Henry Ott

Interview With Bushwick Musician Henry Ott
Tell me a little about your background as a musician.

I was originally influenced by guitar music -- Jimi Hendrix/Jefferson Airplane/Allman brothers. I am a guitarist who also produces electronic music in Ableton. [My] influences [are] Shlomho/Mount Kimbie/Animal Collective. [My] style ranges from ambient to drum and bass.

Did you play a lot of music while growing up in France?

Yes, we had a band called Ollendorff; we played regular gigs at bars and concert venues around Paris. I hadn't gotten into producing electronic music yet, though.

What's your favorite instrument to play?

The djembé, by far.

The music you produce can go from sounding really accessible to super-experimental. What type of stuff have you been producing lately?

Recently I've been focusing on writing new material for my live set with drummer Aiden Farrell, under the name Animal Sleep. We've been creating a whole new slew of material for [our] Ableton live set + live drums + guitar configuration, and it's been a lot of fun. We've been performing regularly at Greenpoint Gallery on Fridays for some time now. Eventually we'll look into recording some of that material, as well as continuing to develop the DJ set vs instrumental improvisation mentality onstage. I've also been generating new material for my solo shows, like what I performed at Bushwick Open Studios, which was all new material.

How did studying music at NYU shape the way you produce music today?

Studying sound engineering gave me a whole new approach to listening to music. It gave me insight into how elements of songs fit together, which opens up a whole other dimension of possibilities when creating music.

How did your performances at Bushwick Open Studios go?

Performing at Mona Liza Studios was a real chill time. The artwork there was truly solid, and their sound system was crazy and gigantic. When I got there, there was a dope performance by an artist known as Tim, and while they were finishing their set we spent some time looking around at the art and furniture. One thing that was cool about our set is that it was all about transitions, so I set up as Tim was ending and as they faded out, I launched into the intro of my set. I presented two new original songs, one that is about 17 to 22 minutes long and features an ambient field recording intro going into some drum breaks + peyote flute lines and some other stuff. Then the second one was more in the 7 to 10 minute range and is straight drum and bass. As I was fading out the last song, we were already all set up for my friend and fellow 2Fcollective musician Nick Fraser to DJ in some zef acid techno beats. He played a set for about 30 minutes, then we got off, packed our shit and went off to Bushwick Public House on Myrtle Ave to do second, longer sets with some of our friends Just Max and spctra.

What are your thoughts about the music scene here in Bushwick?

It seems like everywhere I turn everyone's roommate is a sound engineer/DJ/musician, haha. There's a lot of exciting new stuff going on and my friends seem to be performing all the time. 2Fcollective is going strong with regular performances at Bushwick Public House for Nick Fraser and spctra, regular performances by myself and as Animal Sleep at Greenpoint Gallery, and albums on the way for TRW, Sleepy James, BXTR, and others.

Check him out: https://soundcloud.com/henry-ott

By: Peter BD - Bushwickbuzz

A couple of years ago, five kids met at New York University and started making music. It started as random sessions fueled by cheap wine from Trader Joes, but eventually they started recording and perfecting, drawing on influences from all over to create a serene yet deliberate experimental sound.

Melodies build on the beat as scattered voices sing out in Hindi, each song its own journey, taking the listener to imaginary exotic places. Jake Baxter, Nick Fraser, Henry Ott, Mike Hickey and Francesca Loeber make up the 2F Collective, and the group posted their first incredible album, “Wedding,” on SoundCloud this month.

Take a listen and get to know the people behind the sound in an interview Mike and the rest of 2F:



Where does the Indian feel in your music come from?

Over the last year we’ve found a few hundred vinyl records on the street, and some of our favorites were Hindu devotional records and Bollywood soundtracks. We aren’t necessarily trying to go for a heavy Indian vibe, but the samples from those records were really inspiring and lent themselves well to the sound we were trying to create.


How did you guys come up with the name the “2f collective” and which band members do what within the songs?The name originated during a failed satanic ritual. Nick plays strings and synths, Jake plays drums, Mike sings and plays guitar, Henry plays guitar, and Francesca sings. All of us are always searching for new samples and often use field recorders to collect sounds that we hear throughout the day. Some songs are written by one of us, some by all four of us, but everyone ends up contributing something to each song. Sometimes that means adding an instrument or a sample, other times it means changing the arrangement of the song. We all work together on the mixing and mastering of each song.



What’s the story behind your album artwork for Wedding?
We asked our friend Morgan Sitzler to do whatever she wanted for our album art. She was around our apartment for the entire process, from recording to mixing, and it seemed appropriate to have someone so close to the album’s musical composition take care of the visual aspect. Earlier this year she did the artwork for Henry’s Yantra EP (http://henryott.bandcamp.com/) and nailed the feeling of those songs so we felt confident that she would be able to do the same for Wedding.



Why did you name your first album Wedding?
We were listening to an old 78 vinyl of Mike’s grandparents’ wedding and the record started skipping in a really cool rhythmic way. Luckily we were recording and captured it. You can hear this at the very end of the album with his grandmother repeating “do until death.”



What’s the next step for 2f?

We’ve already begun work on a second album, and are rehearsing the Wedding songs live. We’re also doing mastering for some friends’ albums, Nick is DJing in NYC, and Henry is collaborating with a friend on a concept album called Apeman 3000.

2f band picture

Who are your all-time music idols?
Jake: I’ve had a few great percussion teachers over the years who opened my eyes to all types of world music. But to name a few artists, Shlohmo and Lizst.

Nick: The musicians who have had the biggest influence on me are Boys Noize, Nujabes, Shlohmo, Duke Dumont, Erol Alkan and Boards Of Canada. There are so many great artists Id love to mention who mean a lot to my song writing and DJing but I don’t want to bore you guys.

Mike: Bonobo, Wolfmother, Paul McCartney, D’Angelo

Henry: I listen to Frank Zappa, Sun Ra, and The Books.

Francesca: Beyonce, Barbara Streisand, Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon) and Nujabes. They’re each so deliberate with every little detail.



What sorts of routines do you enact for making music? Are they different for recording versus just practicing?
Jake: I do something musical every day, either sampling, mixing, or composing. I’m working part time in a water store, which gives me a lot of free time to try out new ideas. My process is pretty consistent whether I’m recording or practicing.

Nick: That totally depends on what I’m doing. When I’m practicing or recording myself DJing, it’s a much more solitary thing because it’s just me and it’s all on me. I generally try to get really in the zone for that. Where as when we are rehearsing as 2f, it’s a much more relaxed thing because we all live together and are very close. Everyone has a lot going on so it’s really nice when we actually get a chance to rehearse together. We try to keep the mood really light, a lot of joking around and a few drinks. When we are recording it’s really much more of an anything goes sort of environment. We all trade roles of performer and recording engineer in the studio we have rigged up in our apartment. We also spend hours listening to records together looking for samples.

Mike: Usually I start with our records. I’ve been slowly going through every one picking out the parts I like, and organizing them by instrument. So typically I’ll look through my sample library to find one that I think can carry a song. Once I’ve got the main element I start making drums and then fill in the song with more samples or field recordings.

Henry: Adjusting to the way we compose our music with 2f required changing the way I make music. Rather than rehearsing the way a traditional band would with instruments, it requires constantly listening for cool sounds in your environment and recording them and sampling them. Making tracks in this mindset on a daily basis, and constantly working on each other’s tracks, is a large part of our sound.

Francesca: I don’t really have a routine. No matter what I just have to prep myself to be open to whatever I’m feeling and allow it to influence the groove



Where do you think the future of experimental music is headed? What do you want people to know about it — either the genre as a whole or 2f’s music specifically?

Jake: Experimental music to me means combining disparate elements into something cohesive. As the genre evolves I see artists weaving stranger and stranger pieces together. As for 2f, we’re trying to move towards a more satanic sound.

Nick: Kind of like experimental music in general, 2f is constantly changing because of all of the influences we draw on. It’s always what we are feeling at that time, which always changes. That way we are more free to explore ideas and move on instead of getting boxed into one way of doing things or one mindset. So you can expect some of the same stuff, but also a lot of new and very different things, and I imagine that is true for experimental music as well, although who is to say really.

Mike: That’s tough for me to say because I don’t really keep up with the current experimental scene. But in general I think experimental music, as opposed to more conventional music like pop and rock, relates more to the way people experience sound in the world. Sound doesn’t normally reach us as neat and tidily arranged sections of predictable timbre and energy, so I think it makes sense that music sometimes reflect the unpredictable flow of weird noises that we perceive every day. For 2f, I’d like to see our music spread across as many styles as possible and try to touch on as many vibes as we can.

Henry: I hear a lot of people around me coming up with new and interesting sounds that could all fall under the category of experimental music. So that gives me hope that there’s some great music being made.

Francesca: The experimental part is most fun. It basically means we have no idea what were going to do until we do it. It’s just like creative and in the moment. The relationship between all the layers is probably the most important part.



For more from the 2F Collective, check them out on SoundCloud, Bandcamp and Youtube.



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Meet the 2F Collective: Experimental Music with Clout, 5.0 out of 5 based on 3 ratings - Things Worth Describing