Thank you both for taking the time! Let’s start with the magnificent album Clarity that you reissued with the incredible Michael. I stumbled upon your label, Moved By Sound, while exploring Bandcamp late last night, and was struck by the beauty of Michael’s album: the jazzy licks, the interplay between the flute and saxophone, juxtaposed with Michael’s croons and plucking guitar. I hear a story that’s begging to escape the confines of time and creep into our ears—even after nearly fifty years!
I’m curious how you two connected and what events led to this reissue blessing our ears on Bandcamp and, hopefully, peoples’ hi-fi systems at home.
I originally contacted Michael when he digitally released a four-track version of “Frequency Equilibrium Koan.” I thought it was amazing and deserved to be put out on vinyl. We talked a bit, and it turned into a double LP with six extended tracks. Remastered by Frank at The Carvery in London, it was a revelation of an album, a true historic New York loft jazz moment in time. We also published a book of poems by Michael.
To get to work with Michael on “Clarity Circle Triangle Square” is an honor, as it is a special and undefinable record. Spreading the word about amazing music is a large part of why I run this label.
The peaceful sounds on display put me into a trance several times. Even when there’s dissonance, the punctuality of each sound and phrase transforms these dissonant moments quickly into beautiful, serene passages that reassure the listener: “there, there, we’re taking you on this journey together—there’ll be ups and downs, but we’ll make sure that you take away just what you need to feel fulfilled on this journey.”
What would you say, Michael, were your intentions behind this album?
Clarity, Circle, Triangle, Square is my first formal album. The year was 1976, and I was 22 years old. I wrote the ensemble music for this album specifically for Oliver Lake, Leo Smith, and David Murray, all leaders in their own right, to play.
I come from a very unlimited place. Nothing I did was self-conscious; it was all just what I heard and what I felt. From a very early age, I was listening to and exploring many genres of music—world, folk, blues, classical, and rock—as well as writing, playing, and performing my own music since junior high school. I was not an academic. I didn’t know or want to know the rules, so to speak, so it wasn’t as if I set out to break them; they just didn’t matter enough to me for me to contain my spirit within them.
I was, and am, a conceptualist, in love with art, spirituality, comedy, history, poetry, and the many possibilities available through exploration and conceptual thinking. My mind, ears, and heart were, and are, wide open—expanding. Clarity, Circle, Triangle, Square captured one moment of that.
For you, Antony, how do you feel about this release in Michael’s catalog, given his vast musical career—what role did it play in his musical trajectory?
Clarity, Circle, Triangle, Square is a bold, poetic work, very different from other loft jazz-era albums. It’s hard to imagine now, in our overly digital, interconnected echo-chamber world, that in 1970s New York, creativity was in flux and fully in the moment, both in jazz and in other scenes.
I’m really enjoying the MBS catalog. Anyone who likes music performed by artists that vividly dig into their own souls using real, rootsy instrumentation—look no further. I began listening to the jazz catalog, experiencing artists like the conversational Michael and the rhythmic work of Stephen McCraven, but then migrated elsewhere, listening to rebellious, politically charged artists like The Plastic People Of The Universe, to the folksy Reet Hendrikson, who I had to check wasn’t an angel calling from above while listening to the album.
Antony, what is the binding theme behind all the artists that you reissue on your label?
I think enthusiasm and interest in human cultural creations, and the stories and people behind them, is where I start. I love music from all countries and cultures. I’ve always liked John Coltrane’s idea that his music was American classical music.
I think jazz, folk, hip-hop, punk, and so on are all part of the same spectrum of human expression. I specialize in putting out things I love, and they can all stand next to each other in the catalog.
What drew you to signing off on this reissue, Michael?
I heard the albums Antony was releasing, some of them by friends and colleagues of mine, and some by other artists whom I enjoyed, respected, and admired. MBS recordings were made with integrity and with concern for how they sounded and looked. With Antony, music, art, and humanity matter; he has a genuine reverence and care for artists and their music.
The music on your label is so hard to find! I can’t imagine the journey you went through to find each album, coordinate with the artists, and package each work before releasing it into the wild. There’s the personal connection to the music that the artists feel in making it; however, there’s also the personal connection you have while listening to their music. I imagine the moment where you’re asking another artist to release their music—perhaps it’s like asking someone out on a first date. I don’t know how you do it without coming across as very awkward!
How do you approach artists that you’re interested in doing a reissue for? Do you have any suggestions for others who find wonderful music that they want to share?
Many artists are hard to find on the internet. Quite often, I contact other people connected with them and ask if they can help. In most cases, I just start a conversation and see where it leads. Many projects don’t get off the ground, but two or three LPs a year is more than enough.
This is a hobby label that I run for the love of it, not as a business. If I can make the record to the best quality possible and pay the artist, then that’s the thing.
With all the terrible things happening in the world today, I think there’s a current need for artists to hold true to their values when communicating how we feel through music. I believe that music is a universal medium that transcends boundaries in ways that other forms of communication are less likely to achieve. I appreciate your label, Antony, for spotlighting artists who, in their lifetimes, spoke out against governments or other groups that did not govern their people in ethical and selfless ways.
How do you think music can influence politics, and where do you see yourself in that story as a label curator who spotlights artists pushing back against the establishments in their day?
I think music, and creative things in general, show you the possibilities for humans to go further than the limits of our society’s worst traits. The possibility of creativity in all things is a positive idea, and I think I want music to remind you that everyday life can have beauty and moments of improvisation in it. A chance conversation, playing, or cooking can be a moment to get lost or found in. Music is soft power, but it is power.
Artists who keep creating, changing, and reflecting, like Michael, are what we need.