Aphex Twin Aphex Twin mythology

[ZoeB]

How come with most artists, everyone assumes that when they write a good track, it must have taken a lot of hard work and effort, but when Richard D. James writes a good track, everyone assumes he just whipped it up in five minutes flat? Listening to tracks like Fenix Funk 5 and Rushup I Bank 12, it sounds like he spent many days slaving away over a sequencer to perfect those. So where'd this myth come from that it comes so easily to him that he can just spend five minutes noodling about and out pops a great track?

 

Is it because of the sometimes rough production? Is it the result of a lie in an interview? I know he's claimed to have many hours' worth of unreleased music, but every musician does, and it's unreleased for a good reason. It won't be Rushup Edge quality so much as Melodies From Mars quality.

 

So yeah, I'm just wondering how this myth got started about how he doesn't need to try, especially when this myth gets perpetuated by other musicians.

[mcbpete]

How come with most artists, everyone assumes that when they write a good track, it must have taken a lot of hard work and effort, but when Richard D. James writes a good track, everyone assumes he just whipped it up in five minutes flat?

I didn't know that people did think that

[Guest Masonic Boom]

I never really heard this myth, to be honest.

 

Or at least, not until I started posting here.

 

But I was gonna address this in email - I think you've got the impression that because he sometimes alludes to weird methodology (lucid dreaming, synaesthesia, etc.) that somehow means he doesn't work at what he does. I never got that impression at all.

 

I think that the weird stuff is how he gets at/accesses his creativity, but there's no way that it's some kind of shortcut to technique.

 

I mean, one of the most telling interviews I read, someone asked him "Oh, so Drukqs was a bunch of random old stuff cobbled together to get out of your contract" and he got quite angry was all "actually, I worked harder on that record than on any of the others." So I don't think he takes part in any mystification.

[soundwave]

I reckon some of his early stuff could well have been recorded on the fly on a simple four/eight track and done in an hour or something but not so much these days as you have to put the effort in to stand out above the crowd

 

saying that if you already have a large collection of loops at your disposal you could chern out stuff pretty fast but the lengthy prep work is still there

 

apparently Drukqs took fookin ages

[Guest ruiagnelo]

I am sure he doesn't make 5 min pieces like you say, he puts a lot of work into it.

 

The reason he is so good at it, i think it's a mixture of talent and knowhow. When i a kid i remember someone saying that a successful artist is made of 1% talent and 99% of hardwork. Everyday i my beliefs on that though become stronger.

[oscillik]

yeah, the presentation and attention to detail in the packaging and vinyl mastering of drukqs goes to show that it wasn't just a quickie job. at least in my opinion anyway.

[kaen]

DRUKQS TOOK AT THE VERY LEAST 100 YEARS TO MAKE, PASSED DOWN THROUGH VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE ALL MUSICAL GENIUS'S ENDING UP WITH RICHARD FINALLY RELEASING IT

[Guest Adjective]

it's because the listener does not realize how little they know about what's going on in the track

[Guest Masonic Boom]

All of us kooky fans with our crazy expectations, we are just Shadow Archetypes in Mr D.James' lucid dreams.

[ZoeB]

Ah phew, maybe I'm just misinterpreting a few things people have said then. Nevermind!

 

When i a kid i remember someone saying that a successful artist is made of 1% talent and 99% of hardwork. Everyday i my beliefs on that though become stronger.

 

Yes, as Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." It's a good quote to live by, though I still prefer Nikola Tesla. :)

[Guest ruiagnelo]

 

Yes, as Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." It's a good quote to live by, though I still prefer Nikola Tesla. :)

 

That's more like it. I was too young to even know who Edison was, but i was quite amazed with those words at that time.

[ZoeB]

I was too young to even know who Edison was, but i was quite amazed with those words at that time.

 

Maybe someone should start a topic for inspiring quotes? I currently live by "performance, feedback, revision."

[Silent Member]

How come with most artists, everyone assumes that when they write a good track, it must have taken a lot of hard work and effort, but when Richard D. James writes a good track, everyone assumes he just whipped it up in five minutes flat?

I didn't know that people did think that

Me neither, the only thing I could see being done in that way would be the piano pieces on Drukqs.

[Guest ruiagnelo]

I was too young to even know who Edison was, but i was quite amazed with those words at that time.

 

Maybe someone should start a topic for inspiring quotes? I currently live by "performance, feedback, revision."

 

That would be a great topic, indeed.

 

I haven't thought that much about how certain quotes inspire me or not, they are not really a strong source of inspiration for me, but i recall a quote i heard on an Aspire commercial a long time ago that said: "Aspire today, inspire tomorrow". I don't exactly know what Aspire is, but it's interesting how they play with their brand name and make it part of the quote, which in my opinion, is very powerful.

[Guest iamabe]

I don't think the myth is that it takes him 5 mins to make a good track. It's that music comes easily to him. If anything he probably works on his tracks for hundreds of hours but he is inspired and keeps getting ideas. He probably hits the same roadblocks most musicians do but has the determination and inspiration to overcome them, which is why he never says anything about how hard it is to make music.

 

wasn't he quoted as saying something like, "There are two things I want to do in life: 1. never work a day in my life, and 2. make music every single day. so far i'm succeeding" ?

 

so he doesnt consider making his music to be "work" even though he obviously spends loads of time in his studio. He said he never gets haircuts because he is lazy. So working on Rushup Bank 12 is less of a task for him than going out and getting a haircut once every few months.

 

Making music for richard is probably analagous to the way normal people come home and read lots of books, play lots of videogames, or vigorously masturbate, or whatever activity you do when you don't want to "work".

[Guest iamabe]

DRUKQS TOOK AT THE VERY LEAST 100 YEARS TO MAKE, PASSED DOWN THROUGH VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE ALL MUSICAL GENIUS'S ENDING UP WITH RICHARD FINALLY RELEASING IT

 

fucking LOL, and absolutely true

[Guest ruiagnelo]

 

so he doesnt consider making his music to be "work" even though he obviously spends loads of time in his studio. He said he never gets haircuts because he is lazy.

 

I agree here.

I really admire people that make a living out of their passions. It's not really easy, due to the course of life and opportunities one has, but it must be the true happiness. Richard is lucky to be able to do this.

[qnio]

How come with most artists, everyone assumes that when they write a good track, it must have taken a lot of hard work and effort, but when Richard D. James writes a good track, everyone assumes he just whipped it up in five minutes flat?

I didn't know that people did think that

Me neither, the only thing I could see being done in that way would be the piano pieces on Drukqs.

[Silent Member]

pffffft

edit: I like them, and treating the piano would take some time, but the melodies are nothing special.

[Joyrex]

Like Chinese Whispers, I think Richard's ambivalence towards releasing records versus the time he spends making the tracks, etc. is what's being confused - with a few exceptions (DrukQs being the most notable), I think he doesn't spend much time on releasing music (see Smojphace), and has on several occasions just gave over any old track to satisfy the demands of a remix or extra tracks added onto a re-release) without much thought/effort behind it.

 

I totally think he spends inordinate amounts of time fine-tuning and tweaking tracks, and probably like any artist, does bang out loads of stuff as "ideas", revisiting some, years later in some cases, which do end up as releases.

 

Either way, if the end product satisfies him and meets his criteria for being something "releasable", then we as the listeners benefit in the end.

[Ragnar]

a lot of his early stuff sounds like it could've been random inspiration, maybe some Analord stuff too. I mean there's plenty of stuff where I could see where he just had a good idea like they seem like they could be made in a short time if you knew what you wanted

[Ragnar]

like as much as Polygon Window is well-liked, everything from Polygon Window

 

like at the end of Audax Powder where the tempo goes down and everything, sounds like it could've been a live mix. I think there was one song where I can't see it being done that way but the rest seem feasible

[beerwolf]

It's well noted that some bands/artists greatest tracks were those that were slapped together in less than an hour, just to make up a bit more time on an album. Classic examples are Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Raining Blood by Slayer. Not saying this applies to Richard but it would be interesting to know if the same has ever happened to him.

[Guest ruiagnelo]

Well, the more you touch the work, the more it will change and increases the probability of messing it up. Some artists make tracks quickly as they are very inspired at the moment and they reach a higher level of expression.

 

Not always works this way tho. And not with everyone.

[Cryptowen]

Making music for richard is probably analagous to the way normal people come home and read lots of books, play lots of videogames, or vigorously masturbate, or whatever activity you do when you don't want to "work".

 

Isn't that about par for the course for musicians? I imagine there are some out there in it for potential fame/fortune/ladies, but I would hope most of them do it because they like making music.

 

On topic - to me, a lot his tracks sound like they could have been done in a few hours, though I get the feeling that tracks off the main Aphex albums would have gotten a few more passes. Stuff from the Drukqs era would have taken a lot more time, of course. As someone else mentioned, I think he probably does a lot of similar sounding tracks that will never be released in order to fully explore an idea. For example, I could see him doing a whole bunch of abrasive tracks around 1994 featuring a high-pitched background whine, & then only releasing Ventolin.