By B. Chandrashekar

B. Chandrashekar ( BC): could you please state for the record your name and where you are currently located…

Mark Buzard ( MB): mark townsend buzard and i am currently a resident of freeland, washington.

BC: never been there…

MB: it’s on whidbey island. it’s located on the puget sound. pretty tranquil area. lots of variation considering i moved here five years ago from glendale, arizona.

BC: that seems like a pretty intense move. what brought you to the northwest?

MB: i’ve always had a connection here through my father. we lived here for a few years back in 1987. the time we spent here made such an impression on me. it was always in the back of my mind growing up. so when i had the chance to move here, i jumped on it. it’s been one of the better decisions i’ve made since.

BC: and what’s the name of your current project?

MB: “awesome air”

BC: could you tell us a little bit on the origin of the name?

MB: “to feel air when you inhale deeply” it was an “idea” and more of an “in the moment” kinda thing. you had to be there.

BC: guess so. what instruments do you play?

MB: the first instrument i learned to play was the guitar. self-taught. i started in earnest when i was 12. pretty much taught myself piano when i played in the format. i was always buying old instruments in thrift stores and yard sales; glockenspiels, chord organs, anything that made a noise. i like the experimentation of self-teaching; no boundaries or borders.

BC: is that the same ideal you put forth into music production, composing, recording, etc..?

MB: well, i approached it like a scientist. exploring “traditional” aspects of the guitar in the vein of western music styles. rudiments and “jumping off” points. when i was 14 i heard sonic youth and was presented with “de-tuning” and “prepared” instruments in the vein of branca ( edt. glen branca) and cage ( edt. john cage). this flipped everything upside down and invited “un-explored” territories. i was presented with “exploring the guitar as more than a guitar.” naturally this intrigued me.

“self-recording” or “home-recording” has always been around me growing up but i haven’t until recently explored the full richness of “home-production” for myself. everything is purely experimentation and applying past knowledge. i am happy to be exploring the documentation aspect of it all. i want to expand more in that direction.

i really can’t explain how i go about writing and composing music. too much rambling and “quotations.” ( laugh)

BC: what inspired you to pursue “awesome air” and “meghalaya”

MB: again, purely an experiment. i wanted sounds that i liked and haven’t heard. exploring frequencies, sustaining notes and drones. it was music i needed and i did not have.

“ Meghalaya” is not finished. yet. it is a living thing right now. i’ve never raised anything from the ground up, so i am trying to be as nurturing as possible. it already has feet and is begining to right itself. or rather “write” ( laugh)

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