Interview with Jon Mueller of Death Blues

The final Death Blues event will take place on June 10, 2015 in Spring Green, Wisconsin. After several years, percussionist and musician Jon Mueller will hang up his Death Blues moniker, a multimedia, experimental meditation on "the inevitability of death as impetus to become more present in each moment." It could be argued, however, that Death Blues had been in gestation long before its first recordings surfaced: as a spiritually inquisitive person, Mueller has studied religion, metaphysics, and spirituality since his time as a youth in private school - it's a lifelong pursuit, and a noble one, that has greatly informed his work as Death Blues.

In 2014, Mueller released his most elaborately packaged Death Blues material in the form of Ensemble, an LP with a conjoined book of seven essays and pictures of Lillian Rammel's handmade masks, striking and enticing in appearance. The music and essays are both representative of the word "ensemble" as each essay is the work of a different person and the music is an interwoven dance between Mueller himself and composer/multi-instrumentalist William Ryan Fritch.

Where Death Blues succeeds is in its universality. The spiritual bent doesn't begin and end with one religion or mystical tradition: rather, it ties together strains from all over the world. The "coming-together-ness" of Death Blues is its strongest facet, and in a strange, metacognitive, metacomprehensive way does a better job of this than most religions. Simply put, it's inclusive rather than exclusive. It's a worthy lesson in worldview, one that will be missed, though not forgotten.

Jordan Reyes: Let's talk for a minute about the mantra behind Death Blues that Death Blues is a "multi-disiplinary project by Jon Mueller that addresses the inevitability of death as impetus to become more present in each moment." Does Death, for you, appear as something liberating? As much as it may allow one to become more present, does it still embody something frightening?

Jon Mueller: Death is a profound change. It is only as liberating as it might be perceived. The aim of this project wasn't to look at death itself, but what to possibly consider before it happens.

JR: Death seems to unify people too. I only really see my entire family at funerals. Does the idea and theme of death directly impact the collaborative nature of Death Blues?

JM: Again, death is not the focus, but the life before it, which can also be a unifying experience, and a reason to work together, build relationships, and experience positive things that human beings can do together. The majority of the people you'd see at those funerals were alive. That is the focus. 

JR: You've traveled a lot too. I know you've performed around the world in various different projects. Do your wanderings tend to inspire things in your artistic output?

JM: Absolutely, but maybe not as direct as expected. New Orleans was were the idea for Death Blues began, but what inspired it were factors outside of any musical influence. Often, the sensibility of places seeps into me in strong ways, and yes, that affects my thinking a lot in some cases.

JR: There's also something, I guess, literary about Death Blues. The titles of your albums often seem to come from genres or academics. There's also the collection of essays connected with Ensemble. Do you think that literary genres or categories are more applicable to Death Blues than music signifiers?

JM: I don't think one weighs more than the other, which is why I wanted to approach this from a multi-disciplinary standpoint. I think that the aim of this project can be understood in a variety of ways, which also helps make the idea more absorbed and understood in an individual way. Words can often seem too directive. Sound can be overpowering. And visuals, taste and smell might be very distinct. And together, they can create a real change in an experience.

JR: Another important aspect of the Death Blues project is its wide net, I'd say. Your website features religious or mystical symbols from a bunch of historical traditions and geographical beginnings. Knowledge on these topics doesn't just happen overnight. It's clearly been an undertaking. When and where did you begin learning about the world's spiritual and metaphysical traditions?

JM: I have studied traditional and non-traditional spiritual thought for much of my life, both personally and academically. It began during my youth in private school, and continued a long and winding path from there. Along the way, I have experienced a few negative things that to this day I regret, but other things that have been very insightful and positive. The book within my recent promo shot is an antique called Story of the World's Worship that details a variety of ancient disciplines from a number of different cultures. It's interesting to read about stories like these, to see how people have developed systems of understanding and a relationship with the unknown throughout time.


JR: Were there any specific books, events, or people who spurred your interest in religion and spirituality?

JM: Many. And I am still continuously learning more. In recent years, I was very fascinated by Ann Lee, and will hopefully visit her grave in a few weeks time.

JR: Do you follow any specific beliefs? How does spirituality impact you on a day to day?

JM: Infinite power exists whether one believes in it or not. This comes through our beings in ways we don't fully understand and has an effect on everything, everywhere.

JR: Let's talk about the multimedia aspect of Death Blues. You're a writer, musician, artist, and more. An idea can be reflected well through any artistic medium (like a prism), but how do you determine whether to use an essay, a piece of music, or something else to broadcast a thought or idea of yours? Is it conscious?

JM: It just sort of happens. Some of the elements were intentional, task oriented pieces certainly - the Death Blues records, the manifesto - but other times coincidences and circumstances brought people and ideas out of unexpected places, and if they made sense within what was happening, it was like a widening river, more pushing through toward the aim.

JR: Was there anything especially surprising in the creation, gestation, and eventual fulfillment of Ensemble, as music, as a physical object, and as art?

JM: The whole thing, really. The music was a continuous surprise throughout the whole process. The essays, somehow, just came together as if waiting for a place to appear. And the package and presentation started as an idea, a few email exchanges, and revealed itself as something I couldn't believe holding in my hands. It was truly unbelievable to understand that it existed.

JR: Where do you see the ideas behind Death Blues continuing in the future?


JM: The final Death Blues event will be on June 10, 2015 in a barn in Spring Green, WI. It will be a grand, intimate finale to the entire project. Hopefully throughout the past few years it all accomplished something. At the very least, I am grateful for the experiences it brought my life, the friends I got to work with and meet, and the participation in the greater scope of what music and art is in people's lives.

Interview with Alpo on Theory Interactive's debut game "RESET"

RESET logo

I don't know if you've seen the trailer for the gorgeous first-person puzzler "RESET," but HERE it is.  The game looks drop-dead gorgeous, and I'm a sucker for anything with a robot.  I'm also a sucker for gorgeous music in the background because then I know that the game intends to push the medium as far as the classic videogame goes.  That means that the people are making it more than a simple tactile experience.  The game clearly has an emphasis on visual style as well as auditory orgasm.  The video itself shows a bit of time-lapse as trees grow around a decrepit robot, which, to me, is striking and powerful.  You can find out more about the game and the team HERE.


I e-mailed the guys from Theory Interactive about the game and what was making it work and they happily responded.  Usually, this is a blog for music, but, to be honest, I don't really see genres and mediums as different.  One day they will all be combined, so why not start now?  It's all about story-telling and experience.  And this game definitely has that.


Alpo Oksaharju was kind enough to respond to my interview questions with a lot of wisdom as well as a lot of perspective.  It was really cool to see what he was saying about the game as well as the role of videogames in art, and furthermore, that of art itself.  It's a really cool perspective.

Final Moments in the RESET Trailer

The game is made by 2 people, Alpo and Mikko Kallinen, which is amazing because it looks so gorgeous, just like a hollywood videogame, in terms of graphics and the music is top-notch.  I had to know more about it and maybe so do you.


But anyway, Alpo's better at talking and most other things than me, so I'll let him do the talking:


Me:  Is "Reset" your first outing in making games?


Alpo:  We worked previosly at Futuremark on Shattered Horizon and 3DMark projects, so no for us as persons, but yes as a company.


Me:  Who all is helping make the game?  How did you decide to make the game?


Alpo:  We are a two man team, me (Alpo Oksaharju), responsible for writing and art, and Mikko Kallinen, responsible for tech and music. We share game design duties. I came up with the idea and together we molded it to a more tangible whole. It really is a dream project for us and we just could not let it pass.


Me:  What inspired the setting and the art style for the game?


Alpo:  We are eighties kids and we love sci-fi movies of that era. I'm also greatly into retroish fuctionalistic architecture. I guess inspiration came mostly from those.


Me:  The trailer is absolutely gorgeous in terms of music and graphics.  Is the game going to look and sound like that?


Alpo:  In short, yes.


Me:   Can you say anything about the game's story or premise?  It says it's some sort of puzzler, so can you talk about that at all?


Alpo:  It indeed is a first person puzzler with time travel. The player solves puzzles co-operatively with his previous versions. The player does an action and leaps back in time to complement that action. It's not a brand new idea, but we're making our own version of it. The trailer is filled with clues on what the story is about, so you might be able to get something from it.


Me:  What has the process for making the game been like in terms of having limited resources and a very rigorous outlook?

The Robot from RESET

Alpo:  The key really was in knowing what we wanted. After we knew, it was a question of finding ways to materialize them with really tight resources. So it pushed us to really think out of the box. Of course this couldn't have been achieved without Mikko, whos is not from this planet when it comes to tech.


Me:  What do you think gaming's role is in art and media?


Alpo:  I think it's starting to show signs of maturing, in a sense that it's being accepted more and more as an artform and not just entertainment.


Me:  What about music inside of games?  How central should that be?


Alpo:  Music is a very powerful tool in conveying feeling and mood, and games are an audiovisual artform, so I think music definetly belongs there. The level of importance varies depending on the game, some "need" it a lot, other not at all.


Me:  What has your music background been like?  You sent me stuff from your band Hevein, which seems a lot different than the music in the game.


Alpo:  I formed the band with Leif Hedström back in sticks and stones, playing metal covers, as most bands do. We stayed on the metal course and and recorded one album back in 2005. I left the band in 2008 to pursue this path. I'm a metalhead, but my music taste is very diverse. In audiovisual pieces music and picture should form a bond reinforcing each other. As I mentioned, music playes a big role in conveying and sparking emotions, so the musical style should also be in sync with the style of the images.

Mikko has been a music hobbyist for more than a decade. Mostly composing stuff on the computer, and he's starting to get really good at it. I was blown away when he first played the trailer song to me.

Me:  What has inspired the music for the game?

Alpo:  The story, mood and the atmosphere. Mikko composed the music based on the half ready script and our discussions of what feelings the story is trying to surface in the player.

The World of RESET

Me:  Do you consider making your game your primary occupation?

Alpo:  It is our primary occupation. We set up Theory Interactive in the summer 2011 and we've been working on Reset fulltime for 10 months.

Me:  What music and art and media are you into now?

Alpo:  We are gamers, but we are big movie and music lovers also. I guess it's safe to say that we're into all the arts. What ever sparks a feeling, the form doesn't matter. Can't stand Lady Gaga though.

Me:  Anything else you want to say?

Alpo:  Strength beyond strength, dudes!