Delphic "Acolyte"

It's tough to find things to say that haven't already been said (or DONE more to the point as this dance/post-punk genre snapping release demonstrates). There is no evil in this; if anything, I can safely say that if 'indie-dance' decides to take a step in a Delphic sort of direction, I wouldn't rejoice - but I'd be content at least. Personally, I think the lyrics uttered in the "This Momentary" single do more than enough to confirm the New Order influence (often denied by the band) than any amount of Peter Hook basslines present on the majority of the album can. However, where I've used the "New Order Part 2" tag to describe a whole plethora of modern upcoming British and American groups alike, the bandmembers might actually be telling the truth this time when they say they don't intend to recreate the Hacienda sound in any way - but it's happened regardless. It may be a sign of the times (good or bad) for Britain's seemingly fledging indie spectrum that currently lacks in quality.

I'm aware (having being exposed to it often enough) of Ewan Pearson's credits. Considering that recording sessions for "Acolyte" took place in his Berlin home studio, it's not difficult to perhaps envision his role as being closer to director, more-so than mere producer. Delphic are after all a young trio, and this is, after all, a debut album released at the mouth of the 'teenies' decade. So when I listen to songs such as the title track and "Red Lights", I think it would be irresonsible to not suggest that Pearson is trying to recreate the delicate 80s-esque progressive mini-tech he spearheaded (lulled?) on M83's "Saturdays=Youth". Noting the critical success of that album two years ago, this is not the dumbest idea when faced with the platform of producing the UK's "#3 hotly tipped for 2010". Spelt out, this album is not adventurous - a fact that is only regrettable because, spelt out again, you'd be forgiven for thinking you've listened to this album before. Albeit I still enjoy it (and after a few listens getting my ears around it, very much so), but it's not new.

My favourite elements of the album are any locations where alludes to minimal techno (Pearson and Delphic themselves being alleged Kompakt followers) or progressive dance structures are made obvious (both exist in abundance on Acolyte which, whilst being unencouraging to the ignorant, is its saving grace). The singles "Halcyon" and "Counterpoint" (both titles obviously, but painfully, namechecking dance monoliths Orbital and CJ Bolland respectively) seem almost throwaway and unspecial as promos, but the latter showcases such a shimmering synthline in the latter half of its duration, it's hard not to be slightly enamoured on the second listen. The only song that fails to impress on the whole album ("Doubt") is a damp corner in the cave, but thankfully it's planked on at the start and fired out early on.

What happened to Delphic's hype? They wondered into our consciousness with a great album; we applauded their live performances and their efforts and now the memory has spiritually dissolved. This album is a boldly escastising release and I'm going to be the first reviewer to have to balls to say to fans of M83 (especially "Saturdays=Youth" and even "Before the Dawn..."), "Acolyte" is ideal listening. Hell, if you like the Chemical Brothers, you will love this also. The title track, being an amazingly energetic and lengthy instrumental, is a dance epic for 2010, grandly distinct but still in tune with the rest of their output.

PRIMEZINE Issue 2 Launch - Coco Bryce/The Emmas/We Dont Mind the Weather - The HAC, 5th Mar '10

To begin the night, I have the wonder of entering the gallery to find a Lightning Bolt style set up - loudspeakers placed at corners of the room, centre amps and a drumkit in the centre on top of a rug. Out arrives the drummer with pantyhose on his face, a morphsuit Bez dancing around the action, and our frustrated guitarist wearing a Darth Maul mask. Whatever little lyrics they have are boomed out - presumably a technical fault - but very amiable when in league with their Big Black noise-rock bombast. Darth Maul has no lack of confidence in his ability nor his passion to literally run up and jump off the walls of the room. The drummer and Maul are both dressed up in Asda butcher's workgear - uniformly white coat and trousers except for one cheeky green logo above the breast-coat pocket - making for a weirdly intimidating presence. It's amazing the effect the pantyhose has on the drummer's expression - making the intense strains of his arms flailing against the percussion all the more threatening by his faceless facade. The drummer is no stranger to hammering the rims of his drums either - and its effect is warmly received. The third last track provides the one little moment where the guitarist decides to calm down, perhaps to concentrate on the dexterity ahead (or maybe to catch his breath from his writhing moments before). The song is a crowd-rock dream, stunting the predicted climaxes with sudden collapses, and a seemingly never-ending couplet of guitar strums repeated for the major part of the track. During a gap between songs, he tells one audience member whose phone is ringing to bluntly "shut up". Gladly, we take it the right way. Coco Bryce's behaviour largely contrast the usual punter's band patter - the two have barely communicated at all with the exception of two abstractly worded sentences throughout. Their gig finishes with one unending wall of noise as the band stand triumphantly still and the crowd walk off - the synthesised loop going on for at least two minutes. A hugely entertaining live performance but all too brief. Speaking to the drummer afterwards, it gladly came as no surprise that he was aware of and a fan of acts like Steve Albini's Big Black and Rapeman, not to mention the afore-mentioned Lightning Bolt of course - obvious inspirators if one were to make that sort of judgement.

I would rather say that The Emmas have chosen a name that doesn't sum up their music so easily.. but they really have. Warm; summery; beaches; girls and picnics. The opening tune "Jungle Drum" begins with an attempt at a 'heartfelt' vocal, the drummer seeming a little nervous introducing the percussive section. The harmony vocal of the chorus is a highlight, It's just a shame that the beat is not as tight as it could be to make this starter a bit more heavenly as it does garner itself an unidentified sort of potential. Their tracks seem to want to squeeze out a lovely shower of colourful guitar melodies - the bass so obviously warm as to be maybe seen as patronising but in truth, it's very sweet. Their track "Sun, Cider and a Barbeque" (the announcement of the title generating a number of cheers) begins very much like the more motivational corners of, say, the Good Shoes discography, the track again shares a beachy feel ("we'll shoot the breeze... it's a brand new day"). The debuted track "Ships and Oceans" makes great use of pedals from the outset, bringing on connotations of the better moments of psychedelic chart pop - flimsy, easy, rock trying to be endearing, but this doesn't stay for long as the tempo speeds and slows from verse to chorus. This track is the first time we get to hear the back-up vocalist sing by himself and strangely so, his voice is nowhere near as obtrusive as the lead, instead gently (and dare I say sensually) adding to the group's sound.

Being a young batch, it's a delight when the dual vocal forces convincingly duet on some tracks; nowhere more-so than on their track "Young Fools" with its "we're still young" refrain magically sticking. However, rather unexpectedly, the guitarist initially appears to be attempting an odd muted guitar solo, but he suddenly stops, reveals a party popper and the band play off the last few bars. It's a tactic that sadly didn't work despite its apparent inspiration. As they close their set, and play their gradually trademarked "Seven Baldy Neds", the bab-bab-baloo lyrics fully enforce my opinion that this group are definitely attempting a certain style of bopping hedonism (all the more invoked by their gloriously pretty namesake). All the best to the Emmas, as they're definitely a focused group and their music-playing was flawless aside from our opening hiccup.

Sadly missing We Dont Mind the Weather's opener (apostrophe absent in the name), I got sucked into the second track almost instantly. A dirtier rock styling than the Emmas, the lead vocalist has a convulated barking style. All three guitarists waltzing around the stage, truly feeling the spirit of their own tracks (the sheer delight on the face of one of the guitarists I helped direct to the nearest off-licence earlier that day!). The kickdrum is put to great use supervising the coverage of their structural bridges, whilst the other three prance and stomp on their effects pedals. A lot more playful with their instruments during the intermissions, their bassist's guitar broke within a matter of minutes - it soon became a complete nusiance with the bass's continual death, stretching out the gaps between songs too long as they sorted out their equipment. In one particular song (I'm not totally aware if the intro was a jam or not), the drummer decided to open with a very motorik beat whilst the guitarists explored the stage, every so often one member offering some riffage here and there - before finally alligning together into one very articulated moment of their perfomance, this track then launching into an uptempo plectrum smash. It doesn't spring to my mind as the first kind of music I'd rush to listen to, but their performance was definitely refreshing. I think it's the happiness, and lack of confrontation from the crowd and their uplifting name that creates this aura of eagerness for delight in the crowd. Their percussive section is a banger - on the money rhythmically, and it's a solid strong skeleton for the music they propel. Not anything new I suppose, but their onstage presence is perhaps what seperates them from other young bands of this elk that I've seen countless times before. Where other bands like this might try to seem professional, the group act like a complete shambles and still keep it up. I'm glad to say at the end of the set the bassist dropped his bass on the floor in disgust like any old moody blue should.

Unfortunately I couldn't see all the bands on the evening due to commitments later that evening and the next day (names I missed included the Schemes, the Blue Lips, and Gee and Doc from Colour Cells showcasing an acoustic set). However, the launch of Issue 3 looks set to be a hot evening - held, as always, at Irvine's humble seaside HAC, on Saturday the 3rd July. With a free DVD and copy of the magazine with every ticket; and with a number of bands playing (including a single launch for Battle for Second Place), it should prove to be a night that reaffirms Ayrshire's rock & pop talent:
http://wreckedchordrecords.co.uk/

Autechre/Russell Haswell - Sub Club, 16th Mar '10

A cultural event as any, this evening not only marked my first ever venturing into the huddled depths of Glasgow's famed Sub Club, it was also the first time I'd ever witnessed a 'noise'-categorised set (technically if Sunn O))) don't count), provided by none other than Russell Haswell - and more obviously, this was to be my first ever live experience of Autechre - the heroes who have provided great releases dear to my heart, such as "Amber", "Incunabula" and "Anvil Vapre" amongst others.

At once after hearing Russell Haswell's supposed 'cover' of Wild Planet's "Cabasa Cabasa" on the "Warp20 (Recreated) compilation", my first real excursion with his work, it remained a very clear suggestion of his general musical attitude. Consequently buying and listening to his album "Satanstornade", released on Warp, and co-produced with Masami Akita (a name I later discovered to be none other than prolific noise pump Merzbow), volume and aggression is enormously injected into the speakers and there is no denial of his allegiance to extreme electronic musics. With this mind, it could be said that I was in the fortunate position of knowing something incredibly outside the norms of a Numbers clubnight was liable to occur on the evening. Dancing our way across from Rob Hall's very danceable warm-up DJing, the crowd stood at the live stage, staring at nothing and waiting for something.

The thorn in my side is how brief Haswell's set actually was; definitely feeling like less than 30 minutes, it was a tremendous shame as the inflated bass and blasted hardware beats were unimaginably loud and engaging - so much so it even divided opinion in an Autechre-aware crowd no less. Aside from the odd comments around me ranging from "I'm off for a smoke, this guy's pish" to "man, this sound is truly alive", the audience generally stay put standing still, drenched with frenzied strobelighting - observing an empty stage bar the glimpse of Haswell crouched behind a table and obscured by the speaker. The set itself was very tight and the acidic tendencies and Roland-esque nuances in the music certainly aided it to rise above a potential unanimous spectatorial hate. The obvious similarities to Carlos Giffoni's "No Fun Acid" project sprung to mind at one point during the entertainment; a thought later echoed by Haswell's latest double album release "VALUE + BONUS" published on the No Fun label - one I intend to review in the future.

The crowd, completely removed from speech because of the sheer racket, warmly received Autechre's relentlessly unending beats - despite a concluded lack of familiarity. Firing off their set with a thudding bassdrum and gradually including malevolent thumps and squiggles, layers of rapidly placed beats sit atop cold deafening synth pads. It's like no techno I've ever heard before. Hardly acidic but still very squelchy; hardly breakcore but so fast and erratic. Under the impression that the first fifty minutes of the duration of their set (an hour) was completely improvised on the night, their live noodlings more often resembled parts of their earlier "Quaristiche" than the recent "Oversteps" they were intent on promoting with their UK tour. That would never be an issue though as I'm sure the majority of clubbers who attended (particularly those who had done their research and knew what to expect of Russell Haswell particularly) were more than likely confident that the duo wouldn't stick to the rules. One unpredictable milestone was the deafening roar from the (hitherto quietly content) crowd when shreds of the recognisable 'ilanders' was broadcast in the closing section of the set - a very strong indication that the crowd were perhaps very happy with the strange improvised future-music presented, but maybe the little party animal inside them wanted something less foreign to punctuate the performance. As impossible as it was going to happen, there were fleeting moments in the landscape where I knew if even the first thirty seconds of "Gantz Graf" were assaulted on the crowd, the place would instantly erupt. Such is the power that Autechre could verily grasp but conditionally avoid on supposed principles.

Having a certain naievity to Autechre's live presence, I was correct to assume from their exceedingly artistic (borderline pretentious) magazine interviews that the performance would not be entirely conventional. With a lot in common with Haswell, the duo's meticulous detail to sound throughout the entire set, even in a 'trying-to-dance' environment, certainly does not fail to go unnoticed. Their dedication to constantly advancing electronic music, especially by conversely matriculating over archaic technologies to discover a piece of hardware's full potential is a quality that excites their fans the most. Completely aware of their veteran status as genuine music workers, the audience let them lead the way - and rightly so. A vast amount of great music, electronic and acoustic alike, has been competently rooted in the improvisational address.

Amy Lightwave - Interview, 4th Mar '10

I'm only saying this as a matter of fact: if a bunch of Haitians didn't die, I never would have attended Fraser "Mr. C" Milroy's Haiti benefit gig and never would have had the opportunity to interview the very lovable Niall and Chris from Scottish high-school band Amy Lightwave. I really enjoyed this interview a lot. The transcript here misses out large amounts of patter and irrational humour from the actual night (including a lengthy quickfire question round at the end of the recording) so if anybody really wants a CD copy of the interview (which I recommend) I'd be very humbled and would oblige to get one to you if I'm contacted. Fraser Milroy, being a good friend and a general sound guy and all, decided to sit in on proceedings.




BP: The basics.

Chris: My name is Chris Beltran, I play guitar and I sort of sing, and my position in the band is... .. melody hunter.

Niall: Hi, my name is Niall Morris and I am 18 years old and I like everything and I want a baby. I play the bass guitar and the laptop and I am in a band and we are called Amy Lightwave.

BP: Are we missing anyone?

Fraser: I'm Jack. I am 18. Is he 18?

Niall: Yeah, he's 18.

Fraser: I am a drummer.

BP: How long have you all known each other, and when did you form your band? What do you think inspired you to make music together?

Chris: Jack and I have been friends since we were both in primary 7. We both kind of got friendly because we were both into music and we started hanging out and playing together. The past six years we've been doing our own seperate things in other bands but now we've returned as one - as a unit, where we should be.

Niall: Chris and I are from different areas in Glasgow, so we grew up with different people and played in different bands but we decided to do this together coz we're friends and we have similar tastes in music.

Chris: And coz we think Jack's a good drummer, we brought him in and that's how we started. It's kind of.. ever since I met Niall, I knew that something was going to happen eventually. I was actually introduced to him by someone else..

Niall: You were playing that acoustic gig by yourself, weren't you?

Chris: Yeah, I was playing a solo gig in Cambuslang and I was introduced to Niall. He was a bassist and our band at the time lost a bassist, so he became the replacement bassist in the end.

Niall: Green Day. We liked Green Day. We spoke a lot about Green Day. We'd both been to the same Green Day gig and we liked the same Green Day songs...

Fraser: How many times are you going to say Green Day? GREEN DAY GREEN DAY

Chris: Anyway, I'm really glad that Niall and I became good friends before we decided to be together in this band because I think the good thing about our band is that we're all really good friends. We're not just a band but a love team - a love squad, as it were.

BP: I like love squads.

Niall: I prefer team. There was always the worry that Blazin' Squad weren't a real squad.

Chris: I like the song "Flip Reverse". It's all about doing it up the arse. It's about enjoying yourself, taking things around, flipping it the other way.

BP: Fifth base, then?

Fraser: Is that what it's about? I don't have a fifth base, I go straight to fourth. No wait, I skip fourth?... Keep going please.

BP: What sort of genre of music do you consider Amy Lightwave to be?

Niall: Dirty pop. But not like in a dirty way, just in an N*SYNC sort of way. Just pop

Chris: I'd say we're kind of poppy, and some of our songs have a sort of rocky kind of...

Niall: Not really.

Chris: Well, not really but we started out thinking we would be a big rock band.

Niall: Pop. Electropop.

Chris: Lappop.

Niall: Ah, see. For a name for a genre, that's great - so we're not just a pretty face.

Fraser: Not even.

Chris: I'd say that lappop sums it up pretty well. We were hoping to say fightpop but that's too strong.

Fraser: What's fightpop?

Chris: Like Dananananakroyd, the best named Scottish band ever.

BP: My mate and I actually came up with a great genre name for them; we were in Mono and I was talking about Faust and I cringingly used the word 'krautrock' but he misheard me and thought I said 'crowd-rock' trying to be smart and play on the name 'stadium rock'. Through talking, D-Kroyd were the sort of group that conjured up an image of what this mystical crowdrock could be for us.

Chris: Well, there's elements of crowdrock in Amy Lightwave. Definitely.

Niall: To answer the question; lappop.

BP: What are your major influences musically?

Chris: I'd say Nutella. I like Nutella.

Niall: Girls. Boys. Mostly girls.

Chris: Musically, I really like the band Guillemots. Their music feels so right; music for me should feel more like that.

Niall: In terms of chords and things, Carole King and Elton John. We don't sound like them but we're influenced in terms of chord progession.

Chris: I like the Automatic too, I should say.

Niall: Carole's got nice chords, she loves the C.

Fraser: What did you say? She loves the sea?

Chris: C-chord, C-major. It's a lovely chord. She loves the sea too. Listening to seashells.

Niall: Do you think you could microphone a shell?

Fraser: That would definitely work!

Niall: Shellcore

BP: Conchmetal?

Niall: Haha, yeah! This interview's happening!

BP: Tell us about your live shows; past and future.

Chris: We've only played one but we have intentions of doing more. The one that we did was a Haiti benefit gig put on by Fraser. He's always been a bit of a hero of ours, so we're happy we got to play with someone we liked and not some shit promoter.

Fraser: Promoters ARE dicks, putting that out right now.

Niall: When we write the music we do it on our laptops, so we have to have an element of sound coming from it in our live shows. We run our instruments through a laptop onstage and our vocals through the laptop as well. It's just guitar, bass, drums and vocals pretty much.

Chris: We started out doing a lot of unnatural sounding drums and backing music; just odd things. But as the band's moved on, we've decided to use nicer sounds.

Niall: At the start, the melodies were just synthlines on the laptop.

Chris: Our newest song has some mandolin, glockenspiels. We're actually going to be recording with a marimba soon. In Jack's house.

Niall: We want to book some more gigs, and soon. We'd love to put on our own nights. We want to have it so you're not just coming along, buying a few drinks, watching your mates play, going home and thinking that was a waste of a fiver. We want to make it as cheap as possible, and we want to have a buffet. We're thinking we could make the ticket whatever price; or free if you bring a dish. What if someone brings a lasagne? Then we'll all just sit down in the intermission and have a great wee munch and make a really friendly atmosphere.

Chris: We have a lot of friends who play the typical acousticky folky sort of stuff as well so we might have them playing whilst you're having a munch because it's the perfect soundtrack. Scarborough Fair is the perfect tempo for lasagne.

BP: What do you think is the perfect food to eat along to Simon & Garfunkel?

Niall: Sandwiches.

Fraser: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme!

Chris: If you're a drummer and you maybe wanted to eat to the beat; you'd probably want some sort of crisps, like Doritos or something. Give that crunchy percussive sound.

Niall: Something really chewy?

Fraser: Chewits.

BP: I'm thinking.. pasta

Chris: Oh yeah! Pasta's a good shout. Prawn salad?

Fraser: I like prawns

BP: Me too. Oh but Niall, you're a vegetarian!

Chris: If we do gigs, we'll have to forbid people with nut allergies from coming.

BP: Why are there no hazelnuts in my chocolate sandwiches?

Fraser: It sounds like a great idea but then you walk into all the business of nut allergies, and fruit allergies.

Chris: We'll just have to live dangerously; and just do it. I went to a gig where you went in and you were given two slices of birthday cake at the door. So you'd give a fiver to get in; but you're getting over five quid back in cakeage. In all seriousness, we'd like to play King Tuts some time, before the end of this year.

Niall: People always say they want to play Barrowlands, it's King Tuts I want to play.

BP: The ultimate would be Glasgow Central

Niall: That would be rad. You could play Glasgow Central.

Fraser: You could just walk in and start playing. Would they stop you? Probably.

Chris: You could go into that lounge waiting room place. Nobody knows or goes in there.

Niall: I've got a battery pack; tell us when you want to do it and we'll do it.

Fraser: It'll be Amy Lightwave Lite?

BP: So.... who is Darius?

Fraser: I ain't dissing Darius. He's colourblind.

Niall: He was in that Superstar versus Operastar

Fraser: I wasn't aware of a 'versus' in the title.

Chris: Pavarotti would kick the shit out of everyone. Or the Go Compare guy actually, I dunno.

BP: Pavarotti's dead.

Chris: Darius is the biggest thing to come out of Bearsden. So our goal is to be bigger than Darius. Right now, me and Jack collectively are taller than him.

Fraser: I can tell you something about Darius, he used to come into Blockbuster and buy second-hand porn. True story.

BP: Is that true? That's a high-five.

Chris: He's such a cumbucket!

Fraser: That's an absolute fact. He's got a bit of money. I'm not going to say he's rich or anything but he must have a bit of money. So if you're going to buy erotica, don't buy it second-hand. It's clearly not that good if it's traded in.

BP: Maybe there's secret messages from colourblind fans.

Fraser: Fans of the song, or fans who happen to be colourblind? That's what that songs about; he wanked so much he went colourblind.

Chris: Stop talking about Darius. There'll be a press release; Amy Lightwave Determined to Destroy Darius.

Niall: Darius does google-search himself everyday in the hopes that he's that little bit more famous.

BP: Which songs do you excercise most frequently?

Niall: We've got a song called "This Love is Cool?". That's primarily our biggest tune.

Fraser: Was that the first one in the set, yeah? Not including the Lion King intro music obviously.

Chris: Yeah, it's probably our most dancey track. It was a song that Niall submitted to me and Jack. Niall wrote all of it, by himself, apart from the words and the amazing singing. He came to us with it, just under the guise that it was a little idea he'd had. But Jack and I looked at each other and we had one of those moments where we thought we definitely need to do that song. It was a special moment where we realised that Niall as a creative force on his own can actually write a belter of a tune.

Niall: Cheesey as fuck. How stupid is that?

Chris: It's not just me who writes amazing songs.

Niall: Speaking of which, Chris has written an amazing song too called "Echo Drive", and that's our other big staple. When we're going to record songs, it's going to be those two at least. We feel they're our strongest songs.

Chris: "Echo Drive" is a song about how I kind of resent being from Bearsden. You know everyone's always like "ooh Bearsden". I don't hate Bearsden coz it's shit, I hate it coz it's so good. It's not good in the way that it's enjoyable.

Niall: It's pristine. It's got that American suburb image where everything's right, everyone goes to a good school, everyone has to be a doctor.

Fraser: I really dislike this criteria you're setting up for me, because if that's the truth then I'm fucked.

Chris: I'm in sixth year at school at the moment and my friends are getting offers for uni and receiving unconditional offers for law and becoming doctors. I just want to play music and don't really mind what job I do; and some people in this world, they don't really look down on me, but you can tell that they secretly think I'm going to end up slaving in a hellhole or something.

Niall: See when you're a wee boy or a wee girl and you say "I want to be a popstar", people think that's dead cute but there's a point in your life where you decide to pack in your hopes of becoming an astronaut or becoming a pop star, and say "I want to be an accountant". Where does that come from? Why do we stop trying to do what we want to do? Why do we not believe that we can be popstars?

Chris: If you look at pictures of Lady Gaga when she was a teenager, she looked just like us, you know.

Fraser: She literally looked just like Niall now.

Chris: I think maybe half the battle with music is the full realisation that you really really want to do it. You do it because you love it. Some of my friends play musical instruments just because they happen to be really good at whatever they play.

Niall: I think the point is we want to be popstars.

Chris: Being a popstar is not something to be frowned upon. They can be guitar-slingers like us.

Niall: I think that pop charts are definitely not limited to sexy solo singers; bands like Friendly Fires have such a great sound and are probably a good example of just simple pop music. It's pop.

Chris: I love their imagery. They really deliver. They're not a band who let their fans down. We don't have fans as such now but we consider ourselves to be like that. We won't write music that we can't perform to a high standard. Pretentious rant over.

BP: Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics of your songs, and do you think these themes will change over time?

Niall: All three of us write the songs, and because we live quite far apart from each other, we choose to do it over the internet and sending mp3 files to each other then finally meeting up regularly to finish them off. But you tend to write more ballads than the rest of us, Christopher.

Chris: I'm a ballad-maker.

Niall: I tend to create more danceable numbers.

Chris: The reason I'm more inclined to write ballads is because I'm really upset most of the time. I have a guitar, and I just pick it up when I'm sad and play a D-chord and find the cosmos write the songs for me.

Niall: I write a lot of my songs on keys whilst Chris writes his on strings.

Chris: "Echo Drive" we touched on just there but "This Love is Cool?" is more about the frustration of some people always wanting to have a girlfriend, even if it's the worst thing to happen to them. In some situations, having a girlfriend will bring about a lot more bad than good but they still really want to have a girlfriend.

Niall: We think a lot about girls but Chris and I don't seem to get any ever.

Chris: We don't court anyone.

Niall: We're just really lonely.

Chris: When we're popstars, we'll be.. still lonely. There's always the argument that if we weren't lonely, we wouldn't be inspired to make music.

Niall: If we weren't lonely, we'd be more inspired to pump our girlfriends.

Chris: It's funny coz Jack's not here and he's the definite ladies man. He not the band whore as such; he's a one-woman man but he definitely loves the burds.

BP: ... Tell us about autotune.

Niall: Ermm... ... have you heard the song "Life after Love" by Cher?

BP: It's actually called "Believe", I'll have you know.

Niall: Ah right. Sorry! The point is everyone likes that song.

Chris: I'll have you know it was number one for eight weeks. Eight glorious weeks... .. I hate the autotune question.

Fraser: You do use it EXTENSIVELY.

Niall: Okay, autotune is a big part of our band because a lot of pop music is based around autotune and it's not a bad thing. It adds a good effect to the voice and we think it adds to the sound of our band as a whole and there's not many bands with a bass, guitar and drums who use autotune today. There.

Chris: I think autotune only works with certain voices. Miraculously, we all think it suits my voice very well but we've tried it with other people like Jack but it doesn't work as much. Using autotune is not as easy as some people think; there's times when recording demos where the autotune still tuned to the wrong pitch.

Niall: We do the autotune thing live. We don't mime.

Chris: It's not always like getting in tune to the right note. Sometimes you sing a note and you might be singing a little bit out but it may correct your pitch but to the wrong pitch. You still have to be a good singer; it's not an automatic easy street option.

BP: What are your rehearsals generally like?

Chris: We started off trying out in LoFi studios, which from my experience is quite friendly and social.

Fraser: BOOO!

Niall: We practise in your bedroom now quite a lot.

Chris: We practise in my bedroom, to the great joy of my family. We try to soundproof it as best as we can. The kind of no pressure environment where you can practise leisurely in your own time is great.

Niall: The main thing is in studios you pay in blocks of three hours, and you're pressured to use those three hours to make something. If we rehearse at home and nothing comes out of those sessions, then nothing comes out. You can't force new songs.

Chris: We don't have set times when we rehearse, we just do it whenever we can, usually Saturdays or Sundays. Niall and Jack both have jobs, and I'm trying to get a job. When we get together, we usually comment on how our playing is getting tighter and our songs are taking shape so it's a good dynamic.

BP: On that note, how have your songs evolved since the start?

Chris: Well, now I feel like a proper songwriter at least.

Niall: We started off making boring rock music with funny laptop samples and filters and strange sounds. We were quite heavy when we started. Personally, I think we've evolved in terms of chords - harking back to classically written pop songs so that's a big change for me.

Chris: We've become a bit more ambitious with tempo and being able to move the song structure around. One thing I always try to do is pen out a good melody that people can remember but not hate. One thing that's going to become more apparent with our new material is we are a very ambitious-sounding band - it's not going to be the usual verse/chorus/break/verse with the new stuff. We want things to sound like our personalities but still be listenable.

Niall: We never used to use percussion as much before whereas we do now.

Chris: It's a shame Jack's not hear to talk about his drumbeats but they are pretty fundamental to the band's sound. It's not just glorious sweeping chords and soulful autotune; somehow our three elements just seem to work. It seems so ridiculous when it's said, but it works for us somehow. Maybe if we put out a whole release and nobody enjoys it, we might go back to rock music. We're going to give this sound a good go because we like it so much. And I know we wrote it, but I think we would like the music we make despite that.

Niall: We all love pop music. Our music is poppy, although we don't write for the radio, we write and record music for us to like.

Chris: I used to play keyboards in a band between October and December last year. They're a good band but they're very very heavily influenced by only four bands: Flood of Red, Saosin and stuff like that. They're very good at what they do but what they do doesn't go outside those four bands and it very much doesn't reflect their personalities or the people in the band and I find that very frustrating. Obviously, they're happy doing that but I'm kind of glad that I'm doing something that I feel is me.

BP: What's the ultimate direction?

Niall: Fame and fortune. Full stop.

Chris: I'd like to be famous, but I just really like playing music. I'd love to be able to do exactly what we're doing right now but be praised for it, instead of being told to turn it down.

Niall: Right, I don't want to be rich and famous. I don't want to live in a mansion or that. I think that prospect is over nowadays what with the illegal downloading and state of the industry. If we could make enough money not to need a real job, just playing music, that would be lovely.

Chris: We have lunches quite often, and daydream about what our band might grow into, but as long as we get by, that's the important bit. But I'd love if people appreciate the music.

Niall: By the way, if anyone comes to our gigs, and has read this, don't clap if you don't like the songs. Clapping should be about praise.

BP: What advice do you have for people who want to start their own bands or music projects?

Chris: Do it.

Niall: Do what you want. If you're a wee mosher, be a wee mosher.

Fraser: Special message to moshers; fuck you.

Niall: Do whatever you want to do just make absolutely sure to make the music you want to listen to.

Chris: And for God's sake, don't fake your Scottish accent.

Niall: Just sing in your own voice. Man up.

Chris: If someone tells you you're shit, just try to make it better next time. Always strive to please people.

Fraser: Basically promoting prostitution.

BP: Strong words. People die of AIDS, you know.

Chris: We all know who died of AIDS!

Niall: Aww man, that's Mercury! That's harsh. I can't believe you said that. I feel like you've punched my dad.

Chris: I'm sorry, I love Freddy Mercury! For the benefit of the tape I held up a blow-up sex doll with a penis and Freddy Mercury's face (he actually did). Let's continue.

BP: So how do fans-to-be get a hold of your music?

Fraser: I have some of your tunes on my iPod.

Niall: Listen to Fraser's iPod!

Chris: Add Chris Beltran on Facebook and send me a message saying "I'll swap you nudes of my sister for Amy Lightwave tunes", I'll be like YEAH!

BP: Hmm... well, is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for supporting the Wave?

Niall: Fraser, for putting on that gig for us. And Tim for breaking our interview V.

Chris: You've popped our interview cherry

Fraser: You've shredded their interview hymen.

Chris: I'd also like to praise our mum and dads. Jack's mum and dad too, who are infamous for having made said Jack. Jack was shouting in the womb "I'm fucking mountain-biking once I'm out of here! I'm fucking skiing mate!" I'd also like to thank Fender.

BP: What made you choose Fender rather than someone else?

Chris: Well, I play a Fender guitar and he plays a Fender bass and Jack plays Fender drums and he's got a Fender laptop and my throat is insured by Fender.

BP: I remember. Did you not have an Orange amplifier?

Chris: I have an Orange amplifier but I don't play through it though. I have it sitting atop my actual amp just to make it look good. I went to see Girls last Saturday and the Orange amp is like infamous for its gain. Girls play a sort of ladidadee sort of strummy pop, but the last two songs in their set were like total earfucks. He turned on the gain for the first time in the whole set and literally everyone fell over, and it was such a meaty moment. Girls are a great live band.

BP: Cool man, well it was good talking to you guys.

Chris: Thanks for working with us. You're alright, Tim!

No Fxd Abode/Old Time Rebels/Goosedubbs - Pivo Pivo, 4th Mar '10

Grabbed by a poster in the Tickets Scotland box office for up and coming local rock group No Fxd Abode's debut EP launch night at Pivo Pivo, I thought I'd investigate the hype on their MySpace page. Instantly grabbed by their track "Million Different Ways" and learning of a free EP dished out with every ticket, I was in. Not knowing who was supporting until at the door, I had no opportunity to familiarise with the previous output that Goosedubbs or Old Town Rebels had to offer beforehand - so I was in the unique position of experiencing their gig with no previous expectations. In the case of Goosedubbs, five members were onstage - one vocalist, one very punky drummer and three guitarists - which certainly gave the whole performance a crowded feel but it definitely worked for them. Their music had a real RATM feel but at times they did employ an odd guitar sweeping technique, reminiscent of seagull-swishing U2. Very much trying to achieve the typical pubrock playing band's code of hook-laden penache, their efforts are least disguised on their last and strongest track; "Full Stop" delivers an interesting expanse, helped greatly by the lead singer's accented drawl 'trying-too-hard-to-be-melodic, partly failing but still very friendly' way of singing. They seemed to lack confidence onstage and were of course a little messy, but their grittiness was charming. I spoke to the singer afterwards and told him how much I loved the band's name. Perhaps humbled, he handed me a CD-R containing the band's newly recorded EP "Daylight Robbery" - sadly it's tracklisting doesn't contain "Full Stop" but I'd be happy to see it included in any of Goosedubbs' advances.

Next to the stage very quickly after were the Old Time Rebels. The four members began with an ideal opener; a jumpy instrumental with the lead singer playing his guitar with a violin bow; sadly this didn't reflect the consequent styles that were heard (although admittedly the second song was a very rhythmic grooving number). I'm under the impression that the singer was looking for more of a bolder presence in the mix but whatever the case, his nah-nah-nah vocals were lost in sound. A real shame because the percussive elements of their set, the bass and the drums being the real muscle of the machine, would have married perfectly with whatever vocals I could make out. Showing a lot more glamour to their stomp than the previous act, their tracks often opened with macho basslines - their bandname definitely matching the mood of the performance and songwriting. They're very well-rehearsed musicians, playing a type of rock that reminds me of a polite MC5 with a Glaswegian scrawny rant of a voice instead. To be faced with a cover of the Stooges' "I Wanna be Your Dog" midset (politely executed too) totally fired up that image of them again - perfectly played but lacking uniqueness or unpredictability, no true build-ups or release of energy. Their second-last track sounded very happily dirtier than previous; shamefully it was played a little out of time (perhaps a result of some of the 'WAG and lad' crowd jokingly chanting the drummer's name, ultimately throwing the poor guy's concentration). The band were definitely cohesive with one another and seemed like cool dudes - their bassist seemed considerably sociable on the smoking steps. It revealed more creative guitar use than before; this rock & roll tirade attitude they've constructed right near the end was perhaps that one thing they were lacking hitherto. The closer is a very punchy track, letting the guitar roar over the thumpy kickdrum and faded vocals, taking on a sense of grunginess to play them off.

Having spoken to their singer, drummer and manager at points in the evening, I guess my expectations for No Fxd Abode were gradually being raised over the course of the night. Their opening track was nice and catchy, but very noticeably short. As becomes the case for all their tracks in the set; the punk influence screams in NFA more-so than in any of the other acts. The band are, one should put, Glasgow as fuck. For each track, the singer Chris will opt for either a hefty local drawl or (for the ballads or more epic attempts), he actually does have the ability to hit the notes well. Discovering the singer is the sole songwriter definitely puts things into perspective - the songs have a whole 'here, man' matey blood in them. Once we're past the guy's voice, the songs really are a realm of catchy thrown together in the local village hall kind of rock, but only more intricate than that - all members paying strange attention to detail in their performance; the most exempliary of this is the sonically dominant Chris who wildly changes his vocal style between songs (even from verse to verse at times). As the adrenaline obviously kicked in and the venue was becoming genuinely packed, the bandmembers were becoming seemingly more urgent in their playing (even during their new 'slow one' to pace things down a bit). In a way, this 'on edge' feeling really showed in one particular track (which I, as per, didn't catch the name) where the punk influence gleamed through even more - the drums appropriately tribal-sounding, the vocals snarling and the guitar wailing in the corner like an injured baby. The group were really lucky to have their fans chant the letters NFA between songs, really boosting their confidence no doubt - the obvious single in the repertoire "Million Different Ways", a real highlight on the EP and their MySpace, was successfully twenty times more engrossing when pumped through a PA. Sadly I had to miss the end of the night thanks to my best mates at Stagecoach, but I had a fairly interesting time when I was there. One thing to note is that the No Fxd Abode gang, from Drumchapel (by the way!), were a lot more casually dressed than I expected from the Bunnymen-influenced pictures and videos on their site; their lead singer even wearing a very Britpop-esque tracksuit top if I remember correctly. The accented whine that Chris has opted for in his recordings will obviously polarise opinion and will remain a monstrosity for some listeners; but equally so without it, the guys don't have that special slot, that section of music to invade and make themselves different.
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Goosedubbs:
http://www.myspace.com/goosedubbs

No Fxd Abode:
http://www.myspace.com/nofxdabode09

Beat Freak - Interview, 2nd Mar '10

Imagine this kind of person: the one who truly appreciates techno like a best friend; the person who actually knows who Warp Records are; the individual who implores the glowing warmth of ancient analogue drum mechanisms. Now imagine me, moving to Dalry, a small town in the middle of the Garnock Valley, and not knowing until after five or six years of living there that this kind of person had been living alongside me all along. You can picture the immense surprise I had to the discovery that the guy who worked in the supermarket up the street had been listening to the same records as I was, and following the same gigs and clubnights simulataneously to me. It's strange to think about what would have transpired differently had I not worn my Daft Punk t-shirt when buying my morning milk, and consequently not having the drunken "are you that guy who comes in to the Co-op with that Daft Punk t-shirt?" conversation at Pressure a month or two later. If it hadn't been for that, I never would have sat in on one of Dalry's Turf Inn's techno nights and never would have become familiarised with a number of lovable local and loyal techno-pledgers - including one Chris Duncan; the fun and famous electro-noodler, collector of many a dance label record. Here, I interview him about the music he makes under the "Beat Freak" pseudonym.



BP: Begin with the basics, please.

Name: Chris Duncan. I'm 25 years old, I'm currently working as a joiner, I like to make my music, buy records and play guitar.

BP: What do you think may have inspired you to start to make electronic music?

I started making electronic music when I was 18. Before that, I played guitar through a friend - I thought "well, if he play can guitar, so can I" and got him to teach me. I tried to write some song lyrics with guitar for my beginnings, but then I got into techno and thought I could make whole tracks myself if I got into producing electronic stuff. I didn't have to try and write lyrics which I've found difficult and never really knew what to write about anyway. So basically, I acknowledged electronic music as my new direction, as it were. I didn't need anyone else there, didn't need a band or a drummer or anything. When I was 17 or 18 and getting into dance music, I did buy a set of turntables - again, like the guitar, I was frustrated learning how to DJ, so decided that nevermind playing other people's tunes, producing my own music was I wanted to do. I got a copy of a wee program, Rebirth, for the PC - it was basically like using virtual instruments onscreen. Two 303's, an 808 and 909 drum machine. Also, I learned through eJay - a very cheesey wee thing - but seriously, I learned to structure my songs, putting loops together. So that's the basis on which I taught myself how to produce a range of music.

At the time, I was young and didn't have a great computer so I was always coming up against a wall. There were obvious limits on what I could achieve. That's when I looked into getting real solid hardware. I got my first bit of hardware which was a Yamaha RM1X groovebox sequencer. It was basically everything in a box that you could want to do. I've been building my collection of hardware since; I've got a classic Roland MC202 from '83 that I'm chuffed to have got a hold of though I've not used it as much as I'd like! But recently I've had a phase where I've ditched the analogue sound and gone back to creating music with software.

BP: What's caused this?

Laziness! Not having to set up loads of cables. That's the thing; I don't have a studio, it's all done in my room. You want to keep your room tidy and don't want to have to unplug and plug stuff when you're trying not to step on your hardware. But seriously, I wanted to get more involved with the production of particular sounds and I think I can achieve this better with software. With hardware, it's difficult too, you're limited in some ways. There's only so much I could connect up. I had plenty of good synths and things but trying to connect them up and get them running live, and trying to write stuff with them, it was difficult for me to sructure them and lay them down as tracks . Whereas with software, and something like Ableton, you can see it onscreen plainly and think more about the structure of the recording as a whole. Maybe before I was just making loops and stuff, and the advantage of that over software perhaps is the ability to change and create instantly with the push of a button - when playing live especially. Ableton is something I've never used in a live setting, I've always used it for helping build structures for my songs. There's definitely pros and cons for both avenues.

BP: What sort of genre do you think your music falls under?

I feel like I should have to say 'electronica' because that bracket covers so many different things! The songs that I think are my best, that I've maybe put on the MySpace page... there's electro and techno in there. Every song's a wee bit different. The sound of my songs really depend on what happens when making them and my sort of mood at the time. I've found my best songs are probably the result of setting out to make a song with a certain techno sound, I've then messed about with it, tweaked bits here and there, and produced something very unintentional. They're the best tracks. Generally speaking, my tracks are fairly influenced by all sorts of electronic genres - though I'm bigger on electro than techno so I've always wanted to use that sort of sound, and I always try and get in my 303 acid sound in there whenever I can.

It's like some sort of identity, a funny signature, amongst all my songs - the 303 basslines. You should need to try and find something that folks will recognise you with. It also means that if you're trying to gather a collection of tracks to put onto a demo or a release, it means all the tracks have some link between them. That's not really always that important, especially in electronic music, I know - but it's nice to give listeners some one thing to identify with in all the tracks on a release.

BP: You've made demos?

Well... not demos as such. I think of my music output in terms of EPs; that comes from buying electro and techno records and stuff. You obviously get LPs on vinyl but they're more expensive and often not every track is what your looking for; you're more likely to want to spend a little less on a good EP with four or five solid tracks. I don't really have the tracks to substantiate an entire album at the moment so I'd like to stick to making EPs as you can change your style a little and have something that fits together. I've luckily got two EPs on Dedpop (netlabel) so I find it works best to send the guy there a few tracks, and what he likes I try to create other tracks to fit with and get 5 or 6 tracks on it.

BP: What made you choose the name Beat Freak, by the way? Really?

Haha yeah. I'm just plain rubbish at picking names. I think it was just one day maybe I think sometimes I'm a bit of a freak, and you know I like beats! And not all my music's quite the same so I just thought since I'm crap at picking names, I'm just going to stick with Beat Freak. Don't get me wrong, maybe it's a bit cheesy. I don't know what other people think of it as a name but nobody's said anything about it so far so I'll stick with it for the meantime. I was told that there was a pop group called the Beatfreakz, and I did think "oh no, that's too similar" but didn't know about them until after. To be honest, who cares? Haha.

BP: How do you think your music has evolved since the start?

... Not as quickly as I've liked.

BP: Well, how many years have you been doing it?

How many years?... Well, technically I've been dabbling since I was 18 so you're talking nearly 8 years. Obviously there's a huge difference between now and then, and you don't start off making full songs coz you need to learn. Definitely, the first kind of stuff I made on my RM1X, like I said, the box had everything I needed and had great effects. At a push, you could produce a whole record or a single with it but as a novice at the start, you're never going to have that knowledge or experience initially. The stuff that I've released on Dedpop not long ago, I'm very proud that I managed to make that actually. I can't believe it sometimes - so my music has come along since.

BP: I liked the stuff you put out on Dedpop. It actually reminded me of something by the likes of Orbital. Hope that makes you feel good.

Orbital? That's a great comparison there. Haha, that's really good thanks. You see some musicians can be all "my track's great so check it out". I'm a bit more modest. I'm my own worst critic. I do enjoy my music but depending who you're talking to, you're not convinced that everyone's going to like it. But then you've got some mates who are into it who obviously know I'm just a guy making some music, I'm not trying to push them into buying a record or anything like that. At times I listen to my music personally, and can think it's great, at other times you kind of get the feeling that it's too basic or nothing radical's happening. I think a problem is that when I make a song and like it, I'll listen to it and listen to it, and eventually dismiss it for a long while. It was only recently I gave that Dedpop stuff a revisit, and I think it is quite good. I'm quite pleased with it. It's that big thing; if anything's your own work, you can never tell whether it's any good or not to other people and you can feel frustrated and left asking what am I actually doing with this piece of music, you know? Also, I find that if you listen to your own stuff, because you've arranged the structure of the track and know it inside out, the different elements of the song are not surprising. You know every aspect of the track from start to finish so listening to it becomes a predictable excercise. I wonder for somebody else listening, are they the sort of person tapping along with the beats in 4/4 time, expecting the song to change after exactly 16 bars like in a lot of dance music, or are they not?

BP: I think a symptom of modern dance music is when one goes to a club or a rave, and say they're playing some sort of house music - and it's all 4/4 beats and even if you've never heard the track before, you can often pre-empt how the music might change, and know that it'll change on every 4th or 8th beat.

That can't be a completely bad thing though. You enjoy it I suppose. Some music that follows this pattern obviously becomes generic but great dance music doesn't need to be doing a lot. If you get the combination of sounds right, that's the most important part of a dance track. Well-produced sounds can make or break a track. There's a lot of music I listen to where I think "that's not actually that complex" and probably, if you tried to work out the drum track and emulate the bassline, you could do exactly what they've done or something very similar but you might never achieve the quality of the pproduction which makes the track what it is.

BP: Could you tell us a little bit about your live presence, maybe?

The first gig was through college, I played the Barfly in Glasgow and, incidently, it's probably been the busiest gig I've played at - I think 200 people. The only bad thing was that the other acts were college bands doing an assortment of covers and there was me back in the day with my little electronic RM1X box thing. Unfortunately, it's not much to look at guy sitting on the stage with a little blue box when the people come to see bands. Now, I wouldn't say the gig went great coz folk weren't actually there to see me, but I was quite happy because at the time, I'd made this song. It was inspired by Aphex Twin's "Quoth"; I'd found these kind of noisy drum sounds and I made this pounding beat with them. I was just sitting there onstage with a smile on my face, coz I'd spotted some grannies in the crowd there to see their grandson play and I'm there blasting out this mega beat for no less than five minutes so that was a very pleasing moment.

After that gig, really, my friend put on a house and techno night at the Glasgow Uni. That was quite busy actually, I knew a lot of people from my bit who went. Again, I was put on first with my little blue box, but the guy who organised it really liked my stuff and wanted me to play. That was much better in that I was playing to a dance-orientated mob. It obviously wasn't like a swish DJ set playing well-produced records, it was just me, rough and ready, with my box busting some mad basslines, haha. There was also the feeling of having all these drunk folk out on the dancefloor shouting your name; which is still a highlight to me to this day. We've tried some techno nights at the Turf Inn in Dalry after that; me and my mate organised them. Obviously all those gigs were just a bit of fun, and having only the wee machine early on, I couldn't compete with Glaswegian club DJs when trying to do live sets up there. The technology didn't allow for me to have a continuous mix so I wasn't confident enough playing alongside the standard of Glasgow club DJs I'd been seeing.

As for upcoming gigs, I will be playing at my mate's clubnight Loop at La Cheetah on Queen Street and I think I'll maybe try to play sometime in the Summer too. You're asking me about playing live and it's not always like a straight-forward repertoire of songs; I've got my loops that I've developed and I often just improvise with them and make a song on the spot out of them. A good bassline; that for me isn't groundbreaking but hearing it on a set of speakers and people who are there to have a good time and hear some cracking beats is fantastic. If you're making electronic music and your audience is reacting to that and rocking out, you're halfway there - a crucial thing if you're a live act is that you need control over your instruments. Being able to fiddle with your filters and instantly manipulating the sound, that's the best way if you want to play with the crowd - just bringing things up or toning it down to suit. It's great just to kill all the sound right down to a bassdrum briefly and then just kick it all right back. I'd really like to get back to playing live regularly if I can.

BP: What's the ultimate direction for Beat Freak?

I don't want fame. I'm being realistic here; the chances of me making a huge amount of music and cranking out a world tour out of it is not something I see happening. That first release they put out on Dedpop, it took ages and ages trying to get the mix and production just right so it is a struggle just trying to finish an EP. Something else I know from the past and trying to spend any free time I had making music, it takes a lot of effort to produce even small things. I'd be happy in my lifetime, if I could have one or two physical releases produced. Something that a DJ could buy; and someone could hear in a club. I must stress, especially in this day and age, money doesn't come into any of my decisions. If I could improve my live set, and get a few releases out, I'd felt like I achieved something. But it's just time; and I never seem to have any of it.

It's not about fame and money, especially with the type of music I'm making - it comes from the underground. I prefer it that way though; groups like Underground Resistance, all this faceless techno, they come out playing with fake names and masks. It's like a big fingers up to the masses. There's no need for a name to the music. There are instances where legendary techno artists are releasing music under unknown pseudonyms, nobody knows who's who, coz the point is about pivoting it on the music. This Top 40 mass-produced stuff, I hear it a little too often at work or college, and the fickle public around me calling it 'great music'. They don't even write the music, it might be that they can sing, maybe they can't, you don't know what the producer has had to work with. Some people have too narrow expectations of music and think that the top 40 is the only music that's acceptable. If you played anything else, they're like "that sounds weird, what are you listening to that rubbish for?" and they don't open their eyes to anything outside manufactured pop. The idea that someone can go on a reality TV show and result in a Brit award-winning album is ridiculous. There's a quote from someone recent, can't remember who exactly, that's along the lines of "when money gets involved with music, give up" coz when you're concentrating on the money in front of the music, that's unwanted. There's too many bands that have compromised for the money, and their debut sounds amazing, but their albums become commercialised and increasingly lame over their career.

BP: Your influences; rattle them off.

When I was first conscious of my love for music, it might have actually, unfortunately or maybe not unfortunately, began with Oasis. Before them though, I loved the Cranberries and I loved Donovan as they were both in my tape collection. I still love them to this day.

BP: Haha, well we all have our starter bands. I started with the Prodigy.

I'll tell you what, my first cassette tape was Prodigy. "Jilted Generation".

BP: Mine was "Fat of the Land".

Right so, I was only a little boy and I was into a few different types of music and I got "Jilted Generation" and I loved that. That was my first cassette tape, and apart from my first vinyl which was the single from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie, that was my sort of start in music awareness. Later starting secondary school, I was listening to Britpop chart stuff like Oasis, Blur, Pulp as well. That was my kind of thoughts at the time, it wasn't deep or anything - just good chart music at that time. I was more into mountain biking so I was never really in the house to listen to music. I later got into skateboarding and through skateboarding videos which always have great soundtracks, I was introduced to a sort of hip-hop phase. When I got older, about 17 or 18 when I started the guitar, I got sort of back into the indie side of music. Listening to groups like the Verve, Primal Scream, the Stone Roses and cool music like that from my mate's brother's record collection. Then of course, I heard techno, and dance music, and I'd found my sound. This mysterious futuristic element that always gets people into that sort of music had got its hold on me!

Bands like Slam and the Pressure night were the kind of names that impressioned on me nearly ten years ago. Coldcut, Slam, Richie Hawtin, Polygon Window. Those were kind of my first CDs. I went onto labels like Warp Records from there; once I found out about Polygon Window, and found out about Aphex Twin, "Come to Daddy" was another big thing. For me, that was like a standard at the time, watching the video for it and thinking wow, this is a whole new world of music. And knowing the mad video with the music, when I finally listened to the CD, track 1 is a sick, sinister thing and then going from that unhappy song to this delicate lovely track 2 "Flim" was a magic thing. That was really important to me because it showed that there was more to electronic music than just something to swing about to on the dancefloor. In my live set, Legowelt has been a huge inspiration in making want to play - seeing him several times, and hearing him onstage, playing onstage with just hardware - and going to Monox clubnights and seeing electro guys with hardware, that's maybe what pushed me onto the hardware route.

I obviously can't finish this question without Pink Floyd unmentioned, as they were probably one of the first bands I was obsessive about. I wouldn't say they've directly inspired in making music as such because it's not like I'm trying to make 70s rock and I've never thought of Pink Floyd specifically when sculpting a sound. I suppose I still do play a bit of that guitar, and I have tried to sample my guitar on tracks. I still am into alternative rock bands and now I feel like they're inspiring me somehow now, especially Mogwai, because now I'm thinking of how I could use a guitar as an instrument - but not necessarily for the classic guitar sound. I've tried my acid basslines in the past, and right now when I'm making music like that I don't feel as inspired. I think it's better to keep moving things along until you find something that's good for you with how you feel at the time.

BP: What advice do you have for people who are starting their own music projects?

Be as open as you can be at the start, don't be tied down to something specific right from the start because it might not be for you. If you've got instruments and you don't know for certain what you want to do with them; experimentation is key to finding out what's good for you. Learn how to use your instruments and make your own sounds without giving yourself a strict agenda. The DIY approach is fail-proof, because nothing is technically wrong. You can do whatever you want and I'm sure some of the greatest music of the 70s and 80s were a result of experiments and artists just doing what they wanted without restrictions. When I'm spending too much time trying to make a track sound like a specific idea, it just causes needless frustration - you should let the tracks take paths of their own. Be prepared to put in the hours and don't expect overnight success ever.

BP: Any last words?

Be creative!
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Here's a free download of Beat Freak's first release "808 Beats in my sleep":
http://dedpop.co.uk/808

And here's another free download link to his "Our World" EP (BP approved!):
http://dedpop.co.uk/018

The Beat Freak myspace page (where a number of non-EP tracks can incidently be streamed for one's listening pleasure):
http://www.myspace.com/duncanbeatfreak

Nackt Insecten "Descent"

Starting with the benevolent crunchy feedback-driven opener "The Immortal Ascended", the album as a whole is not as upfront an experience as these opening minutes may suggest. The body of the album is largely composed of, dare I say, almost non-existent dronescapes - not to say that the album isn't an endearing listen. The sheer electricity that eminates from the drones they've recorded is, to some extent, heart-warmingly subtle. Like all successful minimalism, the group gradually (slowly but surely) amplify, subtract, add and remove the tiniest of details over the course of the record - even popping a few cheeky bellrings here and there to delightful response. I'm concerned as to whether I'm meant to be terrified by their blank expressionless pieces (this mild concern brought on by track titles such as "Skulls Flapping in Black Winds of Insect Agony") because at times, especially on "Main" and the gargantuan "Because I Have a Black Heart", there's an impressive but inexplicable sense of odd homeliness.

The track "Monsoon Prayer" slightly defies this feeling however; in particular a very sparse, worrying, reverb-crafted track. There is a moment partway through the gentle structure where a clanging guitar strike disrupts the peace, to an expectedly alarming effect - for you see this albums demands concentration in order to experience its strengths properly (grudgingly, the trance-like effect sent me to sleep first time round). "Skulls Flapping..." is a bit of an odd track too - at only 2 minutes, 38 seconds, and not to say that it isn't any good, it unfortunately does feel like a mere stepping stone in the tracklist (one I think with their skill and attention to detail they've already demonstrated could easily have been developed into something more fuller or bombastic).

The two closers are the real 'black heart' and soul of the record, saving the most engrossing and exempliary avenues for last. This is where Nackt Insecten in their conceptually experimental direction get their chance to shine. "Under Silent Wings" is a fully realised source of angst, with its grungier elements and vicious sword-slashing samples, whilst "Because I have a Black Heart" has a quality build-up section, the bass subconsciously becoming ever more and more distorted. The track duration of the latter, over 19 minutes, may cause some readers to groan - particularly as it could indeed be considered a drone/ambient release - but I can trustfully commit to the opinion that "Black Heart" needs this room to work. The immense length liberties the listener with a great opportunity to reflect and react to the dominant feelings of confusion at work.

Do I sound pretentious for reviewing essentially feedback loops like it was Nirvana's "In Utero" or something? I'd like to hope not, because I genuinely feel that this record has more to offer listeners, artistically and spiritually, than appears on the surface. Like abstract literature, this sort of music is exactly what one makes of it or decides to interpret. The title "Descent" at first made my heart sink, to maybe envision that this album documented the feelings of dread and depravity one feels in an addiction or a lack of sanity, but now after listening to the album a number of times, the title probably mystifies me more than anything else. There is a lot of artistic credibility (specifically) in this album that forces me to want to revisit and immerse myself in this seemingly passionless universe - because it is I, the listener, who invents the passion when experiencing it.

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The Nackt Insecten myspace page (where they list Chou Pahrot and Philip K Dick as their influences; wahey!):
http://www.myspace.com/nacktinsecten

Link to buy "Descent" from Kovorox Sound for no more than £5:
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/NACKTINSECTENDESCENT.htm

Nackt Insecten live on the Glasgow tube!: