isolatedmix 49 - Manual

This will be the third time Jonas Munk has graced the isolatedmix series. The first, depicting the many great influences to hail from his native Denmark (isolatedmix 21 – Dreamy Sounds from Odense). The second, alongside Jason Kolb as Billow Observatory (isolatedmix 39 – Summer Memories) and now, as Manual – the very first pseudonym that led me to discover this talented and multi-faceted producer.

October just gone, Jonas released Memory and Matter, a selection of rarities and unreleased tracks that spanned his fifteen-plus-year catalogue as Manual.  It was a culmination of his perfected sound and a compilation of the many shoegaze/post-rock-esque and ambient tracks he has graced us with over the years. If you need to understand how Jonas and Manual came to be, how he pushed his sound, and how far it has come over the years, then this is it.

For many of us however, we can’t settle on the back catalogue alone to truly understand the influences behind some of our favourite Manual tracks like, Summer of Freedom, Tourmaline, Miraparque, and Blue Skied an’ clear. So we invited Jonas back one more time to illustrate the inspirations behind Manual. Jonas has kindly provided an introduction and detailed track-notes to this very special isolatedmix.

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Tracklist:

1. Two Lone Swordsmen: ”Hope We Never Surface”
2. Autechre: ”Pir”
3. Pluramon: ”Noise Academy”
4. Morgan Caney & Kamal Joory: ”Blanket”
5. Freeshca: ”Abominable Love”
6. Ulrich Schnauss: ”Einfeld”
7. Franco Falsini: ”Cold Nose pt. 3”
8. Tortoise: ”The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls”
9. Dub Tractor: ”Hum (Part 4)”
10. Sensations Fix: ”Music is Painting in the Air”
11. Durutti Column: ”Bordeaux Sequence”
12. Dif Juz: ”No Motion”
13. July Skies: ”Swallows and Swifts”
14. The Dead Texan: ”Girth Rides a (Horse)
15. Mark Isham: ”Sympathy and Acknowledgement”
16. Simple Minds: ”A Brass Band in African Chimes”
17. Roedelius: ”Veilchenwurzeln”
18. Auburn Lull: ”Shallow in Youth”
19. Ashra: ”Ocean of Tenderness”
20. Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno: ”Always Returning”

Introduction and track notes by Jonas Munk (Manual)

A couple of these tracks are recent discoveries but the vast majority of them are from records that have had a very distinct and durable influence on the Manual albums. These are some of the essential tracks.

People who have followed my work extensively will surely be able to recognize obvious traits of these sounds in my work. Which is cool. I’ve never felt it was important to maintain any sense of mystery about where ideas come from, or nurture any romantic conception of genius, for that matter – as if inspiration could appear out of nowhere. Besides, the music I’ve produced as Manual for the last 15 years has never sought to constantly reinvent itself, nor has it been my ambition to produce something strikingly original or progressive. Rather, my hope has always been that if I kept my vision long and intensely enough – if I continously starred at the same idea, only changing the angle from time to time, something personal and long-lasting would crystalize. The degree of success, at least in any conventional way, has always been secondary, maintaining the vision primary. In my view originality, at least in the traditional sense, is overrated. The focus on originality as the prime criterion for artistic quality and relevance is a cultural symptom of limited attention span, and a lack of depth. I have always had a quite limited scope for the Manual sound, always returning to a small but well defined set of ideas and sources of inspiration. And everything on this mix is something I’ve kept returning to since discovering the tracks during the last 15 years.

1. Two Lone Swordsmen: Hope We Never Surface
I got deeply into electronic music in early 1999, the result of a musical chain reaction after seeing Tortoise live at Roskilde Festival the previous summer. Looking back it wasn’t the worst time to discover Warp Records who had recently put out BOC’s Music Has the Right the Children, Autechre’s LP5 and Two Lone Swordsmen’s Stay Down, where this track is from.

2. Autechre: Pir
This track nicely captures everything they did so well back then. I was deeply into Autechre for several years and still find their 1995-2000 output hard to beat.

3. Pluramon feat. Julee Cruise: Noise Academy
It doesn’t seem that long ago that it felt like there existed vast possibilities fusing shoegaze with electronic beats and all kinds of digital processing, but for me this album represents some kind of zenith of that fusion. And yes, it’s Julee Cruise of Twin Peaks fame. Lovely track.

4. Morgan Caney & Kamal Joory: Blanket
Thomas Morr from Morr Music gave me this 7” single on one of my first trips to Berlin. Back then discovering music was such a different activity. This track made a huge impression on me and perfectly captured the sound I was aiming for back then, but didn’t fully have the expertise to execute as well yet. Just beautiful.

5. Freescha: Abominable Love
Freescha is another band I discovered early on and have kept coming back to. They create lo-fi synth-scapes that will appeal to any Boards of Canada fan but they have their own distinctively Californian vibe going. This track is from the Slower Than Church Music mini LP – a good place to start for the unacquainted.

6. Ulrich Schnauss: Einfeld
I first heard of Ulrich Schnauss visiting CCO/Baked Goods (now Boomkat) in Manchester in July 2001. We were hanging out in the office on the fourth floor, all windows open due to the intense heat (and due to everybody smoking Marlboro Lights), and Shlom (CCO co-owner) threw on a test pressing of forthcoming LP with the word Schnauss scribbled on it. Halfway through the A-side I knew this was something truly special. I’ve often wondered why the compositional and harmonic elements in electronic music – even the rather good stuff – so often verges on the banal. Ulrich is a rare exception: at the heart of his music lies an insistence on creating interesting chord progressions and compositional structures. His music, as well as his dedication, continues to be an inspiration.

7. Franco Falsini: Cold Nose pt. 3
This is quite a recent discovery. Franco Falsini made a handful of experimental space-rock albums in the seventies, under his own name as well as with Sensations Fix, that would probably have been called ”krautrock” had he originated from Germany instead of Italy. In a weird way this short piece connects perfectly with a lot of the other stuff included in this mix.

8. Tortoise: The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls
TNT must be one of the records I’ve listened to the most times ever. You can hear Tortoise in everything I’ve ever done, but the melodic aspect is probably what’s been cannibalised into the Manual albums. I also love the way they blend very different things in the mix – in this case marimbas, percussion, analog synths, dub effects and a surf-guitar inspired Fender Jazzmaster melody line. The part when the second guitar comes in halfway through the song has to be one of my all-time favourite moments. It kills me every time.

9. Dub Tractor: Hum (Part 4)
Beautiful, moody piece from one of Denmark’s finest.

10. Sensations Fix: Music is Painting in the Air
Another Falsini piece, this one from the first Sensations Fix album Fragments of Light, released in 1974. Music like this will never get old.

11. Durutti Column: Bordeaux Sequence
I simply had to include Durutti Column in this mix. I’ve always imagined the Manual albums to exist as part of an imaginary tradition, or as part of a family tree of sound – a kind of alternative historic line drawn back through the last four decades of music, bypassing most of the stuff that is normally deemed important, whatever that means. If there’s one artist I feel the Manual albums are genealogically connected to it’s Vini Reilly.

12. Dif Juz: No Motion
Much the same can be said about Dif Juz – a band that has remained in obscurity even though they have out some of the finest releases on 4AD in the label’s history and being far ahead of their time (this is from the mid-1980s!). Exceptional guitar-playing.

13. July Skies: Swallows and Swifts
July Skies, a.k.a. Anthony Harding, has built an entire style on records such as Slowdive’s Pygmalion and Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly. The beautiful calm, inwardness and melancholy on albums such as Dreaming if Spires and Where the Days Go is something very unique.

14. The Dead Texan: Girth Rides a (Horse)
As a whole this album probably isn’t among Adam Wiltzie’s (Stars of the Lid and others) finest, but this track does weird things to me each time.

15. Mark Isham: Sympathy and Acknowledgement
Mark Isham is probably best know as a trumpeter and film composer. I got into him via his work on classic David Sylvian records. He has made a couple of very nice electronic works as well, and this track comes from his 1983 album Vapor Drawings, released on Windham Hill, which is an extremely undervalued piece of electronic minimalism from that era.

16. Simple Minds: A Brass Band in African Chimes
When I was a kid Simple Minds and U2 were my favourite bands in the world. And around the time I started working on Azure Vista I got heavily into that big 1980s sound again. During my rediscovery of Simple Minds I also realized they created some amazing instrumentals along the way, where they would really dig into sound-scaping in an interesting way. This is a reworking of Shake Off the Ghosts, released as the B-side to Don’t You (Forget About Me) in 1985.

17. Roedelius: Veilchenwurzeln
Of all the great electronic music that came out of Germany throughout the 1970s the stuff that Roedelius was involved in (along with Manuel Göttsching’s projects) speaks to me the most. There’s an organic quality to his sound and a certain warmth and melancholy that still feels very timeless today.

18. Auburn Lull: Shallow in Youth
Cast From the Platform is one of my all-time favourite albums. It almost feels weird choosing just one track from it as it deserves to be listened to in its entirety. It came out in the early summer of 2004 and since I brought a mini disc (!) with this album with me around the world that summer, it still evokes images of Spain, Tokyo, California and Greece when I listen to it now. After a surf session that summer I was hanging out in Oceanside with James from Darla and Jesus from Acuarela Records, who was on holiday in California at the time. -We were talking about what a wonderful album it was and Jesus suggested we did a Manual/Auburn Lull split EP. The EP never happened but it did bring me in touch with the band and I’ve been working with Jason Kolb for the past eight years.

19. Ashra: Ocean of Tenderness
I’ve always loved Manuel Göttsching’s guitar playing, his sense of melody and the way he used those incredibly lush 1970s ”ensemble” synthesizers – a kind of instrument I cherish deeply and have used extensively myself . He’s definitely another important part of my imagined family tree.

20. Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno: Always Returning
It’s hard to think of anything more essential than Brian Eno’s, Apollo when considering music that have inspired the Manual sound.

Manual on Facebook | Bandcamp | Soundcloud

isolatedmix 48 - Gidge

Atomnation, the Berlin-based label helmed by Applescal and Guido Hollaers, has slowly but surely introduced us to an undercurrent of young burgeoning producers over the past couple of years. Recent releases from David Douglas and Gidge, have truly separated the label from the extensive world of electronica being released right now and Gidge’s debut release is a true testament to that fact.

In what was probably the longest lead-in time to receive a promo, Applescal sent me the debut album by Gidge in March this year. Passing on his excitement over the Nordic duo, it has been on repeat for me ever since. Over seven months later and Autumn Bells has finally been released to an amazing, well deserved reception.

The album flaunts with pulsating techno and a unique style of electronica, through some romantic story-lines, misty landscapes and an overall gleaming, happy vibe. Individual piano performances in I Fell In Love and beautiful trumpet solos in Norrland and Dusk create an air of mystery and an intense narrative to the entire album.

You, borrowing urban vocal influences, muddled with the pulsating beats of Huldra and straight up punches in Dusk and Fauna Pt II, bring energy and a modern taste to the album – unexpected twists and new adventures in every track. It’s the type of album that defies genres.

For their isolatedmix, Gidge do an incredible job of grounding these influences. From the urban pioneers such as Burial and James Blake, to innovators like The Field, and storytellers in Nils Frahm and Julia Kent, the mix spans many styles yet meanders an enigmatic story, much like ‘Autumn Bells‘.

Autumn Bells is available on Atomnation via Bandcamp.

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Tracklist:
01. Matti Bye – Across The Sun
02. Gidge – Norrland (Tony Karlsborn Bootleg)
03. Downliners Sekt – Eiger Dreams
04. Airhead – Shekure
05. Burial – Come Down To Us
06. Nils Frahm – Kind
07. James Blake – Pan
08. Loefah – The Goat Stare
09. Shxcxchcxsh – Entering The S-Cloud
10. Cristian Vogel – Seed Dogs
11. Christian Löffler – Young Alaska
12. Herbst9 – Mletkin
13. Eomac – I Love You, I Miss You
14. The Field – No. No…
15. Troy Gunner – Swoon
16. Bell.Gall. – Spight
17. Julia Kent – Tithonos
18. David Douglas – Moon Observations

Tracknotes by Gidge:

Matti Bye – Across The Sun
This song is pure mysticism. Matti is a genius who is able to create songs that seem drenched in mist and memories. The annoying thing about him is that he seems to be able to do this over and over and over again.

Gidge – Norrland (Tony Karlsborn Bootleg)
A bootleg remix of Norrland, sent to us by Tony Karlsborn who is also from Umeå. Makes us proud.

Downliner Sekt – Eiger Dreams
We caught these guys playing live at Sonar in Stockholm. They have a great sense of rhythm and their beats can be out of this world. Top stuff.

Airhead – Shekure
Proper banger, there’s not much more to say really.

Burial – Come Down To Us
It’s no secret that Burial has had a major influence on our music. Ludvig listened to this song almost every day going home from work last winter. You can almost hear the cold in this song. There’s these really subtle bell sounds way in the back that just sound like tiny snowflakes. Winter in northern Sweden is constantly dark, and this tune fits quite perfectly. A lifesaver.

Nils Frahm – Kind
This is how silence would sound if it could be turned into music.

James Blake – Pan
Really cool instrumental tune by Blake. He is a man of many talents, and this song is proof of that. So simple yet never boring.

Loefah – Goat Stare
Dubstep from the early days. Such quality. There’s stuff from 2014 that already sounds older than this.

Shxcxchcxsh – Entering The S-Cloud
A mystic piece by a mystic duo. Majestic in its simplicity.

Cristian Vogel – Seed Dogs
Ambitious track with one kick deeper than the other. A lot of stuff going on in a good way.

Christian Löffler – Young Alaska
A real beauty, one of many by Christian Löffler. It was a tough choice between this and “Notes”, another of his tracks that builds around a simple yet fantastic melody

Herbst9 – Mletkin
Harsh yet still very soothing soundscape

Eomac – I Love You, I Miss You
Last on “Hither, Pappy EP”, this track is far from the typical Eomac darkness, a nice contrast with its romantic two-line lyrics and playful beat.

The Field – No. No…
Repetitive in the best possible way, The Field lets his carefully produced sample-based loop go until you don’t want to not hear it over and over again. And he does this with almost all of his tracks

Troy Gunner – Swoon
A cool beat makes a cool track

Bell.Gall. – Spight
Umeå talent with an ear for for finding melodies and chord progressions you didn’t know that you wanted to hear. Featured in this mix with about one fifth of a massive noisy epos.

Julia Kent – Tithonos
A simple and beautiful cello piece.

David Douglas – Moon Observations
We close our mix with “Moon Observations” by fellow Atomnationee David Douglas. This is one you wish you’d created yourself.

Gidge on Soundcloud | Twitter | Facebook | Bandcamp

isolatedmix 47 - Leandro Fresco

I never imagined an artist doing a second isolatedmix, but then again I never imagined the series would grow this big, or that the submissions would be this good.

Leandro Fresco originally contributed to the series over two years ago in January 2012, with a selection of beautiful ambient music; including many inspirations for his productions on Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series. Similar to last time, Leandro deals no complexity this time around, and serves up the perfect ambient mixtape. No thrills, just pure love and inspiration from his hometown of Buenos Aires.

Featuring familiar faces such as, Solar Fields, Markus Guentner, Marsen Jules, Loscil, The KLF and bvdub, we shouldn’t forget that there’s millions of people out there that haven’t heard this type of music, and this kind of mix is the perfect introduction for those unlucky souls who aren’t lucky enough to experience this genre of music we have all come to love.

Lookout for more Leandro Fresco productions in the near future and give his previous isolatedmix a spin here.

“Every time I intend to do a mix of these features, my purpose is the same: to build a journey, be the most artificial and emotional as possible and to have the music lead us to a different and maybe strange place. With so many good artists and good music, it is easy to achieve. I hope you enjoy this new mix, as much as enjoyed doing it. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, I want to send a greeting to all listeners, and to A Strangely Isolated Place and all colleagues for the music!” – Leandro Fresco.

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Tracklist:

01. Murcof – Ooort + Cosmos 2
02. Boards of Canada – Telepath
03. Ulf Lohman – PCC
04. Moshimoss – Travis
05. Jacques Lu Cont – Palindrome
06. Ocoeur – Memento
07. Maps & Diagrams – Ukiyo -e
08. Another fine day – Moving in Stillness
09. Markus Guentner – Shadows Of The City
10. Solar Fields – Sky Trees + Patterns
11. Marsen Jules – The Philosophers Trap
12. Loscil – Charlie
13. The KLF – Six hours to Louisiana, black coffee going cold
14. Maceo Plex – Conjure Balearia
15. The KLF – Dream team in Lake Jackson
16. Bill Laswell – The Heathen Dub
17. Bvdub – Your Loyalty Lies Long Forgotten
18. Ocoeur – Fusion
19. Melorman – Over The Ocean
20. Bochum Welt – La Nuit

Leandro Fresco | isolatedmix 24 | Facebook | Twitter 

isolatedmix 46 - The Green Kingdom

Like a consistent undercurrent, there’s some artists that seem to have been around for years, cropping up with beautiful releases and never failing to please, never straying too far from their craft and consistently earning respect from likeminded producers and listeners. Michael Cottone is one of them. Hailing from Detroit, he dig deeps to find the beautiful textures and sounds of ambient music, sometimes straying into the more dubbier stuff, but always rooted in the softly-softly, dreamy approach we love here at ASIP.

With releases on notorious labels such as Tench, SEM (now retired) and more recently Dronarivm, Michael represents an ever evolving yet timeless genre of music that is designed for escapism, further more described by himself as “optimistic nostalgia”. You’ll find elements of shoegaze, drone, dub, and heavy processing throughout his catalogue, with a desire to “blur the lines between soundscape and structure”. Michael’s latest album ‘Expanses‘ and his previous, ‘Dustloops’ epitomise this approach, with for example, melodic downtempo tracks such as ‘On Golden Swamp’ sitting comfortably next to the processed dubby ambient sounds in ‘Green Being’.

As you can imagine, his influences and his isolatedmix could’ve attempted to summarise his many influences styles and approaches, but instead Michael has chosen to focus on the more ambient side to his music. Those familar with these artists will already be able to feel the warmth and grain in this mix – a homage to the many ambient artists out there that take good care in wrapping you in comforting music.

“This is my take on an ambient mix, although it’s not all purely ambient in the traditional sense. What most of these pieces probably have in common is a certain timeless sound. I love music that has a textural, almost tactile – some grit and dirt. What would it sound like if you buried some of your favorite vinyl, dug it up after 50 years and played it? In my opinion, there is no better way to make something timeless than to remove it from the present, both in terms of genre and time period” – The Green Kingdom.

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Tracklist:

01. Stars of the Lid – Gasfarming
02. The Humble Bee – Other Sleepers
03. John Foxx & Harold Budd – Sunlit Silhouette
04. D_Rradio – Still In A Storm
05. Pawn – Entrance-Stairs
06. The Remote Viewer – Take Your Lights With You
07. Paavoharju – Ursulan Uni
08. ISAN – Cinnabar
09. David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto – World Citizen (Taylor Deupree remix)
10. Skyphone – Dream Tree Lemurs
11. Auburn Lull – Snowtongue [Dub 1_KILN Rebuild]
12. Foxes in Fiction – Static Cults
13. Jan Jelinek – Moiré (Piano & Organ)
14. Andy Stott – New Ground
15. Triola – Das Wunder Der Kulperhutte
16. Pye Corner Audio – Nostalgia Pills

The Green Kingdom Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud

isolatedmix 45 - ASC

Despite being one of my favourite albums from last year, I never actually got around to writing about ASC’s ‘Time Heals All’. Released on Silent Season, it cemented the label as one of the best out there for the year, and firmly assured ASC as a class act – not only under his more familiar drum’n bass guise, but with these new ventures into deep, atmospheric ambient soundscapes.

2014 sees James Clements revisit this approach. ‘Truth Be Told’ has already sold-out in physical formats, with a digital release set for June 1st [available here] – something most ambient artists can only dream of in today’s industry. But, if you’ve laid ears on this release already, or indeed any of his previous on Silent Season, this success won’t come as a surprise.

‘Truth Be Told’ is James’ third full-ambient release and his third on Canadian based label Silent Season. An extension of his previous sound, it’s another dream-like album packed full of textures, sound design and vivid journeys. An extension of ‘Time Heals All’ (2013), the album is tailored for the ethereal escapist, diving deep, and shimmering beautifully across nine tracks.

It’s hard to pick any moments from the album or indeed talk through it track-by-track, as it sits beautifully as one piece – something i’m sure James was intending. You quickly draw comparisons with his influences from bvdub, but here, witnessed through more attention to detail as opposed to the building, progressive swathes of pads Brock is known for. Instead of 15-minute euphoria, you’re treated to tiny echo-ing detail, bouncing around your head like you’re walking through the main hall of a desolate, grand 19th century building. Small creaks, echoes, washes of atmosphere and tiny bells adorn a purposeful journey, as you gently stroll in slow motion, half-edged, taking in the charm of the sounds surrounding you.

The album glides through moods swiftly and unnoticed. A gentle, nonchalant first track ”Some Other Life’ is a perfect setting for what’s to follow, never quite divulging any melody and tinkering at the sounds you’ll be treated to throughout the journey. By track four, ‘Hall Of The Gods’, the atmosphere is tense, and the walk through desolate halls has turned into an expansive chamber full of history and fear. What’s apparent through this album, is that James has a keen sense for tension, moments and vividness – perhaps evident by his recent work on soundtracks as detailed in the interview below.

By track nine, you’ve been lulled into the depths of ASC’s magic and ‘The Certainty of Tides’ capitalises on his expansive synth-work, sitting neatly alongside complimentary washes and sounds adorning the vivid distanced hills. It’s the kind of work that lets you sit back and watch the world go by – the rolling clouds, the gentle sway of forests and the thought of the intricacies involved in both of natures wonders. An appreciation of the epic and a respect for the details involved seems to be the theme…. sit back and let it wash over you, or dive head-first into the world that ASC has created.

Truth be Told is available on Silent Season June 1st.

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I was lucky enough to have a chat with James over email, as well as get an exclusive mix as part of the isolatedmix series. This is the first isolatedmix without a tracklist, but with sacrifice comes great pleasure – it’s a mix packed full of new material, exclusives and work that James has only just finished this week. An exciting time for him, for his label, and his new production ventures – an indeed a great pleasure for me to host such an amazing producer on the site, and as part of the isolatedmix series.

Hello James, what are you up to as you answer my millions of forthcoming questions? Anything exciting?

ASC: I’m taking a break from working on music for an independent sci-fi film score. I had a little break after the LP but I’m never one to rest on my laurels, so I usually move on to the next project pretty quick. I find this helps me to stay motivated.

As a fellow English export in the USA now, I’m interested to hear how your move come about – was it music related?

ASC: Kind of. I was playing a gig in San Francisco and I met my now wife up there. I decided to pack up and move to San Diego and give it try. 10 years later, I’m still here, so it paid off.

What do you enjoy about San Diego? Does it have a decent music scene?

ASC: To be honest, the music scene in San Diego is pretty poor. Me and a few friends ran a night for about a year, called 170SD. It was to showcase the music I was pushing with Autonomic and Auxiliary. There was a small core of people who loved it, but for the most part, people never took the chance and it never caught on, so we decided to put an end to it. I love the city itself though. Life here is very laidback and that suits me a lot. I’d much prefer that to a decent music scene, as I can always travel up to LA to catch most names I have any interest in seeing.

I think it was your Resident Advisor mix that introduced me to you. I remember them using the term ‘Autonomic’ which was brand new to me at the time. Can you tell us the background to that sound?

ASC: I look back on that mix with fond memories too. It was a great showcase for the music that was happening at that time. Autonomic was a name given to what we were doing. I think Damon from Instra:mental came up with it. Anyway, yeah those guys and dBridge teamed up and started focusing on a fresh style of music, loosely associated to drum & bass. I say loosely, as it we used the framework for drum & bass, but mainly at half-tempo, but the music was influenced from 80’s synth stuff and 90’s IDM, also stuff like Kraftwerk, Drexciya etc. I’d been talking to Instra for a while and they were into what I was doing too, so I ended up working closely with them for Autonomic and recording exclusively for their Nonplus label for the duration of Autonomic. It was an exciting time for music.

It was quite exciting for me to hear something completely new at the time. When was the last time that happened to you?

ASC: I guess it kind of did with Autonomic, but since I was part of creating that sound, it never felt ‘new’ in the sense of being a listener and hearing something you had no idea existed for the first time. I think the last time that happened actually was when I heard of Chain Reaction and what Basic Channel were doing with Rhythm & Sound etc. Recently catching Voices From The Lake play a live PA in Los Angeles was a special night.

I saw them up in Seattle a few months back. Probably the best party I’ve been to for years. Are you still one for the club scene or do you keep it on the down-low now? Anyone else you’ve caught recently who blew you away?

ASC: Every now and then. If it’s someone I haven’t seen before or someone that I’m really into then I’ll usually go out or even travel up to Los Angeles to catch a show. For the most part, I prefer the quiet life and don’t go out too much these days.

You’re also synonymous with ambient music as much as the ‘Autonomic’ sound. Has ambient always played a big part in your life or is it a more recent thing?

ASC: It’s always been with me since day one. I’d gravitate naturally to the more laidback tracks and more atmospheric music and found that to be what I’d look for. I recall the first ambient track I heard was by Moby, track 4 on the Move single. That was definitely the gateway into ambient and experimental music for me. I ended up buying Moby’s Ambient LP in 1993 and being blown away by it. First time I’d ever heard this sort of music in a long player format. A year later, Global Communication released 76:14 and that killed me. Still does to this day.

So is that how you got into this type of music? What’s your production background?

ASC: I’m self-taught for the most part. I studied piano and French horn in school for a few years, but at about 12-13 years of age, I’d got heavily into the hardcore/breakbeat/rave scene that was happening all over the UK. This would have been around about 1992-1993, so yeah, I’m showing my age now! Around this time, me and few friends all started messing with tracker software on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. I had a 1040 STE and my friend had the Amiga 500+. There were a few shareware programs floating about called Protracker (Amiga) and Noisetracker (ST). We’d sample all sorts and just try and work out how to put together loops at first. Eventually, we started making full ‘tracks’. I use the term loosely, as back then, we had no real grasp of it and were just messing around. I had this cheap sampler for my ST which you plugged into one of the side ports. The quality was so crap, but I was in awe of it back then. It just felt so exciting to be able to record samples and then put them into my own compositions. After that, I picked up a program called Trax for the ST, which was a very crude early Cubase clone, from what I recall. I started to DJ on pirate radio stations with my friend Chris and we’d spend hours dissecting the music we loved and trying to recreate ideas on our computers. I was hooked from here on and I knew it was going to be a huge part of my life.

How would you describe your productions to anyone new to your music?

ASC: That’s a really tough question to answer, as I’m constantly evolving from track to track. I’d say the emphasis is most definitely on atmosphere and usually more darker/melancholy than uplifting. I’m a bit of an emo in that respect! I prefer the sad heart-wrenching strings and pads to the ones that make people smile.

You’ve worked with some amazing artists these past few years – two of which are big heroes of mine (Ulrich Schnauss and bvdub). How did these partnerships come about?

ASC: I was into Ulrich since his first album on CCO. That really struck a chord with me, especially Nobody’s Home and Molfsee. He contacted me out of the blue one day on Facebook and wanted to buy some spare vinyl I had left over from an old drum & bass label I used to run, called Covert Operations. It turned out he was a fan of my music, which really made me happy and we struck up a good friendship. We kept in touch and decided that we’d work on some music together at some point and that’s how the 77 EP on Auxiliary came about. That EP was so effortless for both of us too. All the tracks just seemed to come together with no problems. Everything we both did worked first time and the tracks that came out are pretty much the first takes, give or take a few arrangement tweaks. We’ve talked about doing an LP together at some stage, but it’s about having the time to fit in the work that we’d have to undertake for a big project like that. We’ll see what happens!

Brock did this mix for mnmlssgs called Waiting For The World To Go By, which still, to this day, is my fave ambient mix by anyone ever. I’d met Chris from mnmlssgs while I was in Tokyo for a few gigs and we got to talking about it. He said he’d put me in touch with Brock via email, so we got to chatting pretty much on a daily basis. We started sharing a lot of music with each other and both said it would be cool to see what happens if we collaborated. I’d just started up the Symbol series with Auxiliary and thought it would be a the perfect outlet. Again, with that release, it all came about without any effort. I think that’s what happens when you get two like-minded producers with the same common goal. My work with Sam KDC also falls into this category [ASC + bvdub – Symbol #2]

I remember that mix. Stunner. Would playing live with any of these guys ever interest you?

ASC: Well, me and Ulrich did chat about performing live together when he is over here next, but again, the plan was to try and finish more material first, so we’d have more music to choose from, rather than the solitary four tracks we’ve done together so far. Again, it’s just timing and both of us are busy. It looks like the stars need to align for that to happen.

What about your relationship with Silent Season? Did you always have an ambient album in mind when you started producing?

ASC: That came about via Russell, who runs the Labyrinth festival in Japan. I’d met him playing in Tokyo also. Chris had asked me to play an ambient set at the mnmlssgs Sound Garden party they threw at Orbit in Sangenjaya. I’d played tracks from The Light That Burns Twice As Bright and the first disc of Time Heals All. Russell suggested I get in touch with Silent Season, as it would be a perfect fit for my music. Chris then put me in touch with Jamie and we’ve been working together ever since.

As for having an ambient LP in mind, not really. It was only when speaking to Brock and he was surprised that I’d never really written beatless ambient music before, so his encouragement and pushing me to do it was what really got me started. His LP White Clouds Drift On and On influenced me a great deal in terms of composition and was a good reference point for some of the early experiments I did.

‘The Light That burns Twice as Bright’ and ‘Time Heals All’ both had some rave reviews. Were you happy with how they went? And did you know you’d have another on the horizon this soon?

ASC: Oh totally. I think for people who bought both, you can definitely hear the progression from one album to the next, which I feel is important. I think as soon as Time Heals All was out and it started getting great reviews, I was already planning Truth Be Told in my mind. Like I said earlier, I never just sit back and rest on my laurels. My work ethic is such that I want to get my teeth into whatever’s next instantly, so I started to write down ideas in a notepad about ideas and stuff – most of which is nonsense if you were to see it.

What’s the idea behind your latest album ‘Truth Be Told’?

ASC: It’s a follow on from Time Heals All. A true spiritual successor and continuation of the themes from that album. I was on such a roll with Time Heals All, that it could have easily been a 3 x CD album, but I decided to curb my enthusiasm on that, because a double CD LP is more than enough for most people and perhaps too much for some. Truth Be Told picks up where that left off, with a mixture of the vibes from both discs.

So do you have a bunch of tracks still waiting to go on another release? Or do you discard them for not making the cut?

ASC: I usually start fresh with any project. If I have tracks left over, that’s what they are – leftovers. They didn’t make the cut for one reason or another, so I’ve never liked the idea of tracks that weren’t good enough in my mind, forming the basis of a new album. Incidentally, the first track on the mix is a leftover from Truth Be Told. It’s not a particularly bad track, but it just didn’t fit with the vibe of the album, so it got left out.

Can you give us an idea of how you approach your ambient albums, both in terms of the techniques you use and equipment?

ASC: It’s hard to put into words. A lot of my planning and approach for this is just floating around in my head and only makes sense when I sit down in the studio and let it all flow out. My workflow and techniques for the ambient stuff are a bit different to the more beat-laden music I write. I tend to create a lot of the pads from my synths, run them through effects units and then record them down to samples. Once I have amassed a collection of tones and other things, like background FX, field recordings etc, then I start to layer samples, adding and subtracting until the overall sound is similar to the original vision I had. I don’t think I’ve ever wrote a track that has matched the original idea I had though, as I constantly making changes, mistakes, trying other things as one sound sparks another idea etc.

Do you ever stray into unfamiliar territory? Music you never thought you’d make? Or do you try stick to a ‘style’?

ASC: Quite often. I think anything is unfamiliar territory until you’ve tried it. Over the years, I’ve written Drum & Bass, House, Techno, Electro, Ambient, IDM, Experimental/Abstract and stuff that I can’t begin to categorise. These days, I tend to stick to 3 styles, which is Ambient, Techno and whatever people want to call the Auxiliary half-tempo stuff, since it’s kinda nameless genre-wise.

As the man behind the infamous Auxiliary label, i’d love to get to know it a bit more. I’m surprised at how relentless Auxiliary releases are – you must be busy! How are you juggling it all?

ASC: I’ve slowed it down a lot this year. We’ve only done one CD release and one digital release, which was just a compilation of 3 previously vinyl-only releases. The last few years have been pretty relentless, but that’s due to the amount of insanely amazing music I had lined up by the artists involved. Going back to what I said about San Diego having a poor music scene, this is kind of a blessing in disguise, in the fact it means I have a lot more time to plan releases and juggle my own personal production work too.

And as a purveyor of finely coloured vinyl releases why do you continue this theme on the label (i know it’s expensive!) Do you see a real ‘collector’ trait with auxiliary fans?

ASC: Auxiliary was born out of the Autonomic scene and up until release phase two of the label, from 007 onwards, we’ve become our own entity. It’s gone from being on the cusp of what you could class as DJ music, to appealing just to vinyl lovers and collectors now. I think the coloured vinyl became a selling point at some stage. Labels like mine and Samurai were really doing some interesting combinations and people were reacting to it. I think it’s become very common place now and perhaps not as important. Keeping the cost down and providing the music on vinyl is the main thing. Recently, I’ve been seeing labels charging a LOT of money for say a 2 x 12″ EP and saying it’s because it’s coloured/clear mix. I know as a consumer, if I had the choice between a regular priced vinyl or the same release on coloured vinyl for 4 times the price, I’d just go for the black.

I know what you mean. I tried keeping the cost of ‘Uncharted Places’ down as much as possible, but I think people appreciated the transparent vinyl – it added to the overall aesthetic (I think anyway) I own quite a few of the colored vinyl from the ‘Symbol Series – what was the idea behind this and why did it stop?

ASC: The Symbol series was something I set up to encourage the artists I was working with for Auxiliary to focus less on DJ friendly music and stop worrying about how it would sound on a dancefloor. It was any anything-goes approach in some ways, as long as it was deep and emotional. In many ways, it was the blueprint for what the label has become now. It stopped because from a design aspect, I’d never envisioned it going beyond number 9, as I didn’t think a double digit number looked right in the design.

Wow, you hold yourself to some high standards!! So what does the future look like for the label?

ASC: The future is more about the core of the label, mainly the artists that make Auxiliary what it is. It’ll focus mainly on music by myself, Sam KDC, Synth Sense and Method One. Central Industrial and Vaccine are also key figures too, but have other commitments, so they aren’t nearly as prolific as the aforementioned artists. The future of the label is to continue doing what we do really, as there’s no other label that sounds like us, or can provide what we do and that’s important for our identity we feel.

How do you feel about running a label in today’s music industry? Do you still see them as a valuable asset despite the ability for artists to ‘do it alone’? What do you think is Auxiliary’s strongest appeal as a label?

ASC: It’s certainly a tough task, especially for the more smaller specialised niche labels, such as Auxiliary, but ultimately, it’s a still a very rewarding experience. I think labels are still important as it’s a quality control filter. Anyone can just release anything these days, especially digitally. A label is important in curating a style, a voice, a vision. When a consumer buys into that and becomes a fan, then there’s a special bond, as the label becomes important to them, almost as much as the music in a way.

So what’s next? And what’s in the future for you as an artist?

ASC: We’ve got a Sam KDC single up next, which is gonna shock a lot of people, as it’s such a different sound for Sam. It’s some of my favourite stuff he’s done though, so I’m eager to see what sort of reaction it gets. It’s definitely a darker sound for Sam, but still all the magical hallmarks of his sound. After that, we’ve got a full length ambient LP from Sam also, as well as a 12″ from Synth Sense and a bunch of other things up in the air. As for me, I’m working on a new LP for Samurai at the moment, which is nearly done. There’s also another 12″ for Samurai’s vinyl-only imprint, Horo. I think both will see a release some time this year. Other than that, I’ve been working on a film score I’m wrapping up at the moment and I’ve also got another one which I’m waiting to start on very soon. I think that’s where my future as an artist lies, or at least, that’s what I’d like to be doing more of from now on.

I think that’d be one of my dream jobs. What is it you enjoy about doing film scores?

ASC: Putting music to visuals ultimately. Being inspired by a good picture that really brings out the best in your ability is something that is truly enjoyable to me. It’s also a very different way of working for me. After 18 years of writing music in my own way, my own routines and time frames, writing to someone else’s specifications and deadlines is a welcoming challenge.

What are some of your favourite scores?

ASC: Clint Mansell – The Fountain & Moon, Vangelis – Blade Runner, Thomas Newman – American Beauty & The Shawshank Redemption, Jon Brion – Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Cliff Martinez – Solaris, Wicker Park & Traffic, Plaid – Tekkonkinkreet, Graeme Revell – Aeon Flux, Dustin O’Halloran – Breathe In.

Lastly, can you tell is a little about your isolatedmix, how it was put together and the idea behind it?

ASC: It’s a really mixed bag, starting with some ambient stuff, then it gets a little weird and experimental, a bit dark, then transitions into the Auxiliary sound near the end. It’s a showcase about what my musical ethos is really. I put it together digitally in the studio in pretty much the same way I do the Auxcasts and it features a bunch of stuff by me, Synth Sense and Sam KDC.

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