pureambient.com       frequently asked questions

what is ambient music? some short answers...

ambient music...has come to very broadly defined. in its infancy, it generally was considered to have the qualities of minimilism, quietness, sparseness, ignorability, musical space...

there are now probably as many interpretations as there are "ambient" musicians! ambient is music that you can pay full attention to, "listen" to...or, allow it to become part of the "background" of your daily activities. both styles of "listening" produce different and often interesting results...

brian eno had some interesting thoughts on ambient music (in particular you might want to read the back cover of his "discreet music" album). he made reference to something satie had said about wishing to make music that could "mingle with the sounds of knives and forks at dinner"...

ambient music challenges us, because it is not like most forms of music. its appeal is in its spareseness, its quietude, the way we hear repetitions...sometimes differently each time a piece is experienced...the way it can move in and out of our conscious "hearing"...

what is ambient music? some long answers...

bryan helm has written a treatise on ambient music, entitled "the absence of unwanted sound".

dave stafford was interviewed by AUTOreverse magazine in their ambient issue, and in this interview he offers some additional possibilities at the seemingly-indefinable question "what is ambient music?"

what is pureambient music?

atmospheric, quiet, peaceful, meditative, thought-provoking, ignorable, listenable, dreamlike, ethereal, minimal, unobtrusive...no drums, no beat...

what is a bindlestiff?

a bindlestiff is, in it's truest sense, the bag of worldly belongings that early american hobos attached to a stick. it also came to represent the hobos themselves, so that they themselves might be referred to as "bindlestiffs".

since bindlestiff is a live performance band, they bring only those worldly belongings that are required to produce their sound. two people bringing the sum of their musical experience to a totally live "in the moment" sound. hence: bindlestiff.

what is a dozey lump?

a "dozey lump" (british slang) is an inattentive person...the british equivalent, perhaps, of the american "asleep at the switch". a slightly more gentle moniker with a similar meaning...

what is the significance of seventeen?

seventeen is a number of...coincidences. at the very first dozey lumps rehearsal back in 1989, bryan helm said to dave stafford: "lead me in with a count of seventeen..." dave responded by laughing: as it turns out this is a reference to one of the most unusual musical projects of all time, "consequences" by kevin godley & lol creme. just the fact that both musicians were very familiar with this somewhat obscure work put them immediately onto a musical common ground...

"consequences" was envisioned originally by godley & creme (who had just departed the hugely successful pop group 10cc) as a "three minute demonstration record" to show off the musical attributes of the "gizmo" a unique and unusual device (which the duo had invented some years previously) that "bowed" any or all of the six strings of a guitar automatically. many months later, the three minutes had turned into three albums...and the triple set "consequences" appeared in a deluxe box set with a beautiful booklet. it not only showcased the amazing sound of the gizmo, but featured a rather strange, very english story (with all the parts narrated by the late, great comedian peter cook) of an eccentric englishman named blint, who was obsessed with the number seventeen, and had a strange foreknowledge of the impending end of the world. the album ends with a full-on piano and "gizmo orchestra" work entitled "blint's tune" that is one of the finest works in the history of progressive rock. the album also features a stunning duet between kevin godley and the late sarah vaughn that is beautiful almost beyond words...

over the years since the release of the album, both dave and bryan have noticed how very often the number seventeen pops up...often in the most unexpected places! the recurrence of seventeen was so noticeable to dave that he named the production company "studio seventeen productions" which is now home to ambient artists bindlestiff, the dozey lumps, bryan helm, dave stafford, tiktok, peter schaefer, saffron matted voids and ken mistove.  "it takes eleven minutes to fill, and six minutes to empty..." (mr. blint)...

where did dave stafford and bryan helm meet?

bryan and dave first met at a guitar craft course held in southern california that dave was attending and bryan was visiting. as it turned out, they discovered they lived in the same city at the time, and so arranged to work together in the new standard tuning for guitar. a couple of months later regular rehearsals and performances began, which was the starting point for the dozey lumps...

not only did bryan and dave share an interested in working in the new standard tuning for guitar, but also found much commonality in their love of ambient, progressive and electronic music which later was realized in their incarnation as bindlestiff...

what are some of bryan's musical influences?

bryan helm enjoys a very broad variety of different musical styles and genres. a few of the many diverse elements of his musical background are listed below, in no particular order...

what are some of dave stafford's musical influences?

dave stafford enjoys a very broad variety of different musical styles and genres. a few of the many diverse elements of his musical background are listed below, in no particular order...

what are some of peter schaefer's musical influences?

what are some of travis hartnett's (tiktok) musical influences?

what are some of ken mistove's musical influences?

what are some of blint's musical influences?

comments, criticisms, opinions?...please email us at:

studio seventeen productions          the ambient music microlabel

pureambient

snail mail/bookings/enquiries:

pureambient.com / studio seventeen productions 

p.o. box 461363 escondido, ca 92046 u.s.a.