STANO
Producer – composer artist
“Lyrically and philosophically,
if Sam Beckett was around today,
I’d say he’d fancy a spell in the studio
doing spoken word with Stano.”
– HOTPRESS
MUSIC
IN BETWEEN SILENCE
ART
About Stano
Irish artist Stano has been a recording artist and composer since the early ‘80’s. With 24 albums (released on Berlin label ‘Dossier’, Independent labels ‘Scoff’, ‘Food Records’ London, ‘Egg Records’ Greece, ‘Hue’ and ‘Loscann’ and the debut album for U2’s Mother Records), numerous singles and film soundtracks to his credit. He is regarded as a true innovator, with an intense understanding of sonic structure and always ahead of his time.
Stano has a unique take on music production, he collaborates with musicians from all genres. His music is a hybrid of musical styles so if you’re looking for originality, Stano’s music has it all, beautiful melodies, powerful rhythms, other worldly layers and textures and extremely visual.
Stano’s paintings have been described as a visual representation of his music, detailed, layered and textured. Aged 18 he began to paint oil on wood, he was an apprentice cabinet maker at the time and used the offcuts of wood to create sculptures and paintings.
His first exhibition was in the Project Arts Centre, Dublin in 1982 which coincided with the release of his first solo single ‘Room’. The visual side of his performances utilised backing tracks, film (Buñuel and Dali) and performance art.
“A multi-talented operator, Stano’s contribution to Irish rock cannot in any way be ignored. He is the first Irish rock artist to play the studio like an instrument, the first to allow intuition with regard to electronics, sound and chance occurrences to govern his output.”
DAVE SEGAL – ALTERNATIVE+PRESS – USA
In his own words…
I come from the Punk ethos of no rules, you can do whatever you want and this is the way
I’ve always worked. The studio is where I really come alive, working with musicians. I’ve
never set out to write a particular song, they’ve always just evolved in the studio and I’ve let
them become whatever they’ve needed to become.
Music for me is about atmosphere, creating moods and emotions and dreamscapes in your
mind. I’m not really interested in structure, I just let the song go where it wants to go. It’s
very similar to painting where you start off with a blank canvas, apply paint and react to that
first splash of colour, mixing it with another, even though it’s purposeful, you’re working it,
but it’s a happenchance. I think the accident is the most important thing for me in my work
as it’s something that connects with me. So when people ask me to explain what a song or a
piece is about, it’s impossible because it was just a moment in time that happened maybe a
few years ago or a few weeks ago, whenever, and it’s just there like magic. I suppose when
I’m working I’m just in the moment focusing on the feel of the combination of sounds. It’s
like when I was an apprentice carpenter, you’re learning your skill as you go along. At the
very start when making a piece of furniture you’re doing it step by step and as you
accumulate knowledge, you’re not analysing what you’re doing, you’re just making. It’s the
only way I can explain what I do. I never analyse the tracks, I finish a piece and I try to move
on in a different direction, as repeating myself never really interests me, or making music
for a particular market or style, then you’re just making product.
Over the years you develop and change, but the essence of where I came from hasn’t
changed. It’s that naivety and wonder, the unexpected sounds, the clash of ideas when two
polar opposite sounds come together and make sense. Capturing the spontaneity of the
moment. My friend the photographer John Minihan says “if you can’t get the photograph in
6 frames it’s not going to happen”, over working the idea destroys it. To me nature is
random, it’s like when a photographer is walking down a street, what makes them stop to
capture that moment, that’s how I am in the studio, you can’t explain it, it’s an instinct. The
studio is a magical, special place, hours disappear in what seems like split seconds, it’s the
most amazing instrument of them all.
To me music can be anything, the music for my story collection In Between Silence is like a
replacement for the crackle of the fire, from when people sat around the hearth telling
stories. I remember being struck by what John Cage said when he was being interviewed in
New York, he said you just have to open the window to hear the music of the sound of the
city. In essence that’s always been at the core of my work.
