Page 64 - Zone Magazine Issue 030 - Lexicon Avenue

Can you talk us through your studio setup?
I have a Moog Sub 37, which is an amazing piece of kit. I can spend countless hours just experimenting with it. I run it through a TC Flashback delay pedal and a Boss RV-6. I use an MPC Live sampler. I've actually never used any of the library sounds or effects on the MPC, which I've no use for. For me it's about the versatility of the sampler itself and the workflow you get from the user interface, which are great. I have a Xone 43 4+1 channel analogue mixer. The newer version of that mixer – the 43C – has a built-in sound card but the filters are not analogue. I asked Sounds Around on Caple Street to order me in the older Xone 43 model with the analogue filters and he got me one. I have a Korg Volca Beats drum machine, which is cheap as chips but has a belter of an analogue kick on it and some lovely analogue hi hats on it too. I also have a Motu 4-pre audio interface and pre-amp, which I've had for about a decade. It's also worth mentioning that I have some acoustic percussive instruments which I record using a condensor mic. I have a small collection of woods and shakers, as well as a fairly large deer hide shaman drum.
What is your work flow when writing a
track, do you have a set structure?
There're are two formats to writing a track for me. One involves developing a beat and creating multiple phases of it before adding everything else to that afterwards. I tend to develop beats by adding a lot of oneshots, so it's possible to creat quite a lot of complexity before deciding that it's done. That's a very easy way to write a track which tends to have a higher success rate. The other way of writing is to keep churning different audio content through multiple projects and seeing what synergises. That's a very labour-intensive way of doing things but is way more dynamic. I tend to have about ten or more ableton and MPC projects at a time which are really just to experiment with different chunks of audio that I have bouncing around at any given time. Sometimes sample A will meet sample B and it will be mediocre. Sample C will meet sample D and it will be OK. But suddenly sample A meets sample D and sample B meets sample C and all hell breaks loose. Those kinds of outcomes are by far the best.
What have you got coming up on the
horizon?
A friend of mine called Cian McKenna has shot a video for one of my tracks which is currently in the process of being edited. He shot some footage of my wife Hinata dancing. She's a balerina and what I've seen of the footage so far is really exciting. That should be along soon so keep your eyes peeled.
I'm also in the process of working on a collaboration with an Irish artist that is currently based over in Liverpool. I can't say too much about that just yet but it is shaping up nicely and I'm very excited about it. Again, keep your eyes peeled.
What was the inspiration for the album?
The album is all about voice and sound. I wanted to make something that had a distinctive sound, with everything else being of secondary importance really. It is effectively devoid of any substantive themes whatsoever. Even the vocals that are on there are so chopped up they end up just being jibberish. The listener is left with the sounds to contemplate and almost nothing else. There is a great photo on the front of the LP, which a mate of mine called Olin Brannigan shot. He took the photo through a window, which obscured the subjects in a really surreal way. That photo is probably the only coherent
image or topic you get throughout the whole LP. I like the idea of someone listening to it and staring at that photo.
Any standout tracks for you?
My favourites are Indigo, Maasai and The Devil's in the Gin. Other people seem naturally drawn to Silent Times, which is definitely also a favourite.
Why an album?
It's pretty illogical to drop a full album when you're a new artist. Most people will tell you to put out some singles and an EP first, to get your name out there before releasing an album. In the times we live in most people's attention span is very short, which is understandable. So asking people to listen to a full album from someone they never heard of is a tall order. The reason I decided to put out a full album anyways was because I'm sitting on too much material. I've produced at least two more albums as things stand. Why would I have held back? I need to clear my out tray ... get as much of the stuff out as I can.
What are your thoughts on the current state of
the dance music scene?
I think things are pretty dynamic at the moment. If you look at the Irish and European clubbing and festival circuits you can see that people are very open minded and continue to look for something new.
What is your live setup?
Moog Sub 37, MPC Live, Xone 43 mixer, TC Flashback delay, Boss RV-6. I don't use a DAW/laptop live.
How was your recent show in Dublin?
The album launch was ran in conjunction with Optic Music at Hen’s Teeth in the Blackpitts on February 7th. It was fantastic to have it at such a unique venue and to collaborate with Cian and Noel on it. They’re a great crew down there and it’s obvious they’re in it for all the right reasons. I projected some video content during the gig that I’ve developed, which was the first time I tried that.
Any artists that are really doing it for you at the moment?
As far as electronica is concerned, I would say the likes of Dauwd, Farben, Floating Points, Efdemin and Against All Logic. I thought the new Weval that came out last year was really special. Beyond electronica, I’m actually on a bit of a hip- hop binge at the moment. Hip-hop is constantly evolving in new directions, which is really interesting to observe as an electronica producer. I think there’s a lot to be learned from paying attention to developments in other genres and trying some of the same tricks.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m keen to continue putting out material and want to keep performing live. I’m in a pretty productive mode right now as far as writing music is concerned, so expect lots of new music.
The debut album from Art of Algebra is out now.
https://artofalgebra.bandcamp.com/album/art-of-algebra
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