AAA - Ask Autechre Anything - Sean and Rob on WATMM!

[amnesia]

I was thinking about the popularity of the DJ and that the future clubs could well not have DJs but computers with a distict style of music and you woud go to the club that played the style you liked. How far away is this going to happen?

 

I watched this doco about Automaton and it blew my mind that this 240 year old creation had 6000 parts and could mimic hand writing and draw. Have you seen this before? http://youtu.be/FUa7oBsSDk8

[Guest biffleboff]

What darts game did you sample on Pro Radii?

[Sean Ae]

could you gently prod at mat steel to release a solo album?

yeah i'd love this, maybe he would use more than one chord

[Sean Ae]

I was thinking about the popularity of the DJ and that the future clubs could well not have DJs but computers with a distict style of music and you woud go to the club that played the style you liked. How far away is this going to happen?

 

I watched this doco about Automaton and it blew my mind that this 240 year old creation had 6000 parts and could mimic hand writing and draw. Have you seen this before? http://youtu.be/FUa7oBsSDk8

 

yeah it's pretty cool

but it's nothing compared to the antikythera mechanism

What darts game did you sample on Pro Radii?

aw u registered just to post that

how cute

[wavefold]

considering your experience, what would be your advice for a (beginner) musician to avoid getting stuck in making a track and find a productive workflow?

[modey]

in the air tonight is a brilliant track why does it get so much shit, everything about it's ace, even the weird as fuck lyrics

 

 

and shit man it was made in 1980 that's pretty amazing to me from a production/style point of view

Face Value in general is an amazing album. Worth it for this track alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pTcO4IzhuI

[coax]

sean nice description of draft earlier -

 

I'm curious, do any of you have any similar views on Untilted? To me it's like very far future or even alternative world, very gray blue and yellow, exactly like the cover. the cover fits it perfectly really. I had this weird vision of a lot of metallic and concrete, and weird streets that didn't look like streets of our time, but still had the shape of a street and people walking. And fermium was playing out loud from some place around the corner. I love how your music allows this kind of strange association because of how unique the sound is.

[Sean Ae]

considering your experience, what would be your advice for a (beginner) musician to avoid getting stuck in making a track and find a productive workflow?

 

no idea tbh, we started out with hardly any gear at all, and workflow is a kind of boring thing to me tbh, once i have a workflow sorted i can't help fucking it up

[xy_politics]

 

Hello Rob.

some questions

What is your fav acid house 12"

 

it changes, prob my most awesome fave is very often : Jaquarius - Love Is Happiness(Acid Rain) 1988 - YouTube

 

 

Just thought I'd chip in and say thank you for playing that track in the last radio session you did.

 

I heard it a single time, live on the radio, over 25 years ago and always wondered what it was. I bought every single Phuture/Pierre record in the hope of finding it, convinced it was by them. Not having a recording of it, I couldn't play it to anyone, and had to try to describe it in words - cloudy, sleazy, convoluted chicago acid, etc - didn't get very far with that..

 

As soon as it started up on your broadcast I couldn't believe that I would remember it so well after all that time (and that it was so great, of course)

 

Shame it's so bloody expensive, lol.

 

Erm, question.. Do you have a few words to say about 808 State, and what kind of impression they made on you in those early days? As a manchester teenager at that time following Chicago/Detroit music, 808 were largely responsible for shaping my musical language, and when Warp got into gear, it was just a logical progression.

 

Oh, and could you please name my SK-5? :-)

[Uzohvezxfn]

Love your works.

 

1. Do the hard sciences, specifically physics/mathematics, play a large role in the structures and moods of your guys' sound? Also for Sean, or Rob: have you guys studied at university or autodidact certain subjects? E.g. physics, maths, philosophy, etc.

 

2. What track of yours would be the most appropriate to play in a daycare center?

Thanks.

[Salvatorin]

How did you go about making that melody made of microsamples that starts at 5:23 in Ipacial section?

[Rob Ae]

if you could have been alive in any other time in history, which would you pick and why?

not easy to dive in to these kinds of questions, but most of history appears to be more treacherous to survive than now so i'd rather choose a place than a time. stood next to a creaking glacier, to see if i can tell its moving

[Sean Ae]

 

 

Hello Rob.

some questions

What is your fav acid house 12"

 

it changes, prob my most awesome fave is very often : Jaquarius - Love Is Happiness(Acid Rain) 1988 - YouTube

 

 

Just thought I'd chip in and say thank you for playing that track in the last radio session you did.

 

I heard it a single time, live on the radio, over 25 years ago and always wondered what it was. I bought every single Phuture/Pierre record in the hope of finding it, convinced it was by them. Not having a recording of it, I couldn't play it to anyone, and had to try to describe it in words - cloudy, sleazy, convoluted chicago acid, etc - didn't get very far with that..

 

As soon as it started up on your broadcast I couldn't believe that I would remember it so well after all that time (and that it was so great, of course)

 

Shame it's so bloody expensive, lol.

 

Erm, question.. Do you have a few words to say about 808 State, and what kind of impression they made on you in those early days? As a manchester teenager at that time following Chicago/Detroit music, 808 were largely responsible for shaping my musical language, and when Warp got into gear, it was just a logical progression.

 

Oh, and could you please name my SK-5? :-)

 

 

martin price sold me that jaquarius record, i used to go in there after college and bug him for the weirdest acid tracks, he was really chuffed when that came in, he was like 'here, listen to THIS'

808 state were a huge influence, particularly newbuild/deepville/loungejays - and the first gerald album

90 and ex el got a lot of plays as well. the r8 use on 90 was a big influence

 

your sk-5 is now called melon

sean nice description of draft earlier -

 

I'm curious, do any of you have any similar views on Untilted? To me it's like very far future or even alternative world, very gray blue and yellow, exactly like the cover. the cover fits it perfectly really. I had this weird vision of a lot of metallic and concrete, and weird streets that didn't look like streets of our time, but still had the shape of a street and people walking. And fermium was playing out loud from some place around the corner. I love how your music allows this kind of strange association because of how unique the sound is.

 

yeah like dutch motorways or something, but the scenery changes abruptly like playing out run or something

neat as fuck but scary and fast

[Rob Ae]

Whenever i plays Perlence Sun it reminds me of that 1985 Vangelis track, from the Invisible connections LP, is it kinda related ? Inspiration or something ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RrzRVO9S8I

A shame he didnt go further in that minimal abstract style instead of his poly philarmonic orchestral/choir hollywood madness.

(Nothing to do with Autechre, but for the mego/sunno))) heads, there is a very limited cassette sold since this morning @emego....)

yeah Vangelis had the perfect touch at times. i don't think we ever get directly influenced to ape something but i fully share these aesthetics. growing up with bladerunner on one hand, yet chariots of fire, both major mainstream, but only really blown away by the former.

[Sean Ae]

Love your works.

 

1. Do the hard sciences, specifically physics/mathematics, play a large role in the structures and moods of your guys' sound? Also for Sean, or Rob: have you guys studied at university or autodidact certain subjects? E.g. physics, maths, philosophy, etc.

 

2. What track of yours would be the most appropriate to play in a daycare center?

Thanks.

 

not really a big role but i'm interested in how stuff works

 

i dunno os veix 3 or something

[Rob Ae]

do you guys have an idea of where you are going next after exai or does that generally come together in jamming? or actually, do you define where you are not going?

i'd say its a bit early to tell, i wouldn't say anyway - whats the point, but in the past we've been quite 'over' the prev lp, partly cos it was 2-3 years of making pieces that at the time have no collective power in a way that then gets sort of configured as one whole move. once its handed to warp, another 3-6 months to get it out. so by then we're already moving on.

[Guest ExtraLife]

What advice would you give a class of 5th graders in regards to pushing creativity in an ever-more regimented public school environment?

 

(This is a constant struggle of mine.)

[Sean Ae]

Exai was announced almost half a year in advance before the release date in a facebook post by tdr, saying they were working on the new album art. WATMM nearly exploded after that. A smiliar thing happened with a tweet about the L-event artwork.

 

 

 

How did that happen? Are they allowed to do that? Was it your decision or the label's decision to let those bits of info leak out of the blue? Was it a promotional thing? Will future Autechre releases first be vaguely announced via the artwork designers from now on?

 

nah we never asked him to do that he just gets chuffed sometimes and has to post something

it's no big deal really, altho it can make it tricky to surprise people with something so it does affect announcement/strategy sometimes

ian's a bit naughty tho, you can't control him really

[Guest jasondonervan]

When I saw you guys at the Rainbow in Birmingham on the Oversteps tour, once the lights went off and you fired up, the whole place went a bit mental, mainly thanks to a small rabble of stella-fuelled lads down the front head-banging away and screaming at the top of their lungs as if they were at a punk gig (I think everyone needed to cut loose after Russell Haswell had blinded everyone with his lasers first).

 

Does crowd reception play much of a part in your live sets? Are you driven by how the crowd reacts (if you can even hear them!), and do you modify any of the parameters of your performance accordingly?

[Sean Ae]

What advice would you give a class of 5th graders in regards to pushing creativity in an ever-more regimented public school environment?

 

(This is a constant struggle of mine.)

 

ok so i'm from the uk and we don't have graders here, how old is that?

also i assume by public school you mean a school for the public (cos that's not what that means here)

[lumpenprol]

ok dang it I'll finally join the crowd.

 

my wife is 2 mos pregnant with our second kid (yeah, only 7 months after the last popped out). Any ideas for a name (girl and boy options)?

 

(at first this seemed more than a bit tacky but come to think of it, if you propose one that gets the approval of the missus, it'd be an awesome backstory).

 

for ref, my daughter's name (in my av) is Haley.

[Sean Ae]

When I saw you guys at the Rainbow in Birmingham on the Oversteps tour, once the lights went off and you fired up, the whole place went a bit mental, mainly thanks to a small rabble of stella-fuelled lads down the front head-banging away and screaming at the top of their lungs as if they were at a punk gig (I think everyone needed to cut loose after Russell Haswell had blinded everyone with his lasers first).

 

Does crowd reception play much of a part in your live sets? Are you driven by how the crowd reacts (if you can even hear them!), and do you modify any of the parameters of your performance accordingly?

 

yeah absolutely, it's one of the perks of being able to change things on the fly

it's almost the point tbh

which is partly why a crowd of non-dancing americans holding phones in the air can be a bit boring for us

ok dang it I'll finally join the crowd.

 

my wife is 2 mos pregnant with our second kid (yeah, only 7 months after the last popped out). Any ideas for a name (girl and boy options)?

 

(at first this seemed more than a bit tacky but come to think of it, if you propose one that gets the approval of the missus, it'd be an awesome backstory).

 

for ref, my daughter's name (in my av) is Haley.

 

wait you're genuinely asking?

not sure if i should even answer

[Guest WNS000]

Sean, Rob,

 

when composing do you find it easier and more spot-on to do it live by pressing pads and keys and turning knobs or you prefer editing in DAW by mouse? I know you jam a lot but when you need to get some part of a track right after it was already put in sequence what would you do?

 

I mean, for example when I do some ambient pads composition I am often completely unable to do the tempo and dynamics to feel right. But when I play it live it turns out mostly in what I wanted it to be (which is not the case when trying to do those things with mouse). Also when dealing with the whole track structure (here is a "chorus/climax", here gradation here it stops and so on) I also find it much more intuitive and natural to do it live than sequencing it step by step. Editing is of course inevitable after that most of the time but you know what I mean.

[Sean Ae]

Sean, Rob,

 

when composing do you find it easier and more spot-on to do it live by pressing pads and keys and turning knobs or you prefer editing in DAW by mouse? I know you jam a lot but when you need to get some part of a track right after it was already put in sequence what would you do?

 

I mean, for example when I do some ambient pads composition I am often completely unable to do the tempo and dynamics to feel right. But when I play it live it turns out mostly in what I wanted it to be (which is not the case when trying to do those things with mouse). Also when dealing with the whole track structure (here is a "chorus/climax", here gradation here it stops and so on) I also find it much more intuitive and natural to do it live than sequencing it step by step. Editing is of course inevitable after that most of the time but you know what I mean.

 

yeah i think the screen gets in the way

the sequencers that we build ourselves don't have much visual feedback at all, fwiw

[lumpenprol]

 

ok dang it I'll finally join the crowd.

 

my wife is 2 mos pregnant with our second kid (yeah, only 7 months after the last popped out). Any ideas for a name (girl and boy options)?

 

(at first this seemed more than a bit tacky but come to think of it, if you propose one that gets the approval of the missus, it'd be an awesome backstory).

 

for ref, my daughter's name (in my av) is Haley.

 

wait you're genuinely asking?

not sure if i should even answer

 

haha, yeah, I'm really asking. If it's too weird, no worries, I'll just do it myself. "Come here, little Acroyear..."