Taken from their new album Mod Prog Sic, the video for “Plasma” is the US noise trio's take on the YTP editing process
In their interview with Marc Masters in The Wire 453, US noise band Black Dice explain the new working methods they’ve adopted since they're no longer all living in New York, and how Mod Prog Sic – their first album in almost 10 years – eventually came about.
“When we were all in the same city, opportunities lent themselves to making decisions,” says Eric Copeland who, after a period living in Spain, is now back in New York. “If we had a show in a month, we’d want a new song, so we’d have a month to write a new song. All of a sudden, we’d have five new songs, and that’s most of a record. That sort of momentum is something we don’t have any more.”
“Now, because our time is limited, we’ve had to get more done when we’re together,” says Bjorn Copeland, now based in Los Angeles. “That’s how we made this record,” continues Eric. “By saying, ‘Now’s the time’, as opposed to letting the circumstances dictate.”
This video for the band's track “Plasma” takes those ideas of distance and collaboration further, employing the video mash-up technique YTP (YouTube Poop), where “creators pass edits back and forth making changes and adding source material in a progressive manner”.
YTP was introduced to the band by video and film producer Sebastian Demian. Copeland and bandmate Aaron Warren supplied source video to Mian Shayan – a freelance video editor from Pakistan – who processed the video using dozens of YTP project files culled from the web by Demian. Warren edited and remixed Shayan's clips further to arrive at the “Plasma” music video.
Read more from Black Dice in their Wire 453 interview. Wire subscribers can also access the article via the digital archive.
Find new North American tour dates for the band here. Mod Prog Sic is released by Fourfour.
