How does a song like “Effed Up Cows,” which is basically just loops of animal sounds, come about?
DB Pedersen: That’s completely improvised. They come from the ability to disconnect from standard thoughts about music, I guess. I don’t really know, because I’m not a trained musician. I’m self-trained. I can get into formless and be comfortable with it. AVC: Well, self-trained is one thing, but it’s like you’re totally removed from the whole track of learning your craft by playing in a lot of bands and writing songs in a certain way. DBP: The voice is from playing the didgeridoo for a few years and then figuring out that I could do that on my own. And I hadn’t heard Tuvan throat singing before. I happened to be farming sheep, came up with it, and people were like, “Yeah, people farm sheep on the other side of the world and they do this singing.” AVC: You’re part of this underground music community here, and a big part of that is collaboration and improvisation. How do you go about adapting to different collaborators? DBP: I really lucked out. I got really great teachers when I came h
