48 cameras
are known as an international & musical project of variable geometry (Belgium, Monaco & United Kingdom for now). Some of its members never met the others. During the past years, this co-operative of musicians & non musicians recorded 9 official albums & welcomed guests - mostly via Internet - coming from various countries, cultures & disciplines, guests as Rodolphe Burger, Sandy Dillon, DJ Olive, Michael Gira, Tom Heasley, Gerard Malanga, Charlemagne Palestine, Vesica Piscis, etc. This methodology has led to a kind of domino theory effect creating an ever increasing network of contributors & an ever evolving series of musical accidents. Some of its members also appeared on various side-projects. Thus, David Coulter & Jean Marie Mathoul recorded an album with Charlemagne Palestine & another one with Charlemagne Palestine & Michael Gira.
“I Swear I Saw Garlic Growing under my Father’s Steps” is the ten year old Belgian band’s sixth album release. The band’s personnel have changed with each project. Some interesting collaborations have occurred : Eugene Savitzakaya, Gerard Malanga (Andy Warhol’s assistant at the Factory), Rodolphe Burger & Philippe Poirier (Kat Onoma), DJ Olive (We / Sonic Youth), Michael Gira (Swans / Angels of Light). This international network of artists is a musical project of variable geometry. The eclecticism of the participants has created a hard-to-define yet highly accessible mixed bag of exotic musical styles. The press has described 48 Cameras’ music as: Industrial, psychedelic neo-folk, gothic rock ( ! ), ethnic, Art Rock. Comparisons are often drawn between the work of 48 Cameras & artists as diverse as Swans, Psychic TV, Robert Wyatt, Bill Laswell, Eyeless in Gaza. In 2001, having contributed to previous 48 Cameras albums, English composer / multi-instrumentalist David Coulter (Test Dept, Pogues, Sandy Dillon, Kronos Quartet, etc) offered his services as a virtual member of the group. Coulter has never met the band. Musical elements are exchanged by e-mail, telephone calls & mailed tapes. The same processes apply to the contributions of Michael Gira, Rodolphe Burger & Philippe Poirier. This methodology has led to a kind of domino theory effect creating an ever increasing network of contributors & an ever evolving series of musical accidents. 48 Cameras have never followed a career plan preferring to dwell on the fringes and maintain their outsider approach to the industry. The band has its own modest studio facilities. Here musicians record in an intimate setting, never more than two at a time. Consequently this sixth album took sixteen months to complete. 48 Cameras have their own independent label, Interzone. Future concert performances are under consideration. Previous live events are very few indeed. The band has only ever been seen in public five times before: Paris, Nancy, Brussels (twice) & Liege. Jean Marie Mathoul, the sole survivor of the original line-up, has also recently recorded an album – again by correspondence – with David Coulter & American composer / artist Charlemagne Palestine.
"Our music could be a music written in a foreign language that we would not intend to completely manage"
http://www.myspace.com/fortyeightcameras