Host Jeannie Hopper sits down with Kieran Hebden, who is truly a Renaissance musician--don't be "freaked out" if his next album is solo opera singing. This is the sort of creative freedom 33-year-old Hebden demands, and the result is that his work has had the space to evolve and change freely, drawing musical influences from almost everywhere we at the Clocktower can think of--late 60s early 70s jazz, hip-hop, London electronica, techno, Senegalese music, folk, improvisation, to working in a sound studio in his computer.
Hebden tells Jeannie about the beginnings of his career performing with the British post-rock band Fridge in 1997 before going solo under the artist name Four Tet with Domino Records in 1998. As Four Tet, Hebden has put out seven records, working digitally and almost exclusively on his computer since 2003, making remixes and abstract electronic music.
Much changed in 2005 as Hebden was thinking more and more about the possibilities of live electronic improvisation. He was paired up with legendary drummer Steve Reid, who jammed with Miles Davis back in the day. Reid at the time was engaged in experimental, "full on sonic assault" drumming paired with spoken word. Somehow magic happened within the first three minutes of their sound check together at their, and Reid and Hebden commenced on what would be a five year collaboration until Reid's passing in 2010, creating some of the most innovative music pairing Reid's background improvising with seminal jazz artists together with Hebden's passion for unconventional electronic improvisation.
Hebden was in town for a show at New York's Webster Hall during CMJ promoting his 2010 record There Is Love In You; he also landed at the Moog Festival in Ashville, NC. (41 minutes)
