The following interview was done in Janurary 1999.

MH = Mike Honeycutt JC = Jim Coleman - PHYLR

MH: Please tell us a little about yourself. How did you get started in music?

JC: When I was Just a wee lad, I was forced to take classical piano lessons. What I really wanted to do was to sit at the piano and just play,but instead it was always more like study. Later, I started playing the french horn, which I really enjoyed despite it making me a geek in school.I was originally taught to play the horn by an old black man named Philmore Hall, who had previously taught Dizzy Gillespe to play. So as soon as I started to play the horn, I was in a jazz band, which made music much more alive to me.

MH: Is Phylr a solo project or is there other collaborators?

JC: Phylr is basically a solo project, although I like to bring other musicians and noisemakers into my sonic world. The live Phylr shows generally have at least one other musician, and is open to improvisation. The CD's are more tightly constructed. I get alot out of both collaboration and solo efforts. It's nice to be surprised working with other people; obviously things happen which would never happen otherwise. It's also satisfying to be sole creator of something.

MH: You released the "Contra La Puerta" CD on Invisible in 97. Can you tell us more about that release?

JC: Contra la Puerta was my first release after Cop Shoot Cop. Because of this, there was an overabundance of ideas and material. I think each song on Contra la Puerta could have been broken down into 5 songs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing the CD; I continue to listen to it which for me is not normal. I was also still honing my approach to this type of music on Contra. So at times I didn't know what the hell I was doing, which is not neccessarily a bad thing.

MH: Do you tour much?

JC: Well, I love touring, but the Phylr music really isn't created for a live show. I still haven't figured out how to make a really exciting live electronic performance. It always ends up being centered in the relationship between myself and the equipment. I miss the audience since I am unaware of them. On the contrary, playing with a band is all about the relationship that exists between the music, the performers, and the audience. I have been touring alot with here, which is my other project (a collaboration between myself and Teho Teardo). That's been going well.

MH: You have other projects besides Phylr such as here. Who's involved in here?

JC: Again, here is basically just myself and Teho, at least that is the starting point. It does go well beyond that, though. The recordings were done in NYC with a variety of musicians, including Rock Savage(Barkmarket), Jim Collaruso (Elvis, Motherhead Bug), Scott McCloud (Girls vs Boys), Lydia Lunch, Bill Bronson (Swans, Spitters, The Gunga Din), and Carolyn "honeychild" Coleman (no relation). Carolyn is just a great vocalist and is really important to the overall flavor of here. Really, all the musicians who appeared on the CD are important, I only singled Carolyn out because she is also with us for live shows. Live, the line up is drums (Matteo), bass (Stefano), 2 samplers (Teho and me), some guitar (Teho), and vocals (Teho, Carolyn, and myself).

MH: Is the Here track with Lydia Lunch on "iL Juke-box del diavolo" the only time you've collaborated with her?

JC: No, a few years ago I worked with her on a 7 inch called the history of decay. And she has some other appearances on the here CD (which is called Brooklyn Bank by the way). And I vaguely remember some live jam that Cop did with Lydia in Rotterdam years ago.

MH: Elliot Sharp is credited with mastering on "Contra La Puerta". Do you have any projects with him or have you played on any of his recordings?

JC: I never played on any of Elliots recordings. In the near future, I'll be on a compilation of music which was made for various dance performances. This will be released on Elliot's label (zOar). And we have played live together once before, at Unity Gain, a great ongoing event for electonic music in NYC produced and hosted by David Linton (hausofouch).

MH: Is most of your work created in your own home-studio or do you work out of other studios?

JC: It all starts at my home studio, which more or less constantly expands, depending on financial limitations. The Phylr stuff I can pretty much see to it's completion at home, with the exception of mastering. The here material was started at home, recorded at Moose Studios in Brooklyn, with additional recording and all mixing taking place at Studio Emme outside of Florence, in Italy.

MH: Any advice to other musicians that are trying to produce and release their own music?

JC: I guess approach really varies depending on the type of music being made. It is much easier to be self sufficient (in terms of a studio) if you are doing electronic music. If you are trying to put out something and you are basically a rock band, you need much more in a studio, and this generally means more expense. So we should all just make electronic music and bootleg all the software. Just kidding.

As far as producing, I believe in trusting myself, or at least my ears. On the other hand, it's really valuable to have a creative, knowledgeable engineer/ technician who can help you get where you want to be sonically, and can also present other possibilities. I've heard so many stories of different bands spending stupid money one a succesion of producers for one record, and it just gets to be a big mess. It's crucial to have a clear idea of what you want, and if the studio is costing you money, it helps if this can happen before you are paying for the time.

As far as getting music released, it seems like the industry is in such a fucked up state right now I don't know what to say. I guess just a couple of things: If you are sending tapes out, it can help to have some packagingso it doesn't look so generic. Be persistent in following up with phone calls etc. And it also can help if you have a manager who is doing all this for you (not that I have one!)

MH: What's in store for you and your projects in 1999?

JC: Well, the here CD is getting released this month (January). Currently I'm in the middle of the next Phylr record, and that should be out by the end of the summer I guess. I'm going to be on this compilation I mentioned; In February I'm going down to Austin TX to compose music for a dance performance by Margery Segal and Jason Phelps. I'll be back in Italy touring. And I'm trying to scare up my next film scoring gig (which I've been doing alot of the last few years).

You can reach Phylr at: herehere e-mail at: basement@tin.it and the phylr addy above.

here's CD "brookln bank" is available on Invisible Records