1. You just played at the No.19
showcase at Panorama Bar (21/10/12), how did that go? Panorama Bar was a wild club to play at. I actually didn't get to hang
out as long as I would have liked as my flight back home was a few hours after
I finished playing. Great crowd, great sound, I think I only saw half of the
club though. Life of a traveling man I guess.
2. How would you describe your
sound? (points for creativity) My sound is engineered around my roots. Rock, punk, 80's, old hip hop
melodies, jungle vibes, warm, sexy, mature, classy, familiar, original, clean,
with some battles between light and dark elements. I often imprint my music
with good intensions behind dark sound. I like to call it Digital
Organics. When Zoe steps in there is much more soul because thats what she
likes the most.
3. What motivates you
creatively? I've been self motivated since I can remember to make music naturally.
It's not wanting recognition and fame or money that drives me thats for sure. I
always spent hours and hours by myself experimenting with anything I could get
my hands on. It was a delay pedal and a four track recorder that turned out to
be my gateway to making tech house and some really weird stuff I don't even
know what to call it. I get inspired from places I can't control. Everything in
life.
4. So are you looking forward to
coming back to London after your performance at Fabric in September? Fabric blew my mind. That I would have to say at this point is my
favorite club. They really take care of everyone and have put a lot of thought
into what is going to make the club stand out as one of the best in the world
while maintaining a classy clean feel but not too clean.
5. You’ve had a great year in
terms of international recognition, what has been your single personal
highlight of 2012 so far? Personal High lights are No.19 Showcase for BPM at Canibal Royal,
Montreal's Picnic Electronic with 10,000 people, Fabric, and the release of
Goodbye Horses with the music video. My life is changed forever for each of
these events. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity and I owe it all to
Jonny White, Nitin, No.19, and Rebels Agency and of coarse all the fans.
6. [For Derrick] There are clear
stylistic differences between Tone of Arc and your last project Dead Seal, what
inspired the change in direction? Really there never was a change of direction rather I just got better
and better and more focused on what I was doing instead of letting my gifts run
me I put a filter on everything now to make the most out of my time and love
for making music. I have so many different styles I could go under several
different alias's but I think I have found the one that I can grow into as a
live band collaboration. Soon I will be picking out band mates.
7. Throughout all your musical
projects you’ve always had a very diverse & unique sound. Who were
your music influences growing up and which contemporary artists inspire you? Frank Zappa, Bowie, Clash, Joy devision, Talking Heads, B52's, Odis
Redding, Operation Ivy, Tribe Called Quest, Tones on Tails, Dead Can Dance,
Steve Millers Band, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac, Portishead, Radio Head,
Caribou, Emperor Machine, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, Who Made Who, and Q
Lazarus but this list goes for days. You can hear something from everyone of
these artists and bands in my music.
8. A “Live” performance can vary
hugely from one artist to the next, what is your live setup like and what
should people expect from your performance at You Are We? For this show it will be just me but Zoe my wife sings when she can as
often as she can but Im on the road alone most of the time. Ill be singing on a
lot of the songs and playing bass. I would play more instruments but funds are
limited to get what I need to reach my full potential. Don't get me wrong the
set is really great as it is a lifetimes work and evolution but I can do way
better and play more instruments. I need more hands.
9. So what’s your view on the
House scene at the moment? You were quite outspoken recently
about the overkill of pitched down vocals, do you think there’s a lack
of creativity (or general oversaturation) within the scene? (or had you
just listened to one too many samey demo’s that day?) There is always someone trying to get to the top. In fact way to many
people are infatuated by this idea of what that is. Its not all milk and
cookies. I'm getting a lot of promo's from people and I love that part.
Sometimes I get really cool stuff but It seems that a lot of artists are stuck
on repeat all doing the same thing. If it's been done so many times it needs to
have a breather before it's used again. Thats how great things get used and
abused and become not so great like that Gotye Song. When I here a pitched down
vocal of some sample that every artists can get from on a web sight I just
cringe. Use a real vocalist. Go find a friend that sings. Slow down on using
that same bow bow bass. Dixon said it best recently "just because you made
a song doesn't mean you need to release it". I have made over hundreds of
songs. You can only find a hand full. To be creative you need to step outside
the box. Go deep into the rabbit hole. Confuse and challenge yourself. If you
don't know how to do it. Teach yourself and take the time and energy to do it
right. My dad said to me when I was very little he's said, "son if your
not going to do it right don't do it at all". All or nothing is my modo.
Be eccentric in your self and unsafe. It's not easy to be different though with
7 billion of us running a muck.
10. Do you have a specific set
of rules you follow when producing? I remember you saying in the Independent
interview “No thought in the process and all improv… No samples, no
excuses” I sit down with a margarita. It settles me into the space that makes me
feel like I'm at the party with my best friends. I light my creativity incense
from shaman in SF. From there I say to myself Ill go either slow, medium or
fast today and pick my bpm. Then I choose my sounds one at a time and play them
live as much as possible. If I need a loop I make one from scratch most of the
time. Like drums and shakers everything. I don't like thinking Im using
something that any one else can use too and I never use the presets. I then go
into a time warp where I can spend sometimes ups to 16 hours making a song
thinking that its still noon. I stop only when the song forces me to rejoice
and I begin to aggressively dance in my studio. I often think if anyone saw me
they would laugh there ass off but Im so happy I don't care. Thats when you
know you are on to something.
11. What do you think the role
of the DJ is currently? A major DJ recently wrote how one fan critiqued her set
as boring because there was “no crowd interaction”. What do you think people
should expect from a DJ? Dj's can do what ever they want. There are millions of them and the
numbers are constantly growing. There are ones who play what they like and
people love it and then there are ones who play what is trendy to market them
selves and make money and there are ones who genuinely care about the people
and feel out t he crowd. This is a chance to help people reach their full
potential. Inspire them. Move them. Tell them a story. A squirrel saw a bat
flying through the woods and said "I want to do that." of coarse he
couldn't up and grow wings and be just like the bat so he did it his way. He
stretched his skin, lengthened his reach and took the leap of faith. At that
moment he became the flying squirrel and stood out amongst his kind with a gift
all things wish they could do. Fly.
12. Other than your scheduled album release with No.19, have you got any other projects you can tell us about? I'm always working on something. And every time I release something great I will be challenged to do better. I may fail but I have to try. It's my design. It's why I am here. My purpose is to be a humanitarian and this is my way to be that. When I get old Ill go back to painting on canvas. Im actually better at that than making music.
Check out the Good Bye Horses, Latest release here.
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