This month, the normally down to earth Ben Duncan unveils the existentialist world of Adam Asiz and his flight cased studio.

I was originally a professional sax player, although I'd been classically trained on piano and clarinet, but I very soon realised that however well you could play sax, you weren't going to get very far in the Rock 'n' Roll field. So when I was 22, I took up the guitar and bass, and eventually keyboards and a host of other instruments. I could then begin writing seriously, and the natural extension of that was to get together a home studio, which I have done over the past three or four years.

You've been playing since 1960; what's gone down in the past 25 years?

It all began with the inevitable school band; 'Lavender Blues'. We were offered a contract by Decca, but three of the members couldn't do it. I was really into free Jazz — Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. I ended up in Paris, living in a garrett on the left bank, and I got a job with a violinist called Alan Silva. He used to play with Cecil Taylor, the real godfather of free Jazz, but there was someone involved in the black power 'Mafia' who didn't like me playing esoteric black music. It was still frowned upon then in some underground circles. He later turned up at my flat, kicked the door in, shouted 'Ya Honky! Play no black man's music, steal no money, go an' play y'own song', hit me, and ran off with all my instruments!

So I had to flee Paris. Three months later, I received my insurance money and joined Pure Wings. That lasted about 2½ years. We had a gifted American violinist; Jerry Field, who was snapped up by Curved Air when they won their record contract. After we split up, our manager went on to do publicity for Paul McCartney; that's where the name of his band (Wings) came from! Later on, in the seventies, I joined the Foundations. Then I did a couple of tours for Edwin Starr. At a NATO base in Naples I remember 2000 coloured sergeants going against the stage joining in: 'Whoah! What iss eet goot for? — Absolutely nuffin!' They loved it. There are numerous people I've sessioned or played with for a while, like the Only Ones on their second album. I was going to join the band, but it didn't really happen. A couple of years ago, I played with the Members on sax, then I went out as a duo with Zimbabwe musician, Mataya Clifford. I was playing drum box with my left hand, and synth with my right, meanwhile Mataya was playing guitar and singing. Recently, I did a recording with Marianne Faithful. We wrote a song together, just after her recent album, over the backing track to my Ju-Ju song, which had been recorded sometime before. Having a backing track already there and ready for action made things easy.

But of course, in reality, music is hard work. Unless you've a continuous well of pure enthusiasm to draw upon, you're in for a big surprise when you get into music seriously!

Gear

Your home recording equipment's a little unusual in that most of it's in a flightcase; perhaps you'd like to explain?

This particular set up is designed to fit into a couple of flightcases, so it's no mere home studio, but also a 'gig machine'. If whilst on the road, I happen to have two or three days spare, I can just the roadies to bring the flightcases up to my hotel room, and carry on writing and producing en route! Apart form the gigging aspect, you've time to prepare yourself, so when you go into a studio, you get the arrangements right.

On top of the rack, there's a 4-track Fostex multitracker which I bought second hand for £420. It seems to have solved all the problems that bugged the Teac. It's so good that the only problem is that you have to prop the machine up to read the VU meters. Obviously the sweep controls on the 8-track mixer are a lot better, but I have an Accessit sweep equaliser to help out. It's a bit hissy when you turn it up, but otherwise invaluable. I'm particularly keen on using it to chop out the 'whallop' on drum machines. This trick means you can get more overall bass down on tape. The Accessit EQ is also very good for setting up the master's level; getting it into peak condition to stave off as much as possible the loss of quality — treble, in particular — with each generation.

Altogether, I've got three Accessit effects units. They're very good for the money but as with all outboard gear, you've got to watch the slight tendency to use them just because they're available. I tend to use effects in a vocal track set-up. From the insert point, I go out to the Accessit limiter and then a Korg SDD3000 delay. The frequency response, which goes up to 18kHz, is outstanding, but more important for live work, it beats the competition by having ten memories accessible through a footswitch. The stereo output of this machine goes back into tracks one and two via the Accessit sweep equaliser. The third Accessit unit is a reverb, which I use on other inserts. Then below the Korg digital delay is the nerve centre; my Fostex phono patchboard. It's the fraction of the cost of a real brass mini-jack number and providing your phono leads are in good condition, it's perfectly reliable: the secret is to make up the leads yourself.

At the bottom of the rack, I've got a custom built 4-channel MOSFET power amp — two stereo amps totalling 900 Watts in one tiny 19" case. The first pair of (300 Watt) amps drive Turbosound TMS2 cabinets which were designed by Tony Andrews, a designer at Turbosound in the late 60s when he was experimenting with pyramid speakers and doing festival PAs. Apparently his new 10" speaker outperforms even JBLs: he's the foremost English speaker innovator who's coming up with all the new ideas for the 80s, and giving the Americans a run for their money. I've tried a lot of speakers, and the thing about the TMS2 is that it outperforms everything in so many respects. It's hard to think of any other speaker which sounds good for playing records, has the loudness and accuracy and subtlety needed for studio monitoring and retains all these characteristics without running out of steam when you use it as a PA speaker in a large building.

The other half of the amp is 150 + 150 watts for my stage monitors, consisting of a 10" driver (ported for bass), plus another 10" (for mid), plus horn, custom built for me by Tony.

One of the many amazing aspects of this set-up is the synergy between the TMS2s and the MOSFET amplification. The sound remains crystal clear at all levels, and even when you know the amp's well into clipping, the distortion is practically inaudible (if you can stand that sort of sound level)!

Through all this I play a Korg MS10. Apart from not having memories, it's an incredibly versatile instrument, and I'd recommend one to anyone as a good way to learn synth. Then there's a Korg KR55 drum machine that you can leap in and play it on the spot. On the other hand, after two years, some of the drum-rolls drive me up the wall!

All this gear was bought from the Rockshop in Camden town. Jack, the shop's manager, is an old acquaintance of mine, having been with Sound City when I was in Pure Wings. He knows how to create the relaxed atmosphere that's necessary for a musician on the long hunt for something good.

These electronic instruments aside, there's my acoustic guitar, and the trusty Strat, tenor and alto sax (both acoustic and electric versions of), together with my collection of woodwind. One particularly unusual instrument is this bamboo Thon (or flute) which was made for me by an itinerant German, in the middle of Holland park!

I also play descant, treble and tenor recorder; oddly enough, I play the Blues on these...

Concepts

Tell us about the ideas upon which your musicianship is based.

Sometimes I think of music as a relationship of textures. Of course, all the techniques of classical harmony are part of one's armoury, but going beyond that, there's a muse up there for every sound. So if you commit yourself to being a musician, I regard that as dedicating oneself to 'polishing up one's lens so that one can shine through it, and materialise the music of the spheres.

Since I've been getting into production, it's helped to think of sound in visual terms. I mix spacially. It's very much a four dimensional spectrum, and I try to place things within it when I'm mixing.

Most people only hear 30 per cent of what they could do. They also get drawn into focusing on some areas at the expense of others; it's the old syndrome of turning up the bass. You can always tell a proper musician from the fact that they're really keen on hearing the high treble as well. You don't get the 'notes within the notes' that contain the magic.

Magic also arises from contrast, for instance, by playing acoustic and electronic instruments against one another, one can bring out the other; apparently everyone has rediscovered that just recently. The contrast can also be one of dynamics, textures, spacial qualities, timbre and pitch.

I've taken time out to visit monasteries. I realised a long time ago, that unless you felt something, and had something as a person, it didn't really matter how good you were as a musician — you had nothing to say. I suppose having read various esoteric things, one tries to be humble about things. But I think for a long time I've been overhumble; so now's the time for a change.

Isn't it somewhat arcadian to put an explicit cosmic message across with music in 1983?

I won't talk about the muses directly. In lyrics, the point is to generate lateral thinking, which when combined with the music allows people to arrive at conclusions for themselves. So it's their own — and they've partaken of the whole process. It's no good simply saying 'this is where it's at man'. The audience will just tell you to get off, and I agree. I don't want to preach to anyone but at the same time, the world's in a mess, so what's the point of being alive? Maybe there are some essential truths that you can pass on.

Production

Getting onto production, in comparison to studio work, with home recording, your threshold of compromise is severely reduced. There are two schools of thought. You can record everything flat and dry, adding everything electronically at a later stage — even the ambience. If it's done correctly, you end up with very clean, clinical results. Otherwise you can mike up room ambience and use the natural acoustic environment. With the Korg SDD3000 I've got enough control, at least as regards the ambience to opt for the first method and achieve excellent results nearly every time.

Normally, I build up a rhythm section with a drum machine on track one, synthesised bass on two, live percussion on three, bouncing down to track four whilst guitar and synth (or whatever) are recorded on track four. Having had a lot of experience with 2" tapes in professional studios, I don't think you can do more than one bounce on the Fostex before the results become unacceptable.

For middle instrumentation, or backing vocals, I record on tracks one and two, then bounce onto 3. This leaves space for the live vocals to go direct in stereo via the Fostex onto the cassette machine (with the backing tracks already mixed in) for maximum clarity and impact. Tha only problem is that you often end up needing a spare pair of hands, otherwise you're singing and mixing at the same time!

I'm just about to go out and start doing some live shows on my own. Gigs pay so badly nowadays that the opportunity to use all my home recording gear to do a one man show is really forced upon me by economics.

You said you'd worked as a duo, but not as the vocalist. How's your voice?

I've been singing on and off for ten years. I think I'll develop fast by diving in at the deep end. The things I'll have to grasp for this new venture are esoteric. They're to do with stage presence, and questions about what I have to offer, and whether this is 'my moment'. These things happen in cycles. If you miss the opportunity, then you've got to wait, say, seven years before it comes around again!

Playing alone with this gig machine (points to rack) is a bit worrying. I'm very aware of the interaction that happens between 2 or more musicians, and it's going to be hard summoning up the spirit by oneself. I've been dithering for a long time now on how to do the show. I'm thinking of having the rhythm section as a bounce down of tracks one to four and having tracks one and two bounced down to track three, leaving the first pair of tracks open for the live show, using the Fostex as my PA mixer. Occasionally, this would be interspersed with live acoustic guitar and then using a remote control pedal, I can suddenly bring in the backing. Live acoustic instruments are handy in that they can distract attention from the tape, and any shortcomings it may have.

Recognising the strengths of producing music by oneself by playing all the instruments, Adam has extended the home studio concept into the field of live performance. Of course, this is a financially valuable angle for the home studio owner who wants to expand, but who isn't already a star with lots of money to lavish on exotic gear; so success on this level spells the means to get together a more sophisticated home studio set-up, and that's just what Adam will be doing.