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Miguel Fierro, aka Single Cell Orchestra, has been a constant influence in the electronic music scene since his first release, a remix of Rozalla's “Everybody's Free (to feel good)” in 1992. In January 1993 he released his first solo work, "The Liberated EP" on Zoemagik, and a colorful and eclectic discography has followed. From his work with Freaky Chakra to his newest album, Celldom V.1: Opt, Single Cell Orchestra is a well established and integral part of electronic and new edge music culture. Celldom V.1: Opt is available for digital downloading at Cyberset Music and is the first installment in a series of releases that are bursting with depth, emotion, and electronic profundity.
For those who aren't in the know, who are you and what is Single Cell Orchestra?
I'm Miguel Fierro and Single Cell Orchestra is my musical outlet. I came up with the name while on a bike ride one day. It popped into my head and seemed to make sense to me, as I compose mostly alone.
I would describe your style of music as beautifully emotional and eclectic, from broken beats and house, to lush downtempo. You incorporate highly mental, intelligent elements married with soft, ambient soundscapes. How would you describe your unique style of music?
It's hard for me to describe. I experience every track as a story that I can see. Music has a life and story of its own. Usually, I lead with the emotive when I'm working; it's one of the things I love about music, that you can explore and communicate new emotions. Sometimes, I start rhythmically, but I'm finding that happening less. These days I need a really good melodic hook.
Well it seems that melody is your forte. Congratulations on your new album. I just heard it and its fantastic! What's the story behind Celldom V.1:Opt? Any favorite tracks?
Celldom is going to be a multi-part album. I originally intended it to be three albums, but now I'm realizing that I may have enough material for four or more. All of them are quite different. I write a lot of music. Celldom V1: Opt, the first in the series, is meant to be an album that reflects a certain sound that has been a theme throughout my body of work: melodies with beats. These are tracks that I felt had a sense of positivity about them. I feel that there is some inherent goodness to this music, because it's been good for me to write it and express it. The best part of working on this album has been seeing how it feels as a listen altogether. Seeing how each track has its purpose, not only by itself, but also among its siblings, so to speak.
As for a favorite, it's hard to say. I love them all for different reasons. It depends on my mood. I've heard them all many, many times. I think if I had to pick one, it would be either "Red Room" or "Runner." I love "Runner" because it's just a really beautiful track. "Red Room" has great low-end and what I feel to be a different sound. They all have their things I love about them. It's tough to choose a favorite.
You've recently joined Cyberset. How has that been for you?
They're great people. I've known Dov for a couple of years. He used to work with my friends Girlie8 and Anon over at Eyephunk. I know Michael through longtime friends Tappie and Mike (Love Projector) in San Francisco, so it feels like a family situation. They've been very patient with me, as it took a while to finish Celldom1. I really appreciated that.
So I heard that Cyberset is releasing the debut of Celldom in digital format on their site. What are your thoughts on the 'digital format' music wave?
Right now the album is only available via download. It may become available in CD format later on, but I think digital downloads are a great way to distribute music. You can upload tons of stuff with what seems to be far less financial risk. A lot of people who are into electronic music are tech-savvy, so it's not beyond the pale. Whatever gets music out there is a good thing. It's just another channel. Music, in my mind, has a life of its own. It's not just for making money. It may sound strange, but when I hear that people are downloading my music from p2p services, I find it a little reassuring. Who are you if you're not being "traded", right?
Being traded online is part of the great web of music these days… sharing music is a pastime for us all in one form or another. What are your thoughts on technology, electronic music, and how both are influencing the human experience?
I think electronic music is greatly enhancing the human experience. Electronic music has provided a forum for human appreciation and creativity that speaks to the soul, even if the mediums are at times of a robotic nature. And even though a machine may not have a soul, it kind of feels like it might if you turn one up loud enough.
Technology and human experience influence each other. Technology fills needs and creates them. I feel technology influences a person to the degree that they use, have need for, and/or put up with it. What I find interesting is that a whole new group of kids are growing up in a world where, in their mind, there was never a time without the internet, ipods, laptops, cell phones, etc. There used to be a time when you had to go home to do stuff. Now you almost never have to be home except to sleep and shower, but I'm sure they'll come out with something for that soon.
On their website, Cyberset says: "Cyberset artists embody this emerging culture that emphasizes community, personal growth, social conscience, and ecological awareness." How do you fit into that emerging culture and why do you feel it is so important?
I feel I've been a part of this culture for a while. Personal growth is really important in my life. Who wants to stay the same? Life is an adventure. Growth is what makes it so. As far as social conscience and ecological awareness goes, these days the two are more inextricably linked than practically any time I can remember. It's hard not to see it.
This country and world is in really bad shape at the moment. We're heading toward potentially scarier times, if that is possible, as a result of our dependence on oil and refusal to truly explore alternative forms of energy. I could go on for decades about this…
Also, growing up in the Bay Area as I did, one is exposed to progressive thinking on a more regular basis. I live in Los Angeles now, which is more conservative in many ways. I can often see both sides of many different social and political arguments, but I always have my beliefs. We live in strange times. I think that's where community comes in. People need to have their tribes more than ever. We live in such isolating times, and funny enough, some of it due to technology, that we need to have a sense of connection. We can do this through the things we love. Seems like part of art's purpose to me, or at least a great benefit.
What kind of future do you see for electronic music and dance culture and what movements would you like to see in the larger community?
I think that things are going to stay pretty specialized for a while, like they are now. One never knows what will happen. Sometimes it's just a matter of someone writing that one brilliant track that will bring worlds together. We'll just have to wait and see...
I'd like to hear artists who are looking to challenge paradigms about what the masses consider to be legitimate, musically and conceptually. I also want it to be dope.
So, you've been around for quite some time. Can you give us a snapshot of your musical path?
It all began with me putting my ear to my pillow and scratching... try it. It does kind of sound like actual scratching. Also, as a kid I used to remix the beginnings of songs that I taped off the radio with a double cassette deck. Stuff like ABC's "How to Be a Millionaire."
I started composing electronic music twenty years ago, when I was thirteen years old. That's when I started playing with beats, synths, and effects. I started playing guitar and piano when I was really young. I learned guitar from Chris Hayes of Huey Lewis and the News, believe it or not. He lived at our house when I was in kindergarten, I think. He played in a band with my father called Thunderbolt.
They were a jazz-rock fusion band. My father, Martin Fierro, is a sax player who has played with all kinds of people, including the Grateful Dead, so music was in the genes for me. He still plays and tours to this day, with all kinds of people from jazz to jam bands. We could really do a whole interview just about him and the people he's met and played with.
When I was thirteen, this guy named Chris Tallant moved across the street from me and became friends with me and my older brother Rafael who is a DJ. Chris had an Ensoniq ESQ-1, a Casio RZ-1 drum machine, which had like eight tenths of a second of sampling time, and a couple of effects processors. It's really basic stuff these days, but then it seemed like the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I was instantly hooked. I'd beg him to let me come over and mix things he'd been working on.
Eventually he let me compose and record a few things of my own. They ranged from Front 242 inspired beaty type tracks, to stuff that sounded like New Order and Depeche Mode. I always felt that I had something relevant to offer musically, so I continued to pursue it. I saved up and started buying my own gear, of course similar stuff to Chris', and started making tracks. My brother and his friends would always come over and play records and my brother bought every important dance record that came out, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
Eventually, after a few projects and a few years, I got hooked up with DJ Digit, Jeremy Cowan. He sort of took me under his wing a bit and helped me produce a demo and taught me a lot about making dance music… simplicity, using loops, doing more with less, etc. I moved my gear into a conglomeration of studios that he and DJ EFX oversaw called "The Third Floor."
It was there that I met and shared a studio with Jonah Sharp and his partner at the time, Richard Sharpe. I played live a lot at the time, everything from little clubs to giant raves with thousands in attendance. I caught the attention of Zoemagik Records, which was started by Brian Hughes and Twitch founder and creator DJ Jim Hopkins. It was with them that I released "The Liberated EP" which contained "Transmit Liberation."
That kind of put me on the map. Around that time Jonah started up Reflective Records. We were often hanging out and bouncing tracks off of each other. He was always into the things that I did that sounded different, unique. We eventually put a few of those tracks out on EP called "Angelic Science." This led up to what I consider to be a real turning point for me which was my first full-length release, the sci-fi story-based "Dead Vent 7." This was an album that I felt changed my process and the way I saw and heard music at the same time.
Throughout all of this I was good friends with Daum Bentley, aka Freaky Chakra. We'd been friends for years. We would give each other feedback on what we were doing. I would play him my stuff before anyone else, usually, and vice versa. I eventually did a couple of remixes for him. One was a track called "Peace Fixation" and the other was "Budded Earth (to Bloom in Heaven)", which featured vocals from Toni Halliday of Curve and guitar from Mike Kandel of Exist Dance. Really a great track. With our live rigs synced up, Daum and I started playing lots of parties all over the place and kind of rockin' it. After a tour with Moby, Traci Lords, Sven Vath, and Keoki called Enit (the electronic offshoot of Lollapalooza), Astralwerks approached us to do an album which ended up being "Freaky Chakra vs. Single Cell Orchestra".
Also around this time Naut Humon, the man behind industrial/noise band Rhythm and Noise, approached me to put out an album on his eclectic label Asphodel. That was the self-titled album which was to reflect the more melodic element of my work. Celldom v1 is probably more like that than any of my other records. It actually sounds like the next evolution of that sound.
Can you give a few words on your sound design and creative process and your studio?
The creative process happens so many different ways that it's hard to define. I have a lot of little drum machines that are portable. Sometimes, I'll just sit in a cafe and make tracks and then bring them into my studio and write around them. I get inspired when I'm out and about. Sometimes, I just build on a sample. Often, I have a melodic theme that I just find a lot of things end up getting written around.
Sound design usually happens in ye olde computer. Taking samples, be they drum or otherwise, messing around with them and them shooting them into my sampler.
My studio mainly consists of old half-broken bits of hardware and a computer that really likes to crash. I would have a hard time living without my Ensoniq SQ-80 synth. I sequence most of my stuff with it and have for most of my career. I learned how to use its sequencer, the same one as the ESQ-1, when I was 13 years old so I'm pretty quick with it.
What and who have influenced you and your musical style?
I'm influenced by everything I hear. Whether it comes out in the process, it's difficult to say. Melodically, I always want to hear what New Order are doing. Also, I really love stuff by the Cocteau Twins. They've been a huge influence on my music. More recent influences include Global Communications, Sigur Ros, Si Begg, Warp Stuff, M.I.A, DJ Hive. I'm also a big fan of Stephen Merrit, Doves, and Pulp. Rhythmically, I'm influenced by a lot of hip-hop, IDM, and drum and bass.
I think some of the drum and bass producers out there are way ahead of the production curve. There's really some artful stuff. I also love my friends' music, people like Jonah, Daum, and Jon Drukman. They're all doing great stuff.
Right now I'm listening to old drum and bass mixes, comedy, and a lot of hip-hop. As far as inspiration goes, I would say Bach, Kraftwerk, and Rick Rubin… this week.
What was your first release and how have you grown musically since then?
My first release was a remix of “Everybody's Free (to feel good)” by Rozalla. My first single of my own was "The Liberated EP" on Zoemagik. I think since then my production has improved and my sense of movement throughout a track has heightened. Strangely, I feel like I've kind of come full circle in terms of process. These days my attitude is "get something done." I'm far less of a perfectionist. I want a track to be great, but I don't want to get sick of it before it's done. Finish it and move on.
What makes a great party for you? Is there one that stands out above the rest?
A great party is one where people are getting into it and are truly there for the music and dancing. Also, as far as I'm concerned people should be cool to each other. I love the collective energy and chemistry of a party that creates an feeling of community, where you leave knowing that you made some true new friends.
I've been at some great parties. One year Daum and I were playing a New Years Eve party in Oakland. The cops shut it down, but we were still allowed to have like 50 people in there. After the police left we set up and played till sunrise. Everybody had a blast! That has to rank up there near the top of the list. Also some of the old big raves were great. Playing a party with four or five thousand people all rocking out to your beats is a pretty awesome experience.
In the early days there was a sense of following a good feeling, not knowing where it would lead, but just enjoying it for what it was. These days everything is so specialized. One not only goes out knowing what genre of music they're going to hear, but also what specific type within that genre. This has its ups and downs. Music is much, much bigger now.
What have you been up to in recent days?
Strange as it may sound, I spend a lot of time studying acting with a great method acting teacher named Rob Reece and performing stand-up comedy, which I think is probably the biggest reason that I relocated from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It seems strange, I guess, when one contrasts my music, which tends to be a little serious, with my comedy, which is sort of a more bitter brand of upbeat. I suppose it gives me balance. I got into stand-up two weeks after 9/11 and really let it take me over as a new obsession/love/career path. I host a show in Hollywood and perform in comedy clubs down here. Last week I worked on a TV show called "Strictly Dr. Drew" that features Dr. Drew from Lovelines. I've also recently done some writing for MTV.
Musically, I've been working on new tracks of different varieties. Some hip-hop, techy, and ambient stuff. I'm going to finish up these installments of Celldom and then see what happens next. I've also been working on some vocal tracks and some tracks with Bass Kittens. We have a track called "Check It" that's coming out on Spacebar Sentiments and a single called "Easy Money" that should be out in summer on Jon's Label Pretension. We've been writing some wicked stuff. Daum and I have started playing shows again and that's been a lot of fun. We recently played with Meat Beat Manifesto, who we've toured with before, up in the Bay Area this last New Year's Eve. We have a couple of things scheduled in the near future. We also have talked about making another album together. I hope we do.
Two things you'd like to do that you haven't done yet?
I'd love to play in Japan someday, and I'd love to do some scoring for some good films.
Thanks so much for your time Miguel. I look forward to future installments of Celldom and wish you much success on all your endeavors!
Thank you!
Single Cell Orchestra's latest album "Celldom V.1: Opt" is currently available for digital downloading at Cyberset Music and many other sites.
For more information about Single Cell Orchestra, please explore the following links:
Published Link: http://cyberset.cc/
Copyright© 2006 by Cyberset. All rights reserved. For citation information or permission to reprint contact Tena Moore
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