Field Lines Cartographer:
Moonbuilding Sessions
CiS Subscription Library present exclusive “Live: In Session” series.

The Castles In Space Subscription Library is proud to present the very first Live Sessions LP. The inaugural performance welcomes Field Lines Cartographer into the moon unit to record a live show, which is available exclusively to CiS Subscription Library members.

In case you missed it, Moonbuilding is Castles In Space’s new 48-page A5 zine covering independent DIY labels and artists. The zine’s big chief, Neil Mason, caught up with FLC’s Mark Burford to get the lowdown on this latest aural adventure.

Hello Mark…
“Wotcha”

How are you?
“I’m fan-bloody-tastic, ta. Thanks for asking.”

Where are you right now?
“I’m in a holiday cottage in beautiful Anglesey.”

What were you doing before we disturbed you?
“I’d been on the beach and walking in the forest at Newborough Warren. It’s one of my favourite places. Got a few nice recordings of the sea too.”

Your Moonbuilding session is one long track, 38 minutes 57 seconds. Couldn’t you have let it run for another three seconds?
“Absolutely not. I don’t think you appreciate how precise this stuff is. It’s like fucking NASA.”

Is something like this recorded in one take?
“Yep - it’s a live performance, just not at a gig at a venue.”

How much is planned and how much is improvised?
“It’s a blend of both. I have a few ‘bases’ - pre-planned sequences that I can start from and work towards - but where I go with them can vary from subtle variation to full-on improvisation. No two sets are ever the same.”

What are the pros and cons of working like this?
“The pros are I enjoy doing it - live performance is boring for me unless I have the possibility and probability of ending up somewhere new. And it’s honest - a performance that reflects where I am at that precise moment. The cons are it can go horrifically wrong and sound like utter garbage.”

Care to walk us through you process for making this track?
“I’d been playing around with this sort of sound for about the last seven or eight months as my live thing. So I just thought I’d try to get the best possible version of it recorded in a studio environment rather than at an actual gig. I was interested to hear if it stood up to more critical listening, rather than just being blasted out of PA speakers in a venue.”

How do you know when something like is done?
“When it’s three seconds away from being a nice round number, time-wise.”

Much of your work comes with evocative titles and conjures up other worlds. Is there a story behind this track?
“This is just a live thing, with a pretty high level of improvisation, so none of this even has a title. I still hope it conjures up other worlds though. That’s what I’m always aiming to do.”

Last question, Desert Islands Discs - or, you know, maybe we’ll call it Moon Strandings, you’re allowed one record, one book and one piece of music making kit…
“The record would be ‘Endtroducing……’ by DJ Shadow, the book is probably ‘The Magus’ by John Fowles and I’d take a Buchla 200e series modular system if someone would be so kind to supply me with one...”

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