Bio: John Koch-Northrup [ relaxed machinery | interstitial ]
John Koch-Northrup has been playing and writing music since the age of five when his grandma began teaching him to play piano. He quickly found he enjoyed making noises with the piano that weren't necessarily written on the page. While these early sessions were highly annoying to anyone within earshot - the rhythms and textures eventually began to evolve into music pleasing to young John's ears - and many years later pleasing to other people's ears. He learned to play classical and also began to explore jazz. Thoughout school he was a certified band geek: playing trumpet in jazz band, student band director, playing trumpet and piano in state band contests (even writing piano solos for the contests). He also found a love of synths and electronics and joined his first band playing regularly in area bars and clubs at the age of 15. Playing in a band elevated his geeky status slightly, but not tremendously much. After high school he switched to playing bass in live bands. Throughout it all, John began to record songs on borrowed 4-track cassette recorders and drum machines. The music quickly began to evolve from synth-pop to longer form instrumental pieces that hinted towards ambient and industrial sounds. By 22 he was burnt out on music and put all the instruments away except his piano. His mom passed away, he got a "real" full time job, and he married the love of his life that same year. Nearly four years later he pulled out the gear and played in a band again. It was a musically rewarding experience, but frustrating at many levels and the band imploded within 18 months. At that point - his long time friend Vir Unis' ambient music career began to take off. This was a great inspiration and it got John to take the leap and start recording his solo material again. Focusing on ambient and minimal techno material, he put together his first demo which eventually was released on the Red Antenna label in 2001. Also in 2001, Vir Unis asked John play live with him at the 2001 Space For Music festival in Milwaukee, WI. This was later released as "Live at the Miramar" on AtmoWorks. Since then John has released several other projects as Interstitial including a group remix project on The Foundry label with Vidna Obmana, Vir Unis, Saul Stokes, and M. Bentley remixing John's "sub.terra" track which was recorded solely using trumpet and processing. John has recently been taking a few years off from recording and is very excited to be a part of AtmoWorks with Vir Unis and Matt McDonough. The three of them have known each other since high school and have a long history together. John is recording new projects under the name Relaxed Machinery. Discography:
Interstitial - Temporal Arc (2001 Red Antenna) Appears on:
Various Artists - The New Electric Policy (2001 Red Antenna) |
