Feb 18

Feb 18 Interview: XOR

Brian Eno famously observed that “ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” It’s a delicate balance — one that’s as difficult to articulate as it is to achieve.

On Present Tense, Matthew Bowman’s latest album as XOR [pronounced ex or], the Asheville-based musician crafts a sonic environment that fully absorbs the listener without ever forcefully demanding attention. Drawing from a blend of electronics, live instrumentation, and field recordings, Bowman creates a texturally rich soundscape where natural and artificial elements exist in quiet symbiosis. The album unfolds with a dreamlike quality, subtly altering one’s perception of time and space. As the slowly shifting waves of sound envelop you, it becomes easy — almost inevitable — to lose yourself within the music. It’s in those moments of complete immersion that Present Tense reveals it’s best appreciated.

In an era defined by constant noise and relentless pace, carving out moments of stillness feels increasingly difficult — and profoundly necessary. That refuge may be found deep in the woods or within a thoughtfully constructed sonic world like Present Tense. Either way, those willing to fully surrender to the experience are rewarded with a rare sense of clarity.

Over the past few months, XOR has gradually unveiled each track from Present Tense in sequence, pairing every release with a companion video and allowing each piece to stand on its own. The full album arrives on Friday, Feb. 20, with release shows scheduled for Feb. 19 and 20 at Revolve Gallery. Additional Southeast tour dates will follow in March.

Ahead of the album’s release, Asheville Stages caught up with XOR to dig deeper into the creation of and inspiration behind Present Tense.

Jonny Leather: Looking back at your earliest releases under the XOR moniker, do you feel there’s been a gradual shift from dancier electronic music toward the more dreamlike, ambient soundscapes of Present Tense?

XOR: There was a time when I was doing both but recently it's been instrumental. I thought about using my name for the ambient stuff but ended up just staying with XOR. I haven't really been writing lyrics, so that's played a role in the shift. But I have still been writing rhythm parts. I've been feeling constrained with straightforward dance beats, so I've been trying to experiment with rhythm. I've played it a few times live but haven't felt confident enough in anything to release it yet.

JL: What was your process like when it came to writing and recording these songs?

XOR: Each song was different. Some, like “Unwound” or “Laurel Holler,” started from experimenting with sounds. Others, like “Anomie,” came from a synth patch I wrote. Maybe all of side B started from playing something on guitar or piano. “Swells” was a lot of improvised takes once I had the idea of it, whereas “Hell” was a long process of composition and revision. I ended up getting my friend Ashlee [Booth] to play cello on “The Malady of the Infinite” since I wasn't happy with my own playing.

JL: Despite all the electronics at play, the record feels deeply connected to the natural world. Was that a deliberate decision?

XOR: Definitely. My studio is in a shed positioned between my garden and the woods. I write a lot of my melodies humming while outside gardening or walking my dog or building trails through the forest. There's an innate sterility that comes with electronic music, recording directly from an electronic device to the digital. Plus, midi provides the ability to perfect it. There's no sense of an actual space, so at some point in the recording/mixing process, I'll take field recordings of something interesting going on outside and put it in the mix — often not at a conscious level — to try to imbue a bit of reality.

JL: Were there any specific influences that you were looking towards as a spiritual guide for Present Tense?

XOR: Nature, I guess. The titles “Anomie” and “Malady of the Infinite” come from [French sociologist Émile] Durkheim, but I think that's more social or political than spiritual. I recorded a street preacher at Hopscotch [Music Festival in Raleigh] a few years back and used some of it for “Hell.” His message wasn't entirely disagreeable, talking about how politicians won't save us and how building up earthly treasures amounts to nothing in the end.

JL: Each single has been accompanied by a video collaboration. Can you talk about how those came together? Did the visual artists choose the songs they worked on, or did you seek out collaborators you felt were a natural fit for specific tracks?

XOR: I decided against pressing vinyl since I didn't want a bunch of unsold records sitting in my basement. I had some money set aside from that and thought instead to use video as a way of bringing intentionality back into listening to music. I've been meeting people in visual and performance arts through [experimental artist collective] Swannatopia and wanted to build a wider artist community around the album. I let people pick what tracks they wanted to work with.

JL: You’ve been involved in the local music scene for quite some time now. In what ways have you seen it evolve for the better?

XOR: I think the ambient and experimental scene has grown significantly in my decade plus of being in Asheville. There also seems to be a resurgence of house shows, which is cool.

JL: What’s an improvement you’d most like to see moving forward?

XOR: A return to real life. Posting flyers in places and relying less on social media. Back to sharing things with friends and less relying on the algorithm. Between costs, saturation, and now AI slop, I think we're at a point where the dream of living off music or art is impossible. Which isn't to say, ‘Why bother making it?” It's more reason to revamp the DIY ethic and community aspects of it.

JL: What can audiences expect from your shows at Revolve on February 19 and 20?

XOR: I'll be performing the first four songs on Thursday and the last four songs on Friday with accompanying videos. The album is 40+ minutes and I wanted to play the whole thing, but it just felt a little long of a single show. By splitting into two nights, I was also able to have more people on the show. I'm currently assembling the sets, figuring out which parts of which songs I'll be actively playing and which parts will be backing tracks.

IF YOU GO

Who: XOR w/ Tony Rolando + Observances (Feb. 19)
XOR w/ Nesting Doll + Ashley Paul & Shane Justice McCord (Feb. 20)
When: Thursday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. & Friday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.
Where: Revolve, 821 Riverside Dr., revolveavl.org
Tickets: $10 each night

(Photo by Jaysen / Secret Playground Photo)