The Temporal Angels of Mike Hovancsek

Mike Hovancsek is a busy and interesting guy. I know, I know..."interesting" is one of those cop-out descriptors used for someone or something that really isn’t interesting. But Mike really IS interesting, so much that if you looked up the word interesting in the dictionary, there’d be a drawing of Mike next to the definition. Mike works at Kent State University in the Undergraduate Studies department, while he’s pursuing a Master’s Degree in Counseling. He studied Psychology as an undergraduate and he is also a world-class musician, no pun intended, because he composes, plays and performs what he calls “multi-cultural chamber music.” I just call it esoteric. And beautiful. Mike’s also a visual artist, which should make him even more pretentious, but doesn’t. He’s actually quite humble--Smart. Humble. Find out for yourself, below.

Alright, let’s set the tone—according to your bio/promo, your music has been heard on film soundtracks and 20 compact discs, at the Sundance Film Festival and on public television, in recital halls and on college and public radio stations “around the world.” Is famous, renowned, or working the best word to describe you presently?

I prefer "infamous."

You describe your music, at least at last reckoning, as “multi-cultural chamber music.” And the list of instrumentation on your most recent recording —Temporal Angels — reads like a What’s What of ethno-musicology: A vielle, a gu-zheng, the koto, the dan bau, the erhu, a didgeridoo, the tambura, even a crumhorn (one must have a crumhorn; at least one!). What is it about these very traditional and yet very un-Western instruments that compels you to compose and perform music upon them? Are you just trying “to be different,” and is that so bad, really?
Well, I just do whatever feels right to me. I'm not interested in whether or not my work is marketable or fashionable. I listen to music from around the world and I get interested in the idea of mixing the elements together in interesting ways. That is really all there is to it.

But seriously, we’ve crossed paths several times and you’re always up to something smart and exotic without the least hint of pretentiousness or arrogance. What drives you to create your music, because I don’t think it’s about EGO?
It is probably half curiosity and half insecurity.

Let’s talk about your most recent CD, Temporal Angels. What is the significance of that title?
I can answer that question but it may make you rethink your statement about my absence of pretentiousness. The title is actually a double metaphor. First of all, the word "temporal" refers to time and improvisation is largely about capturing a moment in time. The title also refers to a part of the brain called the temporal lobe. I'm really interested in the connection between music and spirituality and the temporal lobe plays an integral role in both of those functions. In fact, if you draw a map of brain activity during an inspired musical moment and a map of brain activity during a peak musical experience and the two would look virtually the same. So, music may be another form of spirituality or spirituality may be another kind of music.

There are people who have a condition known as temporal lobe epilepsy; they get these little electrical storms in the part of the brain that processes music, language, and spiritual feelings. These people describe all kinds of peak spiritual and musical experiences when their brains are firing up. So, I was thinking about peak musical experiences as moments when your temporal lobe is full of light. Are you sorry you asked?

Not at all, but I’m curious as to which holds more meaning for you personally—Time or spirituality—because I feel both are present on the disc?
Well, I don't want to pretend that I am some great philosopher or anything. I just like to play with all of the elements that are available to me.

I especially feel that tension on track 6—“Pralyas”—it’s an impressive, strangely evocative composition that feels like it’s some sort of musical clock or spring being wound tighter and tighter…..about 13.5 minutes into it and suddenly this build up of tension and peaceful anticipation is relieved when the percussion comes in.
Yeah, that piece starts off with some harmonic singing by Jim Cole. Jim can sing two or three notes simultaneously. So, he was singing and I came in with some sitar. Later, I added some Chinese zither over it. All of those elements kind of waft around each other until your brain starts really craving a pulse. That is where the drums and the Middle Eastern-sounding crumhorn come in. It is sort of like a little journey that takes you to some odd places.

Track 8—Somniloquy—I take it you’re playing around at least with the ideas of soliloquy and somnambulism—it’s an amazing recording! So dreamy or heavenly in that Elysian Fields sort of way, but not cliché at all.
"Somniloquy" uses vocal sounds to capture a dream state. The title refers to a strange phenomenon. Some people speak out loud and at length when they are sleeping; this is called a "somniloquy". There is a famous case of a guy who would speak volumes when he was sleeping. People started writing down his sleep-speech and the resulting stories got published as a series of books. He would tell these epic, winding tales about traveling in and out of the articles in the newspaper. Anyway, the guy had no interest in these stories when he was in an awake state. He thought they were silly. Still, his sleep-self developed a cult following. I thought that was kind of interesting. I wanted to try and capture that feeling with music.

You’ve got that oboe wafting around in there and that choir (of universalists, even!) just rising and falling in a completely new way. Just fantastic.
Thanks.

How many folks were actually singing on that number, and how many times did you have to record it to capture the essence that you captured?
I think there were 20 vocalists. Hal Walker was the director for that piece. I gave him a series of patterns that I wanted the choir to sing and he directed them with hand gestgures. We got it down in about half an hour.

Were you surprised at the outcome, or was it exactly as you had planned?
I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted it to sound but it is always good to go into that kind of thing with an open ear. Sometimes unexpected pathways appear that are worth exploring. Harmonically, the piece swerves between two completely incompatible keys. That really appeals to me because we expect that kind of thing to sound completely discordant but it actually sounds very balanced. The odd harmonics are interesting to me. I was just trying to keep it from sounding like new age music.

Let’s play a quick game of Either/Or, okay? Just pick between the instruments, and explain quickly why you chose what you chose. Here we go...
1) Theremin or Dan Bau?
I have worked with both but I prefer acoustic instruments because they are more organic and they are capable of much more complex sounds.

2) Bullhorn or Didgeridoo?
Um, the didgeridoo is a really interesting instrument because it rings with these amazing overtones. You get this single drone pitch and than all these other interesting pitches dancing around it.

3) Cowbell or Xylophone?
I'll take Xylophone for $300, Vanna.

4) Sitar or Ukulele?
Sitar. You can't beat sympathetic strings.

5) Doorbell (electric) or wind-chime (metal, not wood)?
I like the randomness of wind chimes.

Alright, that was fun. Mike, you’ve had the opportunity to work with a tremendous number of musicians over the years, and you’re still young. The gentleman from Vietnam you mention on your album’s liner notes—Phong Nguyen—who was invited to the White House to receive the National Heritage Award and who also performed with the Kronos Quartet. I imagine his life is very different from yours, or perhaps, his mindset is quite different from yours, East versus West and all of that. Or maybe as world musicians you’re actually quite similar? My question was going to be, is there some special place within the music you created with him, almost some magical space, where there is understanding and synergy regardless of differing philosophies and religions and life experiences? Is that a palpable experience as it happens?
Phong came to my studio with the dan bau and started playing this amazing microtonal piece. Afterwards, he said that he was trying to mimic the sounds of a group of people chanting the sutras, their voices varying in pitch and rhythm. It was just perfect; I played slide tambura (from India) and guzheng (from China) in that piece. The result was a track titled "Chanting the Sutras". Phong and I are of different generations and different cultures but he seemed to intuatively sense that I wanted to touch on a musical spirituality that transcends any particular culture. I really respect Phong and his ability to communicate on that level.

You threw a Temporal Angels release party at the Beachland Ballroom in honor of the disc being completed. It featured projected videos you created for the songs on the recording. How did the release party turn out?
I was pretty happy with it. I don't usually like to play in clubs but The Beachland is kind of a special place. They have a built-in audience for strange music. Otherwise, I perfer to play in theaters and recital halls, which are better suited to subtle musical elements, dance, video projections, and things like that.

Where can people hear you play in the area in the next few months?
I will be performing with my group Pointless Orchestra at the Kent State Trumbull campus on November 3; I'll be playing with Joe Culley in "Up From The River" at the Kent stage on the second weekend in February; I'll be doing some live music with films at the Standing Rock Film Festival at The Kent Stage in January; and a big multimedia performance piece at The Kiva (on the Kent State campus) in April.

Where can folks obtain a copy of your fine disc, Temporal Angels?
There are a couple of distributors handling it but the most direct way to get a copy is from Standing Rock at http://www.standingrock.net and click on "Online Store".

You seem to fly in the face of the conventional jargonizing that there are no interesting people in Northeastern Ohio and that there is nothing to do, anyways?
There is plenty to do in Ohio. For example, you can go out and hear the presidential candidates give speeches pretty much any day of the week now!

Lastly, given all that you’ve already done, what’s next from the fecund mind and heart of Mike Hovancsek?
I don't know. Maybe I'll learn how to upholster chairs or something...
Interview by Cool Cleveland contributor Daiv Whaley dwhaley@fathomi.com

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