10 Questions with Jeff Bujak
By: Aaron Z. Lee
I recently had the opportunity to correspond with Jeff Bujak, a composer and instrumentalist who specializes in progressive electronica who is originally from Syracuse, but now resides in Northampton, Massachusetts.
1. You started playing the piano when you were 7, what drew you in about the piano then?
When I was seven, I was such a spaz that I’m not sure anyone took me seriously and especially when I said that I wanted to play piano and that I promised to practice everyday. But, with the great support of my family, I kept my promise. I’m not really sure why I chose piano or why I wanted to play it. The cliché would say “it chose me,” but music runs through my whole family’s blood, so it was inevitable that I would love music. I just wanted to make my own.
2. You taught yourself to play the guitar, how did that come about?
Every boy at 13 wants to play guitar. One was always available to me, so curiosity led me to transposing some of my pieces to guitar. I formed, joined and accidentally fell into many bands as guitarist, but I quickly learned that nothing is better than having all 88 notes laid out for you. I felt a little trapped playing guitar. But I also could see how it can be addicting. Strumming strings that echo in a wooden chamber against your chest can be a good experience. I just prefer using more strings and a bigger wooden chamber.
3. You’ve played in a lot of different bands and genres, was this for the love of playing music or were you looking for your niche in the world of music? Or both?
I like to test music and dissect it. And what better way to test and dissect than to actually create it yourself and then tear it apart.
4. You play a one man show, how do you arrange your music? What parts do you usually play live, or do you switch which parts you want to play?
All songs start in the studio for me. I program all my own beats and create them to accompany piano pieces that I write. I form a whole song and record it. I then just take the beats and break them up into small samples. I rearrange these samples, add new parts, flow in and out of other beat samples from other songs and play live music to them. My left hand always covers the bass lines and my laptop only runs the beats, rhythms and audio samples. My right hand takes care of all soloing, melodies, effect modulation and the layering of different sounds. My feet control the light rig I use, the volume pedals, the sustain pedals and trigger controllers. I have complete freedom to play anything I want to these beat samples without any communication or consultation with others. It’s quite a fun process.
5. Out of all the genres that you’ve worked with in the past you choose to write in a progressive electronic style, why is this?
I love progressive music for its excuse to ask “why not” instead of “why” when it comes to writing the music. Nobody judges progressive music for being too different. I love electronic music for its infinite possibilities. You can currently create almost any tone digitally and technology is getting even better everyday. Put the two together and it’s creates a style that creates more questions than answers, and I seem to like that.
6. Is there a genre that you’ve worked with in the past that you’d like to revisit that’s not progressive electronica?
I still play occasionally in a couple of bands that are very far from my current endevour’s style and it’s a nice break to connect on that side once and a while. But overall, I feel that I still have much more to learn about my own music so it keeps me intrigued. Expect much more prog electronica out of me before you see me try a prog metal project, but it will happen eventually.
7. In the list of equipment you use in your live show you don’t use an apple lap top like so many other live electronica acts. Why is this?
I started building PCs in early 2000 and I’ve learned to build a great machine. I’m just a Windows XP kind of guy. I never made the transition to Mac because I never felt that I needed to. I understand and am comfortable with PC language and how/why things work. Most of all, I’ve never felt that I was limited with my PC. I always find a way to do what I want.
8. Out of all your instruments, equipment and gadgets that you use in your music, which one is your favorite to use?
My 1974 Fender Rhodes Stage 73 electric piano is my favorite to use for reasons beyond words.
9. You use samples in your music, to you what makes a good sample and how do you get permission to use them in your music?
I never use audio samples on my studio albums; I only use them live where covers, sampling and audio replication is covered by rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI. For the legality of it, search “sampling (music)” on Wikipedia. It’s very fascinating (to me). I’ve read it back and forth to make sure I don’t do anything illegal, even though music sampling industry lawsuits sometimes spawn great exposure. Most of the time, when I use samples of other people’s music, I use it as an accent to my music and not as a basis to the song. Sometimes when I write a new beat progression, it reminds me of another song from my history. If I feel that it would fit, I like to add the sample to somewhat pay homage to my influences and what songs paved my history. One time, I created a bassline that was very similar to the famous Thriller bassline. So, I decided to go with it and use the Thriller sample to the beat that I wrote for this bassline that I created. In fact, I list every sample that I use live on my compositions page of my website. “There are no new ideas, there are only new ways of making them felt.” (- Audre Lorde) As far as finding a good sample, I feel that when done appropriately, any sample can be manipulated enough to be cool.
10. Drawing from all the projects that you’ve done, and your first solo album, where do you see your music going? Particularly on your upcoming album?
I don’t know where it may go, but I know that I will stay true to what I believe about music and I will always look to other musicians to provide solid music for me to learn from. At least for now, I can see more keyboards being used live, more computers running loopers and beats, more lights and much more of what I haven’t done in the past. I live for the excitement in music. As long as there is more to learn about music, I will be playing it. The new album will be my first venture into “over-production.” I’m not concerned about live performance on this recording. My past 2 discs have been centered on “if I can’t play it live, I won’t record it.” All of the songs on this new album are actually songs that I’ve written and have been playing live for the last year, but done studio style. Check out a full new track at www.jeffbujak.com/spine. Bam! I just had to spam the interview. Thank you for the intriguing questions, Aaron. But, I’m sure I just added more questions than I did answers. I have a tendency to do that.
