Thomas Bingham
by Mister Mime
21st June 2021
Composer and electronic musician Thomas Bingham explores the condition of insomnia and the blurry line between wakefulness and sleep in his debut EP ‘Fractions of a Moment’.
Conceptually deep and intriguing, the young French-American artist shows a musical maturity that is quite remarkable, also drawing a parallel between the sleep-deprived state and the feeling of stasis that many of us have been experiencing during the lockdowns and curfews of the past year and a half.
Through his sonic introspection, the artist attempts to illustrate a sincere and sympathetic picture of some of the harder moments of life and even succeeds in capturing the underlying beauty in these moments with this ambient exploration.
MM: Why is the EP called “Fractions Of A Moment”? What is the theme/concept of the EP?
TB: I chose the name “Fractions of a Moment” after I had finished the project. It’s taken from the lyrics on the fourth track 'Road that Awaits’, and I thought that it fit the bill nicely in light of the central theme of the EP: insomnia. I like how vague the word “moment” is, in that it’s hard to establish when a moment starts or ends, and sometimes only a specific instance (or fraction) of a moment comes to mind rather than one in its entirety. In turn, this creates a parallel with insomnia given that the inability to fall asleep can feel blurry time-wise. My mom connected this to the various lockdowns we’ve been experiencing and how much of a stasis that has felt like, which I thought was interesting as I wrote the pieces during Covid time.
MM: What about the tracks: Are there any references behind them {Like 'Machine Dream' for example}, or stories you can share about the making of the EP?
TB: While I have struggled with bouts of insomnia, I wanted the tracks to illustrate the sequential process of dealing with any heavy moment – insomnia serving as a case study of sorts. In that sense, the first few tracks are more geared towards portraying feelings of anxiety and restlessness that climax in ‘Machine Dream’, but as it progresses the EP lightens up, becoming more of a lull. A quick story about that track specifically: it took me about 160 takes to get the piano part right.
MM: What does 'Eigengrau' mean?
TB: ‘Eigengrau’ (from German) is the colour considered to be the one we can see in the absence of light, like when we close our eyes in a dark environment. After staring at it for a while, we can cause all sorts of shapes to appear. I thought this would be an appropriate way to start the EP, mimicking that moment between closing eyes and being asleep.
MM: Can you tell us about your musical background?
TB: My musical upbringing mainly revolved around Western classical piano, but I try to tackle more instruments as I go along: I gig as a chapel organist and more recently the guitar, both of which are in the project. In recent years, I’ve gradually shifted towards a software-based approach to music, in large part due to my growing interest in electronica.
MM: Can you briefly tell us about your association with ’Bonafide 7’ Records?
TB: I had met most of the members of Bonafide 7 during my studies at Berklee and on top of being really fun and pleasant people, they are all hardworking artists that I deeply respect. Given this is a debut EP, I felt that being associated with a collective of this sort could only be beneficial. And I’ve been satisfied with working with them, to say the least! I can only but strongly recommend their services.
MM: Can you walk us through your compositional and music production process? Techniques, workflows, instruments, plugins, etc. that you believe are integral to your sound.
TB: I wanted to hone in on the binaural aspect for this project specifically to enhance the atmosphere of the tracks and to fit the theme. Sennheiser made a free plugin called AMBEO that I used religiously for that purpose. But my usual process involves creating multiple short textures that repeat themselves and interact in a minimalist fashion, which I then tie together using a more prominent timbre. Recently I’ve been very interested in adding non-musical sources, as can be heard in the EP.
MM: Who are your musical influences?
TB: As much as I try to vary what I listen to, the music I write mostly takes from neo-classical composers including John Tavener and Christopher Cerrone, but also electronic musicians such as James Leyland Kirby, Jon Hopkins and Hélène Vogelsinger. That said, if I had to pinpoint one recurring source of inspiration, I’d say Thom Yorke.
MM: What/who are some things, places, people from other art forms, disciplines, or walks of life that inspire you?
TB: I’m not a particularly outgoing person and being that I tend to keep to myself, the music I write usually comes from more of a private place. Overall, I’d say I find a lot more inspiration from the troubles of life and the introspection that follows. I’m not trying to offer any answers, nor hoping to achieve catharsis of any kind with my music, but simply attempting to illustrate those harder moments. Some filmmakers and the moods they instil come to mind though: Terrence Malick, Lynne Ramsay and more recently Chloé Zhao.
MM: Can you tell us about the artwork and how it relates to the music? And also give a shoutout to the artist?
TB: Luigi Tasso – a member of Bonafide 7 – made the artwork. I was keen on keeping the artwork somewhat abstract and heavy in tone, which Luigi captured beautifully: a dreamlike landscape, distorted by oscillating patterns and interspersed shades of black, creating somewhat of a haze.
MM: Can you tell us a bit about the track 'The Road That Awaits', your collaborator Lucie Treacher, the collaborative process and how the track came about?
TB: ‘The Road that Awaits’ serves as the emotional crux of the project. With inspiration from films like Gaspar Noé’s “Enter the Void” and David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story”, I wanted to write a piece that conveyed the idea of a threshold– much like how the characters in those films roam between life and death.
Lucie and I were in the same film scoring program, and she blew most of our socks off by how creatively wonderful a person she is. I had only heard her sing a few times prior, but her voice carried such impact that when I was blocked writing ‘TRtA’, it suddenly occurred to me that this could be its missing ingredient. The rest of the track came naturally thanks to her participation, which I’m still ecstatic about.
MM: How is it different for you to make a track with/for a vocalist as opposed to a purely electronic one?
TB: This is by far the track that took me the most time to put together, mostly because it was my first crack at writing lyrics, but also as I had never incorporated a vocal performance as the central element in my compositions before. The vast majority of music consumed nowadays features vocal performances, so – on top of doing Lucie justice – I did feel additional pressure to stick the landing with ‘The Road that Awaits’.
MM: What do you like to do apart from music?
TB: I love going for long walks/drives, usually at night. Otherwise, I like watching films.
Follow Thomas Bingham on:
https://linktr.ee/thomasbinghammusic
https://www.instagram.com/_thomasbingham
https://www.facebook.com/thomasbinghammusic
https://thomasbinghammusic.bandcamp.com
All Images courtesy of Thomas Bingham
