“Release it whilst it’s fresh, I say.”
– Cigna Spine
Cigna Spine’s debut EP, The Throng, is a collection of glitchy, bass-led angular tracks that reflect the artist/musician’s futuristic, designer landscape paintings. Wheel spoke to Mr Spine about his hybrid approach and why he’s giving it all away to you free with an exclusive download of the whole EP – available right here, right now.
By Hayley Watchorn
Click the album cover to get your free EP download:
What’s your debut EP all about? Frustration, love, death, rabbits, pigeon poop, jungle man, beer boys eating my dinner, and suicide bombers.
Where do you get your sounds? Vintage synths, old semi-broken amps, various items from my tool box; anything that sounds good when I hit it, like bin lids or a box of nails; steam irons, police helicopters, babies in their prams, canoes, wild animals. I like to mic up and abstract natural sounds, musique concrète style. My mouth provides some of the sounds too.
Does the visual art you produce inspire the music or vice versa? I think they go together. I’ll do a piece of music inspired by my art, or I’ll do a painting about a piece of music.
A TRACK-BY-TRACK JOURNEY THROUGH CIGNA SPINE’S EP WITH THE MAN HIMSELF:
Synth Cycle “The equivalent of licking lemon sorbet off Vin Diesel’s moist scalp while revolving on a turntable.”
The Throng “Listening to this is like looking after a hyperactive child”
Cigna’s Theme “Craig David’s all over your .... Cigna style”
Metallic Blue “A love song dedicated to my now-mangled racing bike”
Duplicato Hydronzo “Sounds like the moment Michael J Fox’s hand disappears at the prom in Back to the Future”"
What are some of your biggest influences? Brian Eno. Kraftwerk. And Can. Contemporary music wise, at the moment Animal Collective are doing some interesting things.
But I’m really a big fan of old instruments, before they became too computerised. I like old analogue synths, they have a nice, organic sound. I’m also influenced by Seventies design. It was a period when anything was possible in design; the outlook was really exciting. You don’t seem to get that now.
So do you prefer older technology? As much as I like listening to albums, I also quite like mp3 players for the fact that you can just put it on shuffle and hear a mad arrangement of music. That’s what I’m trying to do with my tracks; bring together different elements that are fighting against each other to be heard the loudest. 
Cigna Spine's website and virtual gallery
Interview © 2010 Wheel Me Out. No part can be used for any purpose without prior consent. Please contact editorial@wheelmeout.com
