-punk’, a lot of The Sonics stuff and groups like that. But at the time when those records came out, I am not quite sure what they were calling it. It was so trashy and so different than what was being played on the radio; it was not polished sounding whatsoever. I especially wonder how Beatles fans or Rolling Stones fans reacted to those types of albums. The bands I was inspired by did not have the type of budget to go into the studio and make a big, clean production. And I am talking as early as ’63 and ’64.”
Gimeno brings up an interesting point during our conversation, wondering if the now revered genre of “garage punk” was born out of necessity. “What I am curious about is if these obscure bands wanted to actually make a sound that was more polished and put together but simply did not have the resources to do so. The end product was this really rough sound that over four decades later we are finding to be brilliant.” However, this mix of high and low his isn’t only specific to the world of rock and roll. It can even be heard in old reggae and ska records. “Interestingly enough, the reggae musicians didn’t have the budget to purchase new tapes so they would record over existing tapes creating a scratchy, hissy sound in the process. The idea is very similar to what was going on with Andy Warhol’s silkscreen prints at the time. Just because some of the images were off-register or not crystal clear did not mean they were discarded. The accidents worked by adding another dimension and creating a new dynamic when appearing next to the flawless elements. Crazy accidents . . .”
Ever the jack-of-all-trades, FUZZ is not the only project keeping Ursula 1000 occupied these days. When he is not traveling the globe DJing at places like The Fabric and The Big Chill Festival, he can be found spinning at his home residencies at Trophy Bar and The Commodore. If that was not enough, he also has a radio show, Guilty Pleasures on BrooklynRadio.com where he plays an obscure selection of songs from his extensive record library. And if you find yourself in the presence of Ursula 1000, don’t ask him what he is listening to. “Oh, don’t ask me that! I listen to a million things. It’s easier asking me ‘what did you listen to . . .today?’ I have about 15,000 records at home that I can always look to for some type of inspiration. Or I try and find new stuff and re-school myself.” –Daniel Alonso
For more info visit:
www.ursula1000.com
myspace.com/ursula1000
twitter.com/ursula1000
Ursula 1000 a.k.a. Alex Gimeno - Photo by Richard Majchrzak
Originally published in Issue 5 of WANTED
