Talking to Will Cullen Hart, the force behind Circulatory System and one of the founders of Olivia Tremor Control and the Elephant 6 collective, is a bit like playing conversational whack-a-mole. He is capable of ducking, diving, and reappearing two clicks down the consciousness stream at a moment's notice. He's self-conscious about this, and blames it on his Multiple Sclerosis, which was diagnosed a few years ago when he went blind in one eye. It also speaks also of his creative mind, which is always churning. He talks in sounds as much as he talks in words, which is hard to transcribe. Trust us, he's really good!
Circulatory System's new one, Signal Morning, is another psychedelic monster of a record, a little more compact and intense than previous releases. It's short by Hart's standards at 45 minutes, and was manipulated and massaged into shape by Charlie Johnston and Nesey Gallons out of over seven years of material. We spoke with Hart about his poor job of tracklisting the first Circulatory System record, his problems with MS, and wanting to leave home recording for the studio, among other topics. | l jensen
Will Cullen Hart: How's it going?
AD: Hey, Will! Thanks for doing this interview with me.
Will: I'm excited. I'll just babble on for days if you let me. Please be kind. I'll say "fuck" every other word.
AD: I'll trim all the naughty bits out for you! [laughs]
Will: Good!
AD: So, you have to be excited about the interest that the record and Circulatory System are receiving—
Will: For a 10 year old band!
AD: —especially from places like Entertainment Weekly, of all things.
Will: I met that guy before...with Olivia. With Olivia. I think so. It's totally clouded.
AD: Simon Vozick-Levinson...
Will: It was during the Olivia reunion in New York. I remember doing a mini-interview with him on the stairs there. I just didn't remember his name.
AD: That's not a typical press outlet for Circulatory System records.
Will: No, but I'm hoping it will be! Really! It's great! I think it can be accessible...uh, no, well, maybe it's not. It may not be. It goes in and out, I think.
AD: I will say that this record adheres to the idea of making an album, much like your other work with Circulatory and OTC.
Will: Thank you. Yeah, the idea behind this one was to do a single album. 45 minutes. The first Circulatory System album, on CD, says "Side One" and "Side Two." John [Fernandes] and I weren't thinking when we did it. It's a double album!
AD: It would be side 1, 2, 3, and 4!
Will: This new one, on vinyl, the songs split into this perfect order. I can't believe we said "Side One" and "Side Two" on the last one. It's "conceptually" sides of an album, I guess. That's what we say.
AD: I think you can put 30 minutes on each side, but it sounds bad, right?
Will: There is some concern about one side being 25 minutes, but I don't know. The Fall's Hex Enduction Hour is 30 minutes each side, and it sounds great. In the end, I don't care. I don't care.
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