Name: Samuel Kerridge
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Current release: Samuel Kerridge's 2022 full-length Kick to Kill is available from Contort.
Gear Recommendations: Red Panda Particle; Grendel Drone Commander

If this Samuel Kerridge interview piqued your interest, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.
 


The views of society towards technology are subject to constant change. How would you describe yours?

In one breath I’m fascinated, but the next breath, disappointed. There are some amazing, useful advances that can help attain your ideas, and I’m fully open to discovering it all, but like most things, it gets exploited and pillaged.

I believe music, like a lot of art, is bonded to human existence, to outsource that creativity marks an end to the world. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
 
What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist/producer?

My first steps stemmed from an impulse and need to satisfy my inner muse. I was yearning for a sound to resonate but was finding it hard to attain via other music.

Everything since has been self taught and explored on a natural trajectory. There’s a clear story and evolution since my first record on Horizontal Ground in 2012. Each record sparks influences for the next and those gains are made with time and experience.



You can certainly train and learn to be a producer, but to be a true artist, I firmly believe it's something you're born with, along with some mental health issues.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and then becomes increasingly professionalised. How important is playfulness for you today and if it is important, how do, concretely, you retain it?  

Still to this day I approach all of my music in the same playful way. I have to be true to myself because I’m the guy staring straight back in the mirror.

Fame/money/public validation doesn’t drive me on. If it did I would’ve changed my music years ago! Any changes in my sound over the years have been a natural evolutionary process.

The only way I can retain that is to be honest with myself. I am content in what I do, the rest is just noise.

Which other producers were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

A lot of the early Skull Disco records were influential for me, along with Regis and Throbbing Gristle. They all gave me a certain level of confidence to keep the faith in my own art and direction.



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?

The early records were all made with software and plugins. It suited my bank balance at the time, and I had a hookup at Native Instruments which helped.

Over the years I've bought and sold a lot of hardware. A few stupid mistakes, blindly buying gear. I would like to say I've learnt from my mistakes, but that would be a complete lie. I’m definitely a hands-on artist so I'm inclined to have a piece of equipment in front of me. I have a Folktek Therasynth that plays into that ethos.

I’ve never read a manual in my life, so there's specific relationships I have with some pieces. The OB6 is something I've been really impressed with over the last few years, along with the Tempest.
 


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

I’m always trying to source plug-ins that are creative in their manipulation of sound. There's some great advancements in Granulators and Grain Delays that I'm making use of. It's so easy to overload with that process, but recently there's been some great leaps forward allowing much greater control over the finer details.

I had the Tasty Chips GR1 for a while, which is a fun unit. I even had it in my live setup, but I never got the best out of it. Anything that has the ability to take source material and offer you a completely different direction in sound gets me excited, opening up multiple avenues of inspiration.
 
Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

When the possibilities seem endless in a production sense, it's baffling why some favour such a basic and out-dated musical experience.

I’m always yearning to be challenged. I don’t want to hear anything safe, I want to hear the future, not regurgitated “classics”.

The only limitations in my process are the confines of my imagination and ability.
 
From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

My workflow has always been quite slow. I prefer to sit on things and let them fester and mutate over weeks. They slowly start to form and take shape into something more clear and defined, finally becoming full coherent pieces of work. I’ve never worked that well in short bursts, it's always filled with regret.

That being said, I had the opportunity to do a Live stream on HOR earlier this summer. I decided to create something completely new and put it together in the space of two weeks. It's raw, and by no means a finished article, but it has its space in my timeline and definitely paints a picture of where the next phase is heading.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to gear and production?

Coming from a DIY perspective in my approach to production, I'm sure I do bastardise my equipment and process. But that all adds into having my own sound. It's those individual touches that set us apart.

I genuinely believe most types of education and rules around music production restrict your process, you can get bogged down by too many limitations.

I’m always looking for inventive ways in the signal chain, whether it's right or wrong. Those happy accidents are when shit starts getting real.
 
In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. Do you feel these terms have a relationship to your own work of and approach towards sound? Do you find using presets lazy?

Presets can be a useful starting point on drum machines and synthesisers. As long as you’re exploring that preset to its fullest potential I don’t see too many issues with it. If you’re making full tracks laden with presets you’re a fucking idiot.

I really enjoy working with the Tempest in this regard. Starting from scratch to build drums/synths, it makes you work, but it's worth the agony. This is where the sculpting and design work really come into play.
 
Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. Which of these have proven particularly fruitful in this regard?

None of my equipment really offers me full ideas, all of them make me work and use my imagination. Certain sounds or tonal changes may influence me to explore a certain avenue, but I always feel like I've had to work hard to achieve something.

Nothing like an honest day's labour.
 
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?

Just reading this question fills me with fear. My question would be why do you need help with the creative process? To outsource that part of it defeats the object of creating music and the artist behind it. If the AI is doing the work, I'm not sure what my/your purpose is?

It comes down to personal choice and why you are creating music. Though I guess it will free up some time to concentrate on spotify plays and instagram likes. The important stuff.
 
Technology has continually taken on more steps of the compositional process and "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin?

Both go hand in hand, without one the other doesn’t exist within this framework.

We spoke about limitations earlier, there fine lines between technology and creativity and how much of the compositional process it is involved in. It doesn’t sit right with me that crucial parts of creativity are being outsourced. In that instance the human touch ceases to exist, where does it stop?

The starting point of all is human creativity, the technology empowers that. I’m not anti-technology, I just firmly believe there’s parts of the process that should not be replaced.
 
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?  

I want to see more hardware based real time Granular effects units coming to market. The technology is here!

Also, AKAI, I'd greatly appreciate your samplers being able to handle third party plug-ins. That would be a gamechanger! Give the people what they want! Get to work!