With classic clips under the belt for the likes of Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, Prefuse 73, Mira Calix, Plaid & Anti-Pop Consortium – Warp Records obviously enjoy a certain amount of audiovisual notoriety. They’ve decided to push things along a step further, by developing a Warp Films division ( www.warpfilms.com ). They’ve had one succesful short film DVD release, are currently in development of it’s first feature ( Shane Meadows ) and have an enviable roster of directors working with them on future projects. A selection of these clips and directors are screening now @ The Melbourne International Film Festival and WarpFilms manager, and from a noisy London train, manager Mark Herbert detailed their plans.

How did the shift to Warp films come about?
Well, it’s been a fairly organic process – we’ve always working with videoclip makers, and then liasing with a lot of filmmakers for soundtracks. A lot of directors are very frustrated with the lack of creative control, which is where we thought we could come in – offering film-makers a complete creative control the same way we do with our sound artists. The technology has also become much cheaper

Is your own background in film?
Yeah, I worked my way up slowly from being a location manager, to various things, then I worked on a really big cult TV series over here – Phoenix 9, and started helping Warp out with various film projects, and then at some point I became full-time – thinking that what was happening here was a very different approach and very exciting compared to my other jobs. And I produced the Chris Morris DVD – My Wrongs.

How has that gone? ( Warpfilm’s first release )
Really well – we’ve sold 18,000 copies of it, which is really good for a DVD of a short film. You can make a small film and still get return. DVD’s are selling huge amounts over here now, and I think people are getting really good quality audio and visual set-ups at home, so it’s easier to get cutting edge AV out there, instead of trying to get it into the multiplexes. Film editors used to have to sell their soul to get things done, but that’s changing.

What are the parallels and differences between developments in audio and visual manipulation?
In some respects the video has been 10 years behind, but I think it’s all going to catch up and even out in the next 3-4 years. I think the secret is when things become consumer products – and now you’ve got Final Cut Pro as a fully functional edit suite on a home computer, which costs a fraction of what it would cost to before – I mean you can have a home studio now, develop your own ideas, spend a year in post production at home, and it’s not costing you a million pounds – and you’re away – there’s so much room for creativity now, it’s a really exciting time for film.

How does Warps’ curation of films relate to how it chooses music to release?
We’re a separate division really, so it’s just separate what we do. We’re certainly not going down the techno route or anything, not sci-fi or heavy on technology or post-production, just because we’ve released electronic music. Some of the artists are shooting on 16mm, and really I guess the way it relates is just because we share the same ethos of giving creative control. The Shane Meadows film we have coming up is just about raw, improvisational acting really.

What is Chris Cunningham doing with you now?
He’s at the final edit stage of a short film now, which should be finished in about 3 months, and this will be part of an overall DVD which will have a series of his shorts, and a whole range of collaborations – with the likes of Aphex Twin, some of Chris’s own music, and the DVD will be really groundbreaking – it’ll really let you play with it – you can play with the visuals, play with the music – it’s going to fully utilise the DVD technology.

Chris has always been doing a lot of projects, but not always seeing them through because of all of the what can be involved, so he liked the idea of doing something more with us where he had complete control.

Any news on his Neuromancer ( sci-fi novel by William Gibson ) feature?
Chris has been working on lots of other things outside of Warp, but I’m not sure where he’s at with Neuromancer at the moment to be honest.

Other potential Warpfilm directors are listed online as Asia Argento & Jarvis Cocker?
Well, yeah we’re just talking with them – Asia is interested, and Jarvis is such a good storyteller, I hope we can work something out with him.

What was your favourite clip of the warp-animate-comp clips?
Do you know the Pleix one where there are all these pigs in the boardroom? I really liked that one, because it was just so unusual.

The Warp Collection screens Tue July 29, & Morvern Callar (with a warp-fused soundtrack in the plot ( it’s a mixtape mystery )) on Sun July 27, Fri Aug 8
See www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au for booking details, and a fat collection of other movies, animations, experimental shorts and strange features.

MIFF 2006 Review:
MIFF 2005 Review
MIFF 2004 Review

Drunken guy warbles up to me at a party and slurs : “Do you know my PIN number?”. I pissed myself, and he was taking the piss – but at the heart of my laughter lurked a fear of memory loss and the ever fragmenting attention spans that curse this century. Here’s a step course to reclaiming your attention span.

Step 1: Admit You Have a Memory Problem
Politicians often have trouble remembering meetings they’ve had with multinational corporations, or briefings about issues of national importance, so perhaps a toy doll of a reputable leader placed beside your bed, might aid acceptance of your problems. For example, the 12″ Action Figure of George W. Bush – U.S. President, which features a realistic head sculpt, fully detailed cloth flight suit, helmet with oxygen mask, survival vest, g-pants, parachute harness and much more. The realism and exacting attention to detail demanded by today’s 12-inch action figure enthusiast are met and exceeded with this action figure.

Step 2 : Make Sense of The World
Pattern recognition is much more difficult if you’re feeding on white noise. memory.jpgThis much is well understood by Takaratoys from Japan – who have cleverly turned their voice reognition research to the canine world, and produced Bowlingual, a device for translating dog barks. The hapless dog wears a device on their neck – and when it whimpers, this noise is analysed and a message comes out on the owners electronic pad – suggesting what the dog may have meant. It also delivers a summary of the day’s barks, letting you know how your dog’s day has been while you slaved away at the sausage factory. A similar device for cats has taken much longer to develop because of the relatively increased complexity of those moodies. And the meowlingual has recently been usurped by the Babylingual which was claimed on a Korean news web page to ‘translate the baby’s cry for an elementary mama’ and ’shows a baby’s feeling by five, a hungry feeling, sleepiness, stress, and inconvenient, and the degree of correctness exceeds 90%’.

Step 3: Optimise Your Information Intake
Obviously, you need an Internet Toilet Roll Browser. Seriously – there’s a gadget that allows you to search the Internet whilst sitting on the toilet and print out any pages you are interested in on your toilet roll. No sheet~!

Step 4: Externalise Memory Wherever Possible
How? Keep a Phonecam Blog. Remember – just like you won’t forget any phone numbers as long as they’re stored in a machine, you can also store endless trivial, banal and mundane details online. And so a blog is like a ‘web-log’, a freqeuently updated online diary of sorts. And for those with phonecams, coders amongst us have figured a way to enable a photo from your phone to go directly to a webpage. Example phone diary = www.buffoonery.org, joi or even www.audblog.com – which lets you publish audio from your phone – a feat also accomplished by the www.indymedia.org kids at last year’s Woomera refugee detention protests. Free software for uploading your mobile phone photography >> textamerica
And memory challenged Djs can email a scratch here to a robot that scratches based on your message >>
scratchrobot.com

Step 5: Remix a Mammoth
Now that they’ve got cats and dogs sorted out, Japanese scientists are seeking to clone prehistoric woolly mammoths, and are currently preparing their first frozen DNA samples in a bid to bring the beasts back to life. Remnants of what scientists think is from mammoth bone marrow, muscle and skin were unearthed last August in the Siberian tundra where they had been preserved in ice for thousands of years. Researchers at the Gifu Science and Technology Center and Kinki University want to use the genetic material encased within the cells to clone a wooly mammoth, but there’s a few catches – they need to determine whether the five specimens are really from mammoths, and whether the DNA locked inside is well enough preserved for cloning to proceed. And I’m guessing – finding the right elephant with a hair fetish?

How many monkeys does it take to change a lightbulb in a ski-lift? Evolutionary theorists would suppose that if we put enough monkeys in enough ski-lifts, eventually they’re be a set of monkeys carving the hillside, flapping their furry tails in the wind. Given this might take a while, and as we still have some snow in the country, cast your mind to the humble penguin – much more adept in snow matters, and mascot for the linux operating system. Now try and imagine a penguin atop a Microsoft Xbox, hurtling down Thredbo’s gnarliest runs, as Michael Steil explains the Xbox Linux Project :

Bill Gates wanted to ‘amaze people with the power’ in the Xbox. Why should people modify it to run linux?
To be able to use the power that Bill Gates promised and the Xbox Linux Project has fulfilled. Sure, the Xbox is a great piece of hardware when playing games, but when I am given a BMW and I’m told that it is no car, but that it is a small apartment for up to four people, I’d start using it as a car – wouldn’t everyone? The Xbox is not a gaming console that has to be modified in order to run Linux, but it is an IBM PC that Microsoft has locked so that it does _not_ run Linux. The user only has to remove this lock. An Xbox running Linux can be used as a desktop computer, a thin client or a server, but you can still use it for games and run Linux to view your MPEG4/DivX.

What are the steps involved to make it happen?
The easiest way at the moment is to rent the game “MechAssault” for a day, as well as a USB stick. Using the USB stick, you have to copy a modified savegame to the Xbox hard disk and run the game – done. Now your Xbox still runs games, but the lock has been removed. Another way is quite similar, but it requires you to solder two points on the motherboard. But as you have the Xbox open already, you can replace the hard disk with a larger one, if you like…

Is it legal, or do you believe it should legal to modify the Xbox hardware?
We believe that everyone may do whatever they like with their hardware, at least as long as it is for their personal use. I bought the BMW, remember, and now you tell me that I am allowed to sleep in it, but not to drive it??

Are Microsoft taking any steps to challenge Xbox modifiers?
Microsoft has always locked out Linux with the same methods they locked out copied games. Therefore it is hard to say whether their improved security is aimed against Linux, against copied games, or both. Microsoft keeps updating the Xbox security system in small steps.

Are there ways of running linux without modifying the hardware?
See above. I admit, it’s a new trick. [The final howto will be published within a few days.]

How well does the Xbox perform with linux? ( with say games, multimedia, internet ? or compared to an equivalent pc? )
The Xbox needn’t be “compared” to a PC, because all of its components are taken from the PC world. The Xbox is a Mobile Celeron III at 733 MHz with 64 MB or RAM (expandable to 128 MB), a GeForce 3/4, a 8 or 10 GB hard disk, a DVD drive and Ethernet and USB connectivity. It performs just as well as a PC with this data.

Why not target the much more widespread Playstation for conversion?
Linux already exists for the Playstation 2. Sony sells a kit consisting of a hard disk, a network card, a keyboard and a mouse, which costs about the same as the console itself; so the system costs twice as much as an Xbox running Linux – and it’s not PC combatible, i.e. standard software does not run out of the box on the Playstation 2.

How many Xboxes do you think are running linux now?
Our estimates are above 200,000.

Where do you want to go ( with the Xbox Linux Project) today?
Today, we want to make removing the Xbox’s Linux lock even easier, we want to create some specialized Linux systems for special purposes, and we want to get our code into standard distributions. So much for today…

Fledgling attempts over the last few years to build one of the world’s largest freak magnets, seems to be finally paying off for Disinformation. Intended as an online porthole to subversive information, and a way to ‘use new media to make money from old media’, founder Richard Metzger has managed to spin-off books: ‘Abuse your Illusions’, ‘Everything you know is Wrong’, ‘You are being lied to’, and an ‘Invisibles’ reader, a Tv series: mash of sex, drugs and conspiracy for UK screens, and a corresponding DVD (shown recently at the Melb.underground film fest, and available online). Meet Richard:

I gather the Disinfo show documents your interests well – but what are you particularly fascinated by right at the moment?
Charles Ludlam, the founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company who died at 44 from AIDS during the late 80’s. There is great new biography out about him and it’s just an amazing story and much of it takes place during a time in New York when I was living there. Ludlam was a totally singular man, a true mutant/freak, but a genius as well. This book “Riculous”: by David Kauffman tells the story of an entire era and scene thru the lifetime of one man and it’s just a great read. I’ve been collecting Ludlam artifacts now wherever I can find them.

And I’ve been reading a lot of those “new school” books on the life of the “real” Jesus, from what they can *really* tell and these “lost books of the Bible” things. Fascinating. “The Book of Enoch” is the one that’s really the most interesting because of how, uh, “real” it seems. To explain what I mean by that, it’s full of details that stand out and give it a unique “context” for a document of that vintage. It’s also been stepped on a whole lot less by translators and this gives it more authenticity as well.

What sort of UK-TV feedback have u had for the Disinfo show?
The ratings were strong. This show followed “Alley McBeal” for the first season and it often had more viewers than she did. One guy wrote in to Channel 4 that my show was promoting dangerous ideas for yourg people. He was quite sincere and I think that he was “correct” from his perspective, too. He didn’t go overboard and I couldn’t find fault with his logic, although I disagreed with him.

Why can’t Disinfo be shown in the US?
It could be shown here, but only on HBO or Showtime. I *knew* that the SCI FI Channel couldn’t air this thing. I can’t believe that they bought it from us. Here’s the funny thing: They paid for it, the check cleared and THEN they watched it and freaked out. Thanks, guys!

Which of your interviewees surprised you the most?
I don’t know. No one really. I always knew what I was going to get going in pretty much. Many of the people in the show are personal friends. Most are in fact or it was someone I knew about for a while like “Rocketboy” –I met him almost 10 years ago– or Mr. Awesome who was described to a “T” by Adam Parfry in Apocalypse Culture II and genersouly supplied his phone number.. Uncle Goddamn is pretty surprising I guess!

As a New Yorker, your take on the ‘war on terror’ and the rash of patriotism?
Well, how would you feel if a bunch of fucking religous fanatics took out 3000 people in Melbourne?

How has the NY arts scene changed / responded since S11?
It hasn’t at all except that sales are sluggish at all the galleries. It was briefly much easier to get laid for a short time after, that I was told (I live in LA now). Apparently *much* easier. Nothing much happens of interest in New York anymore anyways. It’s too expensive for artists to live there. All the bohemians live in LA now.

What’s the Disinfo – John Safran connection?
My business partner knows his manager and he told us about the McDonald’s piece that John had done that the ABC refused to air. I was in complete hysterics when I saw it. John has to be one of the funniest people on the planet. Hopefully someone here will see him on our DVD and want to hire him to do a US or Brit TV series. Everyone should know about him, he could be the Ali G of Oz. Respeck.

A Disinfo website, cable tv slot, BBC series, books & DVD – what’s next?
A theme park! Just more. More Disinformation. I would like to do a version of this new occult book that I am doing now as a limited edition art book. It’s called “Book of Lies” and I’d like to a leather-bound version of it on rice paper, laid out like a King James Bible in a special slip cover and with an original piece of art inside.

Apparently the reaction time of some birds is measurably quicker when they are flying as part of a flock, as opposed to solo. Same goes for guys in flock, if you’ve seen the documentary about Annabel Chong having sex with 250 guys in 10 hours. That’s an average of 144 seconds per guy, quite a brisk reaction time. Square root of 144 is 12 – exactly the number of totally fascinating people on the screen at MUFF – the 2003 Melbourne Underground Film Festival. If you can’t make the festival – check muff.com.au for a bird’s eye view.

One – Jay Katz and Miss Death
Actually one person with two very distinct and charming personalities. Proudly based in Sydney, they have nonetheless been lured South to present a program of 16mm film and video that displays the manipulation of the media from the beginning of Television in the 20th century up to the recent Iraqi war. Also known for the’Sounds of Seduction’ extravaganzas, the infamous Mu-Meson band, seminal experimenters SPK, and nurturing a crazy archive of long-forgotten films, records and other forms of media you wouldn’t recognise.

Two – Craig Baldwin
Bunkers down in San Francisco, below a cinema so the story goes, and crafts together crazy cut n paste cinematic offerings that if you must thread them together, offer a ‘found footage’ attack on the power structures of today. Sonic Outlaws tackled copyright, Tribulation 99 – conspiracy theories from the big bang through to the end of the world, and his most recent Spectres of the Spectrum – bumrushed the airwaves show.

Three – Peter Conheim
Apart from being in Negativland, champions of funny politicised sampling, Peter’s also co-directed a movie – Value Added Cinema – which reveals 3 decades worth of ‘product placements’ in Hollywood movies. Mega-stars slugging their way through so much soft-drink and fast-food it’d feed a small country.

Four – Karen Carpenter – google.com
She struggled through her fame with anorexia, a story later told with the use of barbie dolls by filmmaker Todd Haynes. The film was blocked by Richard Carpenter, but screens anyway at muff.

Five – Richard Metzger
Who John Safran might have been, had he taken more acid and grown up amidst NY’s art-underworld. Founded the Disinfo web portal into weird culture, later expanded it to a BBC series of fascinating interviews with truly strange characters such as Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle fame, Robert Anton Wilson who wrote the Illuminatus trilogy, Grant Morrison who scribes ‘The Invisibles’, and ritualistic artist Joe Coleman etc etc. Sells it pretty hard, but they’re a pretty kooky bunch. A DVD of the series is available on their site.

Sex – Asia Argento ( all over google )
I’m sure it mustn’t escape the muff team that their fest is skimpy on female directors. The number of them that is, not what they’re wearing. Asia presumably doesn’t wear much in ‘Scarlet Diva’ – her self-directed debut of ’sex, drugs and perversion’.

Seven – Barry 7 ( ADD N TO (XXX)
Rumours a while back said Massive Attack were doing a soundtrack for the world’s first zero-gravity porno. Never heard more about that, but sex and music promotion are obvious bedfellows. Barry 7 is a band member of the delightfully wonky strains of Add N to (X), and has extended himself to directorial duties : a 32 minute promo video for their single ‘plug me in’, which features two American porn stars and the ADD N TO (X) fucking machine.

Eight – Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey created Obey Giant and the Giant Has A Posse imagery. And a video – “Attention Deficiency Disorder” – by and about graffiti artist + other stencil artists, and combining skateboarding, parody of consumer culture, animation, graffiti and riots.

Nine – David Irving ( google the boy )
Notably claimed the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz in World War II were ficticious, and has been banned from Australia for his beliefs. Muff disagree with his beliefs, but argue they are going to show his film ( and live phone chat after ) because freedom of speech has to include ‘unpopular’ speech.

Ten – Bam Margera ( google the boy )
Famous for his ‘Jackass’ stunts, pranks and general prattiness, and now CKY: CAMP KILL YOURSELF, which promises more of almost exactly the same.

Eleven – Shannon Young
Aussie director of ‘Razor Eaters’ – a gang who videotape their crimes, and gradually grab the allegiance of the public by targetting members of society we might believe deserve to suffer a little.

And a Muff Dozen >> Reverend Billy
Reverend Billy, a.k.a. Bill Talen, is an actor/performance artist whose work combines the ideas of social and political change with the means of theatre arts to counteract a media-laden culture. As the minister of the Church of Stop Shopping in NYC, he invades ‘cultural dead zones’ such as Starbucks and Disney to protest creeping consumerism, child labor, and manipulative advertising.

Near chewed my fingernails clean off waiting for the interview. Been waiting for six months, then finally a window of opportunity. Meant chatting on the solarium intercom, and half an hour tanning my precious ass, but(t) it was a price worth paying to snare this scoop for 3D.

How did you get started?
A lot of hard work, blood sweat and tears, but who needs sob stories? Get over it already. You want the golden rule of getting where I am today? Them that has the gold makes the rules. Fucking buy the ladder instead of climbing it.

How have you become such a successful bedroom producer?
Most people are quite surprised to say the least, when they see the array of modern technology I have in my bedroom. I find having it all within easy reach, really opens up the possibilities for creatively generating extreme sounds.

What technology are you using at the moment?
The new black and decker range is impressive, continuing their attention to detail and precision control mechanisms. And cordless power drills just keep getting smaller, but too slowly – can you believe it? I’m still waiting for a model that’ll finally fit in your goddamn pocket, you’d think it was the 17th century or something sometimes. I might get my secretary to research the size of Japanese models actually.

What do you think about virtualisation, and the continued shift from hardware to software?
Some mobile data devices ares quite good. For example, the extendable metallic aerials on the older nokia mobile phones are very handy. And fuck the anti-cancer zealots. Anyone who can’t afford a decent tumour removalist deserves the pain.

Your thoughts on the emerging ‘visuals’ scene?
Visualisation has always played a strong part in my work. I’m really starting to savour methodical processes and the way things are done rather than the end result, and it pleases me greatly to visualise each step of these processes in exquisite detail.

Other artists you’d love to collaborate with?
I think it would be difficult for me to collaborate with somebody else, I have very strong ideas which I like to execute in very, very, very particular ways. Some people might find that anally obsessive, but when I get properly engaged with my work, I don’t think anyone would understand my reactions to their interferences. People have no idea how goddamn hard it is to be an artist with misunderstood ideas. But I have faith the world will recognise my work and my special abilities sooner or later, I just know I’m gonna have my fifteen minutes in the goddamn spotlight.

Music of late?
Apparently the Huey Lewis & The News twelve inch remixes are a must, I’ve ordered them all. I quite like twelve inches, and that these are on an obscure white label is also a bonus. Sets me apart from the other plebs in the office. Some people have no idea how to buy fashion.

Your thoughts on the OZ electronic arts scene?
It’s not the states or even the UK, so who gives a shit? A legal colleague told me at a cocktail party he was bidding for Michael Hutchence’s belt on ebay. Thought that was kinda cool, but I told him he was full of shit.

You haven’t heard of Bloody Fist?
Who the fuck are they? Sound like some sort of pornographic boxing film makers.

Any plans for Australian tours?
I don’t visit countries with leaders under 6ft. That’s a joke. Seriously though, do you have to have a leader with Hitler moustaches for eyebrows? I mean, what sort of impression does that give to other trading nations? For christsake – if you can’t import a decent goddamn French or Italian image consultant, how can you expect to run a whole goddamn country? Why the fuck don’t all your CEO’s get together and vote someone else in?

Sidebars:
www.rtmark.com
Nice place to catch an American psycho with their pants down. Well, if satirical George Bush sites are your cuppa tea, you’ll find much to amuse here anyway.

www.bloodyfist.com.au
Newcastle’s finest pornographic boxing film makers, complete with mp3 downloads.

www.bodymechanics.net/welcome2.htm
Survival in the city wearing you down? DNA imcompatible with GST and SMS? Enjoy some downtime, with these massage techniques designed to relax and sooth even the hypersensitives and itchy triggered. Be who you want to be.