From Humboldt County, California, comes Ensemble Economique, the psychedelic solo project of Brian Pyle of Starving Weirdos and RV Paintings. Powered by the freedom and isolation of his environment, Pyle uses found sounds and field recordings to create brooding electronic music that taunts the senses with its dense atmospherics. We caught up with Pyle to talk his recent LP Fever Logic on Not Not Fun and how falling out of love inspired the video for the lead single, “We Come Spinning Out of Control.” Check out the exclusive BULLETT premiere of the mesmerizing clip, below.
You recently released your deeply introspective EP Fever Logic. Describe the process. What kind of state were you in when you made this?
I was in a very raw and honest place, my heart fully open. I was coming out of a very long relationship and it really produced this state of hyper-creativity and deep desire to express. I felt very emotionally tuned-in and the music just flowed very naturally.
Your music is electronic, but composed far beyond the reigns of a laptop. How has working so intimately in nature and with found recordings changed or diversified your understanding of the studio?
It has very much expanded my sense of what’s possible in the studio. Nature is transcendent, it’s pure drama. Sometimes nature is the perfect undercurrent to a track, helping shape the scene and what [I’m] trying to express.
Let’s discuss the video for “We Come Spinning Out Of Control.” Watching it is like being awake during the most hauntingly beautiful fever dream. In this song, does “spinning out of control” allude to falling in love, as the video might suggest? What inspired you to write this song?
Rad, that’s a great description. The video definitely has some ‘hauntingly beautiful fever dreams’ vibes for sure. The Romanian artist PIK did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the track, amazingly so. I really love the vid. For me, the song captures both sides of the love spectrum — falling out of love/falling in love. The inspiration was most definitely the falling out of love side of things and the beauty of that sadness, all the moments shared, the nostalgia. The track itself speaks to the intensity of love itself, its drama, its roller coaster feelings, up and down, spinning you this way and that.
You backpacked through Scandinavia, Europe, and Russia not once, but twice this year. Why twice, and what was your most eye-opening discovery?
Yeah, rolled over there a handful of times. I really just wanted to travel, share my music, have some adventure, new experiences. I love Europe so much — the culture, the warmth, the vibes. I made great new friends and saw and experienced so much. The most eye-opening discovery would be just how common we all are — no matter where you go, folks are just living, working, drinking, trying to be happy. The human experience is indeed borderless.
What does the future hold for you and your musical endeavors?
The future seems so far away. I’ve got some cool releases coming and a tour with the french bands Opale and BCBG. We start in New York at the Market Hotel on August 18th and end at the Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn on Sept. 2nd. Musically, I hope to just keep on doing what I’m doing — making music that’s as honest as possible, something that folks can hopefully connect with.
ENSEMBLE ECONOMIQUE – We Come Spinning Out Of Control from PɨK on Vimeo.