Hi friends - hope all good :)
What an awesome party… could barely keep up with the chat! Thanks so much to all of you for coming - there’s a lot of meaning wrapped up in this album for James, so all the positivity and good vibes you sent his way was very, very special.
Over 150 people came along and loads of you joined in the chat, great to see so many regulars (fans, friends, artists, label/industry folk and more) along with lots of new faces - the community we have is incredible and I deeply appreciate every single one of you and, like was said many times last night, really feels like a musical family of likeminded souls - thank you :)
It’s been a very busy few days of packing boxes as the CDs now sold out, amazing support! We were Bandcamp's bestselling CD in any genre for a while, still top of the ambient charts in any format and sixth in any genre/format.
So now time for Part One of our Q&A with James, a producers’ producer if ever there was one - big thanks to him and enjoy.
Please tell us a bit about your background and history in music.
I grew up in various parts of England, so we moved around a lot. One of my earliest memories was getting a Fisher Price turntable when I was about 6 or 7 years old when we were living in South London. I'd sit there for hours with these clunky red and blue headphones that came with the deck, sifting through my mum’s collection of old Motown and 70's soul records, and my fascination with music and vinyl began. Fast-forward a few years, and I remember hearing 808 State and The Art Of Noise around about 1990. This was mind blowing, as I had no idea about dance music at the time. The sounds in these tracks were unlike anything I'd heard at the time, and my interest was most definitely piqued. Me and a bunch of friends discovered pirate radio stations playing hardcore/rave stuff, and we'd bring tapes to school and trade with each other. Such a magical time, thinking back!
From here, me and my best friend Chris applied to a local pirate radio station and we were shocked when we got a show. Neither of us knew how to beat mix, and we were just winging it as 14 year old kids. In hindsight, I can't believe we actually got a show, but I'm grateful we did, as this was the genesis of what got me into producing my own music. We'd be playing these tracks at the radio station and thinking how cool it would be to start making our own tracks and eventually playing them on our show. Of course, this was a bit of a pipedream as a 14 year old with no studio gear, but it was enough to whet the appetite. A year or so later, Chris got an Amiga for Christmas, and I got an Atari STE. We both learnt basic 4-channel tracker programs and started to piece together these terrible tunes that we'd play to our friends and each other. Fortunately we knew they weren't up to par and never embarassed ourselves by playing them on the radio show.
A few years after the station was raided by the DTI and it wasn't coming back, I'd left school and started at college. I was working part time too, so I'd bought myself a PC and discovered Fast Tracker 2. I started to get a few rudimentary pieces of kit, like a Samson Mixpad 9, Behringer DualFex Pro, a Yamaha CS1X, and a Philips CD Recorder. I was using Wharfedale hifi speakers, a Pioneer amp, and a seriously underpowered PC with a Creative Labs AWE64 Gold soundcard. It was just enough to get by, and all of my early releases from 1999-2002 or so were all written on this setup. I was well and truly hooked at this point, and knew that this wasn't just a hobby. I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life. This was my calling.
Please can you describe a bit about your general philosophy and process as an artist?
The most important thing for me as an artist is to never repeat myself. I vowed from day one that I'd never just 'remix' the same song over and over to create a style. I felt that with every release, I wanted to tell a different story than what I'd told previously. I'm not sure I fully realised this vision until a lot later in my career, but it was something I tried to abide by every time I sat down to write. I've always written a variety of genres, so I've constantly got about 10 or so ideas on the go at any one time. I'd like to think this allows me to have a unique vision and voice to be able to express myself with the music I make.
What does quiet details mean to you and how did you use that to approach this album?
quiet details is a platform for freeform expression within ambient music. It's a label full to the brim with talented artists and wonderful music. I just wanted to make sure I was putting my best foot forward and try and offer an album that was as pure to write as it is to listen to. Hopefully I've created something that truly resonates with the ambient/drone fan.
Shout-out today goes to Andrew Ryce, someone whose work I’ve been reading for years now - an excellent and thoughtful voice on music and beyond.
Huge thanks to him and highly recommend subscribing to Futureproofing and supporting however you can.
A quote from his review of Tales of Introspection:
ASC is one of my favorite electronic music artists of all time. I could listen to his music forever, and sometimes I do. Whether he’s making rowdy drum & bass, old-school jungle, or ambient music, there’s a level of polish and a sense of austere beauty to everything he does, which is all the more remarkable considering how much he releases. Tales Of Introspection, released on the very-busy quiet details label, is a little different. Where ASC usually holds back a little in the emotion department, this one billows out with feeling, like the dam bursting after a one too many days of bottling things up.
Read the rest here:
Much love friends, thanks again x
Alex
quiet details studios - mastering and audio services
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