What are some of the themes that you explore through your music?

Well, everyone always says there is a great deal of melancholy in my work, which is my nature, and so that’s true. But I think I try to express transcendentalism. I want to touch heaven. I have to be transfixed. Something has to happen which crucifies me so I can fall into it and listen to it over and over again and still enjoy it.

Do you feel that embracing melancholy and sadness is the best way to reach ‘heaven’?

Well, I’m talking about two different aspects of my work here. Some of the work has that melancholy, which is very helpful for everyone, because we all experience melancholy. We all feel separated and lost and we don’t know what we are doing here or why we are here. We have to figure it for ourselves. And it’s something that humans resonate with. The other thing is the more spacious and trippy kind of pieces that I do. For me, it’s a way of trying to transcend time, to go away from this world and go into another world.

Is this the same feeling you want people to have?

That’s the idea. We all want to go away and take a break. I think the melancholy pieces and certain other pieces can be like medicine for people that are not in such a great mood and that may want to cry. And that’s always good and that’s healthy.

When did you start experimenting with loops?

I had two very serious inspirations in the late 70’s when I was in music school. Two records that were very important for where my trajectory went was Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Of course, the third person was John Cage because of his extraordinary experiments and use of chance. So I got license to experiment, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I did want to be a composer. I then started experimenting and these things came out. So it really resonated with me and it helped me grow up and move on. I was able to get in touch with my pain and childhood issues through experimenting and making these loops.

How have your musical compositions changed between the 1970’s and the release of your first commercially available composition, Shortwave Music, in 1998? Why did it take you such a long time to release this album?

I’ve been doing the work for 30 years and I have a lot of work and I continue to work. I mean it takes me 20 years to release something. It’s like having a child; they aren’t taking off their chastity belt until they’re 21. I don’t know. It’s a tricky situation. I’m very conscientious about my work and I release what I like and sometimes it takes a while. If I don’t feel I have anything to release I won’t release anything.

How important is aleatorism to the creation of your compositions?

Oh God, what the hell does that mean?

I looked this up an hour ago. It's here in my notes. "The incorporation of chance into the process of creating music."

Very important. Definitely. I have to have something happen. Otherwise if I have to write every note I’ll be bored to death. It takes most people a year to make an album and by the time they’re done with it they can’t stand it anymore. And then they have to go fucken tour for two years. Touring for me is hard. Something always has to happen for me to get interested and something always happens and you never know what it’s going to be and it’s usually a mistake. It’s not always apparent right away, but I made a lot of this work in live real time in my studio and I would have to really listen to it later to see what it is because in the moment I’m just doing it. I’ve found now that the more I try to stay out of the way of the work the better it is. For example, with The Disintegration Loops, when I first started making those, I wasn't trying to make The Disintegration Loops. I was just archiving a big box of loops that I found in my storage room in my big loft in New York from 15 years earlier. I had bought a CD burner at the time and I was trying to transfer these things because I knew they could disintegrate since they were very old tapes. They were old tapes when I bought them from the Salvation Army. So when that started I was in a very desperate situation. I didn’t have any money and I was about to lose my loft and it was a beautiful day. I was really worried and knew I was about to be evicted. I read this little book called The Way of Zen and it made me laugh. I thought, ‘you dumb-ass, it’s a gorgeous day, get in your studio and show up for work. You’ve got this time. Go do something instead of worrying about not having a job’. So I got into the studio and I pulled out a tape and put it on the deck and it was the theme from The Disintegration Loops 1.1. It was beautiful. I didn’t remember it. Because in the early 80’s, when I was doing this work, I was making all these loops. But in 2001 I wanted to get involved in the work and I wanted to mix them. Sometimes I would create a loop and it was so perfect. I was like ‘oh my God, but can I say that’s mine’. There was no context for it back then. So I would put it on the other side of my brain tree that I had in my studio. I had a big dead tree sitting in a cardboard tube, which was like the brain. It had all these little branches all around it, so I could put loops that went together over here. So there were a whole bunch of loops that didn’t get used. I came across this loop that I didn’t remember at all and thought ‘oh my God, this is genius’. So I made a counter melody on a synthesiser and started recording. Well, 15 minutes in, something was changing. I could see the tape loop going around and disintegrating and I wondered what was going to happen. I thanked God that I was recording. It just blew my mind. I then put on the next one and started with another counter melody and started doing that one and that one. I then realised that I have something going on here that doesn’t need counter melodies. We just have to pay attention and let things happen. In 2 days I did the six pieces and I had this massive work that I didn’t know what I was going to do with because no one knew who I was and I didn’t have any money. I just called up all my friends. Everyone came over and we sat in my loft in New York and we listened to it for days and weeks.

Was this around the time of the September 11 attacks?

It was right before that. It was in August that year and then 9/11 happened. We were all stunned and out of our minds. I made a film of the last hour of daylight with a still camera. We just let the tape run. In the morning I picked up the tape and I put it with The Disintegration Loops 1.1 in the background. It became this elegy. I then used four frames of the video for the cover. I couldn’t afford to release a box set because it would have cost too much and no one knew who I was. I released one and then it became big. And that was it. I thought I’d lived too long and I thought I was never going to see anyone appreciate my work.

How do you avoid monotony and repetition when performing your compositions?

It’s different every time.

How do you make it different?

It just happens. I mean this piece tonight was the wildest version that I’ve ever heard. I don’t know what the fuck happened. It was off the charts. The reason is that I get different tape decks. I can’t travel with tape decks. They have to find them for me. They have to find somebody’s dad who has some in their garage from his playboy days. They always sound different. It was interesting and I dealt with it. It was very loud tonight and a little distorted. But when you are up there you have to go deal with it. That’s what we got tonight, but I enjoyed it. But yes, there is always something that comes in and I love that.

I noticed that you don’t interact with the crowd when you are performing. Why is that?

I just have to concentrate when I’m on stage. The fans do their thing and I do mine. I don’t acknowledge them till the end. I mean, anything can happen on stage, aleatorically. You never know what will happen. I was in Canada once and I got me two machines. They seemed to be working at sound check, but one of them started doing all weird shit during my set. That was not good but I managed. I just try to keep a poker face. But yes it’s wonderful to meet with fans after the show. It’s wonderful to meet these kids. They are all smart. I’m so happy. It’s a dream come true. It’s a special dream because it happened and I never thought it would. The travelling is hard, the jet lag sucks, but in the end it’s all worth it.