Part 2
Collaborations can take on many forms. What role do they play in your approach and what are our preferred ways of engaging with other creatives through, for example, file sharing, jamming or just talking about ideas?
During my time in Italy I began to collaborate with lots of different artists using Logic and then files bounced down into Ableton as it seemed everyone was using that DAW and was the perfect platform for collaborations.
The sessions were mainly using sounds I had previously created over the years and new software I mentioned above. I enjoy working with other artists because I have always enjoyed remixing. I treat the collaborations like I would do a remix. The work is very rewarding.
Could you take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work? Do you have a fixed schedule? How do music and other aspects of your life feed back into each other - do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?
Each day is different. I am always awake around 5.50am as our dog wakes me up for a walk. I like to read the news on my laptop with a cup of decaf tea and then I usually make a list of things that need to be addressed that day.
Not every day is in the studio though. We bought a very old thatched cottage which is 600 years old and it always needs work doing on the house has some heritage as King Charles 1st stayed here when he was chasing the Earl of Wessex into Cornwall. With the weather being so nice now it’s better to be outdoors working than stuck in a studio all day.
I enjoy my life and it has lots of variety instead of doing just one thing which is important for your state of mind.
Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece or album that's particularly dear to you, please? Where did the ideas come from, how were they transformed in your mind, what did you start with and how do you refine these beginnings into the finished work of art?
It's difficult to choose a certain piece that’s dear to me as I have released over 100 albums if you include the collaborations. One track does to spring to mind though: "Southern Soul" by Norken.
This piece was recorded in a caravan. We rented a caravan from a farmer as it had loads of space and transformed it into a studio for about 6 months. "Southern Soul" was my homage to Detroit techno as I was listening to a lot of that kind of music around that time. The main string part is from a Roland Juno 6.
I remember just being surrounded by nature and the wow factor that can give off. That track is heavily influenced by nature and the soulful electronics bubbling out of North America at the time. I love emotion in music, especially the sound of machines crying.
There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? What supports this ideal state of mind and what are distractions? Are there strategies to enter into this state more easily?
When I make music I have to have no lingering distractions or things left undone. There has to be total peace in my life.
How is playing live and writing music in the studio connected? What do you achieve and draw from each experience personally? How do you see the relationship between improvisation and composition in this regard?
I don’t play live and made the decision to stop doing it about 15 years ago. I think the last live event I did was in Slovakia. I don’t enjoy doing the live thing as I’m not comfortable around lots of people. Club culture has never excited me - watching some bloke stood behind a laptop on stage is not very exciting.
I think these days it’s the same but with a small modular set up in the background to make it look interesting. It's still the same boring nonsense unless you're off your head on some class A. I don’t like loud music either. It always sounds shit and distorted to me.
How do you see the relationship between the sound & composition aspects of music and the composition aspects? How do you work with sound and timbre to meet certain production ideas and in which way can certain sounds already take on compositional qualities?
I love sounds. Programming the ultimate sound from a synthesizer is paramount to enjoying all sounds though. The sounds of birds and bumble bees on a June morning are just as rich as a layered sinewave. I love music with environmental sounds and nature mixed together. I think Eno nailed it with Discreet Music. Certainly his description if it anyway.
There is one sound I hate though and that’s the sound of motorbikes speeding through our village. Harley Davidson frequencies don’t do it for me.
Our sense of hearing shares intriguing connections to other senses. From your experience, what are some of the most inspiring overlaps between different senses - and what do they tell us about the way our senses work? What happens to sound at its outermost borders ?
What a mad question :) Ask me when I have had some Magic Mushrooms ...
Art can be a purpose in its own right, but it can also directly feed back into everyday life, take on a social and political role and lead to more engagement. Can you describe your approach to art and being an artist?
My music has nothing to do with politics although I did a piece of music with my friend from Germany Frank Rumpelt called The Far Centre. The title was a bit of a poke at the left and the right and I see my myself right in the middle ... In fact I’m beyond the middle ... I'm far centre!!
I despise any music with a political agenda. Music has always been about escaping. We live in a crazy time right now with fake news and broadcasters like the BBC not being impartial.
It is remarkable, in a way, that we have arrived in the 21 st century with the basic concept of music still intact. Do you have a vision of music, an idea of what music could be beyond its current form?
Music trends come and go. My favourite period of music was the 80's. Music was all I had back them to escape the dreary day to day loop of life.
It is very difficult for me to see how music can evolve. For the most part all music we hear now is recycled. There are only so many notes.
