any chance of repressing the 'southey woods' ep with a decent, loud pressing?
I'm looking into it, but in all honesty it's looking unlikely
How much input did 5hq have into the release you had, as the tunes you used to blast out of the back of that white manta were much different?
This is true, Basically a few reasons, the main being the difference between an Amiga and a pro studio, Formation's engineer, Mark Yorath (EQ) helped to get things sounding right too, I will upload the originals at some point in the near future for everyone to hear. Good to know you were one of the Southey Woods Crew though, big-up!
What are your feelings about the scene in general?
Quite a bit really, I'm glad I found the Hardcore Breaks scene - all thanks to a legendary set from the Nee! However, I wish I had found it sooner, I have tunes from around 2000 that I wrote in the oldskool style, the only scene I knew of that was close at the time was Nuskool Breaks, and they were all complaining it was too fast for the scene and too oldskool sounding!
Do you consider yourself a software or hardware producer, and what is your favourite vst/item of equipment?
Both, I stared using a tracker on the Commodore 64 with it's internal SID chip, but that wasn't compatible with all the analogue hardware back in '89, even the sequencer was hardware. I got my first Amiga in late '89, and went back to using a tracker, then onto the Atari ST & Cubase, moved on to PC, and as soon as I could afford it, over to Mac & Logic.
As for the item of equipment / VST, I would say the Nord G2 modular, a software driven modular synth with more power than a room full of presidents!
Brown or Yellow?
Yellow
What are your future goals musically?
Realistically, Get the label off the ground as soon as I have the finances (everything has been held back bigtime in 2007, 2008 will see the way forward) a bit of merchandising, maybe clothing, etc.
Are you aiming to take your style in a certain direction?
I think the scene depicts the style really, I'm feeling the darkside tunes at the moment, real filthy business! But that's not to say I won't write another happy tune, just whatever I'm feeling, and I always like to add my own little twist.
What producers do you rate?
This is a tough one, if I were to go back, I'd say Kraftwerk, Arthur Baker, etc, but with the current scene, I'm really feeling Richie K, Ben Venom, RenegadeGenius, Darkus, Deluxe, Nee, this list is endless really, I rate everyone on the scene to be honest.
Who inspires you? Past and present.
It's not so much who, it's the whole musical era of the time that inspires me. I started writing electro back in the '80s, then moved on to experimental techno/ breakbeat by the late 80s / early 90s
Top 5 electronic tunes of all time.
Kraftwerk - The Model
Human League - Being Boiled
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
Hashim - Al Nafiyysh (The Soul)
Cybotron - Clear
Top 5 non electronic tunes of all time.
Blimey, I love my Jazz, Funk and even some classical!
Can I come back to this one? lol
Favourite label for constant quality of all time.
I would say Tommy Boy, but I only liked the stuff they were pushing out between 1982 - 1990, since 1990, I'd say XL Recordings.
What artist from the current hardcore breaks scene would you most like to work with and why?
Possibly Darkus, I think the reason being is that he doesn't let on too much about his production techniques, plus there's a good chance of getting a release on one of my favourite HCB labels
Which artist from the old days would you most have liked to have worked with and why
At the time I always wanted to work with Slipmatt, loved his sets up until around 1994/5. That wouldn't be my current choice though.
Will you be sending DJ SS a Christmas card this year?
Oh shit, I missed it! Maybe next year...
where are those off key organ sounds from in your tune? sounds wicked!!
If it's the tune I'm thinking of, it's possibly a sample?
What do you see as the main differences between producing now and back in the day? (I'm interested in geeky details here
)
The kit. When I first started, analogue gear was all going dirt cheap, because everyone was switching over to digital, which is why you hear it on so many records. The things I don't miss now are the crackly cables & the interface - nearly everything back then was either a different control voltage, or DCB, and Sync interfaces (which looks identical to a MIDI socket) - you could use some MIDI cables but not others, as MIDI only uses 3 pins, whereas Sync uses all 5. And if you wanted a sampler it cost a fortune, talking thousands for a decent one, back then it was a lot of money, which is why people used Amigas.
It's all so much easier now, plus you have what was once expensive gear at the tip of your fingertips.
How did you get signed to Formation and what was it like being involved with a big label back then?
I already knew SS (Leroy), as I was a customer in his shop 5HQ since around 1990/1, which at the time was in a poky little arcade in Leicester, We sent off demos to Moving Shadow, XL & Formation, we heard straight back from Formation, he was surprised to see me when we walked into the shop, as he only ever knew me by face, and we sent the tapes through the post. The shop had just moved location to larger premises at the time and the label wasn't that big then, they were only a few releases in when we sent the demos off. The studio was originally in a residential flat, which was later upgraded and moved into the upstairs of the shop. Being a part of the scene I was so passionate about was more important to me than anything else.