Stretch out and enjoy the soundscape

By Gemma Tarlach
of the Journal Sentinel staff

Milwaukee's ambient space-rockers Ma Ja Le have a request for fans interested in checking them out live: Bring a pillow and blanket.

"We're striving for relaxation and beauty," says guitarist Chris Short, one half of the duo. "That's a different vibe than going to a rock concert for the adrenaline."

Synthesizer player Paul Vnuk agrees.

"Rock music is about escapism, about being able to put on a mask and pretend you're someone else," he says. "But when you listen to our music, it's a chance to go inside yourself."

"We've seen the audience slip into a lucid dreaming state," Vnuk adds. "That sounds hippy and trippy, but it's true."

Although their two internationally released albums (on the Oasis label) are often labeled New Age, Short and Vnuk prefer to define their sound as tribal ambient. They use a combination of everyday sound effects, guitar, keyboards and flute to color their shifting, moody soundscape. Short and Vnuk base much of their music-making philosophy on raga, a collection of traditional Hindu melody patterns that are used as springboards to improvisation.

Jamming and collaborating with fellow ambient artists is the core of Ma Ja Le. The duo's first album, 1995's "Dreams in the Orchards of Saturn," was assembled from Ma Ja Le's first two live shows. Their second disc, "Imaginarium," was a studio collaboration with percussionist/synth player Vir Unis and was mixed by Steve Roach, the forefather of ambient.

Short and Vnuk's next effort, "Seed," which they hope to release this summer, is a joint effort with ambient minimalist James Johnson.

"I listen to a lot of jazz from the '40s and '50s," says Vnuk, explaining the band's ever-evolving and collaborative approach to recording. "Every album was a collection of great jazz players who would get together for a couple days, record an album and then move on."

Short and Vnuk, both in their early 30s, settled on the ambient genre after trying on several other styles, from punk to psychedelia.

"Chris and I were in a lot of bands together, and it was always, play five gigs and then break up," Vnuk says. "Or the drummer quits and we'd be, like, 'Oh, we don't want to have to look for another drummer.' Finally, we decided to just do it ourselves."

Working as an experimental duo clicked immediately.

"Where we are now as a band is where I've always wanted to be," says Short, who counts Robert Fripp and Jimi Hendrix among his heroes. "I'm a guitar player, so I want to make sounds with my guitar."

Vnuk, who grew up listening to classic rock and eventually branched into progressive rock and jazz, says he concentrates on making the music accessible to audiences.

"I like structure and Chris likes to make weird noises," explains Vnuk. "He pushes the boundaries of what's avant-garde and I reel him back."

Aside from the music, Short and Vnuk - who met while studying at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design - work together on visual presentation. The duo's album covers are stunning blends of Short's painting and sculpture and Vnuk's photography. And they're looking for someone to improvise lighting at their live shows to complete what Short calls "a kind of synesthesia, a combining of artistic spheres."

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 21, 2000.