Name: 2fox
Members: Max Sinàl, Renell Shaw
Interviewee: Max Sinàl
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, songwriter, DJ
Current Release: 2fox "So Long," featuring Liam Bailey and BB James is out via Soul Quest.

[Read our Renell Shaw of 2fox interview]

If you enjoyed this Max Sinàl interview and would like to stay up to date on 2fox and their music, visit them on Instagram, twitter, and Facebook.
 


Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in production and technology?

Yes for sure.

I have always been fascinated with how sounds are made and even from an early age I have tried to dissect in my head music I was listening to, trying to figure out how it was all put together.

What were your very first active steps with music technology and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

At the age of about 14/15, I first sat down with an older friend from my area who was producing Garage on Cubase. He showed me the basics of programming drums etc … and how he used his sampler to chop up vocals. We worked on some music together but never released anything.

Then over the years I learnt how to use things like reel to reels to make loops and record music. I really enjoyed that side of things and would love to start incorporating that in to my work again some day.

Were/are you interested in the history of production and recording? If so, which events, albums, artists, or insights stand out for you?

As time has gone by I have become more and more interested in the mix downs of music I like. I love the spacious yet controlled sonics of Sault and Ricardo Villalobos especially at the moment (as well as their productions).



Went through a long phase of really studying James Blake’s stuff after Overgrown dropped.



Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches, and musical forms you may be very familiar with?

I try and start as many ideas as I can as I find that’s the most fun and inspiring part of producing. It’s nice to start a project with no expectation of where it could go or what it should sound like. Just flow with whatever comes out.

I definitely don’t go on to develop all the ideas I come up with, but I find it helps with the process on the whole to experiment with what works and what doesn’t work within these projects.

For your own creativity, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

For the most part I’m self taught with production. So some of the time I may have a slightly unorthodox way of working but it works for me.

I’ve been very lucky to collaborate with a lot of amazing producers over the years and have picked up little tricks along the way. I think it’s really useful to work with other producers to learn from each other and see different ways of working which you can then incorporate in to your own workflow.

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

Weirdly, my personal set up has been streamlined quite a bit over the years. I used to have way more hardware then I do now but space restrictions and the workflow I was getting used to has made me move most of it on.

I use my Ableton Push 2 at the centre of my work. It’s nice to be able to program drums, sequence, chop up samples etc all in one piece of equipment. I still love playing with my MicroKorg, and have a Strymon El Capistan pedal which I use in my DJ set up predominantly but like to take it down to my studio when I can.

My good friend has an original Roland Space Echo which we had in our studio for a while which I really love using too.

Already as a little kid, I was drawn to all aspects of electronic/electric music but I've never quite been able to put a finger on why this is. What's your own relationship to electronic sounds, rhythms, productions like – what, if any, are fundamental differences with “acoustic“ music and tools?

Likewise with me. I had various kinds of drum machines and electronic keyboards as a kid and used to spend hours going through the sounds and various presets. My first real love in electronic music I guess was The Prodigy's Experience in the early 90s.



I then got really into jungle, the drums used to blow my mind. At this stage, I didn’t realise that they were just chopped and sped up loops so genuinely used to think there were these amazing drummers playing through the whole thing.

I record a lot of live musicians and instruments with both projects I’m working on. I guess the main difference with the acoustic stuff (and vocals) is that you need to make sure you get everything how you want it during the session. It’s easy to change midi stuff whenever, but when you’re recording things acoustically (by other musicians) you want the final takes before they leave.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

I always work in arrangement view in Ableton, as I like to visually see the arrangement.

I start building my drum racks with sounds I want to use and get an 8 bar drum loop going. I may add chops of drum loop samples in at this stage to build a nice groove. I then tend to put my bass line in next. For the bass I mainly use old favourite plug ins like Diva, Trillion and even still dip in to sub boom bass now and then.

Once I have my beats, bass and melodies etc in, I select all tracks within the 8 bar loop and duplicate it over to about 64 bars. I then go back and start deleting tracks from the bar phrases to create an intro and then start to build my arrangement that way.

I’ve learnt to mix it all as I go by creating different groups of tracks and trying to compress and eq within them as much as I can, as well as mixing the individual tracks.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. How does your own way of working with sound look like? Do you find using presets lazy?

I start with presets most of the time but will always manipulate them into what I’m looking for.

It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole for hours tinkering with sounds, trying to get it as close to what’s in your head as possible. Most of the time it’s a fun process to get there.

What, to you, are the respective benefits of solo work and collaborations and do you often feel lonely in the studio? Can machines act as collaborators to you?

I’m working on both collaborative and solo projects at the moment. Collaborative with Renell Shaw for our 2fox stuff, and as Max Sinàl for my solo stuff.

When I was starting out I used to shy away from collabing for some reason. As time went on I realised how much there is to gain from it, especially when you both bring something different to the table. For example, with Renell, he is an incredible musician and songwriting where I’d say my forte is building beats, and arranging etc … We work really fluid together and respect each others creative direction. A healthy collaborative relationship makes the whole process a lot of fun.

I also really enjoy getting into a zone by myself and getting stuck into a tune. This is where I experiment more I guess.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

I think, as with most people, I do get a bit scared with the whole concept of AI. It’s got to be a matter of time before AI is producing good music on its own.

I think as long as producers are using these ai tools in their productions responsibly, it’s all good. If there comes a time when a producer isn’t actually producing, and literally just using AI to generate whole tracks, then we have a problem …

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

Hard one to answer. We’re at a time where technology is moving at such a pace, that I feel quite content with all the tools that are available right now.

You can pretty much do what you want to do, using the right bits of gear / software that are already available