We’ve heard a lot about Minneapolis’ Emil Hagstrom on this Union Pole journey.
Emil has had grubby hands in a whole bunch of UP tapes: Bruiser, Cock ESP, Wrong, Amputease and Coffee Kulture, some in collaboration and some on his lonesome. But this is the first release under his very own name. And it makes me wonder, for an artist who is so careful with naming conventions, keeping projects distinct and focused, what does using your own name mean?
Can we expect the real deal? Emil in all his naked glory? Does this suggest a sloughing off of the reflective skin to reveal the true artist beneath?
Or, if the title is to be believed, is this just another dumb noise tape?
Let’s dive in and see.
The tape opens with a blast of liquid feedback and something that sounds like one of those manic ‘laugh boxes’ howling unpleasantly over brittle guitar skronk.
It’s a bold statement and one that works perfectly. Too busy Emil? I don’t think so. This tape shows careful consideration and a variety of working methods to ‘bring the noise’. Not prepared to rest on any greasy laurels, this is working hard to open a new noise space for the hungry listener.
It’s a shame the songs are untitled. I’d be intrigued to understand what ‘track 2’ is named for. Dark and foreboding slabs of synth are gradually submerged in boiling paraffin (question: does paraffin boil?) leaving very little but a sticky sweet residue.
Hissing electronic skwaarl is chaotically tracked between my ears on ‘track 3’ then shoehorned into a brutal Brontosaurus-stomp leaving heavy footprints indeed!
The guitar is back on ‘track 4’. Wriggling hands on the fretboard rattle a number of iron-clad notes from their slumber. Is the intention to mimic the mechanical clatter of a bowling alley? If so…full points to Hagstrom. Sounds scatter like those recalcitrant pins. Emil takes this approach further on ‘track 5’ apparently wearing welders fire-proof gloves to handle the axe this time poking a thick set of digits into the strings to the rhythm of a swollen sea.
Many of these tracks are short, swift kicks but ‘track 6’ stretches things out somewhat. Using the kinda restraint that reminds me of the late great Pan Sonic this piece gives silence and absence a square go. Laying sounds out on a horizontal plane: squeal, roar, silence, roar, squeal, longer silence, humm. A deeply destroyed string instrument is wrestled into a cardboard box until the resulting howls get oily and damp.
The penultimate ‘track 7’ would sit comfortably in an Arts Council-funded performance space, a tasteful gallery with clean, scrubbed patrons. Of course, we know Emil can skronk without the noise if bucks are offered, but the tiny snippet of Minneapolis radio at the end shows where his bread is buttered.
The closer brings a percussive edge and would now be categorised as an early example of ‘noise-rummage’, the constant scrabble of activity (amplified or not amplified) that underpins much of the 2000’s noise explosion (Editors note: if you’ve not come across noise-rummage I heartily endorse Henry Collin’s and Robin Foster’s work as essential to all thirsty ears. Listen here). Emil takes his pacing very seriously; regularly varying the rummage-level surfing some unseen force, some invisible hand that guides the tuned-in improviser to their personal summit.
Emil has been a ghostly presence for much of this Union Pole project. His was a name to be whispered in quiet rooms, to be occasionally glanced through blurred photocopied pages. I’d been told that contact with Emil was difficult to arrange. He was a hard man to trace, to pin down. And the passing years, and no doubt pretty much constant activity, has worn his memory down to a gummy stump.
I wrote to Emil a bunch of times but received no replies. Was this going to be another cold trail?
And then, just when I had given up hope, and with an innocent ‘ping’ an email pops in my inbox
“Hi Joe. I’d be happy to help with whatever I can! I have to warn you, my memory is fried, I don’t even remember some of those tapes you mention. I also didn’t save copies of most tapes I was involved with… But yeah, lemme know what you need from me! Emil.”
I jump at the chance and send Emil a bunch of hastily scribbled questions pretty much instantly.
Hi Emil. Can you tell me how you got into music?
No idea, but the first record I owned was the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ 7-inch.
And how did you get into making noise?
I got a Casio keyboard for Christmas 1983, but didn’t know how to play it. I also had a boombox which I dropped and somehow dislodged the heads just enough so it played and recorded everything backwards. My dad worked in a woodworking shop, so one day I recorded the circular saw. Then I started layering all those sounds into muddy noise by using two boomboxes. Later I found out I wasn’t so special, there was a whole genre of people making similar noise.
Were there any other influences on your sound?
When I first heard Depeche Mode and the Art of Noise around 1983-1984, using samples instead of playing instruments, it sounded so much more exciting that pop music.
I’ve been watching some of your Cock ESP live shows and can tell performance is really important to you. Am I right?
Yes, there’s not much of a visual element to twiddling knobs or tapping a laptop, and Performance Art seemed to be a good fit as far as something visual which fit the music.
Why did you set up EF tapes?
I can’t remember details but we were dubbing copies of cassettes already, to give to people, and I liked how indie labels had simple catalog numbers, which made sense to me.
You’ve released music under loads of different names. What’s the genesis of Wrong, The Amputease and the work you do under your own name. Some sound like bands, others solo projects.
Mostly the different names were for different people I collaborated with. The Amputease was me and Eric Hofferber, WRONG was me and John Vance, etc. I guess they had different instrumentation as well, so they sounded slightly different. I think the tapes under my name were just fucked up solo guitar sounds? But then I did some solo noise and came up with other names, Bruiser for instance, but that was kind of a violent name, so I started using ‘Off’, then found our Neil Campbell had a project by that name. These days, it’s all similar enough that I just put everything under Cock E.S.P.
I heard Koffee Culture tape was you too?
I think I was involved with Coffee Culture or Koffee Culture, just a rip off of Phil Todd’s Tea Culture I guess? I remember sampling things for it.
Phew! You heard it heard first readers.
Wanna taste some noise history? It’s all available here for a measly Benjamin…
https://unionpoletapes.bandcamp.com/album/too-busy-watching-baywatch-to-record-a-proper-tape-up58
OR…you can download the whole damn Union Pole discography of 76 tapes for $5 here. Don’t be cheap!
All pics taken outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Lubber Fiend
It won’t surprise you to learn that I often make mistakes! Please leave a comment below if you spot a mistake in the blog or have a tale to tell to drive this Union Pole story forward. Everyone is invited on this ride.
All my ideas are stolen 
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