Feature / One Question Interviews
Faith Coloccia

Words: Loren • December 2, 2013

Faith Coloccia
Faith Coloccia

Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer, House of Low Culture)

SPB: Is there a record you love that would surprise people based on the music you create?

Coloccia: My answer would not necessarily be a record, but a series of found recordings and weather radios. Usually I find these at thrift stores, but sometimes they are inherited or found in abandoned houses and buildings in the US and in other countries. The found recordings are usually of people dictating, accidental recordings, therapy sessions, and nature. The weather radios are usually only conduits for one station that is broadcasting weather and emergency pre-recorded information. The only change occurs if you take the radio to a different state or city. The information is broadcast as a constant monotone loop, with subtle frequency changes.

I am interested in the forgotten and discarded nature of the these recordings and radios. The recording or radio is forgotten about, and possibly never listened to. The intent of the lost object is to be ignored and lost forever. Instead I make them part of my practice and bring something seen as worthless into everyday use. I guess it is surprising because these things are really mundane and monotonous, and basically boring and not composed or intentionally musical, whereas Mamiffer is composed, dramatic, musical, and full of intent.

Some of my favorite found cassette tapes are of the following things:
1. an unmarked white tape of recordings of airplanes taking off in the rain
2. Someone’s recorded consultation and gossip with a lawyer
3. The sounds of the ocean recorded over expired and audible listening calls
4. A recording of Finnish radio wave frequencies
5. German dictation that happens once every 10 minutes on a 40-minute tape

Loren • December 2, 2013

Faith Coloccia
Faith Coloccia

Related features

Jumalvauhti

One Question Interviews • March 27, 2025

Kalle (Jumalvauhti – bass) SPB: Who is your favorite band/artist from the 2000-2010 era? Kalle: It's hard to say, but Destiny's Child definitely can't go wrong.  Read more

Bronson Arm

One Question Interviews • March 26, 2025

Black Bickel (Bronson Arm) SPB: What is your favorite stretch of highway to drive in the US? Bickel: My favorite stretch of highway is that bit between Milwaukee and Minneapolis, two cities that Bronson Arm always have a great time playing. So if we are leaving Milwaukee, we are usually … Read more

Unstable Shapes

One Question Interviews • March 25, 2025

Kevin Hurley (Unstable Shapes – bass) SPB: What is your favorite Fugazi record? Hurley: While we can debate the best Fugazi record, a personal favorite of mine is The Argument. It was my entry point for the band. I was admittedly way late to the party on them and as … Read more

Retirement

Bike Shop

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • March 23, 2025

How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape). In this edition, we chat with … Read more

Let Me Downs

One Question Interviews • March 12, 2025

Paul Levesque (Let Me Downs - bass/vocals) SPB: Has the band ever been in a car/van accident while touring? Levesque: Fortunately, we haven’t! (Knock on wood) We have had our fair share of van issues. Blown tires, A/C going out in an hours-long traffic jam in the Arizona desert in … Read more

Related news

Stardust: Faith Coloccia & Phillip Jeck

Posted in Records on April 4, 2021

Advertisement

DCxPC 2025

More from this section

Jumalvauhti

One Question Interviews • March 27, 2025

Kalle (Jumalvauhti – bass) SPB: Who is your favorite band/artist from the 2000-2010 era? Kalle: It's hard to say, but Destiny's Child definitely can't go wrong.  Read more

Bronson Arm

One Question Interviews • March 26, 2025

Black Bickel (Bronson Arm) SPB: What is your favorite stretch of highway to drive in the US? Bickel: My favorite stretch of highway is that bit between Milwaukee and Minneapolis, two cities that Bronson Arm always have a great time playing. So if we are leaving Milwaukee, we are usually … Read more

Unstable Shapes

One Question Interviews • March 25, 2025

Kevin Hurley (Unstable Shapes – bass) SPB: What is your favorite Fugazi record? Hurley: While we can debate the best Fugazi record, a personal favorite of mine is The Argument. It was my entry point for the band. I was admittedly way late to the party on them and as … Read more