I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…

Hi Billy! First of all thanks so much for sparing some time to answer a few questions, I’m sure you must be busy between your recent releases. Have you been listening to many records in your downtime lately? What have you heard?
Not much, really, as I’m not a music consumer, but I just heard Jim O’Rourke’s latest record… very beautiful. Also recently purchased the newest offerings from my buddies MC Schmidt (of Matmos) and Robert Crouch.

Who were your biggest influences when you first started recording your loops and how, if at all, do you think your approach to making music has changed since then?
I’m still exploring the catalogue of loops I created in a frenzy of activity many years ago… these are my “patches”, if you will. Also, a recent development – I’ve managed to get rid of the guest bedroom and have installed the synth studio from Arcadia that’s been stacked up in my garage here in LA for 7 years. We are in the process of trouble-shooting and sending out for repairs as well as looking at options for a new console that can go into the computer so that I can have access to those babies again for sound design and new work I can’t do with tape loops. The Voyetra 8 fired right up so that’s exciting!

I have to bring up the Disintegration Loops – given their popularity and ultimate legacy, how does that pressure impact your mindset when it comes to starting a new project?
It doesn’t. I mean I certainly can’t compete with it. It was a once in a lifetime thing. Naturally, I’m thrilled about it and the incredible reception for that work, but it’s not like I feel the urge to try to top that bar. I just try to make each new piece come alive in its own way to the best of my ability.

I saw you live last year in the St John’s Sessions and it was truly a captivating experience; you clearly don’t sit still and allow the loops to play out, so could you expand a little on what you’re doing on stage and how you’re affecting the sounds?
There were two shows last year at St. John’s. I did Vivian and Ondine which is a fun one to perform as long as the tape decks are behaving properly. In that one, I start with the main loop on the laptop (the original loop has now disintegrated beyond repair) and then I mix in, in random order, a dozen “counter-melodies” if you could call them that, up within the threshold of hearing and let them resonate for a period of time depending on how they work in a particular space. Some work well in one space and not so well in another. So for about 40-45 minutes I’m playing around with these loops on stage very much like I do in the studio.

The second show was The Deluge, the live version of Cascade, my latest work. In this performance, I begin with the main theme from Cascade, a 30+ year old piano loop that is now decayed as well, so that begins on the laptop and is processed through a series of different length feedback loops, building into a crescendo of beating frequencies that then dies down and fades away before the denouement: another mix of limpid old piano loops leading to a randomly discovered urgent orchestral loop that creates the final scene.

Your new solo albums Cascade and The Deluge are both really haunting records that rely on the same source melody; could you talk about why you ultimately chose to release both, and do you often create alternate versions of the same sequence?
They are two variations on a theme. I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy. We agonized over it for months but it finally came together and I’m thrilled with the way it turned out. It should have been an easy one but it wasn’t. Some children are challenging! (Speaking of Headphone Commute… put Cascade on in the car!)

The Deluge is a different thing, this is the version I perform. It’s a narrative… like a film in 3 acts. As a metaphor let’s think of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans for example. It’s raining, rain is a precious commodity. It’s still raining, the ground is getting saturated, torrents are flowing through the streets. Sand bag the doors. Oh my God, the water is rising. Get upstairs, it’s coming in. Shit, get into the attic! It sounds like it’s stopping… cut a hole in the roof, get that wooden table top let’s get out… suddenly you see the world has changed beyond belief… you are floating on a wooden tabletop with your family looking at the devastation of this great storm. You are in shock… but you are alive. And as the credits roll you realize nothing will ever be the same again. This is analogous to the rapacious profit-driven capitalism that is destroying our planet. If one focuses too much on that sparkly diamond, that high, that profit, that bank account… destruction ensues.

Lastly, you also have a new collaboration with Richard Chartier coming up in “Divertissement”, your third joint effort with him I believe; could you talk a little bit about the record and your continuing relationship with Chartier?
It’s a very discrete new musique concrete piece we have worked on together over the past, gosh… five years? maybe longer. Richard is a very prolific sound designer and composer. I respect him greatly, plus he’s a lot of fun! If Richard is a fast cutting edge catamaran like the monster I just saw recently on the internet, well, just imagine a huge anchor on the back of that caught in the rocks on the sea bottom… that’s me. I take forever to get off the pot so to speak. But we finally dredged this thing up and spent a lot of time together working on it last year, weeding a lot of stuff out and finessing. Richard is in LA now so it’s easier to get together and nail things down in a timely fashion. Also we can hear the piece over the same pristine sound system at his elegant studio which helps me to hear what he is hearing instead of hearing it on one of my old systems at my place. I like it. It’s bordering on his Pinkcourtesyphone persona which I love very much. It will come out this summer on Important Records with another lovely James Elaine cover and gold vinyl, God willing… vinyl production is getting very difficult now so expect delays!

Read Headphone Commute review of Cascade

mmlxii.com

Questions by Chris Doherty-Ingram for Headphone Commute

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
Technically it would have been the piano – I was started on lessons around the age of 5 and sometime after that I realized that anything sounds good if you play it all on black keys… So my first original ‘compositions’ were in that mode… Black keys and sustain pedal. We sold our piano when I was a teenager, because by then I was more focused on drums and guitar, but over the past several years I’ve wished to have a piano at home, which is problematic when you’re an apartment dweller…

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I’ve always kept it pretty spartan; as a teenager I recorded on a Tascam Porta02 4-track with a crappy Zoom 505 effects pedal and RadioShack microphone… I played an off-brand steel-string acoustic and an off-brand Gibson-style electric, and bashed on my drums just to make a sound. Nowadays I use a simple setup of 4 pedals including a loop station, as well as a Vox AC15 amp and a bunch of pretty decent Fender guitars, all recorded to tape and arranged in GarageBand because it makes more sense to me than most software I’ve encountered otherwise.

So, would you say that is your favorite piece of software?
I stick with GarageBand because it does everything I require and intuitively, it makes total sense to me. Even though it has its limitations in terms of number of tracks in a file, etc., I have found ways around that when my needs are more complex. I greatly prefer simplicity and encourage artifacts/errors in the process of building a track.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
Probably my Fender CG-7 classical guitar, which I found in the basement of my apartment building in Ann Arbor, around 2005. I made sure it didn’t belong to any of the other tenants, and it ended up being my most-played guitar after that. It’s got such a nice warmth about it, and size-wise it fits me perfectly. I’ve written and recorded 3 of my albums for Kranky primarily on that one.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I don’t do much in the way of research like gear-heads might, so there’s nothing I’m really dying for… In general the way it goes for me is that, in the process of touring or meeting other musicians, I’ll encounter an instrument or piece of gear that I see in action and think, “Dang, that would be super useful” which is when I consider making it a part of my setup. That was what happened with my harmonium, for example.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
Much of the overall sound comes from the use of microcassette tapes and reel-to-reel tape, that round-edged warmth and softness… But I try not to rely on that completely, so when arranging things on the computer through GarageBand I try to incorporate as many complementary textures as possible, creating a kind of weaving of hi- and lo-fi that makes sense to me, since the world around us exists in both of those modes concurrently anyway.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
For ‘Sonnet’ I pretty much abandoned all the digital effects that I would normally add in with GarageBand, so all the distortions/effects/delays are from a few simple guitar pedals… Because of this I also kind of forced myself to find creative solutions to get the sounds I wanted, so it was probably the most experimental recording phase I’ve had in quite a while. One day, for example, I took every potentially useful thing from the kitchen that I could find, and made as many different sounds as I could with them by themselves as well as with guitars, kalimba, tapes, and so forth. I also became pretty fearless with my physical treatment of tapes, and ended up ruining a lot of cassettes and reels in the process, but it was a lot of fun.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
Since most of my output to date has involved vocals and guitar, that’s what I typically base my live show on, unless someone specifically requests an instrumental thing… So I usually strip things way down to guitar, voice, loop pedal and delay, often with a little bit of tape or vocal manipulation as an accent. Consequently I’ve been able to tour in Europe by train with just a guitar case and backpack, which is quite nice and low-pressure.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
We moved into a much bigger flat than our previous one at the end of last year, so the biggest asset has just been the extra space… It’s situated in our living room so I’m surrounded by all the beautiful things that my wife and I (but mostly her) have collected over the years. But again, just being able to breathe is a big deal, and like if I get a good loop going on the amplifier I can walk to the other end of the apartment or into the other room and zone out on it, or record it through the wall, that kind of thing. My needs are fairly few, so I can’t think of anything greater to which I aspire or that I feel I ‘need’ right now…

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
This happens in a lot of different ways for me – if it’s a guitar-and-voice song, those two things always come first and the piece is built up in the process of recording and toying around with melodies and ideas and percussion ideas. With instrumental work it usually starts with a chord or two and then an extended improvisation around that. Most pieces for ‘Sonnet’ were 90% recorded in one day, but the other 10% and all the finishing touches took weeks of careful consideration after that.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I’m not a sound professional in the same way as some of my friends like Rafael Irisarri, so I tend to trust people like him to help me tweak errant frequencies or phase issues, that kind of thing. I usually listen on a few different pairs of headphones/earbuds as well as my home stereo and a car system or two, and am always surprised at the differences. But I’m either lazy or just easygoing, because I usually just find myself saying, “Yeah that’s fine, sure.”

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
I don’t set deadlines for myself generally, so I just wait for inspiration to wash over and then get to work at those times. If I have a commission for which I can’t find the time or that I procrastinate on, it’s almost always just a consequence of feeling inspired to do something else, or other aspects of life getting in the way. We no longer own a TV and I’m not generally easily distracted, so I do my best to be productively engaged for as much of the time as possible, whatever it is that I’m doing.

What gets you inspired?
There’s a major range, but most of my ideas seem to appear on long walks or bike rides, like, getting in the rhythm of those two activities just teases little melodies or patterns out of my brain. I almost always keep a tape recorder with me because of the frequency with which those kinds of things happen, and how easily they disappear if not documented.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
This is another case where my consumption is based largely on contingency, and also the recommendations of friends… I know there’s a horrible mainstream of dead-behind-the-eyes trancy techno out there that seems to be more popular than ever, but there’s no need to touch on that, because there’s also a huge movement of gorgeous instrumental work to be heard, and I have a hard time keeping up when I’m also focused on my own stuff. Labels like Students of Decay and Holodeck are doing amazing things and I try to follow them as best I can… For all the easy-to-find trash out there, there’s a whole world of thoughtful, beautiful work to be discovered, which I think is wonderful.

pioulard.com | pioulard.bandcamp.com

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I started composing music in the age of 12. The first piece that I wrote was called ‘Für Emmi’ and it was dedicated to my grandmother Emmi. It was a birthday present for her and I remember I played it on her birthday party as a gift. I already felt there the urge of creating music in all sorts of forms. I was missing physically something when I was unable to work on music. My first piece of gear was a Moog Source Synthesizer which I got as for my religious confirmation.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I think the biggest once are maybe in total 5… I always tried to adjust to rooms that were available and as I hate working without daylight I always was choosing the rooms after their beauty instead of their acoustical qualities. Which has some problems in terms of frequencies but somehow you can work with the problems. I have today a mix of synthesizers, a piano and a harmonium and I work with all those instruments and I record on the computer. When I need a bigger set up I rent a room or I go to the rooms that already sound great.

Obviously, besides piano, tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
My favorite piece is the Moog Sub37 and the Prophet 12. They are awesome synthesizers.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I work with logic x but at the same time I can work with all the other DAW as well. I have them all on my computer just not to get rusty with one system.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I would love to have a big modular synthesizer one day.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
All the sounds that I am recording are created 99% by the prepared piano. Sometimes I am using a sinus bass sound to get the very low frequencies. I record every piano layer with 6 microphones that are different in distance and I can shape the sound of each take with eq and reverb. I have the impression that my way of recording creates a desensitize that sounds like a full band.

Tell us about some of the gadgets used in preparing the piano?
I am using a lot of wooden sticks and clarinet reeds. I am creating a lot of the textural noise with vibrators on the tuning nails. I am using a lot of art erasers for the plugged sounds.

What are some of the new techniques that you tried out for your soundtrack for The Boy?
For The Boy I worked with my live setup and I created the soundscapes while I was watching the movie. I used a lot of mallets and violin bows on the strings. While I created the sounds I already worked with my left hand on the knobs of the sub-mixer and added effects to the real sound. Later when I recorded a lot of material I invited Daniel Brandl, a great cellist and he added some of the cello sounds. I also recorded 3 hours with the MDR Symphonic Radio Orchestra. I later chopped the recordings in pieces and worked with them like I would use samples.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
I bring in all my mics for the piano which are 2 schoeps mk4 ,one neumann km187, I have a Helpinstill Pickup, 2 c-ducers, and 4 countryman for close up micing. I have an effectboard with different delays, like the eventide time factor, eventide space and the Boss RE20 and the rc50 looper by boss.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I love to work in spaces that are in the middle of a living area and the room I work in needs high ceilings and daylight. The main problem in the space is because it is a normal rectangle room, that it has some standing bass waves that I had to get rid off by positioning the monitors in a specific way.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
It depends on what I am working on… I am a big fan of starting spontaneous… so in a way I always record something when I have the chance just to capture the mood I am in. Sometimes this is a start of a new piece. When I write for bigger ensembles I use my laptop and I love writing on airplanes as they absurdly enough sometimes the space where no body can reach you.

How was your usual approach to composing music different from that when working on a film score?
Of course film scores are always different then my records because I am dealing with already existing content… in comparison to other collaborations a lot the time the film is already shot. I prefer to write some music to the script so that the editor can already work with my music as this helps the strength of the mood I think.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
It is sometimes very impressive as the sound in my studio feels rather intimate and in a big multiplex cinema you feel the power of sound in a different way. I loved actually always doing the final mix in a cinema kind of room. I know in Munich we mixed once a film in this kind of room and it straight away feels like you are mixing for a certain purpose. I am big fan of this.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
I like actually sometimes the pressure of urgency but at the same time I hate it. But I think there are always different forms existing as I think that it is very important not to get too focused on urgencies as this can make you stop being careful and attached. I often take breaks, no matter how urgent things are just to get a relaxed feeling towards them and mostly that helps to work much faster.

What gets you inspired?
Traveling and nature, my family, good conversations, working as a continuous process of finding ideas.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I like the idea that electronic music is stretching more and more into other areas and that are working with orchestras and that electronic musicians are collaborating with instrumentalist. I think that there is a great diversity and you have in electronic music the freedom to create without any restrictions, which I feel extremely liberating. Of course there are trends and music that is hip but in general I am not a believer in hipster culture as I have seen things come and go and what stays and lasts are the things that have content and that are important. That is sadly enough not always congruent with commercial success… mostly the other way around… a lot of the music that is very breathtaking is not commercial successful and maybe so well-known. Which on the other side means that you can still discover great unknown music. The electronic music field is one of the big areas where you find wonderful discoveries.

hauschka-net.de

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I got into composing truthfully because we had to when I was at school. In the UK, we do these exams when we’re 13-14 years old or so called GCSEs, and one of the requirements is to submit some compositions. I played a lot by ear when I started playing the cello, before I could properly read music, so was happy enough improvising, but really enjoyed putting those ideas down on paper. I got really into taking things further when I was 15 and met a guy called Philip Sheppard. He had this crazy electric cello and some pedals and made weird sounds; I was hooked! We kept in touch, and a few years later, I went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study with him! I suppose my first piece of gear was a cello, but a less annoying answer would be a laptop with a dummy keyboard. I’m a terrible pianist and have atrocious handwriting, so really getting to terms with Sibelius (the software, not the Symphonist!) was immense!

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I’m a low requirements sort of person. I wrote my previous album in Studio Mute, with some of Daniel Miller’s legendary synths and delicious outboard, but I then wrote my score to “A Little Chaos” between my flat and a tiny room in Soho next to the editing suite – I had my laptop, Pro Tools, and the same MIDI keyboard! It was during scoring ALC that I bought myself a Minimoog, so that joined the party around then, but it’s really simple. I now work on a lot of big Hollywood style movies, often recording the solo cello parts remotely and sending them off to the mix, so my requirements have upped somewhat. I share a production room with a fabulous mix engineer called Joe Rubel at Tileyard in London; it’s a 5.1 room with some tasty outboard gear, some twinkly lights, and an overworked kettle. My writing rig, however, fits in my rucksack. I’m very low maintenance; noise cancelling headphones, 2 external hard drives (for samples), an iLok, a punchy powerful laptop, and a teeny weeny USB MIDI keyboard. It’s exactly what I use in the studio to write with, the only difference is I don’t carry two extra displays and a full size keyboard when I’m travelling.

Talk a bit about your favorite cellos.
I was very fortunate to play an astonishing Techler recently for a week in New York. It was just astonishing – the C string was like a sports car revving its engine!! If money were no object, I’d have bought it on the spot, but I’m not sure I could afford the insurance premium! My own cello, a 1987 Colin Irving from England, is fabulous. It’s the best recording cello I’ve ever played; it’s so even and natural sounding. I love it!

Besides the cello, tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
I just bought a Bricasti M7 reverb unit which, honestly, I can’t say enough good stuff about. It’s incredible – just so fresh sounding, and makes everything sound expensive. Besides that, I’d have to say my Minimoog. I love it and all the weird crazy sounds you can crank from it!

And what about the software that you use for production?
Because I work with a lot of other composers, often very late in their writing schedule, it’s just practical for me to work in whatever software they’re working in, so most weeks I’m flitting between Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools, and Live. It’s actually quite straightforward once you take the time to unify all the keyboard shortcuts, but when I started, it was a total nightmare, like, “how do I do this again?!” Crazy. Right now, though, I’m on a project which means spending a lot of time in Cubase, but I’m most comfortable somewhere between Logic and Pro Tools. Ultimately, they all do the same thing; you either have a musical idea, or you don’t.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I know you asked about one piece of gear, but I’d like a Prophet 5 and a CS-80 equally, so if it’s not too much to ask, I’ll have both thanks.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
It’s actually very limited. I like creating as much as I can with the cello, exploring various different sul pont / sul tasto effects (bridge and fingerboard, respectively), harmonics, bow effects… they all work wonders and sound really expensive, especially if you run them into some funky tape delays or something. Once they’re into the computer, you can stretch, shrink, trim, and edit to your hearts content! Otherwise, cranky noise switches on synths can really pull the room together! On “Touch”, it’s all ‘organic’ sounds: that is, they’re all either made on the cello, or from the synth. There was no computer sound design or editing involved in making those sounds.

How did you connect with Sono Luminus for your latest release?
I’d known Collin since his days at Naxos – we met at SXSW when I was there promoting CELLO MULTITRACKS, which Naxos distributed. We kept in touch over the years, met up in various cities, and drank some beers. He called me a few days after “Lights In The Sky” was released, about a week after he’d accepted the CEO post at Sono Luminus, and said “we should do a record together”, and that was that!

Tell us about the themes explored on your new album.
I love the idea of taking really simple ideas, be they harmonic, melodic, or textural, and “zooming in” until there’s nothing left to explore. Really close mic techniques, really simple harmonic structures… it allows so much performance space, so much room for interpretation for both the performer, and the listener. As I think I said in the programme note, this album isn’t explicitly about anything, but if it’s about anything, it’s about resolution. Summing up a period in one’s life, personally, creatively, professionally, and trying to draw a line under it.

What are some of the new techniques that you tried out on “Touch”?
The major breakthrough here was how we treated the synths. They were “re-amped” back into the hall when we were tracking the cello solos, so all the sounds were intermingling. It also meant I wasn’t wearing headphones, and was actually performing with something. Often, tracking a solo album is by definition a very dry, artificial process. This felt like performing music all of the way.

The whole album was conceived to be recorded in 9.1 surround. I wrote the music for it, and we set the studio up to record it, but realising that sound world was incredible because obviously we only have two ears, but in the natural world are so finely attuned to perceiving space, depth, and speed by sound alone, that it was really terrific to explore that through music.

We also kept the cello sound really simple, and to my ear, it’s the best recording sound of my cello yet. It’s so natural, so easy going. It’s not a recording of my cello, it’s just my cello on record, and I love that.

Describe the recording process at Sono Luminus studio.
They were very, very long days. It was meticulous, and working with Dan Shores, Dan Mercurio and Collin was a rare treat; they were closely involved in the months leading up to recording as I was writing the album, so we were kind of A&R-ing it as I wrote. It also meant when I turned up, they knew the scores as well as I did, so we could hit the ground running, which was just as well because we have 52mins of music to record in 5 days!

We started with the synths, tracking and placing them ready to be amped in the space (see photo above). Then, awkwardly, we moved onto the piano. Now, it should be noted, I’m a terrible but enthusiastic pianist. I love to tinkle, but wouldn’t ever be asked by anyone other than myself to play..! So, an entire day was spent recording my very simple piano parts, and John the wonderful technician from Steinway came to Boyce, VA, and prepared and maintained the piano while I bashed through!

Once that was sorted, the string players arrived from the wonderful Inscape. If you’ve heard the record in surround, you’ll know there’s a string ensemble at the front, and one at the back. Well, it’s all the same people! We set the room up with the violas to my left (I was conducting), violins in the middle, then cellos and bass to the right. The idea here was to fill up as much of the stereo image as possible, and as it was tracking up and up, not get too heavily skewed with the tune being opposite the bass.. hard to tell how it would have sounded otherwise, I’m sure it would have been lovely, but in “Touch” (track 6), I think that’s where the real oomf comes from, it’s the fast violin figure slap bang in the middle, and everything else evolving around it. If they were on the far left, it would be a lot lighter and Baroque sounding.

Finally, we recorded the cello solos, and spent a few days on that… after all, it is nominally a cello record! As I mentioned earlier, we were amping the synths at the same time, so a lot of care had to be taken not to make too much noise or too many mistakes! For me, this was certainly the most satisfying way to record the cello, because it really felt like chamber music. Granted, there weren’t other performers playing the synths as I played the cello, but just the sounds dancing around in the same space, that was enough. If nothing else, I’ll be happy if people can hear the freedom and musicality in this album, not how strictly it adheres to the click track!

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
Everything I use on stage can be bought from an Apple Store, or, in the case of my cello mic, from a decent guitar store. This is simply because I’ve had custom electronics fail one time too many, so I stripped it all back down to a laptop and as much running in the box, as lean and simple an interface as I can find, and a cello. I use Altiverb on stage, but with the same presets as I have dialled into my Bricasti M7 in the studio; my live setup is thin and simple because my live requirements are simple, and have no desire for day long line checks!

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
Well, my studio doesn’t have any windows. On one hand, this is quite good because it’s really well soundproofed and has no distractions. The downside is… no natural light! I’d like to think I could get my work done with a window, but I think I’d just stare out and watch the world go by.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
Despite admitting I’m a hopeless pianist, I normally start writing at the keyboard. Nothing fancy, no elaborate writing template chock-a-block with samples or anything to confuse me, and I start there. Obviously you need to be aware of what the piece is for, the context in which it’s being performed or recorded, what instruments it’s for and suchlike; that informs so much. In film, you’re often replacing a “temp” score, so there are those considerations… but with album / art music, it’s a blank canvas. I start with a bass line and build up from there. Like anything, sometimes it comes quickly, sometimes it comes slowly. Sometimes you need to put a piece away and let it sit in the dark for a while before pulling it out and seeing where to go; other times, it’s quite straight forward. There’s no point rushing things, if it’s there it’s there, and if it’s not, it’s not. With deadlines looming, sometimes you need to rely upon “craft” to get it done, rather than waiting for *that* Eb to pop out of nowhere and solve the puzzle. I don’t think a piece ever “sees the light”; there are various shades of grey, you always want to tinker. That’s just natural!

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I take them for a walk. I plug my headphones in and walk around my neighborhood. If I don’t feel sick on my way home, I know it’s not going too badly.

Talk a bit about your score for A Little Chaos. How is composing a soundtrack different from a studio album?
Film music’s super interesting because, unlike the music we were talking about above, it isn’t just for its own sake. It’s in a bigger narrative hierarchy, and has to somehow ‘listen’ to the movie. Tempo is so, so crucially important in film music, so I spend a lot of time finding a tempo to work in the cut of the picture. Of course, this changes as the picture is edited, but good editors are very musical people, and tend to cut in time, at least in my experience they do!

A Little Chaos was a real treat; there was no temp score, and I was able to work on it from the start of the edit with a tremendous amount of freedom to explore ideas. That said, writing an album is about creating the narrative structure, whereas in a film score, it’s about complementing the narrative structure. The music is another voice in the film, not the centre of attention. Learning to interpret what directors and producers are saying, how they describe music, how they respond to music… that’s the job. Writing a nice melody is not the hardest thing; having a thick enough skin to walk into a meeting and present a cue which you believe is the one, only to be told it isn’t emotional enough, or orange enough, or slow enough, and to turn around and say “you’re absolutely right, I’ll do it again”. You have to learn how to pick your battles!

I guess it’s not far off A&R-ing a pop record, where someone else is guiding that arc. “Touch”, for example, hardly felt like it was being A&R-ed because it was a soft, ongoing process. Ultimately, music in any situation has to tell a story. It either does, or does not, connect. Writing music that connects with people is a daily, yearly, lifetime struggle, whether it’s for the concert hall or the screen.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
I spend the majority of my time thinking of the fairest way for me to have a dog. Ultimately, if it weren’t for travel and my horrendous work/life balance, I’d love to have a black lab and then I’d really get nothing done. So, for now, I watch YouTube. Also, the reality of living in London is that everything takes ages, so although there are 24hrs in a day, there are actually only 16 useable London hours, so it’s prudent to make use of them!

What gets you inspired?
I love visual art, and go to as many galleries as I can, as often as I can. I’m an obsessive walker so love getting lost in new cities, or rediscovering familiar ones. I also listen to all sorts of weird and wonderful music, from far flung world musics to the Top 10, to Bach to the Beatles, I’m not fussy. I love anything that’s well produced!

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I’m painfully optimistic and think everything’s great. I’m just excited that I get to do this for a living!

petergregson.co.uk | sonoluminus.com

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
Initially I started recording sounds on an old tape recorder I think my older brother owned when I was about eight years old and I remember sitting under the kitchen table recording family parties for some reason. I then began to explore the soundscape outside, bees and wildlife, and I guess my fascinations began then. I took guitar lessons at about twelve years old and I wrote a song when I was fifteen that I sent to an independent label called Sarah records. They offered to put it out as a 7″ but I’d just started drumming with my band The Charlottes so I didn’t take them up on the offer. It was written on an old cheap Woolworths electric guitar I’d bought from working on Saturdays in a burger bar. In terms of relevant gear I’ve made solo records on I started with a Compact desktop PC and Sony Acid music software as I wanted to learn how to make music on a computer. I began sequencing, recording via a Yamaha interface and investigating various audio plug-ins from Native. I then upgraded to a MacBook, bought an M-Audio interface and began using GRM tools. The real breakthrough came when I bought an Apogee Duet, with its great analogue to digital converters, to record into Logic and decided to build myself a huge looper pedal in MaxMSP. I suddenly found myself able to realise all the ideas I’d had since I started composing on a computer.

What software have you used for your production?
I’ve used ProTools for a few tracks several years ago but I find Logic Pro so much more intuitive and spontaneous to write and experiment on. Some of the audio plug-ins are nice and I find it stable for using on the move when I’m touring. In MaxMSP I often improvise with the software and have audio buffers (buffer~) where I go deep into micro sounds, loop sections and record them and then drop them into my buffers and continue this process of slowly building up a track. I also use banks of distortion, delay and reverb but I find the patch I’ve created can also be used to create a controllable sampling software environment for improvising with because it takes segments of incoming sound (field recordings, percussion or guitar) and using the matrix object I can steer these sounds around the stereo field to compose and perform with. I’m no expert MaxMSP programmer so I guess I would say I’d love to get more time to delve deeper into my patch. It’s nice and simple but I could always use new objects to work with. I’m also wary of having a balance of analogue and digital so I’d be happy to start using a new guitar if I found one that felt right for me.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I like the Lexicon PCM series. They have a very nice analogue sound, great effects and I’m super choosy when using reverbs and I am on the hunt for a PCM 70. I also really like Sennheiser MKH microphones (a 30 and 40 together for my acoustic) but I don’t own them (or the 60) yet. I use a beautiful mahogany guitar that is a Westerly Guild acoustic, back from the early eighties when they were based on Rhode Island, and consider it an important piece of gear.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
I always begin by using a field recordings to compose and create. Since 2010 it’s been consistently The Fens in Cambridgeshire where I’m surrounded by a subterranean landscape that fascinates me, and I generally work with these audio segments in MaxMSP. It’s endless in terms of compositional possibility so I’ve stuck to The Fens as a sound source and I actually don’t want too many options so I haven’t started using some of my field recordings from further afield yet. Right now I like the framework I’ve built for myself in Max and the limitations of just using environmental recordings from my small corner of the world, but I sometimes do need to simply just compose if I am working on a score or other project that isn’t a solo record.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
I was experimenting with compression on ‘insomni’. Focusrite, Joe Meek and Kush are a few of the audio companies I investigated to push the sonic possibilities. I also wanted raw acoustic guitar and minimally edited field recordings, to contrast with the more processed digital tracks on the album, so I had to learn to play some guitar techniques, such as finger picking, for this record. Simple equalisation was also important so I tended to record sound sources with more intent than previously.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
Sometimes I’ll use acoustic guitars, fx pedals, a Teenage Engineering 0P-1, tuning forks, Sony Walkman and MaxMSP. Other times, such as at my recent US shows with the Touch label, I’ll just use field recordings in Max and the venue acoustics will determine the set and what processing to apply. I do use a laptop, as I can’t afford to bring extra musicians along but never for a whole live set and I try not to rely on it too much. It’s tough carrying loads of pedals around too so the laptop helps enormously when touring. I improvise a lot so I usually have my Electro Harmonix 2880 with me to create a bank of loops out from Max or in from a direct signal.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I live out in the sticks so I am lucky to have a great studio view, lots of inspiration outside and plenty of space to really immerse myself in my work. I’d like to be able to afford a good acoustic architect to help improve the space but I am happy in here and use various systems and locations to mix and check mastering etc.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I use portable speaker to mix outside so at that point, when I think a track is almost complete, I go out into my sweet sounding location in The Fens and set up microphones to capture a mix being played out into that environment. It works for my music and I love the collaborative results from doing this. So much sonic information is chance and I have had so many lucky moments when various ontological occurrences transform a piece and finish it. ‘Holme Fen’ was created in this way and you can hear the wildlife and the track dancing around each other. Hearing a finished track in an alien environment is really profound for me. I encourage the album is on to be played in locations that add a new characteristic to it, such as in a noisy city or within a car on a country road, and listeners almost always never sit in studios with top quality speakers to hear their music collection. Of course it would be marvelous if everyone owned high end Genelec speakers but people can’t afford those. To answer your question directly, if the emotional tone and narrative of the track is diluted by a final mix I’ll start it again. It’s key to my work and if I am not feeling the music I’ve created I won’t release it.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
No I think there aren’t enough hours in the day! I try to keep several projects up in the air to work on continuously as I think solely focussing on one thing can suck you too deep into the process and it can lead to lack of creative focus. If I need a day off I usually sketch or cook.

What gets you inspired?
My local landscape and the endless creative possibilities of field recording are deeply inspiring to me. I was born here and my children are now here and view the seasons changing. Also travelling and experiencing new cultures and meeting new people too. I read, enjoy photography, visual art, cinema, other people’s music….so many things! I am inspired by technology too but I am adamant that it won’t dictate to me how my music will be created. I created a great Max patch that I can get inside of and control and it always inspires new ideas. I need to feel the emotional narrative of a piece of music I’m creating so I blend analogue sounds with processed digital sounds and this balance creates results that inspire me to keep on developing my music.

simonscott.org

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I first “composed” some music for a girlfriend around 2000. I was enamored by the use of computer software to layer guitar parts. I was emulating the things that inspired me… which at the time was a lot of Metallica, to be honest. However, I ended up bending toward a much less aggressive sound naturally. I got a ZOOM 505 guitar pedal and did a lot of triply phaser type stuff that just droned on and on. I even messed around with this “Delta Noise” generator and made a sleep track. None of this was even close to anything pro level and, it actually sounded like shit, but it was the start of my love for recording. Beyond that… I went many years NOT doing any recording at all because I had to focus on some other things. Eventually I started gigging / playing guitar for people which inevitably brought me to working in the studio and creating my own music.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I typically work on Slow Meadow at my apartment. It’s pretty much all digital music and made “inside the box” except the strings, brass and occasional ambient room type sounds. Usually I track guitars through amps because I’ve always preferred that but for the SM record I even tracked them in the box (as did Marc and Andrew). No amps. I’ve gone through a just few very simple setups. Right now I’m literally just setting up in a corner in my apt. I have a few preamps, a couple of mics, some decent speakers and a lot of software.

Tell us about that software.
Mostly ProTools. I’ve used Logic in the past and plan to use it more in the future. Tons of plugins and samples. I’ve been collecting samples of that my friends have made of their actual synths. It’s always more satisfying to be given or make something unique rather than buying a well packaged product… Although I find those just as useful at times.

And what about your favorite piece of hardware.
I’ve had the opportunity to use some pretty cool gear in the past while working at other studios. An old Neumann U47. A Trident 80B Desk. One of my favorite mics is the Coles 4038 (Duh). I don’t own one currently but it’s in the queue. I’d also like to own a pair of the older KM84s.

Besides the mics, is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I can’t think of one single piece. If I’m “Dying” for anything that I don’t have it’s an isolated space where I can make a mess and blast loud noises all night.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
I’ve taken old dialogue, iPhone recordings, even songs from old projects and messed around with them to fit them into a new piece. It’s sometimes a cool way to start writing. Reverse and/or stretch something enough and it starts to infer all these chord changes that aren’t REALLY there but your mind’s ear hears. I will just fill in those swirling, nebulous gaps with something very normal like piano chords. I may even end up ditching the manipulated audio and just keep the new elements.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your album?
I’m always expanding my playing and recording knowledge. There were several things I tried. I got into arranging strings a little. I messed around with more synthesizers. I used the guitar in a much more abstract way.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
I’m still figuring this out. For shows I plan on using Ableton and a few midi controllers. I haven’t decided if I’ll use an actual guitar amp and pedals or go all in the box just yet.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
Isolation and treatment.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
These days it’s me sitting at a midi controller and play piano chords with some sort of texture underneath. I sort of hum a simple melody and see where that takes me. I’ll also take a film I like, mute the audio and pretend to score it. Sometimes ideas are born because I want a certain “mood” and that’s the only idea I pursue. Other times a melody dawns on me. They mature only when I’ve decided to organize them into a cohesive body of work. An album… a film score… etc… They see the light when both Hammock and I feel it’s right to share them.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I listen on whatever medium I’ve been working through. Sometimes it’s just my in ears because I’m traveling. While I’m at home it’ll be several places. I have some Dyna Audio BM6as that I use to mix at my desk. I have a few sets of in-ears. I listen in my car. I’ll also bounce various incarnations of songs off of a few folks, including Hammock.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Yes… Mostly watch Sam Harris video these days. Eat food. Take a walk in my neighborhood if I’m at home.

What gets you inspired?
Feeling like I’m part of something outside of my small world. Feeling like I’m taking part in a community of art and artists and giving back to it. Listening to music on vinyl with friends and trying impart the experiences I’ve had with songs to them.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I think there are things that annoy me about it but I don’t think I’d mention them because I don’t trust that they’d be totally fair. I think there is just so much music out there that I can’t really keep up. I think the fact that it is so easy to create and share new music is great and it’s exhausting. Overall I’m optimistic about it. Technology can be seen as this amazing tool or this thing that is taking over our lives. I think tech only has the power we give it. I’m glad I can listen to music on Spotify anywhere I want but I think it’s very important to turn that shit off, sit and just listen with other people.

slowmeadow.com

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I started playing acoustic guitar when I was about ten. I met a musical soul mate who was playing in the streets of the town where I lived. Since then we started playing together almost daily for years. We didn’t talk much, but just improvised with two acoustic guitars in strange tunings. We often looked for outdoor spaces with good acoustic qualities and interacted with the sounds that surrounded us. It was a very pure, communicative and learnful introduction to music. I’m self-taught music-wise so I still consider this an important part of my musical education. The same ‘naïve’ curiosity brought me to composing / arranging.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I recorded my very first demos with my parents hi-fi installation and their headphones used as a microphone. When I was twelve I got a Tascam 4-track recorder. This was a total revelation for me : finally I could combine instruments and broaden the palette and make up an ‘imaginary band’. From then on I experimented more and more with self-made ‘instruments’ / ‘sound objects’ and prehistoric ‘samplers’ (I used a diy system with small ropes to loop short bits of vinyl). My fascination for the recording process grew and I bought some decent microphones. And over the years the computer replaced the 4-track and hardware sampler. But especially my collection of sound objects and instruments ran out of hand. They allow me to approach music in a very physical way. So it’s important to have all these sound sources around and microphones set up properly all ready so I can record impulsively.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
I definitely prefer acoustic ‘hardware’. But because a sound has the most impact when you hear it for the very first time, my favorite sound always changes. For now I’m very fascinated by an old barrel organ I found secondhand. I like the odd sound and the old-skool, ‘hands-on’ approach of cutting music out of paper.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
A similar barrel organ with more notes would be cool (the one I have now only has whole notes).

And what about the software that you use for production?
Well I prefer cutting notes out of paper then drawing them with a pencil on a laptop screen. The most interesting and rewarding things definitely happen before the computer. All these plug-ins make everything sound so digital too, so I try to postpone and limit the use of software. But it’s definitely a great tool for arranging. I started with Cubase, but turned more and more to Ableton because of its playful and real-time approach. For film and specific sound design work I return to Cubase or Protools sometimes.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
I’m fascinated by the confusion that arises when sound and music are combined. For that reason I like to integrate film-sound-techniques in music. To trigger the listener’s imagination I use a lot of foley : when the sound source is unrecognizable, the listening is somehow more intense. It’s also fascinating how (barely hearable) room tones or ambiences can give music space and depth. They are great to create an imaginary scenery for a musical story. Sound design for me is not a digital plugin affair, but a very analog, physical thing. I love to investigate the microphone as an instrument and explore acoustic phenomena (such as resonance, transduction, …) in the studio and in the outside world.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
There are some new colors in the upcoming Kaboom album that also required a different recording approach. I worked a lot with vocals – starting with vocals is a totally other way for me to start composing. I did some interesting recording sessions with a great guest singer and an old fisherman choir. I also recorded an octobass which was quiet a challenge, because it’s such as a low, deep sound.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
The big problem is that I’m not an octopus, so combining the instruments I play on an album is impossible. And it’s also hard to combine a fishermen’s choir with an octobass on stage, so live I have to take in account some practical limitations. So my set-up is more sparse and my approach more organic for live sets. I use my acoustic guitar (with a c-ducer contact microphone), a daxophone and wooden soundboard with foley objects (picked up by a handmade hypersensitive transducer). I also trigger samples with a SoftStep foot controller. I can loop, mix and manipulate these sources. For live sets nearby I have a bit bigger setup and often work with guest musicians.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I like to work a lot, so I need a studio in the house where I live. My living room was my studio for many years. Now I have a separate studio room and it’s important for me that it’s a room with a view. I also like the sound of it – it’s an old house with high ceilings and a wooden floor. The most needed and urgent improvement is more space.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
It depends, making an album is a very different process then scoring a specific theater/ film piece. The starting point is already different : in theater there’s already a whole universe created that inspires you and dictates the instrumentation and approach. For albums I need to make up my own universe and imagine how it sounds, looks, feels. I totally love that freedom, but it takes more time to experiment, to think, to read, look for artwork. When I’m making album it’s also important to have the artwork in the very beginning. (It’s going to look great for the next Kaboom Karavan album!) Once the universe gets more or less clear in my head, I assemble a palette of colors and instruments I’d like to explore. It’s good to have restrictions here and these first sounds organically tell you how to proceed. For theater I need to work pretty fast, mostly there’s about 6 weeks. This time limit is a good thing because it forces you to decide fast and act impulsively. But making a Kaboom Karavan album takes me about 3 years. I need more time in between then, to let ideas rest and have a necessary distance.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system ?
It’s important to listen outside of your studio, both for artistic and technical reasons. I listen in the car, in a theater or on any other system I come across, but especially bike rides (with temporary versions / mixes in the headphones) are important for me. It creates a state of mind that’s perfect for listening. But I don’t really wait until things are finished to do this. Mixing is not just a technical issue to fix at the end for me, it’s part of the entire creative process. So when a track is finished, I really did what I could and consider the mixing finished too. From that point on I just got too close to the material to judge. I’m really happy to have people like Nils Frahm and Erik Skodvin then who take care of the mastering. After that’s done, I usually only listen once or twice to check.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
I think procrastination often has to do with doubt. And I have doubts sometimes off course, but I learnt to see this as something to cherish. It’s not an obstacle but a driving force for the creative process. And there’s so much to explore that procrastination would be waste of time. There are so many different aspects in a music making process, that it never gets boring too. So I make music pretty obsessively, I can’t imagine going on holiday without a mini-studio and some instruments.

What gets you inspired?
Lately especially books. Because they’re silent, you can only imagine the sound or music. The past two years I’ve been reading loads of travelogues from old sailormen and explorers. They didn’t know anything about where they were heading, how many years their journey would take… And every single thing on their way (the landscapes, the food, the sounds, the people, the animals, ….) was a first time experience. Therefore it’s such an intense and inspiring read. The upcoming Kaboom Karavan album will be very much inspired by these stories.

kaboomkaravan.wordpress.com

Talk a bit about the new environment that you’re in — the New York suburbs are very different from your Seattle life. How does that affect you and your music?

I’m not entirely sure I’m in the ‘burbs per se, as I live in a rural area. There is no tract housing around here, which I think is the most recognizable aspect of suburbia. I think the Lower Hudson Valley is considered an exurb of NYC. Of course, a lot of people in the city erroneously refer to this area as “upstate,” since it’s very rural. I don’t, I always refer to it as “the woods.” It certainly is not upstate, as most people from like Syracuse will tell you! Anyway, it’s an entirely different pace than Seattle and West Coast life in general. When I first moved east, there was no love lost. I thought the place was filthy, overcrowded and filled with self-absorbed assholes. Once I moved out of the city and settled in the woods, things started to feel a bit different. Isolation was a good thing for me, specially out on this side. I still think of the east coast as a very strange place culturally. Finding a descent cup of coffee if always a challenge (or more of a long drive down to Gimme Coffee in Brooklyn).There are however many things I enjoy of living out here. For example, I live only about a 40 minute drive from North America’s largest minimalist museum, the Dia: Beacon in Beacon, NY. I visit frequently, love walking around the little town. Can’t beat that!

In Seattle, as you may remember, I had a fairly large community around me, built mostly around the Substrata Festival. When I first moved out to the woods, I thought I’d be very isolated. As it turned out, I actually live about 15 mins from Taylor Deupree (who’s an amazing artist, mastering engineer and label boss of 12K). So we see each other quite frequently, hang out in the studios, test gear, etc. I’m actually borrowing his iconic TR-808 (from Prototype 909 days) while he is out on tour in Japan and using it on my new The Sight Below record. And of course, in the city I’m close to the Ghostly family. I visit the city quite often and hang out with them whenever possible. They’ve been fundamental in getting me back to work and have nothing but kind praise for them.

How long has it been since you’ve been rebuilding your new studio and how do you feel about the progress?

It’s been a little over a year, filled with many bits of progress and some crushing letdowns. It’s part of the process of adapting to a new environment and the learning curve that comes along with it. But overall I’m pretty satisfied with the progress made. A studio is never 100% “finished” anyway, it’s always in a state of flux. Since I’ve been in the new room, I’ve gone thru a least five iterations – it’s been changing around every couple of months or so. You probably would notice immediately from the last time you visited the studio.

Tell us about your overall vision for the rebirth of the Black Knoll Studio.

In Seattle, the studio was tailored towards composing, songwriting, and recording my own music, with a little bit of mixing and mastering thrown in there. The bulk of it however was creating my own music. A large portion of my catalog comprised of stock music which I’d license for different projects. That catalog, unfortunately, doesn’t exist anymore, as it was lost along with everything else.

Here in New York, I decided to focus on mixing and mastering for an assortment of logistical reasons. I’ve been fortunate enough to build a very solid roster and discography credits over the years. Artists and labels trust my judgement, and thus far worked on some really amazing albums since the studio became operational back in February. I’ve done tons of work for Ghostly this year, they have consistently kept me busy every month and I’m eternally grateful.

In terms of an overall vision, I’ve said this on my studio website: “I’m extremely selective on the material I decide to work on, as I do not work on music I do not believe in or enjoy. How can anyone do a good job if they do not genuinely enjoy listening to the material they’ll be mastering or mixing? I’m not interested in just taking anyone’s money, while yet helping unleash another atrocious album into an already saturated music environment. There’s a level of integrity and social responsibility in what I do, and I want to make sure my work doesn’t contribute to the problem. I require to listen to the material before committing to the project. If I do not like the music, I will not work on it. Period.”

Since you had to start from a clean slate, was there a particular approach you applied to the design as opposed to just accumulating gear?

Yes, absolutely. My approach has been rather modular, acquiring bits and pieces of gear as I go along, whenever I find need for a new piece of gear. Everything I own today serves a very specific purpose and gets used, for the most part, on a daily basis. For example, I didn’t buy a microphone pre-amp or a microphone until I actually needed one for a project with a singer. I scored an LA-610 on eBay, so I’ve kept it and plan to use it on my own recordings moving forward. I’d say I’ve gotten better at identifying what exactly is needed in order to acquire items more effectively. I’ve built good relationships with a few manufacturers like Eventide, Moog, Radial, etc – all of them have kindly sponsored equipment which I’m proud to showcase whenever possible.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what are you still trying to improve on?

My current workspace is a critical listening environment. The first big investment I made was painstakingly correcting all the room acoustics. That took a lot of time and resources to get it right. I eventually had a company work with me. The person who designed it had mastering and mixing work in mind and all the decision-making was based on that criteria. This makes my room fantastic for doing really precise technical work. I can, for example, listen to a track, and almost instantly identify which element is poorly EQ’d, overcompressed, artifacts, ducking, or out-of-phase – in some cases, I’ll get dizzy listening to out-of-phase content. But having such a clinical setup also comes with a few downsides: it makes it almost impossible to stream music off the Internet. Everything sounds just terrible (as you probably are aware, being an audiophile yourself). It also limits your ability to enjoy music without focusing on the technical stuff. Therefore, if I’m listening to something for pleasure, I usually do it in my living room.

All that said, my current workspace is rather sterile for writing music. The room is much smaller than my previous one in Seattle (though bigger than most studios for Brooklyn standards). That size doesn’t leave much space in there for bringing in large instruments like a piano, amps, and the sort of thing that occupies a lot of space in a room. Eventually, as time and money allows, I’d like to build a bigger room out here in the woods. I’d love to incorporate a lot of those composing aspects I used to have in my Seattle studio, be able to record and write music in the inspiring setting I have in my backyard, surrounded by trees and woodland creatures.

Is there a piece of hardware that you now own that you don’t think you would have otherwise acquired?

Yes, actually, but not due to the robbery. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to buy a pair of Barefoot MM27 monitors from Taylor Deupree. They are amazingly transparent monitors, and I love working on them. That said, I probably wouldn’t have gotten those had Taylor not been selling them, given me a really good “friend’s deal” and accommodate me to pay for them in a very relaxed way.

Is there still a piece that you dearly miss?

A piano would be fantastic, along with a few synths, microphones and amps that I used to have in the Seattle studio. I still have a long list of gear to reacquire since I’ve focused on mixing and mastering gear, as opposed to all the songwriting tools I had accumulated over almost 20 years. Not necessarily gear, but of all things, I think I miss my record collection the most. Lots of great memories tied to it.

Is the overall approach in the new studio more slanted towards mastering (work?) or composing (play?) or both?

Right now my workload is about 65% mastering, 25% mixing, and 10% composing my own music. This week for example, I’ve been mastering the new Xeno & Oaklander album, while the rest of the time I’ve carved myself some space to write the next The Sight Below album. But that’s not usually the case, as there’s been weeks that I’ve had zero time to work on my own music. And that’s fine too, after all, I’m doing something I love and working on music I enjoy.

How do you approach each piece when you are hired to master it?

I don’t really have a set formula, it really depends on the piece of music. The most important thing is I need to like it. That’s crucial for me. Afterwards, I’ll take a first listen and get a ballpark on what needs to be corrected before I can enhance it. If I find elements that can be corrected at the mixstage, I’ll work with the artist and engineer who mixed it, make suggestions, get things fixed. See, mastering is all about subtle, small improvements, not large, sudden changes – that’s something you’d do at the mixstage, where you have control over the individual elements of a track. My goal whenever I master a recording is not to just make it LOUD, but make it sound nicer, fuller, cohesive, with a certain distinct sonic character, to make them sound “like a record,” as the saying goes.

I don’t believe you master your very own work—can you talk about the reasons behind this decision?

I relish having that extra pair of ears listen to my creations, opine, and give me some feedback. I think of it as a system of checks and balances. I enjoy having a conversation on how my music should sound with people I trust.

Having a fresh perspective always helps. That’s why I’ve built close relationships with a few engineers I respect, and welcome their feedback. I find this more important than owning super expensive pieces of gear. I wouldn’t want, for example, the same engineer who worked on the latest EDM atrocity touching my music – it just wouldn’t be right for me, no matter how great their studio might be in terms of equipment.

What would a Black Knoll Studio offer to a musician that no other mastering house could?

I like to think of my approach as slightly different. I build a relationship with the artists, labels and engineers based on mutual respect and offer a dedicated, one-on-one approach. I coach clients how to produce better, how to correct common mistakes at the tracking or mixing stages and how to avoid the pitfalls (phasing issues is a big pet peeve for me). I offer clients who request tracks “louder” a different perspective and explain why louder is not necessarily better. In the end, it’s all about creating community around you, around others, around your work and the work of others. As you probably are aware, there is a plethora of online mastering and mixing services available these days. Navigating and finding the right one for you can be a very long and time consuming process, a bit overwhelming really. I offer very affordable rates, as my overhead expenses are fairly low allowing me to be flexible. That said, I’m not in the business of undercutting anyone or taking up anyone’s work. I’d like to think that people would hire me because they like what I do, my aesthetic, my perspective, and not because I’d work for less than X or Y studio. That’s why I don’t bid on projects. I don’t believe in competition, but rather collaboration – whenever I’m not suited for a project, I’ll pass it along to others. I’d like to think others would do the same. It’s very easy to feel jaded when one has been overlooked and felt an opportunity should have gone to you because you were better suited. That’s the wrong way to see it. As I’ve been proven over and over again: something else ALWAYS comes along, something that will suit you well. There is space for everyone. Just let the quality of the work speak for itself.

What particular new techniques did you try on A Fragile Geography?

I used a lot of harmonic distortion on this album. In fact, Lawrence English added some extra layers of grit to it. We both felt the ugliness & beauty of overdriven circuitry was a good contrast to the very calm and pleasant passages in many of the songs. A sort of duality: an anxiety that mirrors my personal troubles and overall state of mind of the general American public in these very trying and tense times.

Looking back at everything that happened, do you still feel as if it was an unnecessary tragedy, or somehow an opportunity to start over that made you stronger and better in some way?

As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. It put a lot of things in perspective, brought me closer to people I care about and helped me weed out of my life others that brought negativity. Showed me who are truly friends and who wasn’t. Of course, there’s not a single day that goes by when I think about this stuff. Simple things, like, oh, I thought I had this or that, only to realize you don’t anymore. The things that are most painful are the irreplaceable stuff, the things you cherish cause they remind you of a loved ones long gone, and now there’s only a faint memory. For those of us who enjoy documenting life (as I do with music), it’s always challenging to come to terms. But on the positive side, it has made me grow as a person, artist, musician. I used to think you needed things to be creative, and as it turned out, I’ve managed to make work with whatever resources I had at hand. This has always been a key part of my creative process (turning a limitation into a possibility), and this only served as a reminder to put it to use again, return to the basics and remove any unnecessary clutter.

What are your thoughts on looking ahead into the future?

I look forward to working everyday, learning, creating and continuing building a community out here. I’m in the process of writing the new TSB album for Ghostly. Hoping to finish it on time for a 2016 release. Aside from that, I’d like to collaborate with more artists and invite people up here on a regular basis. There’s a long list of people to invite over, starting with Benoît Pioulard. It’s been long overdue!

blackknollstudio.com | irisarri.org

Let’s start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I played bass guitar for years, and always hated the band aesthetic. Getting 4­-5 guys on the same page was too difficult. So I wanted to do it alone. Electronic gear offered a vehicle for this. I got a Juno 6 in the early 1980’s and a brand new, factory sealed TR-­808. Later, I picked up a mint Prophet 5 for $350. Back then, the analog stuff was being given away. Everyone wanted DX-­7’s and D-­50’s.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
Really, only a couple of iterations. The old one and the new one. Honestly, I really really hate synthesizers. I like to see music produced, not twiddle knobs. So I’ve really grown to love the Zen of a computer for music. It’s really the most efficient tool for making music. In the time I would patch things up in hardware studio just get ready to record, I could make a whole track on a computer. I do have a recent fascination with vintage samplers, but that’s really about it for hardware. Anytime a synth company creates something truly interesting, no one wants it. They just want repackaged 1970’s technology. Like Electribes and Aria’s. So I stopped supporting them. In 2015, there is more interest in synth technology than ever before. The eurorack phenomena is massive right now… which is good enough reason for me to not use it. I like to buck the trends and do things differently.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
The Casio FX­1 is beautiful. I use to like the Matrix 12 and Prophet VS quite a bit, but they’re just dust collectors today. I went through a big Linn / Forat 9000 phase and had 3 at one point. I liked the Sequential Studio 440 years ago. But don’t use that stuff anymore. I do enjoy playing with cheap samplers. Anything that you drop into them sounds completely different when you play the sample back. They’re especially nice when you combine them with external analog filters and FX. Synths just can’t match their beautiful, grainy sound.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I like Steinberg Nuendo because I’m familiar with how to use it, but they all really do the same thing. Software recorders just replaced an analog reel­-to-­reel for me. I use to spend $70 on a 2500’ reel of analog tape, and ran the machine at 30 ips. So it got too expensive. I don’t know where to go to get tape anymore. Probably eBay. I really like using mostly looping devices like the Looperlative LP­1 or Lexicon JamMan. I only quantize percussion and bass, and use loopers for everything else.

So is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
Not really. I had everything I wanted to try, and really, I thought most of it was disappointing. I got a NED Synclavier system, and thought that would be the thing that changed my life. I honestly prefer a Akai s900. Mike Schommer, the guy I started DC with 15 years ago (and still a good friend today) had a Waldorf Wave that spent a lot of time in my studio. I didn’t think it was a big deal. It made a good stand for my Yamaha SY-­22. Honestly, all this stuff comes with huge expectations, and they rarely deliver. I prefer junk when it comes to hardware. Like electro-­harmonix pedals and Casio CZ­-101 ’s.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
I’m really about the atmospherics in a recording. This is what I always start with. The kick drum and bass are incidental and least important. I like distressing sound. Stretching things to the breaking point. I look for audio with emotive vibes, and recordings of places with an ominous feel, then massage those into some kind of audio lifeform. What I do is really more akin to what a sculptor does rather than a musician. I don’t really consider myself a musician and really don’t have much in common with them.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
Not particularly. The process is similar to other albums, but I think the sounds that I used are a little different from past projects. Instead of using recordings of places that I love (as I have in the past), the focus on this one was more about the etheric. Revealing the unseen, using obscure shortwave transmissions and weird psychoacoustic sounds that you don’t realize that you’re hearing until they’re gone. This one was influenced by otherworldly elements rather than worldly ones. This album investigates (sonically) the air above geography that was represented in the older albums.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
I’ve really embraced the computer in recent years. Most of the old hardware that I used in the past is either stored in the closet, or sold. My studio is more empty than it’s been in 20 years. And honestly, I like it better. It’s basically a bright room with a big table, and on the table is a mixing console, computer, and stack or 3­4 old samplers. I still use an Eventide Orville and Lexicon PCM­-80, but those are about to go. The computer is honestly so efficient and pleasant to use, I could never return to all hardware. I like the Zen of having less. I want to put my studio in a desk drawer so you don’t even know it exists. This being said, I’ve only used a software synthesizer one time. It was on the SYNTH 1 record (Mike Huckaby’s label). I just got a SND SAM­-16 sequencer and wanted to test it out, so I synced it to a Jomox X-­Base 09 and connected its midi out to a computer running FM7, and the SYNTH record was the result. That was the only time I recall using a soft synth. I mostly use samples that I made of hardware that I no longer use.

The live setup is becoming increasingly stripped back. I actually just go out with a laptop and midi-­knob box nowadays. 5 years ago, I traveled with 2 big cases of stuff. Analog filters, multiple guitar pedals, a Jazzmutant Lemur, Pioneer RMX­-1000, etc. But that stuff is heavy, expensive to transport, causes a big hassle at customs, it’s delicate / breakable, and the only people in the audience that really care are the two guys with Moog T­shirts. The other 998 people in attendance couldn’t care any less. They just want to hear the music on a big PA and dance. I found ways to accomplish the same thing within the laptop, and use the knobs on the controller. My life is much simpler.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
Keeping things light and airy is vital. I like working in a big clutter-­free white box, with very little in the room. I like big windows with no drapes and a view of the lake. Only improvement I might make is burning more expensive incense.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
This is somewhat difficult to answer because I purposely try not to figure it out. I’m under the impression that if you figure out the creative process, maybe it won’t work anymore. It should be a mystery. Artists are blessed with an unusual way of seeing things. I don’t like to question it. I feel like a conduit when I’m working on music. Channeling whatever I need to make sounds… and from wherever it comes from. But I don’t know where that is. It’s a really metaphysical thing. Many times, I record music, and listen to it a month later and don’t even recognize it. I like to work fast and not subject myself to “analysis paralysis” in the studio. If things go too slow, you lose the idea. As a general rule, I always start with ambient elements. I try to make a drone or simple pad arrangement. Then add some kind or pulse to it to keep it moving forward. I like swirling clouds of sound. Sometimes I’ll let these simple elements run for hours. If it still sounds ok 6 hours later, I’ll try to fit in a kick or bassline.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are your reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I use to make a cdr and audition the new stuff outside in nature, but haven’t done that lately. Sometimes I let it play in the studio, then go to my bedroom and take a nap. If I sleep well, it’s ok. In both of these cases… I play versions without the bassline or kick drum. I usually find myself in a trance when recording, and don’t even recognize what I made when I hear it days later. It’s very strange. I prefer hearing my stuff on high­end home systems rather than large PA’s. Most PA’s aren’t capable of reproducing the subtleties. I have a few “high­end audio friends” that like to spend as much as a car costs on home audio. It’s good to take a cdr to their
place and give it a spin.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Of course! Too much! I go pack a pipe full of tobacco and go sit by the water and smoke.

What gets you inspired?
Beautiful places. Terrible weather. Storms. Night. Long drives into desolate areas. But I’m not inspired much by music honestly. A singular sound is more inspirational. I find listening to modern music more frustrating than anything.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I think it’s awful. The last good record that I heard was 8 years ago. This is why for the past several years all I listen to is 40’s & 50’s music, field recordings, Fushitsusha records, or The SWANS. Best electronic stuff is probably the Kompakt Pop Ambient series. I bought them all. Hyperdub is an amazing label. They push boundaries. But (most) dance music seems to be stuck in a rut. I think it stopped being an evolving art form around 2005, and just settled into a state of complacency. Back in the 90’s, every record was trying to push the boundaries. I don’t hear a lot of pushing boundaries today. Everyone likes their “Berghain sound”. Clicks and cuts, devoid of pads or lushness. Most of it is very hard on the nervous system. I can’t take too much of it. It’s way too harsh nowadays. It destroys the chakras. Some of the L.I.E.S. stuff is nice. That has been a label that I like. I really like Terekke.

somarecords.com

like a suppressed or unconscious trace of invisible relations

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?

i really got into making music, in the more strict sense of the word, by singing and playing the guitar when i was around 12 or 13. it always was a very intimate moment when i would do something and i could only very rarely have someone listen to it. everything was improvised and sung in some sort of semi-language – it sounded like english, but i didn’t knew the words. while this was kind of good for me, because i didn’t have to lyrically define what i would want to express (but could look for what was the emotional reaction to the music i was playing in the moment) it made it totally impossible to recreate or repeat anything i was doing. so a major turning point for me was recording these moments.

i started with using a tape voice recorder with a small stereo clip-microphone my father used to have lying around for recording bird sounds and weather situations. the first 4-track tape recorder i had then introduced a more experimental attitude, where i would use all sort of sound sources to add to the guitar and the singing. i think by this experimenting with the recording itself music grew closer to the visual art i was interested in simultaneously. both had certain aspects in common i increasingly focused on: a trace of matereality (a certain realness beyond just reality), a layering process (where reflection and thinking is like smoking a cigarette on a chair in front of what just happened), a fascination for the difference of intention and outcome, a postal directivness, to be able to give, dedicate, send the products, and the in-commensurability of this transference.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?

it looks like a mess, i guess. i don’t really have a studio like a professional musician, but my whole flat is like a workshop with different areas for different stuff, that grew with projects or ideas. working in this “workshop” and working on it often is kind of the same thing – it is what i like to call the archival aspect of my art, where you would go through all the disregarded but kept material and recreate, reposition, record. when you would turn a deck of papers sometimes the things then on top (which have the longest distance to the present times) look as foreign as something new, but you also have the time in between, with all the other papers in the stack, thus an organic relation and an estranged viewpoint to the products of yourself at the same time.

for music i still mix and produce mainly on my 2 phillips ak141 hifi speakers i have since i was 10 or so. they have a tuned bassport speakersystem (they state), which is really shit and difficult to handle, but would prevent you from defining to much in the low lows, where with really great studio monitors they attract you to the outer areas, because they can. i also just know them really well and i tend towards the attitude to produce on what i listen to music on the most. but i also have an extensive speaker collection, mostly found objects, like a discarded loudspeaker from the auditorium of the university of bielefeld. so i use a lot of different listening situations. it is like this painter-trick, where you use a mirror, standing backwards to the painting, to see the composition from a fresh perspective.

for me it is really interesting not to see these different speakers as a correction-facility for the production, but also as addresses. it is amazing how subtle the surrounding and the means inscribe themselves in the production. this “music-production” context often has this strange subtext of everything should be the best, the cleanest, the most common, but also the least individual sound, while the most interesting aspect of sound really is its singularity, it’s personality which partly derives from the specific circumstances of their formation.

for me the “setup” of my studio kind of is a setup of realism – i have a history with all these things. it is tempting to set up a production site for the pure joy of their potential, but for me it is more important to have them connected, melted with the things that concern me.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.

well, as i have kind of a fetishist relationship to all the things collected and gathered i won’t be able to pick favorites. but recently i had a nice moment with a spring reverb i removed from my first guitar amp that broke down after 15 years. it was an interesting moment to have the digital music looped through this device and touching it, changing the current, the tension, as if the music would somehow momentarily be able to float through non-ephemeral real space. other than that it would only be fair to say, the computer is still the most fascinating piece of hardware i have.

And what about the software that you use for production?

as i’m very slow with things i just recently discovered the max-for-live envelope follower which is an absolutely lovely tool to get things to interact with each other. you could use it like an alternative to a lfo to affect things secondarily, but you could also have this imidiate dynamic interactions – it doesn’t really replace dynamic eq’s or compressors, but on the other hand you could use it as such in a much more literal and direct sense.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?

i dream of a well-in-shape bechstein grand piano. i won’t be able to afford it in the foreseeable future, but maybe, who knows, one day i just sell everything including my soul and move to an empty space with just the piano.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?

the time you have on sculpting the sound is the time you have with the piece to befriend yourself with it. i still do it like in a painting. i very rarely go back or delete. i add one eq after the other and each one of them is like a step of correction or enhancement of the previous one. of course it is maybe the worst thing you could do, but it makes the sound more yours, or better: it crystallizes what your relationship actually is. that’s what i like about electronic music production – it isn’t said that in the end the trumpet-sound must resemble the original trumpet. after everything it could sound more like drums or like a piano.

no system or thought is flawless. and so the individuality and the “so dangerous” digital artifacts (ruining the production) coming to live during the process of shaping are in a very intimate conversation with each other i think. like a suppressed or unconscious trace of invisible relations.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?

i used a lot of “drawing restraint” technique on the album. i would do a track and then do it again starting with automating the global bpm massively, so that i had to think about the rhythmical structure completely without relying on the grid of a sequencer. also with this all the machines (which are synchronized with the time-signature, often in the background without telling you) sometimes screw up in a very frantic way. because they can’t keep up with the changes, the processor workload would jump to 400 percent in certain places inscribing something like a trace of this specific machine – it’s ability, it’s limitations, it’s point when it needs to give up. i guess this strategy also had something destructive and self-reflective i wanted to analyze more closely.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?

i only travel with the computer and a controller (with some faders, buttons and knobs). depending on the visual set up i have a second pc for that and/or an interactive object. for the travel i like to have a small portable recorder, some paper, pencil and an interesting book with me.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?

hmm, let me think. my neighbors are very patient and kind. the area (kreuzberg near the spree) is still very empty. monday nights i love going for a walk and pretend i’m in nature, alone just with the buildings that appear as massive stone-trees. improvement? space.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?

hmm, very difficult question. sometimes i don’t have ideas at all, but an abstract desire to do something musically, so i just start somewhere and be guided by what happens. sometimes it’s just a small idea, like a gag: what if you connect this with that, where something else grows out of. sometimes it is a sort of archival work, to re-listen to old stuff from the perspective of the present and thinking, what if i would change this and that or this to that and so on. in a second step in arranging, and composing the tracks more reflection grows towards it: what would fit to what, what is still missing with this one, what is it all about, why are you doing this silly stuff and so on and so on.

i think ideas never mature and as they are bathing in the light they’ll never be able to see it themselves. so it never feels like finishing something, or realizing an idea really, but more like compiling by a present thought.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are your reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?

there is no rule to that i’m afraid. i sometimes like to hear the piece i made on my headphones walking outside, or in a car to see how it reacts to randomly appearing things. but most importantly i like to listen to the new stuff with a friend – what they say, if they like it or not. this really defines if it is worth something. i love the sound-check playing somewhere still very much. to listen to your stuff really loud on a big speaker system is great of course and very interesting also, while every speaker and every system reacts differently.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?

oh the usual stuff really – wandering through the internet, watching a documentary or a movie, sleeping. i try to sleep as much as possible in those moments. sometimes it works to just give up and fall asleep and then have this procrastination as extension of your dream, kind of sliding into the necessities, instead of bumping into them. also the different desks or workstations i have help a lot. when i see that i’m really stuck with one thing i could change to another table, to another project, another thing, another technique.

What gets you inspired?

oh, this is way to general. i don’t know. i think the art/the music should communicate that, if something. the rest is a secret (necessarily).

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?

you know, it is this typical present times divergence. i somehow miss a sort of attentiveness towards a specific modulation or materialization of sound, where like in click’s and cuts back in the days, it seemed like an event to hear a high frequency-sound or whatever. on the other hand today it seems to me very much more clear that electronic music is not only an abstract idea towards or of technology but an intimate, very individual expression.

in a way the term now really seems outdated, no one really needs that difference anymore, doing electronic music doesn’t necessarily mean you must reflect on the electronic aspect of it – like you wouldn’t call blues guitar-music. the music has (in its present) always the possibility to be “just” music, i guess. you can use strings, and piano and fm synthesis and sampling manipulations all at the same time – no big deal. it is more then ever a question of negotiating between two symbolic systems – the one your language is build from and the other your own world is organized by.

but on the other hand i’m kind of missing this historical organisations, a plight, a binding with this symbolic dimension. i’m sad that there seems to be no really good way to have records more appreciated anymore. in relation to live representations they fall back as being just a reference. sometimes i’m afraid that this great modern achievement of letting some dilettantes like me still do some art retards back to an artistic, circus like show-off, where it is the greatest thing to see someone juggling the mpc or maschine or whatever super fast, tight and skillfully, or to be impressed by the sublime intelligence of some production, that in fact is just some sort of baroque tragedy, that intends to keep the normal circumstances of living outside, because all the main characters are aristocrats (or robots).

but in the end i think, it is important to see the tension of the present, it’s political and ethical notions, it’s implication on what you want to say, rather than having this dialectics play out as a verdict.

grischa-lichtenberger.com

At this point, I am just trying to express the emotions I’m feeling, whether positive or negative, in whatever way I can

Congratulations Julia on the truly breathtaking and exceptionally beautiful new record, ‘Asperities’. It’s such a pleasure to speak with you again and ask you some questions about this latest chapter in your beautifully storied career thus far. Please take me back to the making of ‘Asperities’ and the time and place these songs came to life? It really feels that this collection of music echoes the darkness of our times and the world as a whole of late. But nevertheless, in the darkness a deep sense of hope and strive for a better life prevails. The new music I feel captures this emotional depth and really feels (as all your records do) a special and emotional experience for the listener. I also love the many meanings of the album-title which in many ways filters into the album’s nine sonic creations.

Thank you so much! Indeed, ‘Asperities’ was made under the influence of the stresses that I think we’re all feeling right now as humans: we seem to have lost empathy for one another as mutual inhabitants of this planet. And the title of course references the sense of harshness that echoes that sensation, as well as a sense of forces, whether tectonic or social, that are in conflict. But, as you say, there is still a sense of hope: there is still so much individual kindness that one encounters in life.

Please discuss the various stages of the album-making process: you recorded, produced and mixed the album in your own New York studio. This solitary process must really help shape the music that is eventually created. Also, I am very curious about the mindset and this concept of a musician’s mind when it comes to the creating/composing of music, and your instance, these heart-rendering cello-based compositions steeped in such unfathomable beauty. How do you feel your approach (and indeed the work of your mind) has developed across your solo works and in turn which has led to the creation of the latest masterpiece?

The process of making ‘Asperities’ was actually fairly rapid, compared to my previous records. I’ve been playing some of the pieces live over the past year or so, so once I had some time in the studio, recording went quickly. And I tried to keep a sense of immediacy, and let the pieces go, rather than letting things percolate too long and getting stuck in an endless cycle of tweaking, as can sometimes happen when I’m working on my own. It’s great to have the objectivity that having someone else mix can provide, but I decided to mix myself, though I was lucky enough to be able to ask Rafael Anton Irisarri to master: I love his music and his sensibility so much, so it was really amazing to have the opportunity to have him do the mastering. I do think this record represents an evolution in my solo work: I’ve definitely become more comfortable with the idea of harshness and noise and sounds that aren’t inherently trying to be beautiful. At this point, I am just trying to express the emotions I’m feeling, whether positive or negative, in whatever way I can.

‘The Leopard’ is one of the record’s most captivating moments, and serves the centrepiece to the record’s Side A. In terms of the layering and meticulous crafting of the various sounds & textures, can you talk me through the construction of ‘The Leopard’? Also, I love how these intricate layers forever feels as if it’s one swarming ocean of sound (rather than many different isolated parts), something that has proved a great hallmark to your sonic creations. I love the reverb and heavy bass sounds that serve the pulse to this track, and creates a foreboding, menacing atmosphere whereas the counterpoint of strings forms a sea of sadness and pain. It’s such a moving, transporting piece of music.

Thank you! It’s so interesting that you would point to ‘The Leopard’, because it had a particularly interesting genesis. It began as something I developed playing live for a dance piece: a very dark and powerful piece dealing with bearing witness to war and the inevitable repetition of conflict. I called it ‘The Leopard’ because there was a visual reference to the animal in the piece, but then I started thinking about the Lampedusa book, which also references conflict and social change, and has such a strong and evocative atmosphere. We ended up not using the piece in the dance performance, but I kept developing it, and eventually it evolved into what you hear on the record. I hope it conveys a sense of foreboding: that’s definitely what I feel when I play it. And I feel as though there is a tension within it between repetition and things that are trying to break free.

I am very curious to learn more about the electronic aspect of the music. Certain pieces like ‘Terrain’ contains sublime electronic textures that coalesce so effortlessly with the strings. What signals in you to incorporate more electronic-oriented sounds to be added to the cello-based compositions. A beautiful sense of motion and journey is inherent on tracks such as ‘Terrain’ and elsewhere dotted across ‘Asperities’.

On this record, some of the pieces actually began first with electronics rather than cello, which I think made for a different point of departure, and created an interesting synthesis. And, in some cases, I was trying to see if I could erase the boundaries between the electronic and the organic textures, through processing and through blending the sounds.

The cello instrument is an extension of your own self and indeed your true voice, something that rings true when thinking of you and kindred spirits such as Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle), Lubomyr Melnyk (piano), Arthur Russell (cello) and so on. I also love how you bend the possibilities of the instrument to your own needs, for example a plethora of treatments to the cello is at work throughout ‘Asperities’. Please discuss the cello instrument, your first discovery of this beloved instrument, and indeed the voyage you began with this instrument back with debut solo LP, ‘Delay’ and even much before? Being so fortunate to witness your live performance, it was very special to visualize your cello-based compositions unfold and emit its magical spell.

Oh, that is more than kind of you to mention me with Caoimhín and Lubomyr! They are great artists and I’ve been really fortunate to encounter both of them. And Arthur Russell is of course my hero: he really expanded the boundaries of the cello in such a personal way. The cello is, and always will be, my voice: it has such expressive possibilities. I’ve had a slightly troubled relationship to the instrument: I stopped playing for a couple of years after music school, because I was really disheartened by the whole process. But then I discovered another musical world, one that was freeing and creative, and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to continue on that path. The cello at this point feels really like an extension of myself.

You have been heavily involved with score work for dance and film in the last couple of years, Julia. I wonder how does the music-making process vary depending on the particular medium? I can imagine some of this score work must have filtered into the overall makeup of ‘Asperities’?

Yes, definitely the work I’ve been doing with dance and theatre and film has influenced this record a lot. I’ve found the process of making music for dance and theatre particularly interesting, because, in certain cases, I’m creating music live in reaction to movement or text or image, and that can be so inspiring and so immediate. I especially like working with dance: there is a sort of nonverbal communication that can happen with dancers on the stage that is really powerful.

The immense power of instrumental music – and your music typifies this simple truth – is the expression of emotion without words. I would love for you to share your thoughts on this whole idea and the journey you feel that has unearthed as a result of your musical path? Have there been other musicians, artists and records you feel that have truly moved and inspired you and has helped shape your own musical landscape?

I do listen primarily to instrumental music – a lot of it electronic – and I find so much of it moving and inspiring. I think artists like Stars of the Lid or Kyle Bobby Dunn or William Basinski or Rafael Anton Irisarri or Markus Guettner are so conceptually and sonically powerful, and convey so much emotion in a relatively abstract way. And Oneohtrix Point Never and Tim Hecker and Haxan Cloak and Blanck Mass: it’s really an endless list of amazing music. But I think my own musical landscape is a fairly personal one: I really feel as though I’ve found my own way over the years, as one does.

Lastly, Julia, the penultimate track ‘Invitation To The Voyage’ feels like a very important piece of music on the new record, somehow akin to the approaching sun-lit horizon, reflecting hope and redemption. Please talk me through the various stages of this song’s inception and gradual development?

‘Invitation to the Voyage’ of course shares a title with the Baudelaire poem, but I also was thinking about the Watteau painting ‘Embarkation for Cythera’. I’m not particularly a huge fan of Watteau, but I’ve always been slightly haunted by that painting: it’s almost like a vanitas, with a sense of the ephemerality of life and of pleasure. You wonder if all those beautiful, frivolous people in fact made it back from Cythera? Or knew where they were heading in the first place? An invitation to a voyage conveys a sense of adventure and possibility, but there are some voyages from which one does not return. So I feel as though the piece is balanced between a sense of hope and a sense of elegiacness, and that it’s bittersweet in the way life is.

As a p.s.: I wrote all of the above before the most recent awful events in Beirut and in Paris and in Syria and elsewhere and who knows what else will have happened before you read this?… I don’t have any words other than: be kind and take care…

juliakent.com

Interview by Mark Carry of fracturedair.com
Republished with permission

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I started writing music a long time ago, I think I was around 12-13 years old, I don’t remember precisely. I didn’t have any gear back then, just a bass guitar and a pc pentium 120. I remember that automatically installed in the pc there was a music composition software called, if I remember correctly, Acid Music. That was my first journey into multi-tracking and looping, sequencing and recording! I guess I loved it so much. My very first studio gear I think was a Roland 16/80 digital multitrack recorder. It was an ex-demo my bass teacher sold me for 800 mila lire (the equivalent of around 400 euros), loads of money back then… It was a sort of fully equipped portable digital studio, one of the first ones. I’ve learned pretty much all of the basics about the recording process thanks to that fella. I might still have it somewhere… will check.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
Not many really. I always had a quite simple set up, just the essentials I need to put my musical ideas into action. What I need is a good DAW, a good reel-to-reel tape recorder, some nice pre-amps, a few useful outboards, some good microphones, all the rest is pretty much extra.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
At the moment my Revox B77. The must have in my current set up. It’s simply the most useful gear, it’s perfect for warming the sounds, re-amp, make mixdowns and even for recording directly.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I use Cubase as a Daw in my studio. I know is not the best one, but I just got used to it over the years. It’s simple, reliable, and does the job. I was thinking to change to a Pro Tools based system at some point but I gave up for now. It’s all cabled and ready to go so I can just sit and record right away.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
Too much at the moment, I just moved so I’m building up my studio again with some improvements… there are 2 Neumann preamps I would like to put my hands on, another reel-to-reel, a Studer. Then for sure there are several mics I’d like to have, ribbon mics are my favs at the moment, they have incredible depth and sensibility. I’m also considering to build up something from scratch (not alone, with some help), I would need an echo/reverb that does a specific thing but sadly the market is not providing it…

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
Well sound design is certainly a big part of the process. Very often it happens that I record a sound, could be a field recording, or a guitar or a simple piano note. Then the process starts, trying to create a certain unique sound. So I run it through pedals, tapes, effects, until I find the right formula. Sometimes it can take very long, other times I immediately get what I am looking for. It’s just a matter of patience and devotion I’d say, and experimenting is part of making music in the first place.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
I don’t think there is nothing particular new in my way of working. But for The Blue Hour I was looking for something that could reflect a certain mood of contrasts, ambivalence, hesitation… and I found the key creating layers with the piano, and using different ones too. For example there could a baby grand which is making a looped melody on the high range together with a small pianette playing chords on the bass range, and so on… Otherwise different layers with the same piano but with a different miking set up.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
It’s just me and the piano basically. On the piano I put several things for the live electronics. I have 1 hypercondenser mic plugged inside the piano and a tube preamp for it, and all goes into a loop pedal and a delay pedal, then I have another small contact microphone in the piano that goes into an iPad, then 2 samplers, and a small mixer to make a mixdown myself. Is a very simple and effective set up, and is balanced in a way that I can focus more on performing rather than on turning knobs all the time.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I believe I developed, over the years, an idea of sound, and the studio now is reflecting that idea. Everything sounds quite exactly how I want. I gotta say that I never had much money to buy much expensive tools and gear, so I’m probably also stuck with what I have. But somehow, all these things became my sound and it’s difficult to change. And overall I think that, if you really want to, music and creativity always find their way, even if you don’t have much. And that probably, creates a certain uniqueness.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
It can be anytime, around 7-8 pm drinking a good glass of wine while plonking away on the piano, or during a walk, or while asleep… Usually when I have an idea for a piece, I start playing it, all the time, for days, weeks… then naturally the moment comes when I record it and start going deep into it. Then I start to listen to it, a lot, and every time I could add something, take something out and so on… Usually, the awareness that the piece is complete comes really sudden.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
Well, I have of course several different speakers which over the years have represented my reference such as the headphones and my car. As I toured a lot with that car I of course listen to a lot of music in there. It does not sounds good at all but I kind of know now how a record should sound in there. After I’m satisfied with all these references we can press. Later I quite hate to hear my record in other contexts, I prefer to avoid it if I can!

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Yeah I do. Sometimes it happens that the music is not coming along quite all right… so, even if it’s difficult, it’s better to leave it for a while and think about something else, listen to other music, watch films, walk and so on… I find moments of creative crisis quite useful overall, I usually come back to it with more awareness. I also attempt not to be a workaholic and I try to take some good time off when I can.

What gets you inspired?
Everything really. There is nothing specific, it could be a film, a painting, a book… or the daily life, a dream, a simple idea, a walk, a trip… Sometimes there’s something that triggers my creativity, and my way to describe it is music. My new record. The Blue Hour, for instance, describes a moment of transition. I was emotionally feeling myself in a traditional state when I was writing it, and in the same time I was totally impressed by painting of Magritte, The Empire of Light, that gave the key to describe that transition, and I was reading Goethe, Celine, and I was also remembering certain moments of my past. It all ended up in there.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I think is quite amazing nowadays. You know, before there was sort of only one way to make electronic music. Now it looks like all is combinable, techno with ambient, classical, EDM, drone and so on… There’s a lot of incredibly interesting stuff going on out there. The only real issue, I think, is the fact that people give less importance to a project then before. Everything is so fast and there could be the new hype thing lasting for a few months and then the next one comes.

federicoalbanese.com

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
Everything started when I starting writing music with Sara Lov and we formed our first group Devics. I started playing bass and guitar and bought an old Tascam 4 track. It was my first attempt at recording… and i was immediately hooked. I still love the sound of these old machines and of analogue tape. These were really my formative years of music learning to trust my instincts and a time of discovery. It was not until I moved to Italy that I started working on my solo piano work which really let me into composing.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I have had a few incarnations of my studio… each one slowly progressing to a more professional situation. But I really started in a room in my flat… then eventually had a dedicated space that was more a glorified closet. I realized pretty early on that I needed to start collecting recording gear and learn about it if I was going to find the sounds I heard in my head, so over the years I have collected a lot of vintage mics and pre amps. When I moved to Italy, I again worked out of my house and recorded both of first piano records in the living room with old tile floors. I eventually moved my studio into an old farmhouse in the country side in Italy where i had my first dedicated studio set up. It was really special space… an old animal stall that I treated acoustically but kept the old curved ceiling… it actually sounded great and it was dead quiet all around me. It was still a working farm so each day when I would show up to work I would have small chats with the local farmer.

When I moved to Berlin I had a set up in a separate room and then moved into a great studio space in Kreuzberg in an old factory loft… where I have some friends next to me like Johann Johannsson and Hildur Gudnadottir. It’s my favorite studio space I have had… nice acoustics, tons of light, and really inspiring people around me.

What is your favorite piano?
I became really attached to this old swiss Sabel piano from the 1930s that I had in Italy… so much that I brought it back to Berlin myself! but I think if I could afford to have any piano I would love to have a Fazioli. It’s an incredible instrument that is soft and full and has the most incredible bass. Or a Boesendorfer Imperial piano!

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
I’m always experimenting with different pieces of gear… tape delays, pedals, compressors. But probably the one piece of gear that I will always use on every recording is 1072 neve pre amps. Nothing sounds as warm and smooth as these… they make everything sound the way I want them to. But I also don’t try to get too hung up on gear… I just try to work with what I have and make it sounds interesting.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I have been using Pro Tools for ages. It has its limits but I just don’t have time to learn anything else… I’m getting too old!

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I think I would prefer a Boesendorfer Imperial piano from the 1950s above all pieces of gear… or a Fazioli piano. I can work pretty low fi sometimes which I think is always something I try to hold on to. Even if I buy really high-end monitors… sometimes recording something on a cheap old tape recorder is the right sound.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
This is something that constantly evolves. I do a lot of sound design elements created running through my pedal board. Right now my favorite new pedal is the red panda particle delay… it has a lot of unexpected elements and it’s hard to control… which I like. I love being surprised by what comes out. Also the Strymon Big Sky is a beautiful sounding reverb pedal that sounds amazing… I will also run a lot of things through my 2 tape delays, A Roland and an old Echoplex… as well as running analogue signals through my ARP synth filters. On the last AWVFTS album we used some GRM sound design tools to manipulate audio… these are great.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new work on Transparent?
The palette of instruments is pretty minimal… piano, harmonium, bass, some guitar, glockenspiel. Mostly it’s just recording on the right piano. Either my Sabel or my August Forester… or a Blunther grand. So it was not really a lot of new techniques as it was using a lot of piano miking techniques I have learned over the years.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
Right now I’m mostly only doing AWVFTS concerts. We rent local pianos for the concert… and my computer set up is running a lot of my own samples off of Ableton and using a controller with a lot of internal processing. I have a Princess Analog delay routing through everything to add more warble and effects, and I’m using a 12 step foot controller that triggers a moog minitaur for my bass sounds.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
Light for me is vital. I can’t work in a dark studio space. I really need windows… to be able to open them, have fresh air… and see the natural light. I could definitely improve the acoustics of my space… it’s something I would really like to work on.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
It can really happen in so many ways. Most of the time it’s sitting at the piano… spending time improvising. Sometimes I’ll record small parts and come back to them… so if something resonates with me it’s usually worth going back to… But if an idea really stays in my head than I usually know I need to follow it. But I’m always trying to change my process a bit so I don’t get into musical ruts. I recently worked on a film score that was all electronic and this was a really intuitive way of working as I was really recording ideas and collaging them as I did it… it was less about structure and more about sounds and instincts. I was mainly using a vintage ELKA SYNTHEX which is one of my favorite synths. Sometimes when I know I really want to craft something it will take more time… working on strings arrangements and carving them out… using the piano and Sibelius to get it down in notation. But it’s really at the recording process that I understand if it’s all working.

How is composing music for film and television different from your studio albums?
Writing for film is really a different process than writing for my self… but somehow they both inform each other. Ultimately working on a film is a collaboration with a lot of different people… directors, editors, producers… and sometimes all seeing it a little different. So you have to navigate this and find way to keep pure what you do. You rarely have the luxury of time when working on a score, so you really have to follow your first impulse which is also a good thing to learn. But when I’m writing for myself it’s a much slower process and more about digging for the deeper ideas. I like to resonate on things and make sure they feel timeless. I have a lot of material I have never released as I’m waiting too long… and now I feel the moments has passed… or they could not stand up against the great purifier of time.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I use to audition my records on all kinds of sources… different speakers, car speakers, home. But lately I have really learned to just trust my speakers and let it go. You can really lose your mind always searching for the perfect listening situation, but it’s something you can’t really control. Everyone will have their own systems and a lot of times they are just listening to MP3s on a computer. So I just try to get it to sound good with what I know and let it go.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Email and the internet are great for procrastination… I think it’s a really bad habit and I’m trying to make sure I make time where I’m unplugged. If I’m not feeling inspired it’s always better to use the time to study something or better yet read a book!

What gets you inspired?
I think I’m inspired by everything… music, art, books, life, love… it’s all in there. It comes and goes and the best thing you can do is just be in the right place when it comes!

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I think it’s a great time for electronic music. A lot of gaps are closing and the lines and types of music are getting so blurred… especially in electronic music… it still feels vital. I think the advancement of audio manipulation has created a whole new world for electronic music… it is not longer just about synths and beats. It crossed into sculpture almost… I’m finding a lot of inspiration these days in it.

dustinohalloran.com

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
Probably since forever, we had a piano in my childhood home and I loved playing strange gibberish things that I just made up. Sometimes I actually thought it sounded quite good. At the age of 8 or 9 my parents signed me up for piano classes and I hated it. It was so rigid compared to when I was just noodling on my own. I think music classes have many instances killed off the naïve and childish fascination with playing that most people are born with. I just loved playing around on our piano and I didn’t want it to turn into homework. So I was allowed not to go to the classes and even though they threatened to sell the piano, they let me have it. It is actually that same beat up piano I still have.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
Back in the beginning of the nineties I had 4 track cassette recorder. I had a lot of fun with that machine, flipping the tape to get reversed sounds, manipulating the tape speed to try and recreate the sound of My Bloody Valentine. During the recording of Settlers I found this old box full of some of these tapes and I decided to give my former self a gift by integrating a few of the sounds into the ending of Transformation. I think my 20 year old self is smiling about that somewhere now. Later on a friend and I cashed in on an 8 track Roland digital recorder. They were a fortune back then so we shared it, often working together. It was a nice portable system and we could bring it out to our rehearsal space and record some actual drums and guitar amps. My current studio is very humble. In an old storage shed, I have set up a leftover stationary PC with an audio device from TC Electronics, an SM57, an MD421, a pair of Oktavas and some more obscure mics. I consider it more a room for my musical instruments than an actual studio.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
Being more of a musician than a technician, I’d probably have to choose my acoustic guitar. It’s an old seventies Yamaha and it isn’t worth much in the sense of money but it has this incredibly warm and rounded tone that I really love about it. It just goes really well with my playing style.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I use an antiquated version of Cubase. Honestly, I haven’t bothered to look into newer, more sophisticated software since I know my way around the one I have and I mainly use it like a tape recorder with the option of a little editing. It seems to me that updates tend to focus on clever features that I have no real use for. I don’t work with midi and softsynths anyway, and apart from EQ, I rarely use more than a touch of reverb or echo effect-wise. Sometimes I’ll run a track out through a tape machine for saturation or those sweet self oscillating echoes. I also reamp the occasional track through an upright piano for the reverb effect or run it out through an old spring reverb.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I have nightly dreams about mellotrons and vibraphones, nice old ladies whose husbands left them a box of vintage mics that they want me to have. Studer tape recorders and Neve preamps… Oh well. In the waking hours I can’t really justify spending such amounts on studio gadgets in any near future.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
In a way it’s funny that my music often gets labelled as electronic since most of the instrumentation is just acoustic. I do however really enjoy layering acoustic instruments as if you were arranging a more electronics piece. I find that interesting, like a clash of styles of sorts and it makes you think differently about your playing. Most of my sounds are just hand played and I have this idea that the main instrument (which is often the guitar) shouldn’t have to go through editing. In that sense I’m probably a bit of a purist. I do edit atmospheres and supportive instruments to make them fit into a track. I think of their role as a way to set a mood or a create space for the main melodies but sometimes they trick me and take over.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
One thing I’ve had both a lot of fun with is using a looper without monitoring. It has given some mind-blowing experiences! Obviously, sometimes the results are complete gibberish, but at others some strange magic happens that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I also invited environmental sounds into the studio. Since I work under sub-optimal conditions I’ve often struggled with outside noises creeping in. A few times I actually opened the door while recording. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear my son’s canary birds, the cat, an owl. The track “Garden” I decided that the crickets from outside had invited me so I recorded that under an apple tree without overdubs. You can hear an apple fall about half way. It sounds almost like a drum roll that falls a little bit behind.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
Touring is too big a word for my few and far between shows. Honestly, I’m struggling a bit with arrangements for some forthcoming shows. Until now I’ve mostly focused on solo guitar stuff which is great, quite challenging really because you can’t hide behind anything and even the slightest mistakes becomes rather obvious. But there’s something honest about it that appeals to me. For playing the songs from Settlers, I want to be able to create some of the more drony atmospheres. Dragging the harmonium along is just too impractical, so I’ve been prepping some tapes with different chords and textures that I can fade in and out between and try to respond to on the electric guitar. I would hate having to rely on a computer live, I need to have my hands on something physical.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I guess the most important thing is that I have the studio at home. I often get an idea out of nothing and being able to recreate it immediately while it is still fresh has been priceless. Inspiration is such an elusive thing. When it is there, I usually work very fast. It’s often a matter of hours before the track is done. From a more technical point of view, being able to catch a great drum recording would be really nice, but that is a bit further out in the future.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
A composition always starts with the hands on an instrument. I’m not one to start by a melody in my head, it radiates from the hands. I find that the less I actually think about it the more open and interesting to my ears it often ends up. I guess it fits my world view rather well. I like things that bloom without supervision, things that take a path of their own. That being said, all ideas obviously aren’t good in a longer time frame. The making of Settlers has been a long process where the best things have matured underway while others didn’t stand the test of time. I believe time has contributed a lot to making that album so much of a whole.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I burn early mixes to CD so that I can listen to them without having to be confronted with the computer screen. It changes the way I listen when I don’t feel I have to interact with the music technically. I like listening in my car and I can tell from the sympathetic vibrations from its door that it’s tuned in D.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Too much, probably… it isn’t always a bad thing though. I often find myself playing my instruments without any purpose of recording. Just playing and making songs that live in that brief moment. I like to think that it seals the pact in a way. Music doesn’t have to be rational or end up with a final product.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
I like the fact that the borders between the different scenes are becoming more blurred than they used to be. We see a lot more musicians collaborating across borders that were more or less uncrossable before. I think that’s kind of beautiful. Music is just music and genre labels are just search engine optimization material. We all have a million things to learn from each other whether we come from a background in rock, noise, jazz, electronic, classical or whatever.

westernskiesmotel.bandcamp.com

Hey Dylan, how is it going? Where are you these days and what have you been up to?
I’ve been living in Venice, Los Angeles since moving from New York in 2006. After Variance was released in 2009 I’ve been delving deeper into 3D design, animation and visual effects. I worked on Tron Legacy at Digital Domain for 7 months on the Light Jet sequence, also working with GMunk on motion graphics. I recently directed and produced my first short film, Extropy, which I created entirely myself.

So first and foremost I have to ask about this release. Where did these tracks come from and when were they composed?
‘1995’ is the material I was writing subsequent to the Skam EPs, most of it written on borrowed equipment. I had just moved back to Manchester, after finishing Architecture school in London (hence the architecture art on ‘1995’ & the EPs). I had just lost a member of my family, that and moving back to Manchester is what fuels the mood of ‘1995’. All the tracks were recorded live to cassette tape.

What finally prompted you to decide and release them?
Mike Paradinas asked for a digital copy of a specific track ‘103’ from 1997 for the Planet Mu 20th anniversary compilation. I actually found an even better mix that Mike hadn’t heard, and that’s what ended up on the comp. I was really appreciating the material, so once I started digitizing I decided to keep going.

Tell us about the process of repressing this material. Were any of the tracks remastered?
I restored all the tracks. Generally just equalizing them back to their original frequency ranges. I made a conscious decision not to mess to with the original material.

Do you remember the gear that you used to produce these pieces? Can you share some of that equipment list?
Initially the studio was very basic. The Boss DR-660 Dr. Rhythm drum machine. The Yamaha DX-11 FM synthesizer. No effects. Mixed using a two channel DJ mixer. Borrowed sporadically was the Roland SH-101, Roland SH-303, Roland SH-606, Boss Dr-55, Roland Juno 106, Casio FZ-1 sampler, Roland D-50 keyboard, KORG 05 r/w sound module. Eventually I added a Fostex 280 mixer, an Atari-ST for CuBeat midi sequencing, Akai S-2000 sampler, Alesis Quadraverb effects.

What do you feel when you listen to 1995 today?
The grey skies of Manchester. Writing in an empty house which I had once grown up in with my family. Hope for the future.

How has the music scene changed in the last 20 years? What would have been possible back then, that is not possible today and vice versa?
I believe creativity comes from limitations. The equipment I used was minimal, a lot of it was the cheapest second-hand gear I could find. I had to push the programming of each instrument to its max, which taught me synthesis, and gave the music a unique sound for its time. Being forced to compose live to tape really helped me to learn song composition. Being pre-internet made finding new music far more difficult, always through friends, nightclubs, local radio stations, local record stores. It was far more difficult, but also very rewarding, and I developed my sound from what I was exposed to. Now it’s far harder to remain independent, to have unique influences.

What music do you still listen to from that era? What music inspires you today?
I’ve always loved Aphex’s pre-Warp material. Skam exposed me to Autechre, whose early work has always been a favorite. Record shopping on Berwick street, Soho, was an endless source of awesome electronic music. The early Drexciya releases have always been favorites. Today I find inspiration from the technology. Los Angeles has been a whole other influence on my style too. I’ve always been fascinated with stories about technology, sci-fi futurism, something that equally inspires my music.

How has your composition and production process changed since 1995?
It went through a few cycles, digital synthesis and midi on Skam, sampling on Spectrum, modular synthesis and algorithmic composition with Geometry. Currently I’m enjoying live composing, which is a great way to stay productive. I’m also gravitating toward soundtracks and ambient music, I’d love to do an album in that vein.

I’ve seen the short film, “EXTROPY” which you released under Subvert. Can you tell us more about that?
My music has always had a sci-fi edge. I feel like it’s the glue between my music and my 3D design. Ever since I worked on Tron Legacy I’ve wanted to release a short film. “Extropy – Speedhack” is a proof of concept scene from a film I’m developing.

Is there any news on new material in the works that you can share?
There may be some news coming imminently from Planet Mu ;-) Follow me on twitter @subv3r7 , or jega.com for updates.

jega.com | soundcloud.com/jega

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
I have always known that I wanted to get into music, and I always had a preference for instrumental music. My mom would play “the shadows” a lot and I really liked that when I was young.  My brother is a couple of years older and he bought his turntables when he was 15. I was 11, so when he was not at home I would sneak into his room and spin some records. At a later stage he bought an Ensoniq sampler and I couldn’t resist messing around with that as well. I can remember I was working on a track called “spatial convolution” for the Funckarma output we released together. One day I was working on it while he was away, and he walked in on me when I was working on it. He was mad and impressed at the same time :).

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
Not that many, the heart of the studio are my monitors, and everything is always built around those. The monitors are big and they need the length of the room for the bass to be a bit steady. I have 2 desks: one with my computer monitors in it and the speakers besides it, and another desk with my laptop and a couple of hardware controllers.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
I really like the The RSF Kobol. My friend with whom I made the Legiac stuff with owns it. The kobol was a French synth company’s first compact keyboard synthesizer, certainly inspired by the Minimoog. Its sound is one of a kind and it sounds like nothing else. It is used a lot in the Legiac stuff.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I did the conservatory, a direction that is called Sonology, and all computers there (all Macs) were running Protools, so I just got stuck with that. It really has something to do with how Protools handles audio. I just like to cut and shuffle with audio parts the same way you would do with MIDI. I just like the straightforward approach of it. When you render audio with plugins you immediately see the result in the waveform and so on.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
I would love to own a Kyma synthesizer one day. Kyma is an unbound environment for creating sounds that have never been heard before. Kyma’s effectiveness arises from its unique set of algorithms, the ease with which you can create endless combinations of those algorithms, and the unprecedented degree of real-time responsive control over the sound parameters.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?
I always do and always have done micro edits in the sounds. I really like to divide all measures into 64 parts and juggle around with them, so no measure sounds the same as the other. Protools makes this stuff quite easy. Also I have the tendency to EQ out some bands in the mid section of the music I make, I like the low and the high aspect of sound, but the middle part is always the most difficult to keep pleasant-sounding on different systems.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
I did a big package for Twisted Tools for their beat-generating plug-in called Ultraloops. I used a lot of my own patches generated by this piece of software. I recently bought stutteredit from Izotope which I really like. Also, I discovered Sugarbytes, they make nice sound manipulating plug-ins to quickly alter sound and patterns.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
For live it is Ableton and a bunch of Novation controllers: Launch control XL, launchpad and the little controller. That is what I bring. I also do DJ sets and then I use a Traktor S2.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
I need to be able to look out of my window. I didn’t have that for a while and that really threw me off, so now when I sit behind my desk I can look at the sky. This is also the element to improve on, I would like to see even more sky and not look at an ugly building at all.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
Most of the time, it is one certain element that triggers the starting point to work on a new track. This element can be a sound I made or that I have found, from some old music which I would like to sample for instance. I always listen to music, always analyze everything I hear, so ideas are created every moment of the day. I need to really focus when I’m in the studio, because in the right moment the creation of a track can go quite fast. I produce like 95% of the track in a couple of hours the final 5% will take a couple of days.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I often send it to a bunch of friends and ask their opinion, plus I work as a sound technician in different venues, so I always play it really loud over there to hear how it sounds.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Sure! Vape weed, drink beer or play the PS4.

What gets you inspired?
Music, clouds, weed, alcohol, my mind, the rain, animals and my dog Mystro.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?
It is awesome! There is so much good music out there, its flabbergasting! Nowadays it is really coming from everywhere. To mention a few names: Rival Consoles, Generate, Ard Bit, Eedl, Floex, Bersarin Quartett, Syl KougaI — if you never heard of them, look them up and give their stuff a listen.

roelfuncken.com | funckarma.com

Be sure to check out Roel’s latest Iridium Flare which is available at “name your price” on his Bandcamp

[Editor’s Note: all answers for Hammock are furnished by the two members, Andrew Thompson (AT) and Marc Byrd (MB)]

Hi guys, where are you these days and what have you been up to this past weekend?
AT- We are still here in Nashville, writing and recording. Worked on string parts for 4 songs yesterday and have several more set up for additional string and choir arrangements. Always something new on the horizon.
MB- I’m working on some long form pieces… Lots of deconstruction and dismantling of original tracks.

There is some mention of “personal struggle, doubt, and change” on the press release for the record, can you elaborate on what’s been going on with you?
MB- Not really… Things have changed since this record was released. I have a different perspective on what “true” struggle really is. The loss of my nephew two months ago has cast new light on what I used to consider “struggle” to feel like. This type of grief and what my family is experiencing right now is like nothing we’ve ever known… not even close. We can glorify angst, melancholy, darkness and struggle and say that it makes for “real” and “authentic” art. But that’s just theoretical. When something like the death of my nephew happens, when I see my sister and her family in the throes of a grief like the loss of a child… you start to realize what a hollow, manufactured drama “suffering for your art” really is. Most of us don’t need to be reminded that life can be sad… that’s not an original concept when it comes to the nature of existence. Joy… that’s the thing that can be fleeting. (If you’d like to learn more about NF2 or make a donation, go here)

What new techniques and what tried and true Hammock soundscapes have you tried on the new album?
AT- Marc and I are always trying new and different things to achieve the sonics and feel that we are going for. It varies from record to record, from song to song and from instrument to instrument. The goal is always to serve the song and finding out how best to do that is always different.
MB- I’m in a “destroy the original sound” kind of mood right now. Creating sound in the same way that abstract paintings are made. Record the track by running the sound through the studio headphones, Mic the cans up and see what happens. Using a really crap tape recorder to record the track coming through the speakers, mic that up and see what happens. I drive Andrew crazy when I get in these moods because I’m not the best at documenting what changes I’m making as I go a long.

Tell us more about your decision to prominently feature more vocals on Everything and Nothing.
AT- After having released “Oblivion Hymns”, which had almost no drums and was much more classically influenced, we wanted to change gears and release a record that was a bit more beat oriented and a lot more aggressive. The vocals just came naturally for some reason under those circumstances. The pieces that we kept on gravitating towards in the final selection process happened to be those more vocally oriented songs.

I think it’s Andrew’s wife, Christine Byrd, who offers us “angelic vocals”, but who is behind all of the male vocals?
AT- That is actually Marc’s wife, Christine, on “angelic vocal” duty. She is our secret weapon, no doubt. Marc and I did all of the male vocals on this record.
MB- There is a lot more of Andrew singing on this record… Proud of him for stepping out.

Who else appeared as a collaborator on the album?
AT- I would say that Peter Katis made a huge impression on this album. I don’t think the record would have been the same without him mixing. He provided a cohesiveness and warmth that brought everything together in the end.

The underlying current of the album feels full of melancholy and sorrow, yet many pieces appear to be written in a major key. Was this a deliberate approach and how did you reconcile these polar opposites of tones and arrangements?
AT- In the midst of the writing, recording, and song selection process, we generally will start to find a similar direction that certain pieces seem to flow towards. This record was a bit difficult in the beginning, finding that common thread. I think you are correct in pointing out that dichotomy between melancholy and redemption (the major key), because those were the songs that seemed most cohesive together.
MB- I think we intentionally set out to make a record more diverse in mood. Our second full length, “Raising Your Voice… Trying to Stop an Echo” was like that. We wanted to get back to that, especially after releasing a record like, “Oblivion Hymns.”

A question outside of the latest release: how does it feel now that you’ve expanded your own label, and released Slow Meadow? Are there more artists that you’re planning on signing?
AT- Matthew Kidd really fits in with our aesthetic here at Hammock Music. We all really love what he does and his artistic vision. We’re very proud to have him as our first label mate.
MB- He’s talented, he has a specific artistic vision, he’s hard working and self motivated… He’s also super nice. What else could we ask for?

What’s next for Hammock?
AT- We already have another record well on it’s way to being finished. We are always writing & recording, no matter what else happens to be going on. We have also been approving mixes for the new bonus tracks for the “Raising Your Voice” 10 year anniversary reissue, so keep an ear out for that.
MB- We’ll be releasing “Raising” on vinyl. You heard it first on Headphone Commute… Also there will be a deluxe edition of “Everything and Nothing” before the year is out.

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?
The very beginning is too far! Hahaha. So, I remember I was trying to compose some little melodic lines with the spinet or the dulcimer of my father (was really young). When I was a teenage boy, I was playing electric guitar in a band and after that, at university and conservatoire of Bordeaux I was expecting to compose some “minimal classical” pieces and after that some electronic… As you can see, I have trouble with consistency. I need to discover new music and try to understand how it works. That’s why you can hear so many different genres on the remixes of INSIGHT II… My first piece of gear was an AKAI S1000 Sampler. I bought it and never used it… I just bought it because it was beautiful and was sure to use it but, you know, when you’re a teenager… I can’t show it to you because it’s at my parent’s home for now.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?
I don’t know if we could speak that studios. It’s more “home studios” because it’s in my flat. It takes too much place and now, it’s my 3rd studio.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.
It really depends of the moment. Sometime it’s a paper and a pen. For a long time, when I was playing in a pop band, I was using Kaoss Pad 3 for the infinite delays and playing little samples. Now, with the piano solo works it’s the AKGC414 & Apogee Quartet. I love them a lot. They are really impressive and definitely what I was searching for my home studio.

And what about the software that you use for production?
I use Ableton Live 9 Standard.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?
There is a lot of pieces of gear I would like to try! In my dreams, I would like some physical compressor, limiter, delays, reverbs, distortions, eq… All in physical and all different gears for the different projects.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?
I’ve tried to change the place of the microphones but it wasn’t great so, I will keep the same ones for all INSIGHT’s albums.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?
For the piano solo, I’m preparing the set live. What I will take with me is : nothing. I want C414 or KM184 for microphones and acoustic piano but the concert halls already have these kind of piece of gear. The less, the better.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?
The qualities of the environmental aspect are also the default. Explanations: At home. It’s great for the coffee, the proximity, the “real life” but it’s not great because I need silence and I disturb my girlfriend Mathilde when she’s at home or I don’t want to make too much noise for neighbors, procrastination etc… And it’s difficult for me to be at home and at work at the same time. What I would like is: a big house with a big garden and a separated big studio in this garden. Like this, I could go to work, travelling through the garden, have something separated from my home and only disturbing myself with noises, sounds, exercises and music.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?
For INSIGHT, every piece uses a different process. Sometime they comes from paper and pen, sometimes from improvisations at home or sometimes giving piano lessons to my students. When I feel emotions listening to a chord, a rhythm, or a melodically line, I try to develop it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The big problem with me is that when I’ve started a piece, I can’t wait for months to try and develop it. I think that we are always in movement in our heads and thoughts so, discovering new music will influence me and things from the past lose their primitive feelings.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?
I really don’t like to listen to my work once it’s finished but I need to do it for the mix and the master. I consider that the work is never ended and this is the fix, the end. But, to reply to your question, I hear it on my SC207 EVE monitors and on my old but so good AUDIOTECHNICA ATH-M50. After I burn it on a CD and listen in my living room. I also try to listen to it at works on GENELEC and DYNAUDIO.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?
Hahaha. Yes, a lot. But it’s kind of weird because I mostly procrastinate making some exercises. I mean, when I don’t work on my future release or compositions, I make some exercises, trying to find some new sounds or chords colors, rhythms… Sometimes I also try some “strict exercises”. With this, my goal was to create a kind of remix of my track INSIGHT I but only with the piano sound of this track. It was, in my brain, forbidden to use any other instruments or sounds. Once I was in, I was also searching for some new kind of rhythms and sounds evolutions etc… So, I procrastinate a lot but most of the time, it’s a learning process.

What gets you inspired?
A mix between emotion and reason.

marchaljulien.fr

[Editor’s Note: Second Woman are Joshua Eustis and Turk Dietrich]

Hey Josh, where are you these days and what have you been up to lately?
Josh: I’m installing new hard drives in my computer, which took a shit on itself the other day. That, and collating everything Turk and I need to get ready for Berlin Atonal in August. There are other album projects that I wish I could tell you about that are happening right now, but that news will have to wait.

How did you guys meet?
Turk: Josh and I met through our mutual friend Charlie Cooper back in 1998. Charlie knew Josh from the both of them being in bands around the New Orleans area in the mid-90’s while in high school. Charlie and I at the time, 1998, were working on techno and primitive “experimental” electronic stuff together. We had just come off of playing a few shows in Atlanta which had Charlie super inspired and he mentioned Josh… he said that he really wanted to bring him around and get him involved in what we were doing. A month later Josh and Charlie had secretly made a track together which totally upped the game!

You’ve have already collaborated together as Benelli, what prompted for you to get together on this project?
Turk: I had been working on some tracks on my own and was having Josh help me finalize things once I got the tracks to 90- 95%. At some point Josh said, “I hope I’m not imposing here, but why don’t we just start fully collaborating on this stuff together… it just makes sense and we work well together”… within less than a year from that decision, not only did we had our gestalt moment in regards to concept, but we also finished the first album too.
Josh: Turk and I have made a ton of music together over the years, almost none of which has or will see the light of day, so we figured that the time was ripe to do something together and take it seriously enough to at least attempt at getting it released.

Can you tell us what the name Second Woman means and where it came from?
Turk: It has to do with different versions of self or perception.
Josh: Also, for me, it refers to our complete fear/fetishization of the “other” and “othering” with which our society is currently pregnant.

Any chance you can share the mystery behind the title tracks and what they represent?
Turk: That’s for you guys to figure out!

Was there a particular aesthetic (as it appears to sound) that you set out to explore on the album?
Turk: We had been working on music that was much more gridded and we both felt that we were becoming a slave to the grid… very inhibited by it. We made a conscious choice to ignore the grid and to distill the things that we had been inspired by to the barest of their bones. Those inspirations being time dilation and asmr, dub and footwork. When we did both of these things, ignoring the grid and distilling certain concepts that we had to their core, everything just started to click in a way that I haven’t experienced since making “October Language” over a decade ago.
Josh: Yeah, I think we were probably frustrated with making ersatz techno and realized the grid was a fucking prison for us if we were going to work together. I love gridded music and I love making it but for Turk and I together I just don’t see how it’s possible.

How would you describe this music yourself?
Turk: Contemporary music focused on engineering perceptual slips.

Can you talk a bit about the instruments and software used in the production and sequencing of sounds?
Turk: It’s entirely software at the moment. It was made inside of Ableton, but really only using Ableton as a recorder, and using the Push to control multiple parameters on instruments and effects… Doing live automation runs with the Push was the main composition and arrangement tool. Most of the processes on the record involved our bespoke Max4Live devices and sound generation from some Native Instruments stuff like Razor and Maschine.
Josh: Modulators modulating modulators which are also modulating other modulations…

How did you end up on Spectrum Spools?
Turk: I had been a fan of SS for a while. We really only had a few labels that we thought would be right for the project, and SS was at the top of our list …especially because of its American roots. I had some interaction with John Elliot a few years back on Twitter and knew that he was a fan. When we completed the record we emailed it to John and heard back from him less than hour later. It was just meant to be.

I am personally hoping this is just the beginning. What is the future of Second Woman?
Turk: We have an EP coming out later this year. And then our second full length for Spectrum Spools in the beginning of 2017

Lets start at the very beginning. Can you tell us how you got involved in composing, and what was your very first piece of gear?

That was quite early in my life. As music and art enthusiasts my parents surrounded me with both these things from the very beginning. A lot of classical and also quite left field rock and also my brothers always showed me what they were listening to. There was something missing for me though – some element(s) or moods i wanted to hear did not come up in the music i was shown, mostly because i was not aware at this point, i was maybe 9-10 years old, that you could potentially twist and turn music in a million ways.

I discovered electronic music around this time too and it became crystal clear to me that the things i’m missing were included here – the idea to blend both of these worlds, the classical one i’ve been raised with and the electronic one, which was completely uncharted territory to me, was the only way forward.

The first piece of gear i owned and that took me a lot closer to this plan was an AKAI MPC2000… i’m still amazed how much this thing could do with only 1,9KB of RAM… I spent years (at least it feels like years) with it and without a computer or any other equipment which made me understand this thing very well and, in hindsight, tought me a lot about the miracle that limitation in composition is.

How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?

Not that many – it was more like a constant build and exchange of things. Since i’m no recording artist in the classical sense a lot of gear is not as important for me like i wish it was… preamps, instrument microphones etc…

I started with the MPC2000 mentioned above for a long time only and added some really crappy but gigantic hifi speakers as monitors, a ZOOM 1201 FX and a 4 track Yamaha MD 4S minidisk recorder.

I have to say that these were actually fantastic times – i didn’t know a lot about recording, mixing, programming or engineering and in this absence of knowledge was a great blessing really. I experimented and it was just a very unconcerned and uncomplicated process. I try to maintain this until today, however i’m surrounded by people that are very experienced and knowledgeable about gear and engineering and they help a big deal understanding the necessary technical parts of my work. My setup today is a result of remaining naive and at the same time adding functionality.

Tell us about your favorite piece of hardware.

That’s tricky – most of my hardware is handpicked for very specific reasons so i really like all of them a lot. I’m a reverb addict and was looking for a stereo tube spring reverb (which seems to be rare and/or unaffordable) …which is why i was very happy to find Rerun Electronics, a small but exquisite studio in Berlin that builds custom gear of all sorts. He built what he called „The 235 Spring Reverb“ for me. It’s two sets of springs, one short pair (the 2) and a longer one (the 3) and the option to switch them in parallel (the 5) all run through a nice array of tubes.  From a small, metallic room – almost only a touch of room-y dimension, to a hellish cave – this one has your back. I love what it does and how it looks and feels. So this unit has it’s own pedestal but so do all there others.

And what about the software that you use for production?

My main DAW is and was Ableton Live (since version 2 i think…). I pair this with a lot of Arturia synths and quite a few piano and instrument libraries (from 8Dio, Spitfire and Izotope for example…) For mixing inside the computer (as opposed to analogue mixing, which i do depending on the material) i mostly use UAD plug ins and the really well made Flux plug ins. I think my main criteria for software is that it does the digital part (in sound and function) and leaves the analogue part to the outboard gear. For instance, the ePure EQ by Flux is great for real surgical and technical work on single tracks, while my outboard EQ brings back some depth and feeling back to premasters.

Is there a particular piece of gear that you’re just dying to get your hands on and do you think one day you’ll have it?

I really like the idea of having one dedicated piece of gear for every step in the production process. Right now i’m missing a rock solid outboard compressor – and since no one can stop you from dreaming, i’d say i could live with a Fairchild 670. The chances of owning one are next to nothing really but this would be what i dream about every now and then.

Can you please share some aspects of sound design in your work?

I feel the hybrid between digital and analogue helps a lot establishing an interesting sound. While i agree that most analogue gear really does sound wonderful and warm – sometimes it’s simply not better. Sometimes i really want the very cold, clinical ones-and-zeros digitalism of computers. An example of this hybrid could look like this: i needed the sound of fireflies for a project once. The scene in this project required the sound to be subtle but still quite isolated which again means the sound needed to be very convincing (even though i personally had no idea how fireflies would sound). I recorded the ripping of fabric and filtered everything but the very high frequencies and edited these recordings. The result was something like a constant but very gentle flight of sparks through the air.

Another example is that i reworked the recorded strings on both Gravity and also Spells very often into pads and plain atmosphere layers beyond recognition. I love turning a very direct and handmade source into an almost metaphysical new thing – that’s where digital tools of any kind can be extremely helpful.

Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?

Blending machines and human beings i’d say. This might sound a little vague but ultimately this was probably the core of this album. Most of the tracks are completely computer generated at first and needed to be interpreted by instrumentalists who changed the course and feel of the songs dramatically. I also really enjoyed the different ways we recorded the instruments. Some parts where recorded with me, others completely remotely and autonomous from my input – this gave some songs a fantastic twist to my original idea. Other than that i tried to oppose digital and analogue as good as possible, which means, most digital instruments would get an analogue treatment within the mix and many instrumental parts got the full digital effect treatment.

Talk a little about the piano notes for Spells – how did you record the sounds, sequence and arrange them?

These are all programmed by combining various libraries and editing all the notes as precise as possible. So i did not record the piano at all but utilized very well made libraries. I can play the basic chords of most tracks but to give the songs some of the human touch back i have to arrange and edit the piano takes a lot. This is easier when you get the recordings of the other musicians back which are obviously more organic.

What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?

There’s no live setup at the moment as i’m still developing this. I don’t come from a live playing background whatsoever (with the exception of a some DJ sets in the past… if that counts as live) so this is all very new for me. At this point I implementing my Sequential Prophet 6, my Moog Sub37 and the generated pads and synths from my laptop on my end but would depend on the live musicians to be there with me. That would be a drummer, a harpist and 1-3 cellists for now.

What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?

I need to feel at home and relaxed – which is why my studio is also in my apartment. The blessing here is also the curse – you are in a very familiar environment but at the same time you don’t get out that much and can’t unshackle yourself and your head from work – something that might change in the future but for now the pros outweigh the cons. I’m close to the coffee machine AND the synths – that matters to me.

What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?

Ideas are born all the time… while talking a walk, while getting to sleep, while doing dishes etc… The tricky thing is to make sketch and shape them right away. Often it’s very simple melodies and themes or patterns that go through my head… and very often i’m not in the studio when they pop up. They develop and grow on the way to the studio and once i have the basic idea drafted they can develop into an actual composition – which can take weeks hours, weeks or months – this is really different from song to song. There is a moment however when i know a song is done. There was a time when i had issues letting a song go or rather accepting it as what it was but over time i found great pleasure in the imperfections and possibility that writing a new song offers. The things you would improve on one song will somehow transcend into something new, keeping the motivation and compositional process in motion. In the end, the existing flaws of one one composition are the potential benefits of the next one.

After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are you reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or a sound system?

The first step is to have at least 6-7 hours between finishing the song and listening to it again – that’s over night normally. After that i’ll have the mix downs or premasters on my phone normally – listen to them in every day situations. This not very hi-fi solution is quite important to me since i want to hear if the songs work outside of the controlled environment that is the the studio. This is the easiest way for me to focus on any mix or structure issues. This does not necessarily change the mood of the song but the atmosphere i’m in changes around it and adapts to it.

I use a pair of Neumann KH120 to monitor but that’s why i need alternatives of different kinds to evaluate any mix. I either listen on a Harman Kardon Aura in my home or on Audio Technica ATH R70X for both mixing and auditioning final mixes. The next time things changes quite drastically is in the mastering studio when i hear the song change – by then i usually heard it or them hundreds of times – and, in case i can’t be present during the mastering, when i get the master back.

Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?

Oh god yes… Normally any kind of dinner or food situation is always a good excuse for me to take a break. Also often do some impulse record shopping and coffee breaks and my character level in Fallout 4 is much higher than it should be… Basically enjoying life in company or solitude is key for both work and free time… procrastination, in my interpretation, is actually fuel for the next or ongoing project.

What gets you inspired?

Good stories in any shape and form. Personal experiences, things that friends and family experienced, movies, games… i should read more (or any) books but i found it very very hard to focus on reading anything for as long as i can remember. I know i’m missing out but i hope to overcome this insufficiency at some point.

And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of “electronic music” today?

This could fill a complete interview on its own actually. I’ll try to keep it short. I I find myself going back to the records of my youth when listening to electronic music. It seems they still have the biggest impact on me. I hardly find this feeling of excitement and these days. I don’t blame artists for this obviously – i’m sure my needs, experiences and listening habits just changed over time but i do feel a little disconnected from todays electronic music. The production and emotional standard is often not mine anymore so i begin to feel that I’m part of a different generation when it comes to my requirements of electronic music and any blend of instruments, elements and styles is much closer to my heart.

Photos by Claudia Gödke / claudiagoedke.com