Cunei Media interviews FTHR
fthr is Antti Jädertpolm, a brilliant Finnish artist and designer. His work varies from eclectic multimedia abstractions to Flash based music software. We were lucky enough to have a few minutes to catch up with fthr to talk about his process and inspirations.
Cunei: So, you’re from Finland. How has living in Finland influenced your art?
fthr: I used to dislike nationalism very much, so whenever people asked where I was from I said “the internet”!
I was very active on the Demoscene and the international friends I made during those years are the biggest influence in my art. Our group TPOLM has members from many different countries. Since then i lived in Barcelona, Spain for a long time, so that made me feel a bit nostalgic about Finland, but I’m still not a proud citizen of any country.
But to answer the question, yeah, I think wherever I am making the art does influence the output a bit. A lot of the times I use my own photos as source material, so that’s a very direct influence, but I think there’s a more indirect mental one as well.
Cunei: So since Finland hasn’t influenced your art very directly, who or what do you consider more direct influences?
fthr: The biggest influence is definitely music. I just can’t seem to make graphic work without listening to something at the same time. I don’t know if it’s because of that, but most of my professional graphics work has been somehow related to music, being record covers, band websites, flyers, VJ gigs, stuff like that. Also all of my non-professional work is improvised, made without a direct aim in mind, other than some abstract feeling… Much like music is made. Or at least I make music like that.
Cunei: Nice. Lately, what artists or bands have you been listening to while you work?
fthr: According to last.fm I’ve been listening to a lot of Autechre and Flying Lotus… After all these years it’s still Warp Records stuff at the top. It’s not always like this, it’s just that Autechre has a new album out and I never really discovered the Flying Lotus records until last week. Saw him live last summer though which was pretty great.
Cunei: I’m on the list for his show with Kode9 this weekend. Can’t wait! When you start a project is there a method or process that you usually take?
fthr: Different ones for different projects. For record covers I usually come up with some plan with the recording artist in question, then listen to the album and make something according to the plan. When I’m making art, I start with some detail out of a photo I find interesting, and just play with composition, contrasting things, trying to find the mood i’m after. I tend to think in abstract compositional terms always, in sizes, shapes and colors, instead of trying to present some subject.
Cunei: What are your favorite album covers of all time and why?
fthr: Ι like reading and trivia a lot, so I like jazz covers which have stories in them. When was it recorded, who was there, etc… I wish more electronic musicians would do that. Especially now that having the actual CD is kind of useless… I wish I’d get at least some special information when I buy them.
One favorite of all time that comes to mind is the Beastie Boys ‘Paul’s Boutique’ cover because it includes the lyrics and it’s kind of mysterious and funny in many ways.
I also like Miles Davis’ “Live Evil” cover a lot, I think that’s a Mati Klarwein painting, his other covers are ace too (Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’ and Santana’s ‘Abraxas’). Also I like when artists do their own covers, like Aphex, it feels more personal that way.
Wait a second.. ‘Paul’s Boutique’ didn’t have lyrics in the cover… Unfortunately, I can’t check either, a random junkie burglar stole all my Beastie Boys CDs back in 2001. True story, he only took the Jimi Hendrix and Beastie Boys CDs out of hundreds of discs.
Cunei: That sucks! Those are good choices though. You told me that you haven’t been working on as much visual art these days because you’re busy developing music software. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
fthr: Back in 2006-7 when I was living in Barcelona, me and some of my friends (kschtz.com & crankshaft.fi) were involved in a company called Splicemusic, making a simple sequencer with Flash. I think it was the first one ever made in Flash pretty much. Later on it got even better when Bram de Jong of Smartelectronix and Andre Michelle, the Flash-audio-master, joined the company and we made the first ever real digital audio workstation with Flash. It had DSP effects, a soft synth, automations, all kinds of stuff.
Eventually we ran out of money and that was that, but when I moved back to Finland in 2008 I met some guys who were doing something similar, and I joined that company. It’s now called songhi.com, and it’s a music making program made with Flash, but more commercial and aimed at people who don’t know how to make music. In the long run we want to build game mechanisms that teach music theory. The project is only starting up now, and it’s a bit different because there are actual business guys involved in running it, but it’s still interesting, I’ve learned a lot about music theory while designing concepts for it.
Oh by the way, about an hour ago Andre Michelle released his own post-Splicemusic project, audiotool.com, check it out…
Cunei: I definitely will. What do you like to do to relax? Is making art your refuge or do you need a break from that sometimes too?
fthr: Yeah, funny thing, visual art used to be my refuge. It was the ultimate relaxation for me making pictures. But now I’ve almost completely switched to making music. In the past year, I’ve made 3 pictures and about 150 tunes… weird! It feels more liberating since I’m a big noob in music and I feel I’m learning something all the time.
I think i’ll get back to graphics too at some point. But definitely, for me, concentrating on creating something is the way to relax.
Cunei: What sorts of things do you find beautiful?
fthr: Mmm… almost anything is beautiful if you look close enough. I love taking macro photos of cracks on walls, dirt, sidewalks, plants, carpets, skin, whatever… I like different textures.
Cunei: Okay one last one and I’ll let you roll…What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
fthr: From my grandma, she said that no matter what you want to communicate, there is always a positive way to do it. So instead of telling me “Don’t climb up on the roof!” She’d say something like “It would be wonderful if you’d stay on the ground.”
Check out fthr’s site for more of his art.
