kRkRkRk - history
The very name of the label - pronounced like a burst of radio static - spoke volumes. Coined by J-mz, it was inspired by an episode of the anarchic British sitcom The Young Ones where Neil the Hippy, in the guise of a dope-busting bobby, satirized police stupidity by verbalising the characteristic bursts of noise generated by his walkie-talkie. Such ironic deflations, of both establishment authority & the mystique of high technology, were guaranteed to resonate with J-mz & Peter. The idea of naming a music label after a burst of electronic noise was also appealing. In its early years, experiments with noise - generated by a motley collection of self-destructing electronic devices - were a defining characteristic of kRkRkRk & remain part of the label's personality to this day.
In common with many other New Zealand labels & musicians, kRkRkRk has long adhered to the home recording ethos. To some degree, this embracing of home recording has been a simple matter of economics. Usually, the costs of professional studios have well exceeded the means of those associated with the label. The do-it-yourself approach to making music also harmonised with kRkRkRk's sense of independence & unconventionality. Eliminating money from the equation also eliminated compromise - encouraging an atmosphere of expressive freedom. Perhaps most importantly, however, & as all those artists involved with kRkRkRk have discovered, composing, recording & producing one's own music is tremendously fulfilling &, quite simply, great fun!
Originally kRkRkRk was a cassette label &, in this vein, provided a home for about 80 releases between 1992 & 1999. Tape is a diabolical medium at the best of times & much of the label's early reputation for murk, noise & chaos was simply due to the duplication of its releases on cheap cassettes!
With the shift, in recent times, to CDR media kRkRkRk's achievements in the areas of sound recording & production can, at last, be properly appreciated. Even fairly early recordings (by artists such as NoTV, TMA-1 or Dunedin-era Strap Ons), which have subsequently been remastered to CDR from the original multi-track cassette tapes, possess a respectable presence & fidelity. None of us at kRkRkRk would pretend that our recordings can match the sound achievable in a fully equipped pro studio - but even discerning listeners will often be pleasantly surprised! Modern music is littered with execrable recordings of sublime performances which demonstrate that, if the music's good, people will often be very forgiving of flaws in production. In any case, recent kRkRkRk releases (such as those of The Drawing Room), created largely in the digital domain, sound pretty good even by professional standards.
Stylistically, kRkRkRk has always defied easy categorisation but, nevertheless, over the course of its existence, has passed through a series of distinct phases.
In its formative period (1992-94) the label owed much to the 80's legacy of the punk, industrial & German electronic rock movements. Combined with a good dose of self-deprecating parody & easygoing satire, these elements coalesced in the music of TMA-1.
From about 1994, the arrival of David Khan to the label & the more rigorous approach to composition & recording, in the music of Peter Wright, signalled a change of direction for kRkRkRk. This new attitude was epitomised by the music of leonard Nimoy (kRkRkRk's 2nd major group project) which was founded by David & Peter in March '94. It was also evident in their respective, contemporaneous, solo recording projects Vaccine & In Vitro. Gone, for the time being, were the punk rock & electronic cabaret flourishes of TMA-1. Emerging in their place was a tightly structured, dark-industrial/ambient aesthetic.
kRkRkRk's releases in this 2nd period of activity (mid 1994 - late 1997) also benefited from a more sophisticated & painstaking approach to recording music. Peter & David, especially, explored the possibilities of outboard effects devices & ping-pong recording. In the process they invested their music with a density & atmosphere seldom attained in the home recording domain.
For those of you fascinated by technical details, kRkRkRk's primary recording device to mid 1996 was Peter's Fostex X-26 multitracker - a cassette based 4-track recording at normal speed with Dolby B noise reduction & minimal EQing capabilities. The X-26 was eventually retired in favour of David's Tascam 424mkII portastudio. This was a more advanced cassette based 4-track which featured double-speed recording, DBX noise reduction & much enhanced EQ facilities. Currently owned by Peter, it continues to be used for various label projects to the present day!
Following the demise of leonard Nimoy in early '97, kRkRkRk entered its 3rd & present phase where, more than ever, its activities have continued to diversify & evolve.
In their post-Nimoy projects, both Peter & David have tended to de-emphasise rock influences & electronic rhythms in favour of music characterised by formal experimentation, electro-acoustic & atonal textures & an attitude of minimalism & subtlety. These features are particularly evident in music released by Peter, since early 1998, on his Apoplexy label & by David's most recent endeavours with kRkRkRk: The Drawing Room, DiS & BOCCTAHNE.
However, the anarchic experimentalism of TMA-1 has never entirely vanished from the label's ranks. It has continued, unabated, in the music of NoTV - the solo project of J-mz Robinson since 1992, & in the music of Wormwood - the solo project of ex-Nimoy Mikel Goodwin since late 1994. Moreover, this thread of activity has been reinforced recently by the incorporation, into kRkRkRk's catalogue, of selected releases by close associates the Strap Ons - a group whose origins date back to the Dunedin scene of the late 80's! Between mid 2000 & mid 2001, the Strap Ons centrality of Don Gone (Don Campbell) & Nova Technova (Bev Greene) was augmented by J-mz & Mikel. In many respects, the resulting plethora of recordings took kRkRkRk full circle - back to its murky beginnings in the early 90's.
In its current incarnation kRkRkRk is curated (we can't think of a better term) by David Khan (sound engineering, archiving & documentation) & Ed Wilson (website & multimedia activites) - whose label credits include Sedative, BOCCTAHNE & unreleased work with J-mz Robinson dating back to 1995. Extra assistance (mainly in the multimedia department) is provided by Peter Wright & Mikel Goodwin.
The label's pool of instruments & recording gear has grown considerably over the years, although it still remains modest by any professional measure. Most of the actual knobs & faders gear belongs to David, with Ed, Peter & Mikel providing various computer-based (Powerbook & PC) sound recording, editing & mastering facilities. Again, for the technophiles out there, the current primary recording device is a Fostex VF16 digital multitracker which can record 16 tracks of uncompressed 16 bit audio to its internal hard drive. Additional sampling & digital processing facilities are provided by an Ensoniq ASR-10 sampling keyboard. Behringer mic preamps & dynamics processors, Yamaha, Alesis & Peavey effects racks & microphones from AKG, Shure & RODE complete the picture.
kRkRkRk recordings
krkrkrk@hotmail.com
Text by David
Khan. Web-building by Ed Wilson. No apologies for disinformation.
August 2004