Interview with Neal D. Retke

1) Who are you?

{AN} EeL / Neal D. Retke 

2) Can you describe your surroundings?

Currently - The ' Man Cave ' portion of the house, i.e. - the basement, A.K.A. ~ Where the magic happens 

3) Where would you like to go?

As time progresses, it's less a matter of where I want to than enjoying where I am - A Mantra presented itself to me a number of years ago, that being " This is where I am Now " - It's always true & bears keeping in mind. I consider myself fortunate in having traveled a lot - New Zealand, Central & South America, All around the USA - Several pilgrimages to Cheser, Ill.  I've lived a nomadic lifestyle for many of my year. So my travel itch is well satiated I'm happy to say - Having said that, there's nothing quite as meditative 

4) What would you say are the main features of your creative process(s)?

Improvisation, Collaboration, Spontaneity

5) What do you really want your audience to understand about you/your art?

I'm indifferent to the understand of the audience. I mean, I hope they're enjoying themselves but it's not my primary concern. In live performance I am in service of the performance - While the audience's energy can affect this, it's not a matter of them " Getting " what I'm doing. If somebody in the audience doesn't or misunderstands my output, that's entirely their choice, and so be it 

6) Does audience matter?

The audience's attitude matters much more to me than it's size - I'd rather be ( Both as a performer & audience member ) part of a very small group paying close attention than a larger crowd that's trying to talk louder than the show or are otherwise engaged in something independent of the performance 

7) Why Resist?

what other choice do we have ? 

8) Why do you do it?

I dislike being bored, and this type of creative process keeps that at bay 

9) What drives you?

Me. 

10) What do you do in your daily life?

About to enter the glamourous world of Porta-Potties ~! 

11) Do you have any strategies for adapting to the challenges of existing in your unnatural environment? If so, what are they?

Be adaptable to circumstance and maintain situational awareness - These two will go a long way to assising 

12) What is your favorite animal?

Homo Sapiens 

13) What would your superpower be?

Kaiju

14) What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen?

I'm not sure yet 

15) Please tell us something about one EFSPACM project that you took part in, and how you worked on your piece.

Well, Thinking of the Disembodied hand choir on the KNOCKING Project I curated. I wasn't sure exactly what to do for ' my ' track on this particular project. It sort of came out of the blue, this idea of multiple voices repeating simple phrases around our theme - I put out my feelers and was, as ever, surprised at the generosity of the choir members in supplying what turned out to be a wonderful range of expressive embodiments of these phrases. I then tucked in with my editing, patching together these fragments. I really enjoy this particular style of creating sounds, and that example is one of my personal favourites to date -

It's not a question, but I want to add this - EFSPACM means a lot to me. I think the group & Pitor have been very welcoming to me since joining, and I've really enjoyed the projects - Both in the results, which have been quite good, but also the intangibles - how the group communicates, keeping a good balance of serious focus & light hearted enjoyment - Really great vibe, and a hard thing to accomplish. It's honestly a highlight of my creative process of late, and I've really been happy to have been a contributing part - Hope to continue doing so for a long time ~!