Name: Conrad Pack

Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Current release: Conrad Pack's DOMA4 is out via Lost Domain.

If you enjoyed this interview with Conrad Pack and would like to find out more about his music, visit him on Instagram, and Soundcloud. He also has a bandcamp store for his own music and one for the releases on his SELN label.



What was your first studio like?

Completely battered. It was in Brixton and it had leaks and a strange time curfew, complete with a charity shop nextdoor which seemingly had an addiction to a certain disco compilation CD.

How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you?

During Covid I spent a rather unsensible amount of my furlough on hardware. It well and truly changed the game for me.

In terms of a particular piece of kit or gear it would be unfair to pick one thing - but having said that, I would pick my mixer.

Some see instruments and equipment as far less important than actual creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

Yes I can most likely agree with that - I’m far more interested in ideas and a person / artist’s drive than what synth they are using. However, having said that, certain pieces of equipment do create specific sounds which can obviously be very important for creating a vibe / atmosphere.

So I guess the answer is - it’s a balance (like most things in life).

A studio can be as minimal as a laptop with headphones and as expansive as a multi-room recording facility. Which studio situation do you personally prefer – and why?

I’m a total romantic so the idea of being surrounded by an unhealthy amount of cables to me is rather more appealing than being presented by a lone laptop and a pair of speakers.

However having said that some of the best music ever (ever) has been made on a limited amount of equipment (rather a obvious reference, but think Suicide).



Loads of early grime was made on fruity loops and that stuff can totally blow any thousand pound modular live jam out the water, so basically if the drive of the artist is there, the music will happen.

But yes back to the question, I like physical things, for better or worse, and so that is my preference.

From traditional keyboards to microtonal ones, from re-configured instruments (like drums or guitars) to customised devices, what are your preferred controllers and interfaces? What role does the tactile element play in your production process?

I’m not really sure how to answer this one. If it sounds good I’ll use it.

In the light of picking your tools, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

It’s neither here nor there for me really. I think it’s really important to push forward and make new music, however people have been listening to opera for centuries and it still has an effect. So long as you’re not just churning over old ground I think most things are fair game - at the same time aiming to reinvent the wheel can just lead to falling flat on your face.

So again, it’s a balance.

Most would regard recording tools like microphones and mixing desks as different in kind from instruments like keyboards, guitars, drums and samplers. Where do you stand on this?

A mixer is most certainly not a guitar, so yes I would say they are different. However the most important thing is always how you use something.

A couple of times I took part in an improv group in Borough and people would bring a range of equipment to play on, from an electric guitar setup with far too many pedals, to a handful of seashells alongside some string. All sounded equally good at the right time to be quite honest.

How would you describe the relationship between technology and creativity for your work? Using a recent piece as an example, how do you work with your production tools to achieve specific artistic results?

Again I try not to think about this too much - I suppose I do like the idea of mixing old technology with new. Or using old technology to create a new sound / vision.

Just making the same music which was created 20 / 30 years ago on the same equipment does seem rather unappealing to me as a concept, yet at the same time, if it sounds good … then it sounds good.

Within a digital working environment, it is possible to compile huge archives of ideas for later use. Tell me a bit about your strategies of building such an archive and how you put these ideas and sketches to use.

I try to record everything in a live take and then that’s basically it.

Most of my tracks I can’t remember how I made them and it would be a complete disaster for me to try and revisit the process - life moves on.

How do you retain an element of surprise for your own work – are there technologies which are particularly useful in this regard?

Not sure I can be so enlightening on this matter unfortunately. Normally when
making music I have a certain vision of something I’m interested in, and it turns out completely different, for better or worse.

Embrace failure or be doomed I say.

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. How much of your music is based on concepts and ideas you had before entering the studio, how much of it is triggered by equipment, software and apps?

It’s entirely concept based - I generally try to think about music as a soundtrack (as passé as that sounds) and then just go from there really.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly changed or even questioned the way you make music?

Most probably yes, but nothing is coming to mind off the top of my head.
Apologies.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. Do you feel as though technology can develop a form of creativity itself? Is there possibly a sense of co-authorship between yourself and your tools?

Likely so. But for all my sins I haven’t paid it much considered thought.

What tools/instruments do you feel could have a deeper impact on creativity but need to still be invented or developed?

I’ll leave that one to the experts.

Please recommend two pieces of gear or software to our readers that they should know about.

Mind, body and soul. That’s three but you get the idea.