You've never heard of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Michael Chornomaz or his sometimes-band Paper Fields and Coffee and you'll probably never hear about him again. But Mike represents a new trend in the changing geography of the independent musician, and offers both listeners and musicians alike a new philosophy for the decentralized, postmodern music scene: hear music holistically, think positively, and "make it happen"; in other words, Do it Yourself. And make it weird. TDI caught up with the songwriter and keeper of the local avant-garde torch after a gig in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The Dartmouth Independent: Your group Paper Fields and Coffee has an eclectic, often poppy, and sometimes strange style, but behind every weird noise or catchy acoustic guitar, it's obvious that you're sincere about the sounds and compositions that you are creating. What does making music mean to you? 

Michael Chornomaz: Making music means everything to me. I feel as if it's one of the only productive things I do.

TDI: How long have you been at it and who or what has influenced you?

MC: I started messing around with manipulating sounds and wave files on my computer about five years ago. I remember using only a wave editing program and a standard PC microphone on which I would just tap, create a wave, and then edit on the computer to achieve certain sounds. Making interesting or alien sounds was fun and I felt that it was a way of making music. But I remember playing [my compositions] for my drum teacher at the time, and him telling me that it would be good music to torture people with during interrogations.

TDI: When did you begin playing other instruments, or writing less ear-grating songs?

MC: At some point I slowly began learning some things on guitar and writing folky songs. Lyrics have always been tough to me because I have to be in a certain headspace to write them... but sometimes they just come out while jamming on some chords, feeling certain emotions.

TDI: What are your lyrics usually about?

MC: My lyrics are mainly just super simple honest expressions of my feelings. But I now have two strains of my music, one being the folky pop songs, the other being experimental, anything goes, music. And surprisingly, they two styles sometimes do cross paths.

TDI: Really? What do you consider your main influences? Where do your two veins of music intersect?

MC: Everything influences me, but I think specifically the bands Of Montreal and Animal Collective. I am pretty obsessed with both. Of Montreal is very accessible, happy sounding stuff. Animal Collective uses pure sounds and textures which are really inspirational.

TDI: Those influences are both examples of incredible bands that aren’t necessarily successful in the mainstream—they push the envelope for themselves and for a very loyal group of fans. What’s it like being a non-professional songwriter and arranger, working for your own expression and for the experience of a few listeners? Do you ever find yourself wishing to be famous, instead of seeing the same faces in the audience?

MC: I like having music at a place in my life where I don't have to engage with it if I don't want to... no links to financial obligations or anything. I can make a song, not make a song, share it with everyone I know, or keep it to myself. But I think that sharing your music with strangers can be a very important, maybe even essential step; I can be kind of timid in regards to that, or maybe just slow. This summer I played an open mic at a bar and played at a fair for a few hundred people; both shows were interesting experiences for me.

TDI: Paper Fields and Coffee is a group that seems to just happen, or “get by,” as it were, with a little “help from its friends”: does the music you create always reflect your relationships with those close friends who record with you and back you up for shows?

MC: Friends who are involved definitely influence my musical process. I find it difficult to make music with others sometimes, and almost impossible to make with people I don't have a friendship-type connection with. Since I am into avant-garde music, I don't want be doing something totally insane during a jam session only to have someone stop what they are doing and stare at me freaking out.

TDI: But you’ve definitely played in all kinds of musical groups, from punk to live noise. How many different projects or groups have you been involved with in your musical career? You play a lot of instruments; do you see yourself as a musician or more a songwriter/arranger?

MC: I have been involved with a couple different projects, nothing that has ever become too serious. I think it's my fault. I still feel like I'm searching for something to get involved in musically, but I like not having to rely on anyone else. And I like being able to control everything when I do stuff by myself. I really want to get more into electronic music, get a synthesizer, an electronic drum kit...I need to buy so much equipment, but I'm pretty poor.

TDI: It must be hard being a pro-bono avant-garde multi-instrumentalist.

MC: [Laughs] Yeah, it doesn’t really pay: I have two amps which suck and are almost broken, I have one microphone that's not actually even mine, and a Fender Squire guitar that I'm borrowing from a friend's sister. It's all pretty ghetto stuff, but there is a charm to it, and I think that's how it should be. Theres a lifetime ahead to keep adding on little by little with new musical objects, devices, and equipment.

TDI: So are you a musician or a songwriter?

MC: I see myself as a musician for sure, and more of a developing songwriter. I like recording, and hi fidelity crisp sounding stuff. But most of the things I have been recording recently are just sketches, shorter demos that are pretty lo-fi.

TDI: Let’s get outside of the studio. How do you think digital music distribution affects the way people interact with the creative process? Do you think that live performances become more or less important?

MC: Live performances are more important certainly because they are becoming one of the only ways musicians can make money: you can pirate the music but you can't steal the experience and feelings you get from seeing the show. I think that the lack of money in music lately will probably weed out people who aren't as into it... people who love to make music will never stop, and people who love listening will always do listen and hopefully try to support their favorite music.

TDI: As corporations try more and more to dictate the listening population’s taste with autotune, formulaic pop songs, and uninspiring and unconceptual albums, do independent artists matter more?

MC: Independent artists matter so much more than ever because geography has changed so much with the internet and digital distribution. Consumers have had more of a choice of what they're exposed to, because they are watching television and tuning into the radio less.

TDI: Is there something to be said for not having slick packaging—like how Paper Fields and Coffee and your content site, Spaceshipp.com, have pretty lo-fi websites? Can the “lo-fi,” local aesthetic connect with people more? Is it a response to the overcommercialization of music?

MC: Well, I must say first that Spaceshipp is totally a work in progress. It kind of fell off my radar in some ways to be honest; I have some pretty high concepts for the site and it haven't yet accomplished what I want to accomplish. But there’s no rush…I'm paying twenty dollars a year for it and its not going anywhere. I want visual and musical artists to have a free place with no ads or design constraints to display their images and sounds for anyone to access for free. And there they can have a forum with which to collaborate with one another. Maybe you meet someone at a bar and you can tell them there is a website, spaceshipp.com with two P's at the end, where you can experience some stimulating art and music if you're bored—or if you’re into creative stuff. The geography of music is changing.

TDI: You grew up in New Jersey, a state that definitely has a culture of local music and independent artists, and still live and play there now. What kind of musical influences have you found there? How have your friends there there influenced you?

MC: I don't attend many shows in New Jersey, actually. I know that there are still punk shows and stuff, and emo and screamo in New Brunswick. And my friends have been putting on some experimental and noise shows there as well, which are well attended and show people's interest in new sounds and new methods of making music. Most people I know are pretty open minded musically, which is so important. There was some point in my life, probably late in high school or early in college where I really took a step back and tried to find positive elements in all music, and to not criticize things. Music can make you feel so many different ways, and its functions vary from song to song and from genre to genre. It kills me when people say there is nothing to do around here, because wherever you are, you can always make it happen.