BlankFor.ms
Photo by, Bryan Bisordi
Meet BlankFor.ms
Ready to take a deep dive into a sonic landscape that confuses and simultaneously soothes the hell out of you? BlankFor.ms comes in strong with a stunning soundscape of instrumental recordings, improvising and composing with varied instruments to transport you to different dimensions. It’s a RIDE.
Below, we talk to this musical wizard about his most notable fan, the creativity within NYC, and his favorite, favorite, FAVORITE animal.
A self-portrait by BlankFor.ms
Would You Rather
have the power to make things you touch turn invisible or shrink?
I have so many questions. Can I undo what I do? Do the shrunken things remain functional? Can I control exactly how shrunken? I'm leaning toward shrinking things, mostly to help organize my apartment.
Some questions with BlankFor.ms
What was the most memorable experience you have had with a fan of your music?
Pete Townshend messaged me yesterday to say he's a fan. That was pretty fucking memorable.
Do you have a grail of gear that you have been looking at?
As in something I desperately want? Yeah, endlessly. Always. Forever. I try not to give in, I have plenty. I could work every day and never master what I have already. But, in the spirit of continued gear weakness...I'd love to have a stereo Nagra reel to reel. And a Moog Matriarch. And everything made by Joranalogue.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I wish we could re-contextualize live musical performance, and remove the dominance of bar venues who's incentive is often the margin on their alcohol sales. I'd love to see music find a place in most people's wellness practice, possibly connected with meditation and mindfulness. But, of course, everybody has ideas. I don't have any answers as for how to make this happen.
Since moving to NYC have you found the musical community fosters creativity?
Yes, definitely. There are so many fellow musicians to collaborate with. It can be difficult of course, there are only so many opportunities available here and it can sometimes feel as though you are competing with your peers. But on the overall everyone is eager to create something new, something genuinely exciting.
On your page, you encourage people that buy your latest release “Works for Tape and Piano” To use, sample, edit the music to make new things. Have you ever come across music that has been made from an album you had produced?
I haven't actually encouraged anything more than social media posting of reworks of my records, but maybe you are thinking of my sample packs? With those, on the other hand, I've fully endorsed usage and sharing. My samples have been placed in a good number of releases, like this Death Cab remix. I haven't randomly happened upon a usage yet, people usually tell me.
What are your top five favorite animals?
1 my cat 2 my cat 3 my cat 4 my cat 5 my cat
My cat is awesome.
Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)
In my quarantine free time I started playing Monument Valley 2, and am blown away by the music and sound design. I realize I'm late in this discovery, but this game as a musical experience is so great. So inspiring. I want to make a game now.