Legendary producer and artist John Fryer talks to Jason Barnard as he unveils the latest offering from his Black Needle Noise project.
Can you tell me about the genesis of your new single with PIG, ‘Seed Of Evil’.
It all started from the bass line on a Roland SE-02 Analog Synthesizer Module my friend Igor gave me. I made the sound and the bass line and everything stemmed from there.
It turned into a very cool noise pop industrial club anthem and Raymond did an amazing job on the vocals to make it even more of an iconic Industrial Pop Song.
What led to you collaborate with Raymond Watts?
When I met Raymond it was like meeting an old friend I hadn’t seen for many a year. So it was easy to think of collaborating, then it was all about finding the right song. I had been working on a track that was old school/new school industrial noise pop and thought it would be perfect for him and turned out to be so.
When did you first meet?
Funnily enough Raymond and I only met face to face a couple of years ago here in LA. We came to his show at Das Bunker I do believe. We had work on a project called Schaft many moons ago separately but our paths never crossed until recently.
Who else have you collaborated with for Black Needle Noise?
Oh there is quite a list now of awesome people. Bill Leeb, Jarboe, Anjela Piccard, Kendra Frost, Tara Busch, Antic Clay, Zialand, Andreas Elvenes, Ledfoot, Betsy Martin, Kevin Kipnis, Attasalina, Elena Alice Fossi, Spectra Paris, Andrea Kerr, Jennie Vee, Omniflux, Ana Breton, Fakeba, Sivert Hoyem, Betty X, Beca, Marselle Hodges, Yvette Winkler, <PIG>, Chris Connelly, Dr Strangefryer.
How does working with musicians/singers from different genres shape the music you make?
The music is shaped first then I will approach a singer to see if they would like to collaborate with me on the song. Luckily enough, nearly everyone I have approached has said yes and it’s been an amazing and hopefully a never ending journey.
Going back to the start, how did you get involved in engineering and producing?
I got to say it was fate. I had gone with my friend’s band to Blackwing Studio to sit in while they recorded a couple of demo’s. Just to observe the process of recording. It was a weird coincident around that time the art studio I was working for went bust and I was out of work and found out Eric was looking for an assistant. So I went back to the studio and talked to Eric and started straight away and left about 10 years later.
So much great music came out of Blackwing Studios – it must have been such a creative and groundbreaking time.
It was an immense time to work in the studio and I had an amazing education working with such an array of talented people. Things were different then coming out of the punk era and moving into the electronic and experimental world of music, with new romantics and goth coming out of that.
Also it was the time of the indie label. So once Daniel Miller of Mute had discovered the studio word soon spread around the labels and the rest is history as they say.
Many people will know you through This Mortal Coil. Was that a natural progression from your studio work?
Yes, it was a natural progression. I was closely working with Ivo making TMC. We had become friends and he knew he could trust me and felt very comfortable working with me. I had a lot of patience working with people and made him feel at ease and he would let me experiment with sound and textures to achieve the sound scapes and moods that became the TMC and 4AD sound.
How did you get involved with working on film soundtracks?
It all started back in 1985 working on an indie short movie for BFI called The Wings Of Death. Around that time we were also doing a lot of TV ads.
How much of a brief do you work to when you make music for films?
Yes, this is very dependent on who is making the movie and when you are asked to get involved. You can start from just an idea, a story board or the visuals them self.
What have been your most artistically satisfying musical projects?
This is very difficult to answer as I’m very proud of all the albums/music I’ve made for other people/musicians. But of course it’s most satisfying writing and making your own music and finding people actually like it to.
How are you managing during the lockdown and what are your plans for the rest of the year?
It hasn’t been to bad for Anjela and I. It has curtailed our going out but as I work remote in the studio mostly these days I’ve still been able to work. Some of the music you can hear already. I’m working with and as part of Cop International Record label.
I’ve co-written tracks with CHIASM “away” the 1st single is out now, and the album will follow later in the year. VV & THE VOID “sailin on” has just come out + my project BLACK NEEDLE NOISE has signed to Cleopatra for the release of the covers album “These Mortal Covers”. The 1st single “she talks to angels” will be out very shortly and we released the video of “Seed Of Evil” with <PIG> recently too.
‘Seed of Evil’ is out now, available digitally across online stores including Apple Music and Spotify. It is also available directly from John on Bandcamp.
Keep up with Black Needle Noise at blackneedlenoise.com
