Chris Sigdell, the person behind the prolific B°Tong, is a busy man. Juggling between his new album, new recordings and upcoming shows, I catch him for a short conversation.
 

Heathen Harvest: You have a pretty impressive list of releases from the day of B°Tong's birth up until now. How do you approach the beginning of a new recording? Do your different albums have a specific frame of mind, A basic Idea behind them? Can you elaborate on the process that comes before you have a finished track?

Chris Sigdell: Generally I just collect samples that I think might be good, and then I work on them and put them in a special folder. When I start a new piece I can go through the folder and pick samples I think might be useful. I have a rough idea or none at all... whatever; I just play around with them until I see something takes form. At this stage it is more or less improvised art, with effects used at random, etc. but when I start to work on the sketch it becomes real. Sometimes I might have to scrap the initial idea and start anew, or it takes on a complete different form as days go by. Sometimes I just doodle around and sometimes I sit down and begin to work because I have an idea I want to try out, an inspiration of some sorts that needs to be born.

As for albums... mostly I just compile finished songs that fit together. Unless, as in the case of hysteria and structures, the songs were created specifically with the concept of an album in mind.
 

HH: The use of samples from the Television or the radio often holds a message, which is connected to the content of the sample. Is this your approach or do you utilize the various samples you use in the same way you use other instruments, as sound sources?

CS: He he... sometimes, indeed, I use them like an instrument or sound source. But more often, the message is the medium that makes the song.
 

HH. Can you please tell us about your latest album? Is there any special story about it?

CS: For hysteria I had amassed these field-recordings of earthquakes that some geological student had given me. they were very intriguing in their kind - almost beat-like... and one day during a holiday trip I just came up with the idea of doing a whole concept album based around those samples and various cave-like and dripping, watery sounds. From then on it was easy, and I made it all within three months. 
 

HH:  What are the influences that affect your music? Apart from music, are there any non musical influences as well?

CS: I am heavily influenced by the underwater films of jaques cousteau, the darkness of david lynch scenes, the books of wilhelm reich and h.p. lovecraft, as well as  h.r. giger. I draw a lot from thinking of imaginary soundtracks when creating my soundscapes.
 

HH:  Can you talk about the origin of the name B°Tong?

CS:   When NID split I had already begun a solo-project, but it was without a name, so when verato-project wanted a release I was under some pressure to have a name. I didn't want a name that would point to a certain direction music wise, or that would keep me restricted to a certain genre, yet it should still give a hint as to what music I'd do. Somehow the name b-tong came into my mind. "betong" in Swedish means "concrete", and a tong is a useful tool, so well, with the "°", all of a sudden there was b°tong and it suited me. later I found out that supposedly "b'tong" in Tibetan means "to do"...
 

HH:  The album "polar:is" was a part of a sound installation, while two of your videos, "Sphere 2" and "Black dog dream" were presented in art fairs. Do you see any difference in approach between the artistic platforms and their audience who visits such art fairs, and the people who view your videos via Youtube and buy your albums?

CS: I have no idea. I don't even know if people at art fairs perceive that they are music videos in the first place, ha ha ha.
 

HH: What can be expected from your live shows? Do you come on stage with a specific idea or do you work more on improvisations?

CS: At a live show, these days, I do have a general idea of what I'm going to do. in the beginning it was pure improvisation, but after a while I felt I needed to have a direction to the show and maybe practice a set that would leave room for improvisation instead. so now I make up some sort of live-set that I practice freely and then I let go from there once I'm on the road. The set develops for a while and then when I feel the set is getting too pre-fabricated perfect I scarp all the samples and begin with something else. there are no rules as to what I may do, the only taboo is the laptop. Never use a laptop on stage, there is nothing more boring than to watch a person sat behind a screen!
 

HH: Is there a new album cooking for B°Tong?

CS: Yes, indeed. In fact, I have three finished ones waiting for release. Now I need to find labels willing to release them. I guess I'm working too fast. I'm hyperactive... I'm working on new material already...
 

HH: Thank you very much for this conversation! Finally, is there anything else you would like to add for this interview?

CS: Thank you and never underestimate the power of darkness.