Fingered: Q&A with H. H. Owen

Back in spring I went to see Tussle and Nymph Show at the Silent Barn. I was browsing through Tussle's merchandising. One cute little canvas bag with the mysteriously adorable finger guy printed caught my eye. It was titled " FINGERED dvdzine" and had a very impressive list of indie bands from bay area.

A few months passed, on one hot day in June I received a message from the cute little finger guy via myspace. I found out the person behind Fingered is a music nerd called Harrison. Several exchanged emails made me confident that he's safe to meet. A few moments after we met, he told me he likes "T.I.T.S." and support "Child Abuse". I thought GREAT! It really made me want to do his interview because of his great sense of humor and his love for Brooklyn's indie music scene.


Q1: Why is it called Fingered? What's the story behind the Fingered character?
Well, there's the obvious double meaning, but mostly I just wanted to name it something memorable that people would react to positively. The word usually makes folks smile and giggle in a slightly uncomfortable way. It's a good word. I want everyone to be comfortable with it! As for the little man on the cover of the last issue you’d have to talk with Joe Roberts, the artist formerly known as Krak. I took it from one of his drawings and I guess it just kind of became the Fingered guy.


Q2: How did you start shooting live music? Can you tell me a little bit about some of the bands you've featured on your DVD? How are your relationships between you and those bands?
I've been shooting shows for a while now. I started off mostly shooting my friends’ bands while living in D.C. I also worked for a small video production company, and once a month or so we would shoot live performances from an art gallery and webcast them. I moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2001 and I think the first show I shot here was my friend Ellie's band, Erase Errata. They played a lot of shows with Black Dice, who I really loved, and so I started shooting their performances as well.

Excepter I got to know through Dan Hougland, who I met at Other Music where
he works. Their first cd is one of the best things I’ve heard in years, so I was really looking forward to capturing their live show on tape. They liked the video I put together for one of the songs, which ended up being a live track on their next album, and then I asked them to co-curate the first Fingered. The other bands on the dvd are all friends of Excepter's or bands in the area that they've played with. The visual artists are either my friends or local artists whose work I dig. For the San Francisco Bay Area issue I kind of did the same thing. I started with a relatively well-known band that I love, Erase Errata, and then asked them to suggest some other bands. Joe Roberts is an artist I've always admired, and he was also playing with the band Black Fiction. I also ask all the bands if they have anything they want to contribute, like artwork or photos. We included some artwork by the guys in Clipd Beaks, and Erase Errata gave me their box of tapes that they shot on tour, which I then went through and edited into a short video tour diary. All the bands have been really nice and enthusiastic about participating. I would say that all of them have a very unique and focused artistic vision that they pursue and that I really respect. Hopefully that comes across on the dvds.


Q3: On your MySpace profile, you chose NOT SURE for the sexual orientation, is that you or the mascot ?
Well, I also chose AGNOSTIC and MORE TO LOVE! Fingered is very much about more to love. I prefer to be open and slightly ambiguous.


Q4: So far you have made #1 Brooklyn and #2 San Francisco issues. What's next? What city is musically exciting right now?
Fingered #3 will be Mexico City. It’s an amazing city in so many ways, and the art and music scenes there are exploding. I visited in January and really fell in love with it. People have this idea that it's this huge, crazy, dirty and dangerous place and it is but so is New York. And like NYC, there are also a lot of places that are safe, clean, and beautiful. I met a bunch of really cool and talented folks and I’m excited to show off their work. This time I asked an artist, Amor Munoz, to curate with me, so it will be more art heavy. But there will also be videos of the bands Fancy Free, Post-Pastel, and Maniqui Lazer. Maniqui Lazer are actually from Mexicali, but I saw them perform and they put on a damn good show. I’m also working with the Mexico Now Festival, which showcases Mexican culture here in New York City, and if all goes well, all the bands will fly up here to be a part of it in September, right around the time the DVD is released!

Q5: You’ve been to music venues around the world. Can you tell me about your favorite music venues? Among the places you've been to shoot or listen to bands, which was the most strange place?
New York obviously has some great venues, and I’ve shot at a lot of them, but I really prefer the smaller, less corporate places. I really miss NorthSix. It was a good size club and they didn’t mind if I had my camera.

The bigger places I only shoot at when I freelance on a job because they charge a fee of around $200 a camera. The small places, like Cakeshop and GlassLands usually have better shows anyways. I have to credit Mr. Todd P for finding some great spots and putting together some amazing gigs. Seeing a band at a house party or in some warehouse tends to make for a more exciting performance. Growing up in D.C. in the 90s I saw a lot of Fugazi shows, and they always played either outside or in some church basement. Can't really think of any especially strange places though.

Q6: What bands were you listening to growing up? What is the most memorable performance you've seen in your life?
Well, like I said, Fugazi was big for me, and all those shows were pretty incredible experiences. The first time I saw them was January of ’91 outside in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House in protest of the first war on Iraq. The intensity of their performance and the energy in the air and just the whole situation was extremely powerful and it definitely left a lasting impression. Other than that though, my junior high and high school years were spent mostly listening to industrial and gloomy dance music, like New Order, PiL, and Ministry. That’s why I hooked on to Excepter right away. They have this Throbbing Gristle-like purity to them- dark and experimental, but always interesting and danceable.

Q7: You obviously have an attraction to musicians. What is it about them that interests you particularly?
Well, I love music, obviously - for whatever reason. I love to dance and have fun, for one thing. Mostly, I like to hear new music, new sounds.

Just like I like to see new things, new places, learn new things, etc. I’m interested in culture and music is inextricably tied to it. Musicians, therefore, have the ability to powerfully influence and shape the culture through their art. I hate to keep bringing up Fugazi, but they are a perfect example. I’m attracted to any artist, be it in music or film or writing, who expands the culture by breaking taboos and opening minds.

Q8: What is the odd job you’ve had in the past?
I flew to eastern India to shoot footage of environmental devastation for a non-profit group. It was amazing.

Q9: What are you listening to right now?
A lot of good local stuff: True Primes, Blues Control, the new Panda Bear album. I’m a big Animal Collective fan.

Q10: Where your favorite hangout spot?
Potion Café on McKibbin Street. And the GlassLands always has cool stuff going on.


Thanks, Harrison!

Fingered Dvdzine Winter/Spring 2007 is available directly from www.fingeredmedia.com or at:


Other Music
Cakeshop
Spoonbill & Sugartown
Soundfix
Cinders Gallery
New Museum of Contemporary Art Bookstore