Beyond Rock and into Unknown Worlds of Noise

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Photo provided courtesy of the artist

Richard Franecki

Years ago, when free improvisational music was first heard in Milwaukee, the practitioners were often from jazz or experimental art backgrounds. Richard Franecki comes at free improv from a rock perspective. He first surfaced in the early 1980s punk scene and eventually built a worldwide underground following with his industrial-edged, eclectic rock band F/i. With his current project, Vocokesh, Franecki employs rock instrumentation on a journey into noise and has released nearly 25 albums on record labels around the world. Off the Cuff spoke with Franecki about his prolific, ongoing musical project.

Tell me about Abe “Voco” Kesh and why you named the band after him.

It was just something we thought sounded cool! “Vocokesh” was actually the name of an old piece F/i once did. I thought it would be a good bridge between F/i and the new band. Abe “Voco” Kesh was a pioneering DJ in late-’60s San Francisco—the early days of free form commercial radio. But he’s primarily remembered as a producer, in particular doing the first two LPs by Blue Cheer. We thought the obscure ’60s reference would be a cool thing for a band name.

After an already long time spent with F/i, what inspired you to establish a new band?

The usual “musical direction” thing. There were also a few personality conflicts. I thought the group should continue in a more experimental direction. F/i was—it seemed to me at the time—heading in a more, for lack of a better word “conventional” direction.

What is your current involvement with F/i?

At this particular moment, I'm not in the band. After forming Vocokesh in 1991(or thereabouts), I was out of F/i for two years. I rejoined in the ’90s and recorded and performed with F/i. All the while though, I was still very active with Vocokesh, it was really my main focus. A couple of years back, I sort of once again drifted out of F/i.

There are a few philosophical differences regarding recording and composition. I've getting more into free improv and recording every session. [It turns into] patterns, or “scenarios,” rather than what would be considered “songs.” We like to do everything live—no overdubbing. Sometimes, cools things happen that can't be reproduced.

Having said that, the guys in F/i and I are still friends, we’re in touch. I’d love to do a show with them. The old F/i LPs are being reissued on vinyl by an Australian label. There’s also a new F/i LP in the works from the same label, Sorcerer Records. It's all cool.

How far from Milwaukee has Vocokesh performed? Are there festivals around the world dedicated to the band’s type of music?

Unlike F/i, who have toured, Vocokesh have not really performed outside Milwaukee. We’ve had offers to play Europe, since that’s where most of our following is. There are psych-rock festivals in Europe where we’d go over really well.

Talk about the role of the internet in finding fans around the world.

In our case, it goes back a long time before the internet! I was heavily involved in the global tape trading network in the ’80s. I swapped F/i cassettes with people all over the planet. There was a magazine called OP that reviewed every cassette sent to them and published contact addresses. I would send an F/i cassette to every party that had sent a tape to OP. Many others, all over the world, also did the same. A huge network of snail mail communication was established. F/i remained a bit obscure locally but amassed an enormous global following.

Nowadays, the internet and email make things much easier.

How has Vocokesh’s direction evolved over the years?

We’ve always tried to be “experimental,” whatever that means! We’ve gotten better at getting ideas across. For the first 20 years of existence, Vocokesh was a studio project. Eventually, we were able to perform live. I guess that was a major evolutionary leap! Our first live shows were not that good, but we’ve made the transition from using the studio as an instrument to literally performing and recording everything live. The early Vocokesh recordings were heavily overdubbed and put together in the studio. But I was inspired by a book I read about the Velvet Underground. Lou Reed and John Cale decided early in that group’s existence that they wanted to do everything live in the studio. That really struck me. A great goal. It flies in the face of what is considered these days to be the proper way of making a record. Our live shows are much better now. Come and see us!

Tell me about working with the German label on your latest recording.

Our current label, Pure Pop for Now People, is run by a great guy named Joachim Gaertner. He’s been a fan of F/i and Vocokesh for many years. He saw F/i perform live during one of the European tours. Vocokesh have done around eight LPs for the label. We have a new one about half recorded. We have pretty much total artistic control. We can do what we want!

I also need to mention a French label, Fractal Records. It’s run by another fantastic individual named Jerôme Genin. He’s also a huge fan of F/i and Vocokesh and has nearly a complete collection of all the stuff we did in our early cassette trading days. He has re-issued some of our early stuff on LP and CD. Last year, Vocokesh did a double LP for the label, a tribute to the German psych scene of the early ’70s, often referred to as “Krautrock,” though I don't really like that term. That album was original Vocokesh material in the style of four bands:

Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül II, Can and the electronic experimenter, Conrad Schnitzler.

I also have a side project, The Purple Room, an electronic free-form noise ensemble. Fractal is releasing a multi-volume set of that material next year. 

Vocokesh will perform Friday, Sept. 13, at Company Brewing, 735 E. Center St. Also on the bill are Texas band ST 37.