Trash_Audio

What? Seriously? This is the epitome of the Workspace and Environment series. Enjoy!

Background
I was born in Berlin, then moved to London , and then moved back to Berlin two years ago. I find that I can develop my ideas best at the moment in Berlin. You can be isolated, and this is exactly what I want, because I am not very excited about the current music scene. I think bands take any straw they can get, mp3 culture has stopped musicians to care about the sound of their music and the music itself, people in the music industry fear for their jobs every day…this is a nightmare…and only because people don’t want to buy music anymore. Problem is that the quality of music in getting poorer every year. Art has to take risks, art as to afford innovation….if this can’t happen because the investments simply don’t come back enough, it’s a dying industry. In Berlin you don’t feel that as much as in London. This is why I work here at the moment. But Berlin is also such a dark city. It’s great for what I do.
I have been playing my first show with my punk band when I was age of twelve. We were right in that squatting scene back in Berlin-West. It was important, because everybody was very political and had radical ideas. a few years later I moved on and got into electronic music. released my first record when I was 18 on Force Music Works in Frankfurt. Shortly after I started Atari Teenage Riot.
My motivation to make music was really the fact that I could express my thoughts and feelings directly and without limits. Many other musicians feel they have to entertain the audience. I always wanted to perform in a more honest and truthful way. Punk tought me not to give a damn…this took of all the pressure in any situation which followed. You have to deal with the consequences at the same time though. During certain times not being popular and stuff…but I like that….

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
I got deep into modular synths. Despite the trend of going more digital the last years, a new scene has grown which is inventing analogue synths again. Analogue Solutions, Metasonix, Doepfer…. these systems have almost no limits. And they sound fantastic. It’s expensive in comparision to digital software, but the sound is so powerful, it’s worth it. You have to be into Math as well…if you have a lower iq , you should probably stick to a guitar. I don’t mean that in a negative way because music can be great in so many different ways. The Metasonix S-1000 is an all tube synth which has sounds that have never been heard before. Most people don’t know how to use it and therefore be scared to use it….I love it.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
Protools works for me as a recording device. On Ableton I synch certain digital files. But that’s about it. If you have the real stuff, any plug in doesn’t cut it. At the moment…this could still change in the future I hope.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
I could pretend that it doesn’t influence my work but it does. We have built a new studio in Berlin two years ago. It has 240 square meters. Two sound proof cabins. At the moment it is ideal. We used the colour white a lot. Actually you wouldn’t really find much colour in there. And what surprises visitors is that we have no paintings or posters or anything visual up on the walls. I really find this distracting. Somehow my mind would get off path. The great thing is that we can record whenever we want. To me this has proven to be one of the most important factors in delivering the best music. Especially in my music for films I have to stick to strict timelines, great ideas which can often determine a scene, save a performance of an actor even, have to happen. Therefore I don’t care recording at 7 o’clock in the morning or not sleep at all for two days. The result is most important! When I am that focussed even a very quiet noise which comes from a refridgerator or even a light bulb, influences you in some way. I am always aware of that.

Could you explain the history and motives behind Digital Hardcore Recordings?We started Digital Hardcore Recordings in early 1994. It felt so exciting to create this music because it was unheard of before…nobody did it. This was something that, for the first time probably, came out of Berlin and was never done anywhere else before. When I was DJing at the time no other records were achieving this excitement and rage in the crowd. It all started pretty simple when we sped up British breakbeat records and mixed them with speed metal and 70ties punkrock. It was something that everybody wanted. People wanted to see where their limits were…this was the most fun about it. to keep pushing and pushing it further. Many of the records we did in the early years featured digital sound effects that we came up with for the first time. Making these very short loops which can sound like your CD player starts trouble or a snare drum sound becomes a machine gun, just one example. Of course distortion and insane programming of beats and sounds was a priority for all musicians and DJs involved. This movement was met with hostility by all kinds of people. Punks reacted conservative, freaked out, ravers wanted to stop it, we even had people from a special police departement coming to our shows, because we used very radical slogans and militant images. It was very underground until UK radio legend John Peel started to play our records. Then it went pretty fast.The Beastie Boys distributed the records in the US, Japan went wild…it was unstoppable. Suddenly my band ATR reached gold status with the album “Burn Berlin Burn”.
To me this ended with 911, and of course a few days before our band member and friend Carl Crack died. He was found dead in his appartment in Berlin. A few months before Nic Endo and me started to put a band together with Charlie Clouser from Nine Inch Nails…real guitars on stage, 2 drummers…the full thing. In 2002 the Berlin scene was already almost over..that’s my opinion. UK acts like Aphex Twin, Prodigy and various others had delivered their more mainstream, softer versions of digital hardcore and reached a wider audience than the other acts on DHR…the media started to focus most on me and Atari Teenage Riot.

Are there any sonic consistency’s or limitations you try to maintain?
I love precision…I guess because I am German…there is a real method to the chaos (if I go for the wall of noise overload of information type sound I am known for.), otherwise it wouldn’t be fun. On the other side I like to go into new sonic territories all the time. I wrote many “songs” which have almost a pop structure to them. One of my signatures is the “punch” when a beat kicks in…building up to that. I hate flat music, wallpaper sound. I have also written a lot of music which is almost trance like, many people told me they meditate to that. There are people who can’t go back listening to other music after getting into mine…it seems to have a special atmosphere…once you get in there, other things become superficial.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining?
My first hardware was a Hohner HS-1 sampler with 2MB RAM…crazy but back then, you had to be creative and use it’s memory wisely because it would reach its limit fast. The last thing I bought was a Roland RS-202 which is an old string synth.

What is on your current wish list?
I think Lexicon builds great effect units. I am still using my 480L…would make sense to get the new one, even though a lot of people stick to the old models because they seem to have a better sound. It would be great to build a studio using the IOSONO System which is something like a new way of creating a surround sound. Read about it on our blog http://www.eyho-blog.com/?p=347 I heard it and it makes you feel like you are in another place. It will revolutionize sound.

What does your mobile studio setup consist of?
MAC laptop with Digidesign Hardware, Protools, Ableton and the most important thing is my mobile harddisk which has all my sounds on it. I would really try to create sound in the software – I am never happy with the results. And what I should mention as well is that I can be quite conservative as well. I use my iPhone and pen and paper when I record rough ideas. The phone works as a diary – I’ll export the audio, analyze the exact tempo and then recreate it. A lot of ideas only work in a certain tuning and tempo. You have to record this right away when you feel it. I am not so into the idea of recording an album on the beach…I have done these things over ten years ago…my album Low On Ice was done in a tent in Iceland. But nowadays when I go to the beach I’d rather play guitar or something…I like a concrete prison cell because then I am forced to imagine and be creative.

Do you have a particular setup for live performances?
This really varies from performance to performance. I use my MPC2000XL as a sequencer/sampler, add a selection of synths to that, but then most important, I use an old DAT machine for its digital analogue converters, they sound hard, they cut through on a big PA. I had long conversations with Nine Inch Nails years ago. The converters Tascam and Panasonic build in the 90ties had the most punch. We also use my Sherman Quad filterbank a lot. But we also run machines through guitar and bass amps.

Have your physical locations changed?
Many many times. I keep my studio set up flexible. It’s just a tool after all. When people become lazy and don’t change their set ups, very often they get stuck repeating themselves. And it’s sometimes not them, it’s just the laid out path that they fail to see. The studio has to adapt to me , not the other way round. I have gone from very small, more minimal set ups to crazy large warehouse spaces…there is no hierarchy…make it work for you…in the biggest, most expensive studios in the world flops are being recorded…this has nothing to do with it.

Have you ever heard your music being played at public places?
AE: Yes, often…on the radio, or in shops…a song from my band ATR “Kids are united” was even played in football stadiums in England. I have to admit, this is always a great feeling. to watch other people react to it, or not react at all, if they are shopping and of course the music is quiet, it becomes quite funny, you see they notice a change in atmosphere, but are not sure where it’s coming from….

Are you involved in any music/sound work outside of your own projects?
Yes, of course…I am classically trained… My music was often used in films and games. I have worked with Japanese actor/director Tadanobu Asano on a film a few months ago. Have completed a score for a film called “Days of Chaos”, and am working on another film called Phantomania right now. Often other artists ask me for permission to use my music in installations or fashion shows. My music makes people pay attention, it drags them into another emotional place. This is perfect for films and games.

Where can we find your work?
I release mostly under my own name Alec Empire, but have produced and written a lot for other artists. I have remixed Bjork, Einsturzende Neubauten, Korn, Rammstein, Mogwai, Guitar Wolf, Thurston Moore, Primal Scream and many others.
One of my bands is called Atari Teenage Riot. You can find my records in most stores which sell music and on all download portals. We also run our own store online with collectors editions. Certain music I do is only sold there via the internet. It’s called The Hellish Vortex Online Store. I have been involved in over 100 releases on various labels, major and indie. I have done soundtracks as well.

Links:
Alec Empire
Eat Your Heart Out Blog
Hellish Vortex
Alec Empire Myspace
Atari Teenage Riot Myspace
Standard gear porn: Joáo

Background
Started out about 10 years ago. A friend of mine installed Fruity Loops on my computer and it was all downhill from there. At that time I wanted to write EBM / Industrial music (which I still write). I always had music in my head that I really wanted to hear but could never find it so I set out trying to make it myself. In certain aspects I’ve succeeded, especially recently, but for the most part I still haven’t written the music I want to hear so I keep writing. I’ve got two projects, the main one that I’ve been doing since day one is called Distorted Memory which is my Dark Electro / EBM project The other project, which is probably more interesting to the readers of this blog is called CAKEBUILDER which is my more bizzare and experimental project. The place where I can use all the stuff that is too fucked up for clubby industrial music. Most of the stuff is Breakcore oriented, but some is more dubstep or even dark classical in style.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
Either my Virus C or Ti. If I want a certain sound but can’t get it on anything else I can usually make it on the Virus. Plus they look like something off the fucking death star, so you can’t go wrong there. I also have to give props the the Blofeld, that thing is great, it can make some extremely noisy and evolving sound fx, has a wicked arpegiator, and is actually fun to program despite being mostly menu based.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
For the most part I use the NI Komplete suite, especially Reaktor and Massive. I use quite a bit of VSTs in the studio some of my other favorites are Nexxus and X-Treme-FX. I’m planning on getting Omnisphere soon which to me is one of the most exciting VSTs I’ve ever seen.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
A LOT. For years my studio was confined to a bedroom or musty basement with no windows or airflow. I always found that to really take away from my work flow. One studio I had in a basement would actually cause me to get light headed and nauseous if I worked down there for too long…sometimes I would come up with some pretty interesting stuff under those conditions, but for the most part it sucked nuts. Now I have a nice studio that I gutted and redid in the master bedroom of our new house, lots of space, two big windows, plus lots of plugs, that really helps. I also find your surroundings in life play a big factor. I find I’m always the most creative when I spend lots of time around other musician friends or creative people in general, but when I go through phases where the career takes over and I don’t spend much time with friends my creativity really declines.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
Where I live, anywhere inside is ideal. Winnipeg is so fucking cold and miserable half the year. <

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining? The last?
Yamaha CS2X and a Roland MC-303 FTW!!!! Both were completely fucking useless, especially for a beginner. By the time I had figured out how to do anything cool with those two pieces of crap I had moved on to better machines. The last purchase of mine was actually my custom Mac Pro and Cinema display, probably one of my best purchases to date.

What is on your current wish list?
Modulars…..I’m selling off a bunch of stuff and am going to build a eurorack system, loaded with a few Livewire modules for good measure. I think I’ll probably get myself a Machinedrum at some point, but at this point I’m focusing on getting a modular system started, and realistically after I get it most funds will go towards new modules. Also like I mentioned before I’m pretty sure I HAVE to have Omnisphere…in order to live.

Do you have a setup for live performances?
It depends on which project I’m performing with. For Distorted Memory I run tracks off a Macbook running Cubase 4. I have my vocals running through my Virus C for tempo synced delays and EQ and a keyboardist playing one of my synths, which depends on where the show is. For local shows I’ll bring out something big like the V-Synth, but for out of town gigs it depends what the promoter can get me as I don’t like flying with keyboards. Usually I’ll ask for a JP-8000 since it does the trick, I know it well, and it’s pretty easy for the promoter to get a hold of locally. For CAKEBUILDER I’ve always just run tracks off CD decks and mixed live, sometimes I’ve brought circuit bent stuff into the mix that I’ve made but I always end up smashing it on stage and haven’t built anything recently. In the future I’ll probably move over to using the macbook live with a controller or two.

How many physical locations have you had your studio setup in over time and how have they changed?
If you count the first set up in my parents’ living room, then 5. Each time I’ve moved, the equipment has always improved, but the biggest change is the room itself. Went from parents’ living room to bedroom to mom’s basement to my own basement to a custom renovated master bedroom.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a random/public place?
I’ve gone to see movies at the indie theater and heard my music in the previews for other movies or film festivals. I’ve also heard my stuff on college radio and at our shitty goth bar quite a bit. But the coolest was randomly coming across a repeat of a 1/2 hour documentary the local news channel did about breakcore in Winnipeg and seeing me playing live.

Are you involved in any music/sound work outside of your own projects?
I do a lot of short film work. I’ve scored a few short films and am about to start my next one which will be the most complex and ambitious film project I’ve started yet.

Links:
Distorted Memory Myspace
CAKEBUILDER Myspace

I’m trying to get back on track with the Workspace and Environment interviews and I think as the season starts to change, people will be more inclined to stay inside and be forced to answer our questions. Unless if they’re around California then those guys will never get back to us! Luckily one of them did: Joseph Karam of The Locust. Enjoy!

Background
I’ve been hacking away on different musical objects since I was a kid and have always thrived on the different ways sound has affected me. When I would come across something new that bent my brain it would be subjected to my incessant scrutiny, listened to obsessively and broken down to it’s subtleties to the dismay of anyone within earshot of me. I try to take that scrutiny and put it to the task of exploring different themes and ways of writing songs or creating aural environments, always looking to tread on new musical territories. Most of what I’ve recorded and released in the last handful of years has been with The Locust. I’ve also played with Le Shok, T Cells, David Scott Stone, by myself and with various other Orders in and around the Los Angeles area. I was born in the Los Angeles area and currently live in Long Beach.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
The Moog Voyager and MOTM synth are a lethal combo and what I’ve used most lately. The Ibanez AD202 analog delay is up there as well (great feedback). My piano is probably my favorite and longest lasting musical friend.

What are some softwares you prefer?
I use Logic as a compositional tool and audio sketchpad. No real preference there, it was cheaper to get going than Pro Tools.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
What’s really important to me is to be able to have a space I can work in that’s free of distraction. I’ve had a bunch of different rehearsal spaces and studios and the only consistent thread among them has been that they’re cramped. In my home setup I find that having everything up, running and organized when I need it helps tremendously throughout my writing process.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
It depends on the project. I think the environment you’re in can influence how you write and record but I only ever think about it explicitly when it’s a project that is site specific.

When touring can you explain the difficulties of touring with a modular setup?
It can be a sensitive instrument and unforeseen damages are sometimes difficult to work around. I’ve arrived in Europe only to find pots damaged, screws loose and a TSA pamphlet letting me know who to thank. People always seem curious about whether the number of different variables to mull over is intimidating or not and it certainly can be when you’re working on the fly and in the middle of a set. Like most things, once you get to know your setup you learn to maneuver through it and identify problems that may arise with increasing dexterity.

Can you explain the benefits of touring with the modular?
It sounds great, has got a lot of power behind it and is incredibly flexible. I love hearing it through good sound systems and in strange rooms. Sometimes I’ll set up patches I’m working on just to see how they sound in a given space, or, when given the opportunity, I’ll throw something up just to see how much we can get the place to rattle. Using the modular on the road also keeps me on my toes, even when everything else has been locked down through repetition on tour.

Do you create patches nightly or do you have preset patches you remember?
I always work patches out before a tour. On some occasions I’ll change things up if I get tired of the flow or find that they’re not working in the set. When I have time for a decent sound check I like to try to tweak the patch to suit the room or sound system.

What are your favorite modules?
Current favorites: MOTM 410 (Triple Resonant Filter), Encore Electronics Frequency Shifter, Zeroscillator, MOTM 480 VCF, Blacet Time Machine… They all sound great and satisfy certain cravings I’ve recently had.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining?
There has always been a piano in my house and I’ve had various Casio keyboards when I was younger but the first synth I bought later in life was a Crumar Performer. It was initially used when I joined The Locust and was later put into service by Darryl in Le Shok, where it sustained many, many injuries before it was finally retired. My most recent addition to the MOTM is the 480 VCF.

What is on your current wish list?
Buchla 200e, Vox Jaguar….

Do you have a mobile studio setup?
Not really. I have a PreSonus Firepod I take with me when the occasion arises. I used to drag a Tascam 58 around with me. I still have back problems.

Do you have a setup for live performances?
In the last year or so I’ve traveled with the Voyager, a 1 or 2 row cabinet of MOTM modules and a rack case with odds and ends (CV Expander, AD202…).

How many workspaces have you had?
I’ve had a handful in the last 10 years from a Juno 60 and a four track in a trailer I lived in to various garages, rehearsal spaces and bedrooms I’ve occupied. Early on my home setup was mostly based around a few synths, an E-mu Drumulator and two different ½” 8 track machines I would alternate between. When I started building the modular my emphasis shifted more towards exploring its use and capabilities. My current setup has been the most functional, allowing me to keep a decent stock of equipment at my disposal. My focus in the last year has shifted to writing and I feel like my current space reflects that, but change is always looming and as my priorities shift my spaces tend to do the same.

Are you involved in any music/sound work outside of your own projects?
No, but I’m always open for a good gig.

Links:
The Locust Myspace
Le Shok Myspace

Greetings! I’ve been slow on the updating (not that I need to explain myself to you) because I’m moving and I’m assuming Justin isn’t because he’s elbow deep in post production. While we endure this light chaos, an artist came through with an interview. The Great Mundane responded ideally to our questionnaire. I’m sure you’re already playing the video rather than reading this so enjoy! All credits go to him. Readable interview: Here

Background
I was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan, in 1985. I promised myself in High School that I would move away when I graduated, so I did. I moved to Chicago in the fall of 2003 and I will be here until October 2008, then I’m driving across the country to spend some time in Seattle, Portland, and San Fran and figure out where I want to set up shop. My parents put me in piano lessons when I was about 5 years old, so since 1990. When I got into 6th grade I began playing bass and continued to do so until I was a sophomore in high school. High school was about the time that I started dabbling as a composer. The majority of the work was hip hop influenced until I moved to chicago. This is where I developed my sound as an electronic musician. That being said I’ve been composing as electronic musician for 5 years.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
I really have not had a lot of hardware encounters. I’m big on using whatever is at my disposal and making the best of it. I’ve had a crush on the Korg mono/poly for quite some time. I like anything warm and thick…ummm…yea.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
Reason… I love that program…I’ve spent hours and hours pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make that program put out a satisfying sound. It can really be a versatile tool if you use it’s flaws and kinks to your advantage. The limitations force me to find new ways to make the sound that I want which often results in sounds that I never expected. If I need to record or do any sound design, I’m usually rocken Pro-tools.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
Besides the technical aspects like the space’s size, shape and the space consuming objects, I think its really important to feel comfortable, have minimal distractions, and nice neighbors that let you rock whenever you get that urge or feel inspired. I’m very easily distracted so I also prefer to be alone while I’m working.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
I actually really like it here in Chicago. But I’m leaving in October to explore the country and maybe find out where else I would like to be. As long as the city has a scene and the space meets the requirements I listed above I think I can make it work.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining?
I hacked a hot pink Starring Me keyboard from Target. Shit’s hot. I just picked up a Monticello organ. I found in the basement of a Jewish Community Center, and now it’s sitting in my mom’s living room because I can’t bring it with me on the road.

What is on your current ‘wish list’?
I’m really looking into the Novation remote series. Mainly for its ease of use and reliability.

Do you have a mobile studio setup?
Yea my studio is pretty mobile..
G4 Power Book
Macbook Pro
M-box
M-audio Axiom 49
Korg pad Kontroller
Korg Kaos Mini
Hacked “Starring Me” Keyboard
Pioneer DJM-707 mixer
Behringer Truth Monitors…

Do you have a setup for live performances?
Everything listed above except for the monitors and the M-box. I can usually fit everything into about 3 bags, not including my fold up table.

How many physical locations have you had your studio setup in over time and how have they changed?
Holy shit… I’ve moved it 7-8 times. I’ve moved at least once a year since I’ve lived in Chicago not including switching rooms because of break ups and new roommates. I try to keep everything pretty much the same. The gear has evolved over time but I try to keep my furniture and everything placed the same so I can maintain some sort of consistency from apt to apt.

Are you involved in any extra curriculars?
I work for Big House Castings as an Audio Engineer until I hit the road. Basically I track edit and mix commercials for VO talent. I’ve done a bit of freelance compostion/sound design work for commercials and indie films.

Links:
myspace.com/thegreatmundane
The Great Mundane
Psymbolic

I found a random picture of our buddy Charlie Cooper of Telefon Tel Aviv from Josh Eustis’s Flickr. I haven’t seen this dude in a long ass while, so it’s nice to see him working on the new album fiddling away with that delay.

It’s been a long time since our last Workspace and Environment entry. Most of the artists we’re waiting for are on tour and enjoying summer but fear not, the grasp of fall and winter are coming and we’ll be overflowing with domesticated artists willing to share their workspace and answer our questions. Here is a modest interview from The Sight Below from Ghostly International, also be sure to check out the excellent free EP that was recently released.

How long have you been involved with making music and what keeps you motivated?
Over 12 years. My Bloody Valentine – Kevin Shields makes perfect music.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
Lexicon LXP-5 and LXP-1. I love the LXP-5′s 12-bit pitch shifting reverb. I also like this German-made Schmidt bow I recently purchased and an old Kay guitar somebody gave me for my birthday. I swear by the SPX-90′s reverse reverb.
What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?

I use Cubase for the most part. I like the Voxengo and URS plugins a lot. Lovely compressors and eq’s. URS makes a great SSL emulation channel strip!

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
I think the weather here in Seattle facilitates a distinctive emotional aura. The overcast skies have definitely influenced my creative output.

Could you describe your ideal location to be creative in?

Tromsø, Norway. I find the landscape and extreme climate very inspiring.

You can find The Sight Below from Ghostly International at:

- myspace
- Ghostly Artist Page
- No Place For Us (Free EP!)

I just watched the aftermath of someone getting stabbed in the face tonight. There’s been a lot of knife action in Chicago as of late…. Anyways! Justin and I are toying around with the idea of doing a bi-weekly streaming web show right here! I’m not sure what to expect or what we will even cover but I’m sure everyone’s mothers will come up. We’ll set a date/time later and see what happens but for now I got Marianne Williams from On Holiday to spill her guts.

Background
I was born into sweet Iowa then moved to awful Kansas when I was in 7th grade. I knew college was my chance to escape, and since my mom was a hippie who lived in LA during the late 60s and early 70s, I grew up hearing stories and seeing photos of California in those days. I really romanticized this city as a child and still do. I love it here, but the people get pretty intense. I find myself subletting my apartment out every once in a while to travel, explore and take a break from LA. We always had a piano in our house growing up. As a child I would sneak into the music room after my sisters piano practice to try to imitate the Chopin and Bach she would endlessly loop. I still can’t read music or play by ear, but I always felt elated by my simplified Romantic/Baroque improv approximations. When I was 15, I met an opera singer that adored my voice, and in the following 3 years he taught me all of the mezzo parts in great operas like Carmen, Aida, and Cavalleria Rusticana. I came to LA/USC to continue to study, but learning about jazz, rave and hip hop, conceptual art, performance art and film distracted me from classical training. Now, music is just a personal joy for me. The compulsion to write, play and record seems endless, and the emotional release that comes after completing some new song that has lots of ticking/tocking/interlocking layers is too strong and good to quit all together. Performing is an offshoot of writing and recording at home. When I spend 6 months or 2 years writing one song, eventually I need to play it for someone besides my bunny rabbit.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
I love my upright piano- the tone is incredible. It’s 600 pounds and 106 years old, and I found it in a basement in Inglewood. Also, my Ibanez Rock and Play drum machine which I found in Guangzhou, my dead grampas accordion, the autoharp which Tlr gave me for Christmas… I’m very sentimental about instruments and can not pick a “favorite”, how unfair! I used to love my Oberheim Matrix 6 because it transports you to a magical place of cheesy 80s horror films, but Qrixs broke a bunch
of the keys and it’s been dropped a lot, so now it’s starting to program its own not-good sounds. I’m pretty sure none of that is actually “hardware,” but ah, well.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
A friend just hooked me up with ProTools 7 and one of those fancy M-Audio firewire sound card things. That is probably pretty basic for most of you all, but it’s a huge step for me as I only had garageband before. I still don’t understand plugins. When I record, I get all of my sounds with mics or from instruments with line outs. I like to cut and edit on the computer though.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
My “studio” is in one of my living rooms. I can usually only focus on a song or practice for an hour at the most, because of all the other daily crap I have to do which is staring me in the face.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
A huge house with huge windows on a cliff outside of Rio, with a white baby grand piano on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The amazing studio and amazing chef would lure all of my amazing music friends there to live with me and record amazing albums together.

What is on your current ‘wish list’?
Rhodes, Moog Voyager, Whirly… a really warm tone keyboard. Analog echo and reverb boxes, a (working) portable turntable, and a whole collection of vintage mics, especially an old radio announcer mic. I never buy gear on ebay, it just feels wrong, so I have to wait until I discover it in some dusty thrift store or tiny music shop.

Do you have a setup for live performances?
My tiny size toy grand piano, the Rock N Play handheld drum machine, distortion pedal, toy mic, regular mic, microcube or other small amp, whatever keyboard I can borrow from one of my friends (if there’s not a piano at the venue), and the few toys I’ve wired with outputs. That’s the basic stuff, but each show is different. I love to collaborate with all kinds of people- noise artists, performance artists, puppets, and beat makers, and have happily never made the same show twice.

Are you involved in any other projects?
I’m singing in an amazing psychedelic/western band called Crooked Cowboy and the Freshwater Indians. I love it- the sound is so full and intense, and I sing these wordless rhythms and harmonies with a few other singers. Also, I am helping to coordinate the soundtrack for an indie feature film called Trilby. I don’t think I’m going to contribute to the soundtrack, just organize other musicians. For me, it’s nice and necessary to step out of the role of creator sometimes, and it’s easy for me to recognize talent and innovation in the people
around me.

On Holiday can be found here: myspace.com/holidaymusic

HELLO MONDAY, DIE! Er… Hey readers….. Emily J.K, Ryan and Steve from Pony Pants were kind enough to let me poke them with the questions. Enjoy!

How long have you been involved with making music?
We were all born in delaware and moved to Philadelphia in 2004 after two of us finished school and and all of were seeking change. We started playing together as Pony Pants in early 2005. Ryan and Steve (both who program beats & play guitars) are brothers and had been playing music together for most of their teenage/adult lives, but it was the long, cold winter that brought pony pants together. At the time, the three of us were living in a cheap bi-level apartment with a spare room that we used as a studio and music space. We hadn’t lived in Philly for too long and still weren’t really integrated in our neighborhood or scene. Lots of forced time indoor and general boredom found us in the studio room drinking copious beers, messing around, and eventually writing funny little songs together.

What is your current favorite piece of hardware?
Our favorite thing right now is our Akai MPC 2000XL. We used to use a Boss Dr. Rhythm Section to program and sequence the backing beats and synths for all of our songs. After quickly maxing out the DR’s potential (Ryan had owned it since high school), we began to covet an MPC and when we found a used one last year at a music store in Philly, we jumped right on it. The high quality sampling of the Akai was a revelation, and has really pushed and improved the way we write our beats. The warm, analog feel of the Akai is as vast improvement, too, and makes us horny.

What is your current favorite software or plugin?
No.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
Well now we live in a big house that has a huge space on the third floor that is our practice space and Steve’s bedroom and art studio space. While the room at first seemed impossibly massive, it gets more cramped every day as we progressively cram more and more gear into it. The space is cozy and comfortable and it’s in our house! So we can practice pretty much any time the mood strikes. (Except when Steve is napping). Our housemates are really nice about how loud we are, and our neighbors are, too.

Are you involved with any additional projects?
Steve’s been playing guitar sometimes with another project called Soltero myspace.com/soltero. That’s mostly it for now.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining?
Ryan says, “The Thor – my first drum set. It was candy apple red and dilapidated even before I got to it! The last thing I got was a Peavey JVM60, which is a badass all tube 60 watt head with 8 mod switches. Perfect for perching myself on my tone throne.” (snickers).
Steve says, “A Yamaha Cruise.” (everyone starts laughing). “And a Peavey Classic. Practice Amp. Hoopty. The last thing I got was a Boss RCXL120 Loopstation.”

What is on your current ‘wish list’?
More stacks.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a random place?
Yes! once at a vintage store in Richmond, VA. we were getting bagels next door and heard it piped in through the speakers outside.

You can find Pony Pants at: myspace.com/ponypants and badmasterrecords.com.

I just noticed that we breached the 100k visitor mark a while back and this blows my mind! Thanks for everyone that has dropped by, sent an e-mail or commented on our page. Sorry if I’ve been slow at replying to e-mails but I think I got them all this week! It really means a lot that I can say my agoraphobia and slight misanthropy teamed up to make something informative and interesting. With all the corny thanks out of the way I got one for the weekend here is Ignatius!

How long have you been involved with making music?
since 1995/6. that’s when i got my first synth and started making sounds and recording them or just saving patches figuring i’d use them later. what motivated me was just to hear new sounds. i had a good friend/housemate who was a DJ and was always bringing home records and another good friend who worked at a record store who has a completely insane record collection. so, there was always tons of stuff to listen to and explore and get stoked on. so, yeah.. i just wanted to make my own sounds and stuff that i heard in my head and just generally learn how to make electronic music. i always gravitated to the weirder darker stuff and wasn’t really getting my fill of that from going to clubs etc so that probably played a part in it too… plus it’s just fun. that’s what keeps me motivated. making new sounds and jamming and creating weird patterns being surprised by them when they all fit together into a track. plus it’s self expression and i need that.
i was born and raised in florida. i grew up in miami and lived there until i was 25 or so then moved to san diego to work in a recording studio and lived there for about 7 years. 3 or so years ago i came up to portland. i’ve had my studio in half a dozen places. usually half in the kitchen and half in the dining room. i only once had it in a spare bedroom until now of course where i’ve finished out a room with some acoustic panels and a bit of room isolation.

Where can we find your work?
ignatius is the name i’ve worked under the longest. tunes can be heard at these links:

http://www.virb.com/ignatius

http://www.myspace.com/sleepdepfun

http://www.buriedintime.com/

http://www.ignatiusmusic.com/

i do have a side project or two that revolve around live jamming then recording and editing. A friend, who goes by [SiK], and I have a weird acid x0x box type project that we work on from time to time called !!!Dica but we haven’t edited down the hours of material we have yet. We did take a bunch of left over bits and make sample packs that we sent out to friends who in turn made tracks in many styles. The outcome of that is called “Acid Offspring” and is the 4th release on the label i run called Buried In Time

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
I’ve been pretty hooked on the elektron monomachine for a couple years now. it integrates with other hardware really well and is just so easy to get around and fun to jam with. once you spend some time with it you can get some great sounds out of it. i’m really getting into the MPC 1000 w/JJOS2 lately though. i’ve never had an mpc so it’s a nice change from other ways of working. it’s easy to get around on but has some nice features for processing/shaping and getting expressive results. plus it’s small and stable and gets me away from the computer more. it’s hard to say what a favorite piece of hardware is. usually it’s whatever is in front of me but i do gravitate towards the elektrons + the modcan and the waldorf microwave XT though the evolver is always surprising and perhaps the best bang for the buck in a synth ever.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
Audiomulch is what i’ve used most in the past 7-8 years. it just makes sense to me and i love having a non-notebased sequencer to work with. it’s great for so many things but i use it mostly for composing entire songs and getting crazy w/the automation of snapshots of the various contraptions and VST’s then record all of that and put the files in logic for mixing. I use Live some too for editing since audio editing in logic can be cumbersome some times.
i use the logic plugs often. i like sculpture and the ES2 though all the plugs are useful and can sound good in the right context. the ringshifter is great. I use kontakt in logic as well. it’s great to stuff it with samples from the hardware and then use all the sound shaping/filtering/modulation etc that kontakt offers. NI stuff is generally really good for that kind of thing. i like weird delays and filters. the PSP stuff is great. I like nitro a lot. Also, uh-e filterscape is really awesome and does some great things to drums and is great for adding movement to anything really. the audiodamage stuff and smart electronix stuff is really cool too. I love the soundtoys plug ins. there’s not much like those out there. They just sound ‘natural, warm. analog’ and can so some great rhythmic delay things and the filters/pitchshifting is awesome. the URS eq’s are really nice. i like the classic EQ bundle with the A and N series eq’s.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
i like a nice secluded dark place so i can forget about what’s going on outside my little space. if i’m distracted i just can’t get things done. but i guess if i had a big quiet room w/windows looking out into a forest or lake or something i might like that too.. so far i haven’t been in that situation. I think i might like making music on the bottom of the ocean as well.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
well, i think i’m pretty much there though some times i’d like to be an hour or so away from a small city. in the woods or on a mountain or something. some place where i can walk out the door and not see another house or person and wander the woods for inspiration or something. be some kind of nerdy monk.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining? The last?
i bought a yamaha cs1-x in 1995/6. since then any kind of synth that has a matrix editor interface has been a cakewalk. the last piece of hardware was the MPC-1000

What is on your current ‘wish list’?
hmmm. there’s always a module or two for the modcan that i’d like. i have been waiting for my cyndustries quad low pass gates for over 2 years so i guess that’s what is high on my wish list. but if i was dreaming i’d say a 20 channel tonelux rig with 8 eq’s and 4 compressors and a small 500 series lunchbox to go along with it. but really i’m happy with what i have and i’m not lacking for any sound shaping tools…though a chandler germanium compressor would be nice. that and audiomulch 2.0 :)

Do you have a mobile studio setup?
it depends. if i’m going to see some family then i bring something. either a laptop or an elektron but if it’s a trip not conducive to bringing gear then i grab the yamaha qy-10 just to noodle on. usually i just read when traveling unless i have some kind of deadline or am on some kind of creative roll.

Do you have a setup for live performances?
for a while it was just a laptop running audiomulch with a patch that i had tweaked for a while. I would just press play then improvise. After a while though i kept improvising the same type of thing and
i got really bored. I played an ambient set a while back with the laptop + audiomulch and the monomachine. that was nice. Lately i’ve just been jamming with friends w/the elektrons and some roland x0x stuff. I’m working on a new audiomulch patch and i finally bought a controller so i’ll design the patch around the controller and maybe plug the monomachine into the set up some how and see how spontaneous i can get. improvisation is the fun part for me but it’s nice to have some safety nets.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a random/public place?
i have some friends who are DJ’s who have play some of my tracks from time to time. that’s always cool to hear. Also, at decibel festival in seattle a few years ago they played the entire first release from Buried In Time outside of the auditorium where they do the ambient showcases. that was cool since i had just handed out a bunch of them the day before.

Are you involved in any sound work outside of your own projects?
I track vocals for friends now and then and it’s nice to work in that capacity where i’m just trying to capture someone’s performance. When i lived in san diego i did some sound design here and there but nothing high profile. It was enjoyable when that work would come along because it broke up the usual things i was doing like working long hours on other people’s music as an engineer/assistant engineer or studio manager or just being the guy who ran things in the studio.. I used to do a bit dialogue editing as well. I’m not motivated to go seek out that kind of work anymore as i don’t care for the pressure or tedium and would rather make my own tunes for their own sake. Not that i haven’t considered writing a bunch of 30/60 second jingles in a certain style and try to license them and I’d love to score some goofy indie sci fi or horror film. that’d be fun. Being in a commercial studio can be great as well.. about 50% of the time anyway. there are always compromises.

Big day here! If you have been stalking us, you would already know I’ve uploaded two Surachai albums which can be found: Here. They’ll be permanently available through my profile page to the right. With all that crap out of the way, I present you with Mike Teknoist!

Background
I was born in Manchester but grew up in North Wales and moved to Bristol. I’m looking for somewhere new to live though. As I said, I get itchy feet. I blame ADHD haha. I’ve been playing records in clubs since I was 15 years old, it was a natural progression I guess. I started messing around with Amigas and Ataris and trackers etc but then sort of just went back into playing records solely, turntablism and stuff. I wanted to master those kinds of skills 1st. Then I started playing around with Cubase on the PC and haven’t stopped. The amount of ideas that I was having I guess was motivation enough at the time, constantly sampling noises, speech etc from all over the place. And the fact that there wasn’t enough of the type of sound I wanted to hear around. There’d be the odd track that blew me away and I could never really understand why there wasn’t more along that vein so the obvious choice was to make it myself. Staying motivated isn’t that hard, it’s kind of 2nd nature to just get up and write music 1st thing in the morning. My whole day revolves around that, that and watching movies or reading. Its not really a choice, more an instinct kind of thing (like a zombies hunger for brains). I cant imagine not doing it so I rarely have to find motivation because its all I want to do. You can find my *ahem* work on my own label ‘Ninja Columbo’ for a start and then on a lot of other electronic music labels such as Planet Mu, Deathchant, Rebel Scum, Cock Rock Disco and soon Ad Noiseam, Deathsucker… I could go on with upcoming stuff but I wont. You can get a taster on my myspace obviously, myspace.com/ninjacolumbo

What is your current favorite piece of hardware?
Hahaha… heres my kit list at the moment: a laptop, a pair of Sennheiser HD25 headphones… not even a midi controller atm.
So I guess its my laptop, it was custom built 3 years ago and its like my brother. 17.5inch screen, 3.4 Pentium 4 processor, 2 gig of ram. It’s a tank, although the screen needs replacing as an inch or so on the right hand side is now broken because I dropped it. Finding time to send it away when I’m touring etc is hard so I’ve been working with it broke for a while.
My girlfriend blew my monitors getting far too carried away listening to music so the headphones have been a saviour. I seem to do alright.

What is your current favorite software or plugin?
I’m using the Ixl spectrum Analyzer a lot on my master out for visually checking my eq but effect wise I use PSP Nitro a heap and the GRM tools bunch. The SSL compressor also.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
I’m actually a vagrant at the moment and kind of have been for a while, I can’t settle anywhere it seems but I’m looking for a new place. I’m staying in a friends spare room but the surroundings are gorgeous. No neighbours, just fields and farms so that’s really relaxing and it’s a joy to wake up there. I go for a run around 7am and do some stretches while watching a variety of US sitcoms like Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond haha :s … then make some tea and fire up my laptop. I have adhd so I’ve got to do quite a few things at once and constantly get up and mess with something else, start watching a film then turn it off 20mins in then back to work on a different track, then wash the dishes, then the film again etc haha.. When I have settled for a while in a place I found it so nice and productive to get up and have that set work area that everything is just waiting for you to switch on. Then again I’ve written some of my best tracks while on the move in other countries so im kinda on the fence on whats the best. Although I think my not having a proper base time is finally up. I long for my own studio space now though so il get back to you when Im settled with some new kit etc and tell you how im doing, what films im half watching etc ;)

What was the first and last piece of hardware you remember obtaining?
My Atari ST and a really dodgy midi controller was the 1st. The last were a pair of Event tr8 monitors

What is on your current ‘wish list’
I’ve got a list of essential things that I intend to buy over the summer in time to hibernate in Winter 08 but no specific models really as yet. A couple of pairs of different kinds of monitors, an analogue desk and a new midi controller..

How many physical locations have you had your studio setup?
Jeez! Umm.. A LOT. Iv had 2 decent set ups in different locations. One in Manchester and one in Bristol. They were pretty much the same as each other, big desk, laptop and pc, midi controller and some decent monitors, turntables, dj mixer etc. But mostly iv just lived like iv been touring because I guess Iv just never really stopped properly so its juts been my laptop and headphones.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a random/public place?
I was on a tram in Manchester once and heard a guy in front of me listening to an old rave tape of mine with an mc shouting my name on it.. that and the same happened in Wales when someone drove past in their car.