Ever found yourself in a situation where you would like to make some music, but you also kinda feel lazy and want to take a nap? Well gwEm here makes lots of music, develops free music production software for both Atari and PC, plays live all over Europe, takes part in a record label/art collective, and he also has a daily job.
So how does he do all that? Well, we talked about that in the following interview, along with a whole bunch of other stuff, from compression to aliens, Flying V’s to groupies… it’s all here.
To set the mood before you start reading, you may play the track below… it’s from gwEm’s latest release with Counter Reset, titled ‘Live From Hell‘, under the 8bitpeoples label…
gwEm and Counter Reset – Golden Years Over
http://youtu.be/3Q2MZnSHc-I
… ok, let’s go interview!
bp: So gwEm, are you a bedroom producer?
gwEm: Yes, i am absolutely a bedroom producer. And also an office producer, and an airport producer. These are the main locations i work on my tracks.
bp: Hah, so you’ve basically expanded your bedroom studio a little, right?
gwEm: That’s true in a way. Some things i have to do at home still, for example recording vocals and guitar parts. But in fact, I could do this on the move too… I just didn’t so far.
bp: Is there a favorite piece of hardware in your studio? Not the airport studio, the bedroom one. Something you couldn’t possibly live without?
gwEm: There’s so much of it… My laptop and microphone are naturally essentials! But looking at fun things, perhaps i pick my SansAmp pedal.
bp: If you had an awesome power which you could use only once in your lifetime… the power to acquire one single piece of hardware equipment. What would you waste it on?
gwEm: Oh shit! Well, then I have to pick something ridiculous and unneeded. I choose a very old Gibson Flying V, from the 1970’s.
bp: What would you use to record it? What is your favorite daw?
gwEm: Absolutely Ableton Live :). But I’m not using it for recording actually. I have a Zoom multitracker, an MRS8. It records on SD cards and then I import the recordings into Ableton. I don’t quite trust USB sound cards, after some bad experiences early on. There was latency problems, audio cracks and so on. It took the fun away. If you do an awesome take, and it didn’t work, that’s unacceptable really. But maybe things got better with USB audio devices inbetween.
bp: Have the aliens visited our planet?
gwEm: Yes, I think they visited. You can see their infuence here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Raiders.
bp: They’re turning us into food and selling it to us? That’s unacceptable.
gwEm: Or perhaps it is their futuristic waste, which is why it’s so cheap.
bp: Can you describe your composing workflow? How do you typically start working on a new song? Waiting for sudden inspiration, or… ?
gwEm: It depends… often if I have no ideas I start by cutting up a breakbeat. I like to do it by hand still in a sample editor. Sometimes that starts the ideas. Or maybe I will have a riff on my guitar, which I will transponse on to a synth part. And once you have the first idea it can sit for months. Or maybe quickly comes another related idea.
bp: And when you have a bunch of ideas, how do you turn that mess into a proper track?
gwEm: It’s a long process, that can take months. I see it something like a sculpture. You add bits, take away, move around. When you have three parts that work well, you can think about an arrangement. The arrangement is a really important part. Since I want people to dance, it’s part of the formula. And then when its 75% done, lets say, I can work on lyrics. Being a DJ can help with the arrangements alot. And I go to rave parties often, so I understand the music still, as a raver.
bp: Awesome. So you take your time, no matter how long it takes?
gwEm: I take my time in the ideal case… but sometimes you have a deadline for a track. And thats when I have to rely on the ‘gwEm cliches’ – stuff I know works. Maybe it’s not innovative, but I can get the song finished in time.
bp: Cool. You’re also very active when it comes to touring. On your tours, do you have trobles with groupies?
gwEm: Ha! Someone else asked me this recently. There are some groupies, but not too many at all, and they are very nice usually.
bp: Your music arrangements are quite complex, and yet you’re a solo artist basically. How hard is it to prepare and setup your live act? Do you bring your own equpment everywhere you go?
gwEm: Good question. I’ve spent a long time refining this. I bring as much equipment as I can, but obviously sometimes its heavy and impractical to bring some things. In the minimum case I have a Steinberger GP guitar, which is a headless design, but still with a cool Flying V look. It fits into a suitcase. For a mixer, I have a Rolls Karaoke Mixer from USA. One problem is electricty – you never know which voltage and plugs will be available, so everything runs off battery. I usually ask for a microphone and stand, but I can bring it in the suitcase. The main parts of my tracks play from a Nintendo DS. I used to use a minidisc, but it was becoming unreliable. Now, in the ‘luxury’ case I take an 8 channel Behringer mixer, an Atari ST, a DS, a proper Flying V, and I bring my drummer and two microphones. He uses a Yamaha drum pad, but his luxury is a real drumkit. Oh, and i forgot my SansAmp pedal – it’s a sort of analogue guitar modeller – it sounds very nice, and its small. Plus there is no latency. I also bring a guitar tuner, and some cables :).
bp: Ok, that’s interesting info. So, when performing live, you and the drummer play in sync with the DS?
gwEm: That’s right. My drummer takes monitor headphones. Often in a rave, the sound system is hard to hear with echos and so on.
bp: And your guitar pedal goes straight into the mixer? You only use your guitar pedal to completely model the guitar sound?
gwEm: That’s it. It’s great, thats why it’s one of my favourites.
bp: Nice. Ok, next question… coolest thing that ever happened to you on a tour?
gwEm: Adventures happen all the time on tour :). That’s the best thing. It’s great when there’s a vibe, and you rise to another level somehow. Ok, trying to think of some cool stuff that happened… I met Miss Kittin once, that was pretty cool. Also, whenever i use an Atari, it crashes all the time – thats part of the fun :). But it sounds so good, so I don’t mind. Many times, I almost got in fights. Playing a show in Lithuania, this almost happened.
bp: Oh? Was someone from the crowd causing trouble?
gwEm: Some people were standing in the corner behind me looking completely angry. My tour manager asked them what was going on! They wanted some drum’n’bass. That was my plan, I was building up to it, so I told them to be patient for the drum’n’bass. Anyway, they were happy in the end :). MC’s can be quite funny/pain too, but i have a good one now, so thats ok.
bp: So it’s dangerous business, too!
gwEm: Yes, it can be dangerous, but usually everyone is very friendly. The night club world attracts some gangsters though, of course.
bp: If you could have fought with those guys by beating them in a video game, which game would you choose?
gwEm: Double Dragon. But I’m not a strong or violent guy physically. Although my music can be quite agressive.
bp: If you could choose one period in the history of our civilisation to live in, which would it be? (I asked this because gwEm’s label is called preromanbritain ;))
gwEm: I pick the 1990’s.
bp: Oh. Why?
gwEm: It would be nice to sample the rave culture as it was expanding. I also like the 1970’s for the early metal days.
bp: Why not pre-Roman Britain? :P
gwEm: Pre-Roman Britain? What must life have been like in pre-Roman Britain? ;) Well… preromanbritain stands for extreme retro. We all know retro is cool. Since years this was true. But how far can you go… preromanbritain is how far :).
bp: Ah, so the name of your label actually stands for going as far retro as retro goes!
gwEm: Preromanbritain is more of an art collective. We also have printed books for example, and made perfromance art shows and installation work. But it’s a label too!
bp: Cool. Well when I asked you about your favorite period in history, I was trying to find out how it got it’s name :].
gwEm: We were drunk at the pub, and one of us thought of it :). Thats also how i got my artist name.
bp: Yeah, what does gwEm stand for?
gwEm: It’s my initials, but with an extra E. It never hurts to have an extra E ;).
bp: Lol. Ok, now that we know that… :] Your music is a mix of many things. I can’t really suppose you have a favorite music genre…
gwEm: No, that would be impossible, but there is something in common with them all. I like high energy, intense stuff. So i like rave, drum’n’bass, techno, hardcore, and on the otherside punk, heavy metal, hard rock… I like to go to the roots of these genres, and work out the secret of what makes them work.
bp: Ataris seem to be your weapon of choice when it comes to 8bit sounds. Childhood love or something else?
gwEm: Yes, it was the home computer I had with my brother when I was young. Luckily, it turned out to have an amazing dirty rave sound.
bp: Favorite model of Atari?
gwEm: I like the Falcon, the C-Lab MKII version. Now, that’s very geeky ;). They’re all good though.
bp: What’s your ultimate goal with music? Is it making people dance, or something more?
gwEm: The main aim is a great party, but of course I want to make a social comment sometimes. Not always, sometimes I just try to write a party track. But sometimes I try to say something more, or make a joke. But it has to be a party tune.
bp: Ok gwEm, two more questions left. Here’s the big one. You make music, make software, go on tours… how on earth do you manage to do everything you do? Are there more than one gwEms? Do you own an army of clones?
gwEm: And I also have a job ;)
bp: Whoa, didn’t know that! Well how do you manage everything?
gwEm: It’s a good question. Umm, well I guess music is my life.
bp: Good answer.
gwEm: I’m not really sleeping that much either. Or eating. So if music is more important than sleep or food, you can get alot done :). But actually there’s still not enough time. I wish I could do much much more. Now, because I write my own software, and use alot of free stuff, I can produce music with almost zero money. Guitars are costing money though, and so is partying. I get some money from my music, but it’s not enough in London – it’s an expensive city. I think I could survive from music in a cheaper country, if I stopped partying so often.
bp: Ok, now the final question. Try remembering the time when you were first getting into making music. Are there any words of wisdom you know now, that you would like to have heard back then?
gwEm: Ok, words of wisdom… well, I have a few. One thing I did hear at the time, from the producer Jimmy J, was always to make a great dance tune. The other one was to find out what exactly is EQ and compression. Also, naturally, only release music you are proud of <- biggest rule. And finally never stop making music for any reason. And this last one I wish I knew about, because for a while I stopped, and it was a big mistake.
bp: Thanks for the interview!
gwEm: It was nice to talk with you!
Links
gwEm’s Official Website: click here
Download ymVST: click here
