Vinyl Williams
Catching up with the one & only Vinyl Williams; press photo courtesy of the artist.
Unless you have secluded yourself in the residency of under a rock, most certainly you have witnessed the visual & audio arts from the prolific Lionel “Vinyl” Williams. He has made music videos for some of your favorite artists, and has been making a barrage of meditative, psychotropic melodies with friends released through Chaz Bundick’s (of Toro Y Moi, Les Sins) imprint Company Records. With word that the new album Brunei will be available August 26 via Company, the Utah raised artist draws upon a childhood fascination with the look of the Brunei dollar that would later inspire an audio utopian odyssey that fuses metaphysical zones with the fabrics of dreams & religious like experiences. This undertaking is achieved through instrumental support from Chaz, Ian Gibbs, and Brad Laner of Medicine where Williams weaves a revolves around the Alnilam star and a being from the gravity cluster of Xol.
Presenting a listen to “Riddles Of The Sphinx”, Vinyl Williams takes us all through a time warp where we witness the rise and fall of ancient empires while pondering their greatest conundrums left behind. Taking on a Sophoclean style narrative, Willaims & crew create a sound to get lost in as if the time machine made a detour while en route to the age of Phaorohs & Caesars. “Riddles” provides ripples & ripcurls in the time/space continuum that Doc Brown himself would find himself befuddled by. Read our recent conversation with Lionel himself now.
Interested in hearing about how you began to go about bringing your own impression of Brunei into a musical state of being and harmony on Riddle of the Sphinx.
For the longest time Brunei appeared to be a sanctuary on Earth, riddled with empyrean utopic qualities. But as we always find out, utopia only really functions for the small class of people who created it. There is a strong lack of knowledge about this country in general. It’s a land of paradoxes, which fits perfectly with my musical & artistic practice of illuminating invisible qualities that underlie the material world.
Riddles Of The Sphinx became a statement of the extreme lack of objectivity surrounding all knowledge. The surface of Brunei appears like a serenely magical place, akin to how my music might appear. But underneath is the almost unknowable reality. The Sultan of Brunei has imposed Sharia law into its penal code, which was fully implemented this year, drawing deep concern for anybody with normal human rights standards. The music I’ve been making is a simulation of what Brunei could be if its inner reality was a true expression of its outer beauty.
Where did the narrative come from for this album, dealing with Xol, orbiting the Alnilam star at the center of the constellation Orion, and more all evolve into these concepts of universal struggle?
I’ve been focusing on Alnilam for a while, even before I knew what it was, or what it was called, I had thought that the source of my entire practice comes from there. The reason being is that many ancient monuments, such as the placement of The Great Pyramid of Giza, in relationship to the other two large pyramids on the Giza plateau, point to the center star of Orion as being a very important place in the cosmos–possibly the heavenly center of our local universe. In my imagination, I’ve formed an entire civilization orbiting the enormous star of Alnilam. Because of the density of gravity around the star, I imagine the civilizations being gravity clusters instead of planets, which consist of spherically arranged modular architecture, that change form and placement every instant. The beings that inhabit this land are immaterial, and intentionally bound by pure cosmic morality. The album was written from the perspective of these beings, talking to mankind about the struggle and limitations that we endure, to become aware of these struggles and to overcome them–not to push them under the rug, but to address and cooperatively solve them.
Describe the creative connection between you and Chaz, Ian Gibbs, and the legendary Brad Laner of Medicine.
We all seem to be big fans of each other, which is concerted in our smooth collaborations. Ian keeps me level-headed and always provides the perfect lush ambiance that I need. Him & I are huge fans of Brad Laner–working with him was a dream come true. Chaz supports every idea we have, helping us along the way to make our music more approachable and blissfully concentrated in the right ways. His feedback is true & honest, and it really really helps. Brad Laner has also given amazing feedback, especially with where vocals should sit in a mix.
What sorts of discoveries did you make along the way when making this record?
I had discovered the hidden world beyond Brunei’s politics, which was a necessary breakthrough to crack my aloofness. In the process of recording the album, I stumbled upon a mix & mastering setup that produces sounds nearly as hi-fi as they are lo-fi. And that really excited me to find a sound that is agelessly balanced.
How has your grandfather John Williams inspired your own creative works, and what have his responses been like in to your own multimedia work, and your recent albums for Bundick’s Company Records?
He has constantly inspired me, I’ve been uncovering more & more of his elusive works. One of my favorites is his soundtrack to Images (1972, Robert Altman)–it truly sounds like another dimension to me, fitting with the storyline of the main character who experiences strange delusional anomalies throughout the movie. I have yet to show him any of my work. Someday soon!
Can you give us some insights into what other projects and pieces you’ve been working on?
Working on a 360º video for Winter, Los Angeles/Brazil-based dream pop band. Also working on a video for Morgan Delt’s next single, and a custom made pyramidion video game console, made up of dozens of explorable [sic] worlds for Meow Wolf, experiential art collective in Santa Fe, New Mexico; check them out!
Parting thoughts, advice, etc?
Pure sound is so under-exposed. Just sound itself can do incredible things for all living organisms. The only way for me to know what’s good beyond my associations is what gives me fission, the tingling sensations. Let it be known that whatever gives you fission is exactly what you should be making.
Vinyl William’s album Brunei is available now from Company Records.
