Category: Interviews (Page 32 of 112)

PISTON DAMP Interview

31 May 2021 /


Jonas Groth and Truls Sønsterud are PISTON DAMP and the Norwegian duo are hoping to be ‘Making The World Great Again’ with their soon-to be released debut album.

Groth has been making music mostly with his old brother Stephan and his band APOPTYGMA BERZERK and on their most recent EP release ‘Nein Danke’, contributed lead vocals to the electronic ballad ‘Nearest’. Meanwhile the classically trained Sønsterud is known for remixes under the TRÖLL moniker.

The first PISTON DAMP single ‘Something In Me’ was a classic synthpop statement while the other 12 tracks on ‘Making The World Great Again’ vary from interlude soundscapes to EBM while dropping in hints of DEPECHE MODE, A-HA and THE BEATLES in between.

PISTON DAMP spoke collectively to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about their genesis of their debut album and why it has taken them 20 years to arrive at this point.

‘Making The World Great Again’ is a rousing album, it has to be said!

Wow! Thank you so very much. We’ve put a lot of time and energy into making it a positive / celebrative album. Not like party-party, but an album with a clear message as to how we see the world and the people in it.

The ‘Making The World Great Again’ title song pays homage to ‘Black Celebration’ in the intro and optimistically declares “we won’t make the same mistakes as them”, was it important for you to make this kind of statement?

This is the last song to be written for the album – actually after the title was already on the table.

The line “we won’t make the same mistakes as them” refers to “them” as being those who came before us.

When Jonas started writing the song, it was with a clear intention to make it a follow-up to the song ‘Hearts On Fire’. Both are meant as fight songs or speeches to a lost generation, if you will. The Internet has made us, as a species, feel lonelier and more disconnected from each other. We don’t necessarily need to get rid of the Internet, but we need to make people understand that there is more to life than what it seems like at the moment.

The relatively new phenomenon Social Media is trying to substitute real relationships, and this is what Jonas is talking about in these lyrics – Starting a movement that shows people how important it actually is to be social and that the reason why love (as a concept) has become a cliché, is that it actually works and that more people probably should be spending time on trying to give and receive love, rather than distancing oneself behind a screen. ‘Black Celebration’ and the following three DM-albums are indeed inspirations for most of the songs on this album, both lyrically and musically.


You formed in 2000 so why has it taken so long to release music? Are any songs from those formative years on the album?

We formed as a fun project, working out of Jonas’s brother Stephan’s studio whenever he wasn’t there. He had an Apple computer and loads of synthesizers, especially the Waldorf Q and XTk were exciting ones to experiment with.

Jonas wrote a lot of songs for this project, and at least 7 exist in demo form from that period. In 2001, Jonas became a father and life just and several other music projects happened to both of us for the next 15 years. The last five years, we have tried to get together and re-record some of the songs on several occasions, but something always came up.

In the spring of 2020, Truls called Jonas and basically told him that since it still hadn’t happened, he wanted to get it out of his system and just ban the entire project for good. This sparked something in Jonas, and he wrote ‘Something In Me’ (or rather the Danish version ‘Noget I Mig’) that same evening. Upon hearing this they decided to give it one last try, and here we are! Hehehe…

The album tracks:

1 ШУМ (new)
2 Hearts On Fire (reworked from Jonas’ 2014 demo)
3 Runaway (Original PD track from 2000)
4 Something In Me (new)
5 Depth Of Your Eyes (Original PD track from 2000)
6 Factor Out (new)
7 Never Thought It Would End (reworked from Jonas’ 2010 demo)
8 Making The World Great Again (new)
9 Don’t (reworked from Jonas’ 2012 demo)
10 Loose Ends (Original PD track from 2000)
11 Sacred Secret (reworked from Jonas’ 2016 demo)
12 Testimony (Original PD track from 2000)
13 Another Pain (reworked from Jonas’ 1994 demo)

The first single ‘Something In Me’ announced that PISTON DAMP was very much a synthpop act, which artists had been inspirations in developing this sound?

For Jonas, it’s DEPECHE MODE (83 – 98), ERASURE (86 – 97), OMD, APOPTYGMA BERZERK, DURAN DURAN and ELEGANT MACHINERY, while for Truls, it’s PET SHOP BOYS, ERASURE, APOPTYGMA BERZERK and A-HA.


‘Hearts On Fire’ recalls Swedish combo THE MOBILE HOMES, does that formative period of Nordic new wave pop which also includes bands like LUSTANS LAKEJER and PAGE deserve more recognition outside of Scandinavia?

Absolutely. Sweden in particular has had an enormous and impressive electronic scene that we Norwegians have loved since it started. When Jonas has toured with APOPTYGMA BERZERK, he has often been confronted with band names like ELEGANT MACHINERY, SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN and COVENANT, even in places like South America and Israel. So maybe it has more to do with exposure rather than recognition…?

Did you use vintage synthesizers to achieve your aims or are you software based?

Truls has built quite a large synth studio, and we use hardware almost exclusively when we record our music. Some synthesizers are used in almost every song, and some are more randomly used, like if we’re looking for a particular sound. Roland Juno-106 is a classic, and of course we use that. For strings, we prefer Roland RS-505. It has some massive, powerful strings, but they can also be tender and soft.

For bass, we use a wide variety of synths, for example Roland SH-101 and Minimoog Voyager. We also use modular stuff, drones and a lot of pedals, like the Moogerfoogers. The sonic possibilities both in vintage and new synths are endless in the creative process. The experimentation with hardware is important both for creating the sound and for inspiration to develop and expand the sonic and musical landscape. Among the rarer stuff is, for example, the Elektron SidStation and it is made with the original C-64 sound chips. This is the main synth on the theme and ARPs on ‘Another Pain’.

The anthemic ‘Runaway’ had the remix treatment from MESH and DIE KRUPPS when released as a pre-album bundle, how do you feel when you let others adapt your work?

Oh, we love it. The interpretations are always really exciting to hear. And listening to the four remixes of that song back-to-back is still great (MESH, DIE KRUPPS and SUBSTAAT plus the Extended version).  Getting talents we admire to reinterpret our basic ideas is an amazing way to get inspiration for moving on to whatever comes next. This is also a cool thing about the ‘Something In Me’ single where (apart from the A-side), the TECHNOMANCER remix is the version mostly played on Spotify. On YouTube, this version is by far our most played track.


The energetic ‘Don’t’ is the closest PISTON DAMP get to EBM and sees an old friend COMPUTORGIRL return for a cameo vocal, how was this reunion?

It was great fun. Especially since ‘Don’t’ originally was intended as a band song much inspired by THE CURE’s ‘A Foolish Arrangement’, and we only picked it up because we needed a B-side for the ‘Loose Ends’ single.

The track listing for the album was more or less finished, so we wanted a separate track as B-side. The middle part was instrumental, and we considered several solutions for this part including a spoken German poem, noises and effects, and other stuff.

One night Jonas was listening to one of his favourite albums – ‘Forever’ by CRANES – and the voice of Alison Shaw reminded him of Benedicte who is COMPUTORGIRL, whom he immediately wrote the vocal part for. Jonas did the vocal pre-production of the COMPUTORGIRL EP in 2002. Luckily, she was excited to do it, and the vocals were recorded the very next day. The song title was made up just as a word to save the song as when it was written. The word never came up in the lyrics, and therefore it became obvious that COMPUTORGIRL’s lines should all begin with that word. Eventually the song was nearly considered to be the A-side of the single, and ultimately it was given a place on the album too.

With its 6/8 signature and orchestrations, ‘Depth Of Your Eyes’ is quite different from the other tracks on ‘Making The World Great Again’?

Indeed, but it is actually the song that has changed the least since its 2000 demo form. This is the way it was intended to sound. The only difference is that the strings have now been played rather than being programmed. Tarjei Nysted and Kaja Pettersen play the exact notes that Jonas programmed 20 years earlier. The inspiration from the 86 – 93 DEPECHE MODE period is obvious here. We allowed ourselves to do stuff that wasn’t necessarily “genre correct”, simply because we wanted to do it, much like DM did when they brought in guitars, live drums etc.


‘Never Thought It Would End’ is almost hymn-like and comes over like U2’s ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ mashed-up with DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Waiting For The Night’?

It’s hard to define ‘Never Thought It Would End’ without commenting on ‘Factor Out’ which leads into ‘Never Thought It Would End’. ‘Factor Out’ was made as an intro, but quickly proved to have a life of its own. Truls kept expanding it both time wise and sound wise, which made the transition into ‘Never Thought It Would End’ much more exciting. They can both be viewed as separate tracks, but also as part 1 and 2 of the same song.

Jonas’s love of harmony vocals became a powerful tool here, and we wanted the song to have a lot of air in the mix (hence the panning of the vocals which vary throughout the song). The demo of the track was recorded with acoustic guitar on a laptop while the rest of the house was asleep, which makes it a very quiet and emotionally sore sounding demo. We tried to keep that vibe going in the electronic PD version.

‘Testimony’ borrows the guitar line from DM’s ‘Precious’ and sort of morphs into CAMOUFLAGE, how did this song come together?

‘Testimony’ was the only song we actually made a proper release-worthy version of 20 years ago. Due to Jonas working as a Label Manager Assistant at Hard:Drive (partly owned by Stephan), at the same location as where Sebastian Komor from ICON OF COIL had his studio.

Seb produced the track for us and gave us a clearer direction for the song. Most of his additions were very 2000/2001, and have thus been subtracted from the new version again. But the guitar part is the same now as then, and DM’s ‘Precious’ is from 2005, so who knows – maybe the borrowed it from us? Hahaha… Somewhere on the Internet you will probably still be able to find the ‘ICON OF COIL mix’ of ‘Testimony’.


The album closer ‘Another Pain’ appears to reveal THE BEATLES as an influence which perhaps is an unusual template for electronic pop?

Being one of the first songs Jonas ever completed (1994), it is very much a Beatles influenced song. THE BEATLES have always been a huge thing for Jonas (when asked about his top three favourite bands he usually replies: “THE CURE, DEPECHE MODE and KENT, but that’s just because THE BEATLES is a given and I don’t need to use up a place for them”. The sound collage at the end of ‘Another Pain’ is inspired by the latter years of THE BEATLES, but also by PINK FLOYD, which is a huge deal for Truls.

We share a love of the same kinds of music, but rarely the same bands. The album version of ‘Another Pain’ was the first one to be made, and the ‘Blue Hearts Version’ which was used as a B-side for ‘Something In Me’ was made from this version. If you listen closely, you can hear an element of each of the other album tracks in this outro.

Which are your own favourites on ‘Making The World Great Again’ and why?

For Jonas, this changes all the time. At the moment it is ‘Don’t’, but his favourite one to record was ‘Making The World Great Again’.

This changes for Truls as well. Right now he would say ‘Testimony’, but he had a plan very early in the making of this album, that it was going to be musically arranged and produced so that each song should set the mood for the song after, and as well be a contrast to the foregoing song. And that makes it hard to pick a specific song out of the context. The songs make each other good, and the combination of them makes them even better than when they stand alone.

What are your future plans, if you have been able to make any?

Well first of all, we’re planning a virtual release party for the album on June 5th where you can hear all the songs from the album 5 days before the release, and we’ll perform 3 songs live, do some interviews, giveaways, competitions etc. So, we’re quite looking forward to that, as it will give us an early indication of what people think of the album.

We have already started on the next single, and we are planning what to do for the next album. There are still some really strong songs left from the original demos, and we want to use some of them for a follow-up album as soon as possible. We’d love to play live shows, and we have a few gigs already being planned, so we’re just hoping for the world to open up so we can help make it great again!

We’re both very keen on getting on stage to try our songs out on a live audience as soon as time permits, so both festivals, club-gigs and support gigs for other acts are what we’re planning and looking for, to be honest. Safe to say, PISTON DAMP is hard at work, and there will be more coming from us in all shapes, sizes, and forms in the months ahead!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to PISTON DAMP

Special thanks to Per Aksel Lungreen at Sub Culture Records

‘Making The World Great Again’ is released 21st June 2021 by Sub Culture Records, available direct from https://subculturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/making-the-world-great-again

The PISTON DAMP Virtual Release Party takes place on 5th June 2021 at 1700 UK time via Facebook, details at https://www.facebook.com/events/369780110999711

https://www.pistondamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pistondampcom

https://www.instagram.com/pistondamp/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Kine Jensen
31st May 2021

BETAMAXX Interview

19 May 2021 /


BETAMAXX is the Pittsburgh-based musician and producer Nick Morey whose work is inspired and created by vintage synthesizers.

In acknowledgement of his artist moniker, the first BETAMAXX album was entitled ‘Lost Formats’; released in 2012, it became acknowledged as a trailblazing example of synthwave in the wake of the Ryan Gosling movie ‘Drive’ and its acclaimed soundtrack.

Meanwhile, his 2014 remix of TANGERINE DREAM’s ‘Love On A Real Train’ brought wider recognition and enhanced his reputation.

Despite a short publically announced hiatus in 2015 following ‘Plug & Play’, he returned refreshed after a profile boost with his track ‘Redlining 6th’ from 2013’s ‘Sophisticated Technology’ being included in the soundtrack of the Sci-Fi martial arts comedy featurette ‘Kung Fury’.

2017’s ‘Archaic Science’ was like he’d never been away, but it was 2019’s ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’ featuring vocals by VANDAL MOON, GLITBITER and MECHA MAIKO that realised the crossover potential that had been itching to get out since the first BETAMAXX releases.

Despite his zest for collaborations, having also previously worked with PERTURBATOR, ARCADE HIGH and PRIMO THE ALIEN, the new BETAMAXX record ‘Sarajevo’ is a much more reflective solo offering with no vocals or vocoder, a soundtrack to an imaginary film centred around the Bosnian city that hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Nick Morey kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about synths and stuff in his career as BETAMAXX.

What got you interested in making music with synthesizers and who were your influences?

Good question and kind of a long story. I attribute my initial interest to Madonna’s ‘Immaculate Collection’ which was given to me on cassette by my mother at a very young age. In my late teens, I heard the track ‘Eyes Without A Face’ by Billy Idol and was smitten by the sounds and melodies that I heard. I took a trip to my local CD store (Coconuts Music, which is long since defunct) and I asked the clerk about this song. He responded “Ahhh, that’s Billy Idol with that rich synthesizer sound…” which made me realize how the music was created and how much I loved music from the 80s.

Fast forward to 2010, a good friend of mine showed me some very early “synthwave” from artists like TESLA BOY, FM ATTACK, MITCH MURDER, GRUM and MIAMI NIGHTS 1984 and I was hooked immediately. At that point, I was committed to taking my shot at making this type of music. I had already had some DAW production skills making techno and other random electronic music. By early 2012, I purchased my first truly amazing synth – the Roland Juno 60, which I still own to this day.

How do you now look back on your 2012 debut album ‘Lost Formats’, that’s a great title?

Honestly, very fondly. I still pop it on now and again and feel the energy and excitement I had back then. It finally got the proper pressing it deserved a few years back, and has since sold out. I think it will be remembered as one of the classic early synthwave albums.

‘La Cabane Noir’ from 2013’s ‘Sophisticated Technology’ featured PERTURBATOR, how did that come about as it’s a lot less heavier than the material he’s become well-known for…

Wow, I haven’t thought about that in a long time. James and I used to chat back in the day before he got huge. And, don’t get me wrong, I am super happy for him and I think he’s a super genuine and funny guy. I believe I reached out and simply asked him to throw some parts on it and it ended up working out.

You retired in 2015 but then Gary Numan did so in 1981… what happened there? Are artists still very much vulnerable to burn out despite history having demonstrated that applying too much pressure on musicians can lead to all sorts of issues?

This is not the first time I’ve been asked this. 2015 was a really difficult year for me personally. If I would have met 2015 “me” now, I probably would have kicked my own ass. I attribute it to a low point in my life, but I don’t regret the decisions I’ve made. Artists can be fickle at times, as a good handful of artists get swallowed up in their own emotions. I’m glad to still be producing music.

‘Lost In A Dreamworld’ could be considered your breakthrough record in that it reached audiences outside of what could be considered the synthwave scene, why do you think it was able to crossover?

Generally speaking, I like mixing things up. I like to experiment and crossover genres, especially new wave, house, Italo and post-punk. I happened to connect with Blake Voss of VANDAL MOON through my good friend Shawn Ward from FM ATTACK, and became instant friends. ‘Never Sleep Again’ was proof of this, considering it’s not much like anything else I’ve ever created.

As well as VANDAL MOON, you worked with some diverse vocalists such as GLITBITER and MECHA MAIKO to achieve the variation in styles that were collected on ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’, what was the collaborative process like with each of them?

For these specific tracks, I started with various instrumental ideas and reached out to them to see if they were interested in working with me. Thankfully, all parties agreed and I let them essentially do whatever they wanted, stepping back from a creative control standpoint and letting them have fun and do their thing.


The ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’ instrumental could be considered a refinement of the synthwave form but do you think the term has become too restrictive artistically?

Yes, I do. I feel like that term gets thrown around quite loosely, and I don’t really feel like I fit into that category so much anymore, being that my sound has been more or less consistent over the years.

I haven’t found the urge to start writing polished, carbon copy radio pop with a grid, a palm tree and a sunset on my album cover.

‘Disco Dreamgirl’ does what it says on the tin, was the track’s muse a real person?

I’m not at liberty to say who that is! *laughs*

So after ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’, what inspired you to compose a largely downtempo instrumental concept album such as ‘Sarajevo’?

I was really itching for something new to create and a new style to dive into. I’ve been in love with BOARDS OF CANADA’s music since my early 20s and decided that I wanted to take a crack at writing in that style. I looked at the gear that I have and realized that was totally possible, if not for some hard work and experimentation. The first track I wrote was ‘Sarajevo’, the title track on the album. I had just purchased the reissue of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 which provided a lot of inspirational sounds right off the bat for this record.

But why the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, because for example, there have been two films ‘Cool Runnings’ and ‘Eddie The Eagle’ made about events at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics? It’s perhaps not an obvious subject, or is it?

Once again, a long story… I’m a big enthusiast of brutalist architecture, specifically 80s and prior angular / geometrical style structures. I was looking at architecture online, and stumbled upon “Hotel Igman”, which you see in the cover of the album. I became intrigued about this building, and started reading more in depth about the history of it. I also was fascinated by the fact that, in modern times, it’s a completely bombed out shell of its former self. After I discovered the ‘84 Olympics, I was compelled to write something that I felt about it, and the various stories I have read about Sarajevo. It just seemed right to me and the music sort of poured out of me.


‘Igman’ is a key track as that hotel has becoming something of a symbol now in its derelict state?

Yes, I’d say so. I think it was an absolutely stunning piece of architecture then and even now. It drew me in immediately and needed to know the whole story. I’ve watched several YouTube videos of people exploring it. It blows my mind.

Had there been any particular archive photographs or videos that you imagined soundtracking, like your own film documentary on those Games for any of the tracks?

I kind of did a deep dive into loads of footage from the ‘84 Winter Olympics and was inspired by a ton of things that I saw, particularly Bill Johnson’s run, as well as Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean’s performances on ice.

How would you have constructed a track like ‘Downhill’ which celebrates Bill Johnson’s gold medal victory in the Downhill event?

I wanted at least one track that was suspenseful and intense. After watching some footage of downhill skiing in Sarajevo, I found the clip of Bill Johnson and could feel the excitement in the announcers’ voices. It was totally unintentional, but I felt that sample absolutely needed to be included in the intro of the song.

The ‘Sarajevo’ title track actually applies some dub echoing, what had been on your mind to shape the track in this manner?

Good question, this was also completely unintentional. The friends I’ve showed that to seem to all say it’s a very “industrial” track, but I guess I just don’t hear it that way. I wanted to lay something down that was really dark, ethereal, and heavy. The CMI sampler I used seemed to compliment the bridge of the song.

‘Ceremony’ closes the album with a slow waltz and it has this elegiac Arvo Pärt ‘Spiegel Im Spiegel’ feel about it?

Truth be told, I am not at all familiar with that artist, although I very much look forward to checking that out. I wanted to portrait a very emotional track with drifting (sliding in and out of tune) synths to give it an almost “unsettling” vibe. I think it’s kind of a beautiful track, and it would suit well in a specific movie scenario.


You have a fine collection of analog synthesizers, do you have any particular favourites?

Why thank you! Yes, I’ve been collecting for a number of years now. I’d say my Sequential Circuits Prophet 6 is to attribute to a lot of my sounds. It’s an extremely versatile synth with a lot of amazing real time features that are easy to get inspired by.

Sequential makes amazing products, which I would recommend to anyone in the market to buy a thick, meaty analogue synthesizer with useful features.

Is there a synth you desire and is there any particular reason?

Not to sound cliché, but I would love to own a real Jupiter 8 someday. Other than that, I’m actually really happy with the gear that I have. I feel like I honestly have too much, but that is usually good for when I’m bored with my main stuff, to switch out to and experiment with.

What do you think of these copycat synths that Behringer are making?

Honestly, not super into them right now. Behringer makes some quality basic musical products, but I’m not super sold on their synths. One of my best friends swears by their 808 clone, but I haven’t played with it yet. I was really disappointed with the Deepmind 12, unfortunately. Programming wasn’t very friendly and I didn’t care a lot for the sounds, it also sounded very thin to me. That all being said, I’ll always give them a chance. Some of their clones are super intriguing, but generally are not available for demos at retail stores.


How do you think synthesizer music is developing now?

I don’t feel it’s going in a great direction. Most artists now are focusing on the same equation to make it big. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the bottom line is that I’m just not seeing a lot of artistry involved, and it’s more or less a “copy and paste” methodology and it seems to really work well for some people. I refuse to not put extremely serious though into what I put out, regardless of potential backlash.

You have both self-released and worked with record labels, do artists these days still need one? How do you see music distribution moving forward?

I feel that, if an artist can’t afford to press their own record and or tape or whatever, go for a label if they’re interested.

You have a strong relationship with Shawn Ward aka FM ATTACK and he has done some additional production on ‘Sarajevo’ as well as being your label boss at Starfield, but have the two of you considered doing a full album together as a joint effort?

Oh yeah, for sure. And I wouldn’t call him my boss in affiliation with Starfield, he’s one of my tightest homies. We confide in each other quite a bit and stay in contact regularly. I’m blessed to call Shawn a good friend of mine. Right now, it’s kind of hard to be able to do a fully collaborative album for the both of us, although that would be really rad to accomplish sometime down the road.

Your recent single with PRIMO THE ALIEN ‘Watch Me’ was a rather groovy concoction, is this an indicator of a future direction for you?

Hopefully! I really dig the groove of that track, and I think it succeeded in a lot of ways. I feel it’s a lot different from anything I had previously released, and it felt good to scratch that itch. I’m not the greatest into diving into “the funk” but I think I did right by ‘Watch Me’.

So will your next album be a pop / dance oriented one or would you like to develop the more ambient side of your music as showcased on ‘Sarajevo’?

Honestly, I really don’t know enough to tell you the next writing style I’m going to be focusing on. It will be interesting and heartfelt, whatever that may be. Lately I’ve been really enjoying the ambient stuff.


What’s next for you, what are your hope and fears for the future?

Looking forward to collaborating with friends and building something, whatever that may entail. I won’t be straying from producing music.

I would like to go on tour again soon, but I likely won’t be booking any dates this year due to the pandemic. I really miss traveling, seeing the world and meeting new friends.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to BETAMAXX

‘Sarajevo’, ‘Lost In A Dreamworld’ and most of the BETAMAXX back catalogue is available in various formats direct from https://betamaxxmusic.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/betamaxx80s/

https://twitter.com/betamaxx80s

https://www.instagram.com/betamaxx/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
19th May 2021

AESTHETIC PERFECTION: The Industrial Pop Interview

17 May 2021 /


Los Angeles-born, Austrian-based artist Daniel Graves is the main man behind AESTHETIC PERFECTION.

It’s an industrial pop project that can veer in and out of electro, EBM, goth, alternative rock, metal and aggrotech, thanks to Graves’ love of artists such as diverse as Justin Timberlake, Darren Hayes, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Trent Reznor and Marilyn Manson.

Following 2019’s ‘Into The Black’ album, Graves announced a 2021 schedule of releasing one AESTHETIC PERFECTION single per month funded by his Patreon supporters. It is a return of sorts to Graves’ singles only experiment of 2016-2018 which allowed him the freedom to broaden his vocal and production horizons, with the result being one of the best recordings of his career in ‘Rhythm + Control’.

The most recent single ‘Gravity’ has been produced by Rhys Fulber of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY. It reflects on Graves’ struggles to keep his feet on the ground as he loses touch with reality, crushed beneath the weight of existence, while slowly being pulled away from it. It’s a feeling that many can relate to. Daniel Graves gave another enlightening interview to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the future of music and how he is responding to an ever changing market place.

After your singles experiment of 2016-2018 which included ‘LAX’, ‘Love Like Lies’, ‘Rhythm + Control’ and ‘Ebb & Flow’, you produced an album ‘Into The Black’ in 2019. And now you are back with a run of singles at a rate of one per month, why have you returned to this “singles” format?

I’ve always believed the singles format to be the way of the future. From an artistic point of view, I looked at the creation of ‘Into The Black’ kind of like a commission; as if I were a sculptor or painter. It wasn’t something I would have created had I been left on my own, but I enjoyed the process and am happy with the result.

That doesn’t mean I think the way forward is albums. If anything, the pandemic has accelerated the streaming and singles model. I’m watching my friends and colleagues absolutely devastated because the records they’ve been releasing in the last 12-14 months get no traction. The social media timeline turns over every 3-4 weeks, and in order to stay in the public consciousness, you’ve gotta keep up.

So how do you look back on ‘Into The Black’, the pros and cons of making it and then the promotion after?

Working on ‘Into The Black’ was a lot of fun, and I did enjoy the singular focus that takes place when trying to complete a big project. I wasn’t on social media trying to promote myself or worrying about tours or any of the ancillary stuff that comes with being an independent musician – I was just locked into the creative mindset.

However, that’s a double edged sword, because you’re not really seeing what’s going on in the world around you. I feel like great artists know how to “read the room” and figure out how their voice fits into the world at large. That’s hard to do when you’ve got your nose buried in a big project.

The promotional aspect is very difficult, because even before the pandemic, “the churn” as I like to call it, moves quickly. You’ve only got a small window of time to drum up interest in your project, and getting people to sit down and consume (and digest) 10 new songs is an impossible task. Back when you could tour, there was some amount of wiggle room, as live shows gave you the opportunity to showcase that new music, and continually remind the world you exist. However, these days, you’ve got your couple weeks and then the door closes.

Do you think your very eclectic music tastes are partly contributing to your mindset to not lock AESTHETIC PERFECTION into any one style or ethos?

I grew up on artists like NINE INCH NAILS and David Bowie and Michael Jackson… artists who continually evolved and took risks. I sort of just assumed that’s what you did when you were a creator. As I got older and more involved in music, I found myself quickly losing interest in bands and artists who didn’t evolve. It shaped my entire creative worldview and made evolution a part of my artistic DNA. Whether or not that helps success or hinders it is anyone’s guess. Perhaps in an alternate universe where I’d stayed the course and rehashed ‘A Violent Emotion’ for the last 12 years, I’d be a megastar!


The first single of the schedule ‘S E X’ has a wonderfully deviant tone about it?

I don’t often write songs about sex. I was never sure why until I started writing ‘S E X’. As a creator, I’ve always tried to say things that I haven’t heard from other artists… or I at least try to add new perspectives to subjects and themes.

I suspect, on a subconscious level, I was never inspired to write about sex because so many other artists were doing it. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing a song about sex… so what could I possibly have to offer that would add to the conversation?

However, at some point, I realized that even though there are tons of songs out there about sex, there aren’t a lot of contemporary songs about love and passion. ‘S E X’ is really my way of trying to capture and express THAT view of sexuality.

‘Party Monster’ is reflective of the approach you took on ‘Rhythm + Control’ with a heavier guitar take, twinned with a more electro version, in this case by Deadbeat?

“Deadbeat” is the de facto moniker I adopt whenever remixing my own songs for the club. If you take a look through my discography, you’ll find a number of Deadbeat remixes (usually of tracks that aren’t clubby by nature). The electro version of ‘Rhythm + Control’ should by rights be referred to as a Deadbeat Remix actually, but it was the original version that was completed before Jinxx came through and cut the guitars (which was really just an afterthought). Technically, the version with the guitars is the remix, but it was just so much better than the “original”!


‘Dead Zone’ is classic industrial pop AESTHETIC PERFECTION, what inspired that track?

I’ve spent a lot of my time in lockdown reflecting on myself, my life, and my work. The endeavor has been simultaneously traumatic and transformative. It feels almost as if I’ve gone into a cocoon, a dead zone, if you will, to work through all these things – hopefully, to emerge on the other side as something better.

With your known love of pop, what have you thought about THE WEEKND’s recent Max Martin produced synth excursions ‘Blinding Lights’ and ‘Save Your Tears’?

To be 100% honest, I’m not as in love with the synthwave vibes of THE WEEKND’s new tracks as I was with his earlier work. I totally understand WHY these songs were produced that way (that style is HUGE right now), but as someone who is not personally a big fan of retro genres, it doesn’t speak to me so much. They’re well-crafted productions with top notch songwriting, but they don’t feel fresh to me.

In my mind, art is about using inspiration from the past to build something new and exciting in the future. Synthwave really is at odds with my musical philosophy in that regard. However, I *do* feel like synthwave is starting to craft its own identity apart from the nostalgia factor. A lot of the offshoot genres like Industrial Bass Music or EBSM are fresh and really getting my attention.


‘Automaton’ and ‘Gravity’ were both produced and mixed by Rhys Fulber of FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, how did that association come about?

Facebook Messenger! I literally just wrote Rhys a Facebook message asking if he’d be interested in producing some music with me. As luck would have it, we had a number of friends in common and decided to start working on a couple tracks together. I feel like Rhys’s experience with industrial, metal and pop really make him uniquely suited to both understand and help me realize my musical vision. Definitely looking forward to more collaborations in the future.

Will you eventually compile these 12 singles as an album, or perhaps do a compilation including the 2016-2018 work?

Part of the promise of this project was that if I reached a certain number of Patreon supporters, I would collect the singles and release them as an album sometime next year. It was a very ambitious goal, I wasn’t exactly sure if I would be able to hit it. To my surprise (and many others as well) we hit it within 3 months. Which just goes to show how incredible the level of support is from my fans and from my community.

However, I also have no illusions about the state of the music industry. First of all: The world at large does not care about re-releases. They want NEW material and nothing else. Second: The world at large does not care about albums. Both of those things work against my plans, but I think if I do a very small run of physical releases (probably exactly the count of my Patreon supporters so each of them have a chance to get their hands on one) it will be okay. A good artist knows how to read the room, right?

Regarding the singles from 2016-2018: All those singles were already released on the deluxe edition of ‘Into The Black’ in September 2019!

There appears to still be demand for the long playing format, but is it cost effective for you as an independent artist now?

If there’s demand for the LP format, I don’t see it. I see people talking about it online, but I believe those people to be the vocal minority. Like my Facebook page is filled with people demanding I return to the sound and singing style of ’A Violent Emotion’. However, when you look at the actual metrics, like sales and streams and all of that, you see that the silent majority has a different opinion. When observing the actual metrics of CD sales and how LPs perform against singles in the world of streaming, a very clear picture emerges: Albums are losing ground more than ever before.

Again, it’s my job to read the room. So if the trend changes, you can bet I’ll be back on the album horse. However, I currently see no reason to invest months or years of my life into producing an album when people are only gonna listen to one or two songs and have the rest be forgotten in a matter of weeks.

Which is the upcoming single everyone should be looking out for that might spring a surprise?

The single for June is absolutely coming out of leftfield. It’s an AESTHETIC PERFECTION take on the beloved European concept of a “Summer Hit”. I expect a bunch of VERY p*ssed off people! I’m also planning a Christmas song for December so… get ready!

Have you a personal favourite out of this campaign?

‘Party Monster’ and ‘Dead Zone’ I think are great examples of my dedication to both brutal honesty and experimentation within the AESTHETIC PERFECTION framework. They may not be the most popular songs of mine, but they certainly mean the most to me.

Have you been able to make any future plans despite everything, how do you think things will pan out?

I’m an artist. I thrive in chaos. I’ve also learned to make the best of a bad situation. I feel like no matter what happens, I will be ready and willing to face it head on.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Daniel Graves

‘Gravity’, ‘S E X’, ‘Party Monster’, ‘Automaton’ and ‘Dead Zone’ are available to download, along with the AESTHETIC PERFECTION back catalogue from http://aestheticperfection.bandcamp.com/

Information on Daniel Graves’ Patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/danielgraves

http://www.aesthetic-perfection.net/

https://www.facebook.com/aestheticperfection

https://twitter.com/daniel_graves

https://www.instagram.com/danielxgraves/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
17th May 2021

DANZ CM Interview

13 May 2021 /


DANZ CM, the artist formally known as COMPUTER MAGIC is New York-based Danz Johnson, a musician, producer and vocalist fascinated by everything ‘Synth History’ has to offer.

As a result, she has been able to overcome her shyness to produce her own music and engage with some of the biggest names in electronic music. “I outgrew COMPUTER MAGIC. I outgrew the shy bedroom pop girl a long time ago” when she announced DANZ CM and her first album under that name ‘The Absurdity Of Human Existence’.

As well as releasing a fistful of albums and EPs since 2012’s ‘Scientific Experience’ which made its release debut in Japan, she also started the ‘Synth History’ online platform which to date has interviewed Gary Numan, Vince Clarke, Rick Wakeman, Dave Smith, Suzanne Ciani, Pete Townsend and James Murphy amongst others, while a well-researched podcast on the career of Wendy Carlos attracted much acclaim.

Danz Johnson chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about her creative process, song inspirations, leaving behind COMPUTER MAGIC and ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’…

Why did electronic music become your choice of artistic expression as opposed to say indie rock, punk, R ‘n’ B, folk or country which many American kids can and do get into?

I started out with electronic music because that’s what I had. I didn’t even know I could make music before I downloaded Ableton one day and tried. Prior to that, I had been obsessed with listening to music. I had my own music blog when I was super young. I’d listen to music all day long, even throughout class. I could always hear music in my head even when I wasn’t listening to it – I’d fantasize about whole songs through – like a radio station in my brain.

Eventually, I just decided to try, and found out the ability of hearing music in my head translated to making music by ear. I still have never memorized notes or chords – but I could transpose a song just by listening to it. If I had picked up a guitar first, maybe I’d have started with rock.


The album title ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ indicates you may have been going through an existential crisis, so is it a concept album of sorts?

It’s definitely somewhat of a concept album. I went through some difficult emotional realizations when I was writing it. I was dating someone who was really narcissistic.. it really messed me up. For some reason it felt like a last straw. I realized throughout my whole life, I was, for some reason, susceptible to people like that – like a target. A realization which finally broke me. Is everyone in the world out to get everyone else? Do people really only care about themselves? Is it me? Why do I feel guilty?

I always saw the world through rose colored glasses – that people generally have good intentions, but suddenly that view shifted… I saw flaws everywhere and also in me. But not in a bad way, in a very accepting way. That’s how the world is, after all. Everyone comes from a different place with a different upbringing with a different mind and yeah – bad things happen to good people all the time. And I think that was a big step in growing up. Despite the emotionality, I think it was something I needed to go through artistically and as a person.

How would you break down ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’?

I kind of see the album in different stages, albeit the tracklisting is loose. The beginning of a relationship gone south (‘Not Gonna Stand By’), realizing what’s going on, feeling bad about it and helpless (‘Domino’, ‘Idea of You’) – Trying not to let your low self-esteem get the best of you (‘My Other Self’) – Finally breaking (‘Breaking Point’, ‘Low’) – Picking yourself up, knowing that you’re capable (‘I Don’t Need a Hero’, ‘Something More’) – Falling in love again (‘Don’t Stop’) – And the last song is important (‘Human Existence’) because it encapsulates it all. Existence is absurd, emotions in themselves are as well, but as far as we know, you only live once so you might as well make the best of it.

I should point out that the idea of Absurdism really saved me when I hit my lowest during this period, which is when I wrote ‘Breaking Point’. That’s when I titled the album. Oftentimes as human beings with reactive emotions, we feel depressed when we’re not in control of our situation. Letting go and realizing that – the universe can be random and accepting it – helped immensely.

Was the pandemic crisis another trigger in your artistic psyche?

To be honest – I wrote, produced and recorded this entire album before the pandemic! Everything including the title was written and recorded beforehand. The only thing the pandemic did was delay the release. It did give me time to find a good mastering engineer – Joe LaPorta. He really did a great job.


You have already stated the reasons on your own social media as to why you decided to stop being COMPUTER MAGIC, but has the name change affected profile momentum or was it a smooth transition like when Gary Numan was no longer TUBEWAY ARMY even though he was TUBEWAY ARMY?

Looking back, I wish I had the money to hire PR. It would have been nice to get the word out via online publications in addition to my social media channels. I put out everything myself on my own label, Channel 9 Records. In turn, my PR budget runs parallel to what I can personally afford.

I don’t have a $20k budget for hiring PR being given to me by a label as an advance, or by my parents. I need to have that money saved up and ready before the release is set if I want to get written up in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. A reputable PR company costs upwards of $5-10k a month – that’s not even counting billboards and wild postings – posters you see on the streets of NYC and other major cities. But there is also the cost of pressing vinyls – which is important to me, mastering – which is important to me, and videos. It’s a lot of money and it all adds up if you want to release something properly.

I needed to figure out what I couldn’t live without – and that was the substance. The music, the tangible vinyls, the videos to coincide with the songs. People will eventually find out about the album. Maybe I’ll be dead and it’ll be in forty years, but I know it’s good and I put my all into it. Whatever happens afterwards is a bonus.

The name change has really just been word of mouth. One thing I didn’t take into consideration was all of CM’s Spotify followers. I had twenty thousand that weren’t notified of the release, and I had to start from scratch. But the name change needed to happen. It just felt right for me.

The difference between your pop-oriented debut ‘Davos’ album and the melancholic innocence of songs like ‘Lonely Like We Are’ from the ‘Obscure But Visible’ EP , to the darkness of the ‘Danz’ album are quite marked, so things already were heading in a new direction in your mind?

Yeah – I think so, but not on purpose, just subconsciously. I think the main factors that influence my work are the unfolding of my life, external inspirations and the increase in knowledge concerning music production. If you’re making art, it’s unhealthy to be stagnant and always have the same output.

On ‘Danz’, the widescreen other worldliness of ‘Nebraskaland’ seemed to spark your interest in the expansive spaces that are captured in the photos and videos for ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’?

I wrote ‘Nebraskaland’ on tour! When I play live, I hire a session drummer, the amazing Ignacio Rivas Bixio. We were driving and I think my friend Mo was tour managing. We were out in the middle of nowhere – all in our own zones in the tour van. I think Ignacio was playing ‘DOOM’ on his laptop, Mo was listening to the ‘Serial’ podcast and I was on my headphones working in Ableton. I saw a truck that said ‘Nebraskaland’ and it just stuck with me. The song is about the endless open road – one of my favorites. It goes with ‘Absurdity’ for sure.

‘Idea of You’ set the scene as your first DANZ CM single release, what was its genesis?

‘Idea of You’ is basically about falling in love with someone for all the wrong reasons, a complete facade. You want to feel “the feeling” of falling in love, so you ignore all the red flags when you should really be running in the opposite direction. It’s about feeling fooled, whilst simultaneously feeling stuck because in your heart you want it to work out. In the video we wanted to capture that. My boyfriend – Matthew James Reilly – is a director. During quarantine we couldn’t get a big crew, so we just flew to the middle of Death Valley the two of us and made the video. I think it really does the song justice. To me, the house represents the relationship that I’m slowly realizing isn’t real.

The almost title track ‘Human Existence’ is gorgeous, one of the best of 2021 so far, it’s like OMD been fronted by CHROMATICS, had there been any particular influences in its arrangement?

I just wanted to make something uplifting to portray the way I was feeling. To me, the song means acceptance of circumstance. I didn’t aim for any particular sound, it just came to be honest. I used the Prophet 6 – which is mostly analog except for the effects. I wanted epic pad sounds.

‘Breaking Point’ taps into that chilling arpeggio template that some would say is very ‘Stranger Things’, how did that come together?

Like I mentioned earlier – I really hit a low. It was after the departure of the toxic relationship. I was really questioning myself and who I was. I started taking a benzo type of drug, which I would not recommend to anybody dealing with depression. When that wore off, I went through the worst withdrawals. I was hallucinating when I would leave my apartment. I didn’t feel like I was a real person, like my existence was futile. I felt like everything was meaningless. Pretty dark stuff. And that is when I wrote ‘Breaking Point’.

Never in my life did I capture my emotions as vividly as in that song. So much so that it’s hard for me to listen to it even now without tearing up. Eventually, I started reading about Nihilism, Existentialism and Absurdism. The last one stuck with me, and I think saved me from that dark hole, which is what the album is named after.


Being DANZ CM appears to have freed you to explore different styles in your music, it appears THE CURE’s ‘Fascination Street’ is an inspiration on ‘I Don’t Need a Hero’?

I love THE CURE – particularly ‘Friday, I’m in Love’ and ‘Pictures of You’. I’m going to be honest – ‘Fascination Street’ is not a song I’m too familiar with. So if there is a familiar style there, it intrinsically comes from their other music.

There’s the surprise of the fragile disco feel of ‘Not Gonna Stand By’ and you rocking out a bit on ‘Something More, two songs with quite opposing feels?

So – ‘Not Gonna Stand By’ was the most challenging song to record off the record. I wanted to use all live, acoustic instruments, to stay true to 1970s disco. I initially composed everything in Ableton with software synths. Then I had my friends come over to re-record everything with the real thing. My friend Danny Meyer played sax, Emily Holden played violin – which I layered to sound like an orchestra, Owen Biddle played bass and I went into a studio to record Ignacio on drums. It really was a fantastic experience and gratifying to make. I never brought a bunch of people together to make a song like that before. Danny did some awesome improvisation on the sax parts. I mean – they were all amazing.

‘Something More’, I wanted to be like a 1970s old school rock anthem, mixed with a Devo vibe. I suck at guitar, but somehow made it work. I wanted very angular guitar parts. Luckily, since I play by ear, it’s easy to find singular notes on the guitar – but harder to play chords. There are a lot of singular guitar riffs, layered with other singular guitar riffs to make chords.

In terms of production for this album, what is your home studio set-up and what was the process for fine tuning it?

I write and record everything in my apartment. For mixing, I sent ‘Absurdity’ off to Claudius Mittendorfer in London. Then for mastering it went over to Joe LaPorta in New York. Writing, recording and producing are like second nature to me at this point. They all kind of coincide.

Making the record was a lot of hard work. I’d literally drive myself crazy working on songs up until I couldn’t stay awake anymore. It also took an emotional toll as you can imagine, getting all that stuff out. l was happy when it was complete.

The sound of your music, even on your earlier material like ‘Fuzz’ and ‘All Day’, is quite accomplished while maintaining a gritty edge. Is there any advice you would give to aspiring musicians recording on a limited budget, especially when recording vocals and drums?

Stay true to yourself. You are essentially what makes your music unique! There is no other you in the world. As for vocals, don’t be afraid to ask for privacy when recording. I almost never record vocals in front of anyone else because I’m self-conscious. For drums – get experimental. I always mix electronic with acoustic, which is why I tour with a drummer and record live drums on a lot of my tracks.


You’ve posted up photos of yourself using vintage gear like the ARP 2600 at The Synth Sanctuary, did that end up on any of ‘The Absurdity of Human Existence’ or is that for another project?

I was interning there for a bit, dusting off synths. I didn’t record anything there except stuff for a potential upcoming podcast episode on ARP and some Minimoog. But that place is great, and Jay who owns it is an awesome dude and musician.

What are your own favourite synths? Is there a particular synth you covet?

Prophet 6, Moog Minitaur and Omnichord; they are my go-tos and have been for the past few years. I would like to someday own a CS-80!

You’ve immersed yourself in ‘Synth History’ with your online interview and podcast platform, what have been the most rewarding aspects of putting this together for you?

I think just meeting other people who want to nerd out about synths. I’m really happy I started it, it seems to bring a lot of people joy.

Who else would you’d like to interview or feature for ‘Synth History’?

Trent Reznor, Thom Yorke, Paul McCartney.

You run your own Channel 9 label, how do you see the future of music distribution and consumption?

I think it’s leaning towards artists thankfully. It’s easier to be in touch with fans directly.

Do you miss performing live or do you see DANZ CM being only a music and video entity?

I can’t wait to perform live as DANZ CM FKA COMPUTER MAGIC!

What’s next for you?

I have no idea. But I hope something fun.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Danz Johnson

Additional thanks to Hal at Albedo PR

‘The Absurdity Of Human Existence’ released by Channel 9 Records as a cloudy blue vinyl LP available from https://channel9records.com/ or digitally via the usual outlets

The COMPUTER MAGIC back catalogue is available at https://computermagic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.zdanz.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zdanz

https://twitter.com/danz_cm

https://www.instagram.com/danz_cm/

https://www.synthhistory.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1oqWGdeaLx3Y6YgI4ibku4

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
13th May 2021

Vintage Synth Trumps With MICHAEL OAKLEY

7 May 2021 /

Canadian based Scottish singer / producer Michael Oakley first came to wider prominence with his debut mini-album release ‘California’ in 2017.

Like many of his fellow countrymen, he looked towards America and ‘California’ did as the title suggested, embraced a sun-kissed Trans-Atlantic vibe conjuring images of open-topped sports cars with his melodic synth-flavoured pop.

Embraced by the synthwave community, for his debut album proper ‘Introspect’, he signed to NewRetroWave Records in 2019. Utilising more Yamaha DX and Fairlight derived sounds to capture the spirit of producers such as Trevor Horn and Stephen Hague, one of the ‘Introspect’ highlights was the mighty Italo statement of ‘Left Behind’. The album also saw Oakley work with established artists such as Ollie Wride and Dana Jean Phoenix, with the associations continuing on his new soon-to-be-released album ‘Odyssey’.

Michael Oakley chatted about the making of the ‘Odyssey’ album with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK while playing a round of Vintage Synth Trumps.

And the first card is the Roland Jupiter 8, have you ever played one?

I haven’t played a Jupiter 8 but when I was a kid, there used to be a chain of music shops in the UK called Sound Control.

One day I was in, they happened to have a Jupiter 6 which I always felt was the nicer of the two sound-wise.

I’ve got a few Jupiter 8 plug-ins, I’ve got the Arturia one and the Roland Cloud VST which I’ve used on this album, although I like the sound of the Juno more.

You basically get two type of synthesizer; there’s the Japanese ones like Yamaha, Korg and Roland which have a very coloured, synthetically warm kind of sound and then American ones which I probably prefer because they have more of an idiosyncratic quality like those from Oberheim, Dave Smith, Sequential Circuits. I like the unstable ghostliness of those, they were a favourite of Ulrich Schnauss, that’s how he gets his sound. If I want warm character types of sounds, I would go for the Japanese synthesizers.

With your new album ‘Odyssey’, what would you say was your approach this time round compared with ‘Introspect’?

When I started ‘California’, I just wanted to make the kind of music that I liked, it was a very open modus operandi. Whereas ‘Introspect’, I had this thing about not repeating the same steps that I’d taken, I never like to do that. So I made ‘Introspect’ a tribute to the more synthpop sounding stuff I liked as a kid such as NEW ORDER and PET SHOP BOYS or Italo disco. But also, the synthwave sound was already starting to become very plagiarised with copycat acts and I didn’t want to be part of that. It felt like the right time because I’d just signed a deal with NewRetroWave. So I wanted to do something special as the label was paying for things, there was more hands on the wheel and ultimately more pressure.

So fast forward to ‘Odyssey’, I sat with this for a little while and I decided I wanted to move into more 90s territory. I think there’s three type of people who listen to synthwave, there’s 80s aficionados who might be more middle of the road with it, then there’s metal fans who like the darkwavey guitar-based stuff and then other camp which I come from is the trance fans who like 90s dance music.

Synthwave uses a lot of dance production techniques, that’s what makes it sound modern. I was inspired by GEORGE MICHAEL, ENIGMA, ACE OF BASE, HADDAWAY, THE BELOVED and MOBY’s ‘Play’ album, all that type of stuff! It’s weird, you have these potential things but you end up looking back and think “it’s not really like HADDAWAY is it?” *laughs*

So it’s been written over 2 years, the longest I’ve taken to write an album and I only wanted to do it when I felt like it. So it’s a Tapas menu of different things and they don’t sound like each other.

I hate it when an album has two songs which sound the same, that bores me. I liked to be presented as a listener of an album with different tempos, styles, moods and themes, it feels like you’re on a journey.

You’re co-writing with Ollie Wride?

All of the songs on this album with the exception of the intro track are co-written with Ollie Wride. We started to work with each other on ‘Introspect’ and I was working on his album ‘Thanks in Advance’, we just have a great partnership when we write together.

For me, Ollie is the best songwriter within the scene and if you get the opportunity to work with someone like that, you step back a little bit and take counsel from them in the process, I trust him.

We talk a lot; on ‘Glasgow Song’, I was on a Skype call with him telling him what the song was about, my life in Glasgow while I was growing up and sent him over ideas, a whole monologue, like a letter about it all.

I sent some lyrics that I had and he worked with that to carve it into something really magical. I do write lyrics and I did on ‘California’ but I don’t necessarily feel I enjoy writing lyrics. I had it planted in my head who I wanted to work with on this album, writing with Ollie was my priority. He’s my brother, we’re great friends now as a result of all of this.

When you work with somebody else in that co-writing situation, it stops you from being self-indulgent. It’s easy for me to write about my life but you can end up with a very myopic “ME-ME-ME” view and you write in a way that isn’t open for others to make it their own experience. The songs I don’t really relate to are the ones which have been written in a way that are from a very selfish viewpoint. The songs which are a little bit more ambiguously open-ended, they’re the ones where I see myself in the song.

Oh the next card, and it’s an ARP Odyssey…

I’ve never played an ARP Odyssey but recently, I downloaded Daniel Miller’s sample pack full of drum sounds for Ableton created on his ARP 2600 which was previously owned by Elton John! I’m looking ahead to what I want to do next, and I’m conceiving all of the drums being made on analogue synthesizers so I’m collecting sounds for that.

Vince Clarke also did a sample pack, he is the king for that, especially on the ‘Chorus’ album and the ‘Abba-esque’ EP, those type of drums which don’t sound drum machiney!

What sort of an album would you have made in 1981?

I would probably be somewhere between PINK FLOYD and VISAGE!! I would definitely have done something a bit like Jean-Michael and THE HUMAN LEAGUE with the direction they were going in from ‘Travelogue’ to ‘Dare’.

You make a statement with the ‘Odyssey’ title track that something different is coming with that ‘Rachel’s Song’ homage meeting PINK FLOYD acoustic guitar!

Yeah, you’re probably right… I did a similar vibe on ‘Introspect’ with an intro track as a way of saying “here’s the album… it’s sad but triumphant”. There’s definitely a ‘Blade Runner’ thing going on and later in the track, there’s a Vangelis CS80 brassy thing, I love a lot of his mid-80s stuff like ‘The Mask’ and there’s one that he did called ‘City’ which is all Korg M1, it’s amazing!

‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ is an uptempo dance number but reflected on your youth in Glasgow, like a cry for help?

Absolutely, it’s about the lack of connection and looking for it, the way you get lost in vices in order to look for that connection. For me specifically, that story is in the 90s, I was in my mid-teens and got myself into drug culture, it was a big thing where I came from and with the older boys who I hung about with, you went down that rabbit hole of smoking weed and taking ecstasy, that song is about getting into that. At the end of the song, it’s then a cry for help to get me out of this because I’d taken it too far.

It’s interesting because I had done a version of that track and sent it to a good friend of mine, Jon Campbell from THE TIME FRQUENCY who had a string of Top10 hits. He said “this mix sounds great but it’s too much like me! Gimme a week, I’m gonna do you a mix, I don’t normally do this but I love the song”. So he sent me a mix and it captures a certain magic, so that’s the one I use for album… he quipped “my mix sounds like you!” *laughs*

‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ is very relatable to now…

Yeah, it’s got many layers and relatable to people at home, not being able to socialise or connect, that genuine experience.

Having Hayley Stewart aka Mecha Maiko on backing vocals gives the song an eerie feeling to too?

Yes, I had a call with her and Dana Jean Phoenix to be part of the album as I wanted a very female centric backing harmony sound to it like PET SHOP BOYS have on their early album ‘Please’. I always feel that contrast of a male lead vocal with female backing vocals adds a certain flavour. NEW ORDER did it on ‘World’ as well, it’s more poignant, it makes more of an impact on records, especially with guys like Neil Tennant or Neil Tennant who are not the greatest singers. So Hayley brings that ghostly ethereal sound which is why I used her on ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’.

I didn’t ask Dana to be on that track because she sounds better on stuff like ‘Babylon’ and ‘Glasgow Song’ because she has the more diva soulful voice, in your face whereas Hayley is more textural so she’s more prominent on ‘Queen Of Hearts’. They are both just incredible singers.

The video for ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ has bits that are like ‘Addicted To Love’ for the synthwave generation, is that one girl or twins?

Haha, that’s the magic of television! We filmed that at Neon Demon studios in Toronto, the girl we hired Murphy, and we said to her ‘Addicted To Love’ as a reference and also MGMT ‘Little Dark Age. So we had a split screen with two Murphy’s who were different, one with a keytar and one with a keyboard plus there are some other scenes. She was fantastic, it was filmed over an 8 hour day and she spent most of the time getting done in make-up by Amy Harper, and she was a one-take wonder! Cool, next!

Our next card is a Korg 800DV…

Out of all the Korg synthesizers, the one I liked most was the M1. I know it’s not analogue per-se, but it was a great workstation. They were still selling that synth 10 years on because it was so good, it was the first that was famous for the presets. You had the classic M1 piano that was on all those house records like BLACK BOX ‘Ride On Time’ and “Universe” was the other one, a gorgeous choir patch with fluttery things in the background. I’ve used a lot of M1 sounds on the new album.

I used to own a Wavestation which was really nice too… Korg have done some nice stuff, I see Behringer have released their reimagined version of the PolySix; the PolySix is that classic synthwave based sound you hear on all those records that everyone is chugging out, it’s like “let’s get a TR707 and a PolySix bass and away we go!” *laughs*

There’s ‘Glasgow Song’, a big ballad duet with Dana Jean Phoenix that also has bagpipes and a TEARS FOR FEARS rhythm sample from ‘Shout’?

I definitely took a nod to TEARS FOR FEARS for that 100%, all of those sounds are Fairlight samples… I tracked them down and recreated it. When you listen to ‘Shout’, it’s in B flat but that actual sounds are pitched wrong! I know it works in the track but I pitch-shifted those agogô sounds to B flat and be in tune with the track, it was just an interesting realisation! I went for that same effect, even right down to the panning.

Are the bagpipes real?

Yes, I reached out to a genuine Scottish piper, Lorne MacDougall and told him I didn’t want it too crazy so that it didn’t sound like a tourist walking in Edinburgh! What you hear is what he played, he layered that up with 14 different takes and I mixed it all in to sound like a bagpipe band. I must say, that was the only decision where it could go either way, it was either going work or be really sh*t!

It’s an obnoxious instrument and very on the nose, in your face, loud and proud. Was definitely a hard one to tame. I did have some issues in the production to make it fit in the track, but I managed to find the right balance with military drums and guitar supporting. I’m glad I persevered because it packs an emotional punch which really hits the message about how home is where the heart is, no matter what you think of where you come from. You have a love / hate relationship with the place but home is always where the heart is.

‘Queen of Hearts’ offers some more uptempo fare and uses what sounds like a classic Linn Drum Computer?

Those drum sounds are from a company called F9 Audio, it’s this guy James Wiltshire of FREEMASONS who makes incredible sample packs, it was from one called Grid Trilogy. They worked so well, they have a retro sound but they’re dancey as well. The problem with a lot of retro sounds is they don’t have the low end that you want when you do dance music, the kick doesn’t have the punch which you need in a club. These drums were cutting but had the right low end.

So you were after a meatier version of the Linn sound?

Oh yeah, the pack was done so that the drums could be dropped into Ableton as the hits were done individually and you can see the processing he’s done on it, I didn’t have to do anything to them myself as he had made them sound so good. It was probably the only time when I’ve been using drum samples that I didn’t really need to do anything apart from EQ the group to tame the highs, but they were perfect.

Another card, the Octave Kitten…the same company made the Voyetra which NEW ORDER and EURYTHMICS used…

I like the Voyetra, and I know one of the presets was used on ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, the little “dit-dit, dah-dah, dit-dit” that sounds like a banjo! I have the plug-in version and I only bought it because I know Ulrich Schnauss uses it. I did nearly buy a Behringer Cat, but I bought their Pro-1 which I eventually sold to get a Deep Mind 12.

The Behringer Deep Mind 12 is their version of a Juno 106 but I think it’s better, it sounds like one but offers way more options for the unison mode for one of the oscillators in the effects section, just some of the routing options as well.

It’s been called a “Juno 106 on steroids” and even though I haven’t used it much yet, I’m gonna keep it for my live show and I will find a use for it. I mostly stay in the box when I’m recording, 95% of the time. The only synthesizers that I use for recording are an Ensoniq VFX, a MR rack and a TS10, nothing sounds like the Ensoniq range, they are the most gorgeous sounds, out this world bell tones and really ethereal pads.

‘Wake Up’ is a bit Steve Winwood? Had it been more intention to have more guitar on the album, like strummed acoustics?

I definitely wanted more acoustic guitar and electric but used in a textural way, not in a heavy blazing way. It adds a certain contrast to the synths. There’s a lot of guitar on ‘Wake Up’, that’s John Kunkel, while Derek Elliotson (who I record my vocals with) played acoustic guitar. It gave it more of a TEARS FOR FEARS ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ vibe, I just go with whatever works.

Was it a reaction to what’s going on in synthwave?

I love the synthwave scene, they’re been very amazing to me and adopted me where everywhere else, the door was closed. I’m very grateful for them rolling out the red carpet for me but my criticism of the scene comes from me wanting to protect it. It’s wonderful because of the original songs, that’s the thing and they’re dressed up in retro clothing.

But unfortunately like when a band like OASIS came along, for every OASIS there’s a CAST or a SUPERGRASS,. So for every act like THE MIDNIGHT, there’s a truckload of people who are just copying that sound and it doesn’t add anything new. It frustrating because it’s hurting the scene and the good music in not being listened to in favour of the spam posting of all this other stuff which are literally low-bar entry productions. It’s like when someone listens to TIMECOP1983 or THE MIDNIGHT, and they do the equivalent of drawing a stick man trying to be a Van Gogh, that is just sh*t! *laughs*

I would always encourage musicians to carve their own identity and never follow trends, because if there is a large contingent of people copying other people’s sounds, that in one way is good because you will stand out when you come out with something new.. whether or not that will be appreciated is another completely different matter. I think some of my choices have definitely been reactionary to the scene and I’ve avoided clichés, I never use the same presets twice in my music, I’m very careful about that.

‘Babylon’ features more strums and sax, what’s doing the solo?

The sax is Jesse Molloy who plays on THE MIDNIGHT’s records, but there’s a lot more tropical sounds on ‘Babylon’ like if Robert Palmer did a track with ENIGMA! *laughs*

The solo is all synths, I actually dug into the Roland JV1080 for that, especially the flute and Taj Mahal presets, to picture being in The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon. It’s about meeting my wife, there’s a lot of songs about her on the album. In biblical terms, Babylon was the first civilisation next to heaven, this is the closest to heaven you can get, it feels like Babylon being in this relationship.

The music is very mysterious and even the intro was a nod to the start of FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD ‘Welcome To the Pleasure Dome’, all these bird sounds and being in paradise. *laughs*

The final card and it’s a Prophet 5!

Yes, I would love to own one but for now, I’ll just have to make to with Arturia! There are some Prophet sounds on ‘Babylon’, it has that gorgeous pad sound. It was what I was saying that you can hear the difference between a Prophet 5 pad sound and a Jupiter 8, you hear that creamy, unstable oscillation like ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel ‘Mercy Street’, the records are endless… oh the Prophet is the ultimate pad sound 🙂

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Michael Oakley

‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ is available now via the usual digital platforms

‘Odyssey’ is released by NewRetroWave on 14th May 2021 in a variety of vinyl LP, minidisc, cassette and CD formats as well as digital, available direct from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/odyssey

https://www.michael-oakley.com/

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Vintage Synth Trumps is a card game by GForce that features 52 classic synthesizers

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Jon Simo and Brad A Kinnan
7th May 2021

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