What is "Corduroy Institute?"
Corduroy Institute is a musical art project headed by Messrs. Ruiz and Valdes. We present it as an academic institution which provides a legitimizing platform for our sonic research.
What is sonic research and development and how does that tie into your music? Sonic research entails investigating possible permutations of our electric and electronic musical gear. It is a scientific process whereby we combine different tools— effects pedals, synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines— in search of new tonal possibilities. We want to see how the gear interacts, and we also want to see which unexpected directions it can take. The development phase, however, involves employing these sounds within the context of improvisation and pop music. We make the results of these explorations available for peer review on Spotify, Bandcamp, and more.
When did you begin making music?
Mr. Morin has over fifteen years of autodidactic experience with music. Mr. Ruiz is also known to have made sounds in that period. As a joint effort, Corduroy Institute made its first piece at the end of 2009; as a full-time effort, the group has been making music since February of 2018.
What is your creative process like? Who are some of your inspirations?
Corduroy Institute’s creative orthodoxy is unorthodox. We employ improvisation as the basis for pop songs. Our music is made by multitracking multiple single-take performances of unplanned music. Typically we begin by having Mr. Morin play the Bass VI atop a drum machine played by Mr. Ruiz. The next layer of improvisation usually entails Mr. Morin playing an electric guitar through long chains of effects pedals while Mr. Ruiz plays synthesizers. There have been deviations from this pattern, but this is the usual order. The next step involves singing lyrics atop the improvisation. Another critical aspect of Corduroy Institute’s music is the use of chance and cut-ups as a source for lyrical content. We use words taken from magazines, books, newspapers, and advertisements to craft stanzas. Our responsibility then becomes creating melodies and meter that will fit atop the improvised music.
Two projects of particular importance are 1. Outside by David Bowie and Wah Wah by James. Wah Wah is a series of fragments that highlights the power of improvisation and layering, something we’ve endeavored to harness in our work. They’re accessible, despite their experimental origin. We too want a listenable experience. The Bowie record is a lengthy, disjointed, angular, and at times alienating experience; nevertheless, it has moments of utter beauty as well. It too was created through improvisation and lyrical cut-ups. As a curious footnote, Brain Eno was involved in the production of both records: the atmospheres, textures, and conceptual guidance which he provided for these albums have also ingrained themselves in our musical vocabulary. While these records may not be go-to albums for the average listener, they were extremely impactful in our artistic education.
You mentioned that your song “I’m Not Saying That” is reminiscent of our hometown theme for issue 02, explain what that song is about.
The song itself, like all our songs, is not consciously created to convey a particular meaning or interpretation. We work with lines and fragments which then coalesce into a series of related stanzas that resemble something close to character portraits. In the case of “I’m Not Saying That,” the protagonist appears to be reminiscing about his past experiences and the fantasies he lived out. The final stanza concludes with:
Come and take me back To where I felt most comfortable To the country's biggest small town And if you're not up to the task It's good to be able to tell someone about it.
Retroactively, we could say this is our personal view on our own hometown: San Diego, California. It’s a city that, despite its size and geography, appears to have a rather provincial outlook in terms of its cultural and intellectual life. We both struggled to find like-minded people in a place like this, which in turn makes the very existence of the Corduroy Institute a remarkable feat of improbability.
What can your audience expect from you in the future?
Due to the intensely collaborative nature of the project, 2020 has hamstrung our ability to produce new work. We have a series of unfinished recordings dating as far back as September of 2019, and we hope that circumstances will allow
us to complete these in the not- too-distant future. In the meantime, listeners can enjoy a remastered compendium of our favorite 2018-2019 recordings on End of Term Review (available now on Bandcamp and coming soon to other streaming platforms).
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