Feuermusik is the dynamic duo of Gus Weinkauf on buckets and Jeremy Strachan on woodwinds. With everyone away for the holidays, Gus, Jeremy and Kevin Shutterbug conversed though the marvel of electronic mail.
'FEUERMUSIK' TRANSLATES AS 'FIRE MUSIC.' WHY 'FEUERMUSIK'? Gus: It has to do with my obsession with 'all things German' and the simple fact that it sounds better than the English 'fire music.' I chose 'feuer' (or 'fire') because I like the idea of something that does whatever it wants, whenever it wants, i.e. spreads and destroys the old, leaving room for the new. This is especially true for music.

JEREMY, I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOU'RE SELF-TAUGHT ON SAXOPHONES. IS THIS TRUE AND HOW HAS THE LEARNING PROCESS BEEN, CONSIDERING YOUR CLASSICAL GUITAR EDUCATION? Jer: Yes, I am self-taught. It's only been the last year or two that I've started to focus on becoming a better woodwind player, and I'm still very much a novice on the flute and clarinets. But I think that having studied an instrument previously helped me establish a working vocabulary on the horn fairly quickly.

GUS, HOW HAS IT BEEN SWITCHING FROM A KIT TO THREE BUCKETS? Gus: Buckets have a completely different dynamic than drums. There is no bass-snare backbeat, which is something I relied heavily upon in other bands. Instead I have to use different sticking and accent patterns to complement timing and the other instrument. This is something very foreign to a rock drummer and as a result, the transition has been difficult, yet the challenge is enjoyable.

BOTH OF YOU HAVE COME FROM ROCK/HARDCORE BANDS, AND FEUERMUSIK VAGUELY RESEMBLES THOSE PAST MUSICAL ENDEAVOURS. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TOGETHER IN THIS NEW PROJECT AND HOW HAS THE MUSICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU CHANGED IN EXPLORING SOMETHING MORE IN COMMON WITH FREE-JAZZ THAN ROCK? Gus: I believe that Rockets Red Glare took post-hardcore music creatively as far as it could be taken. After the break-up, Jer and I decided to try something new. As far as our musical relationship has changed, Feuermusik provides us with a lot of musical space. We are able to do things both individually and tastefully that would not have been possible had we chosen a different format. It's been immense fun and we are often shocked to find ourselves once again enjoying the musical process. Jer: I am particularly attracted to the challenge that this forum presents. When putting together the tunes, we obviously try to make coherent statements that make sense to us as musicians, but I try to think melodically and harmonically in my saxophone playing, so that the illusion of accompaniment is created. Playing together in Feuermusik is very similar to what we did as the rhythm section of RRG. I'm very familiar and comfortable with the way Gus plays, and I feel like we're doing the same kind of thing on different instruments. I wonder about the free-jazz thing. There are moments that are totally improvised, but I don't feel much of a connection to any 'free' aesthetics, at least in this situation. But I know what you mean.

RECENTLY, THERE HAS BEEN MORE CROSS-POLLINATION BETWEEN TORONTO'S INDIE AND FREE-JAZZ SCENES. HOW HAVE YOU FOUND THE RESPONSE TO YOUR MUSIC FROM EITHER? Gus: We've only played three shows, Wavelength being our fourth, but we've received a good amount of support from our friends and people who were interested in our previous bands. I don't foresee us achieving a lot of popularity, but it's hard to say. A lot of the factors, e.g. the press, are outside of our control. We haven't played a 'free-jazz' show yet, but that's certainly on our to-do list. Jer: I think that 'free-jazz' is attractive to musicians more than it is to non-musicians. More importantly, the two scenes share common attributes that distinguish them from mainstream avenues. I try to go and see as much jazz as I can because I have a high regard for good jazz players who are able to play with an individual voice. There aren't many of those, and I imagine that many people from the indie community are looking for new ways of creative expression, either through identifying with or playing music.

Kevin Shutterbug