Mark Kolmar of Burning Rome designs electronic experimental music. He has a current release "Senseless" on Mindfield Records.
Mark is based in Chicago, Illinois. In this interview we discussed briefly: the creative process, MP3 technology and the recording industry, his upcoming release "Whistler's Bombadier", and his education in music.

Last Sigh: An argument I have heard is that it's relatively easy to pick up / purchase a guitar and play metal or rock music. You only need a guitar or two (a few 100 bucks at best) some drummer and singer, [a PA system maybe...] but to make electronic music you need a synth, programs, a computer and the know-how to produce and mix. That means a mixer of some sort and an understanding of computers to some degree. mixers, synths are still rather expensive, yet it seems yes, that quite a few ppl are getting involved with this type of music, ie. generating this type of music....

Mark: The cost of this kind of technology has decreased to a level at which it is affordable to an average person who wants to play music. In this way, someone who may have picked up an electric guitar is now able to get some electronics. Machines that were only affordable to top professionals are now accessible to that person who wants to begin to make music. So these machines are no longer rare or suspicious to people in the way they used to be. First, to make electronic music, it is not necessary to have a lot of expensive equipment. People can achieve good results with a basic computer and "tracker" program.

Last Sigh: What do you think about the internet in terms of music, getting it out there, illegal mp3 collectors and rippers?

Mark: I think the recording industry, particularly the major labels, and the smaller ones that want to be majors, see their exclusive grip on music distribution fading, and they cannot stop the process. The labels see MP3s as a threat to the old models of music distribution. Instead of trying to figure out how MP3 and similar technology fits into a new model, they are trying in vain to preserve the old model, which is eating itself from the inside.

Last Sigh: Do you think that mp3 technology might be the demise of music sales in the future due to illegal ripping and distribution of cds in Mp3 format by the private sector?

Mark: Absolutely not. I think that is what the labels fear, but they are wrong. There is a direct link between the labels not offering singles for sale, and people not buying them.

Last Sigh: One thing I find with this music... is those people who dont listen to it, their major complaint is that "electronic music isnt *real* music" and they dont listen to it because of this, or they dont like it because of this. They say it takes no talent or brains to create it, yet I find most people who create/make it actually have studied music and theory etc. to some degree to do this sort of music.

Mark: I actually designed my own major, you could say. ... I was able to put together a list of courses in Computer Science, Music Theory/Composition, Electronic Music, and Computer Music ... that the university considered coherent enough to be a plan of study.

Last Sigh: What kind of process do you go through when you compose? Are there any specific means by which you compose?

Mark: I may start with a certain sound or rhythm, and slowly build from there ... In other cases the idea comes to me almost all at once.

Last Sigh: Dont give out your trade secrets... but so much of the music seems so complicated, yet I know it can be made rather easily. What is the most difficult or time consuming part of getting a finished product? Mixing, mastering?

Mark: I try not to get stuck in the same routines, except to the extent that it is helpful to work with a certain level of discipline. The whole process takes time. These complex details are not generated by programs. That means I'm sitting there punching events in one by one and adjusting them. Sure, it is easier and faster than punching a piano roll, but the process is not so fundamentally different. It takes time, even when I know exactly where I want to go. Although I enjoy the final result the best, the process is also quite satisfying but requires a great deal of patience. I do not automatically accept my first idea, which means trying different possibilities, which takes time.

Last Sigh: So you retweek things a lot? is it a sometimes tedious process to get things to "fit" where you want them?

Mark: Some might say I readjust to excess. If the process is tedious then I know I am doing something wrong. But, yes, it can take a while to get from 95% complete to 100%. This has been especially true working on Whistler's Bombardier. It is a very compact 43 minutes that took hundreds and hundreds of hours to complete. Senseless is much looser.

Last Sigh: I find the whole electronic music scene we cover at last sigh simply amazing, the sounds, the technology, the people, the machines. I never realized there were so many sounds that could be "produced" ... its a fabulous time to be alive in the world of music, as a listener, and as a composer.  100s of hours to create 43 minutes of music... Did senseless take how long compared to Whistler's Bombardier?

Mark: That took some time as well, but the concept and construction are much looser. I am not sure how much difference this will make to the average listener. That is what was necessary to get the results though.

Last Sigh: I see. What differences can we expect with "Whistler's Bombardier" as opposed to Senseless in terms of the type of music?

Mark: Certain threads from "Senseless" are explored further. "Whistler's Bombardier", on the whole, is more about getting from one place to another, or one condition to another ... whereas on Senseless, I was exploring continuous changes within a more stationary structure. So, for example, the track "Teach Me How to Kiss" which appears on the Christina Ricci compilation that accompanies the upcoming issue of FAQT magazine, you could divide it into 4 or 5 separate tracks.

Mark: FAQT is published by Mindfield.  I have not been confronted with genre-based descriptions of my music. Almost invariably, when someone mentions a genre in relation to my music, ... they use it as a rough reference point.

Last Sigh: It's pretty difficult to *not* be pigeon-holed into a genre these days, or to be compared to other bands who have explored the same territory with sound in the past. You've given me quite a bit of data here on what it takes to create what you do. Thanks

Mark: glad to help...

Last Sigh: One of my goals [with Last Sigh] is to quell the misconceptions that this music takes no talent or brains to create it -- the idea that it isn't *real* music.

Mark: On that point... Not sure how to say this.... It is easier for a novice to program something marginal than to assemble a band and play mediocre material. But at the more refined levels I think it is similarly challenging.

[Editor's Note: I'd like to thank Mark for his patience and time in doing this interview, as difficult as it was to get it done, in and out of ICQ real time chat, BLAH! I'll never try that again! ;) ]