Ital Tek interview

BassTrap ve spolupráci s United Forces of Dub & Cross clubem přiváží do Prahy na Outlook launch party producenta z labelu Planet MU, který si říká Ital Tek

Když začínal produkovat, musel si narychlo vymyslet nick, protože mu hned bylo nabízeno hraní na nějaké local night. Když mu bylo devatenáct, rozpoznalo v něm talent sofistikované  vydavatelství Planet Mu, které mu dnes tvoří základnu pro vydávání jeho hudby. Od té doby zásobuje hudební nebe rozmanitými melodiemi, bohatými texturami a zejména poutavým dějem svých skladem. Dnes je mu čtyřiadvacet a 12. 5. přiveze do Prahy svůj počítač a kontrolery, aby v Crossu odehrál nejen material svého třetího a dosud nevydaného alba…a to naživo.

Ptal se Abu

I would like to know where do you originally come from and where do you live right now. Tell us something more about „your place“… And do you think it affects your sound in any kind of way?

I live in Brighton in England currently, I’ve been here for nearly 7 years as I moved to come to university and then decided to stay. I love being here, it’s really chilled out but also lots going on, I can’t really think of another city in the UK that has got the same vibe as Brighton. Before living here I grew up in Oxford and was born in London. I think Brighton has definitely had a big impact on me as a musician. When I first moved here I was just starting to make electronic music and there was a really great scene which motivated me to spend all my time learning to produce, and luckily I got into it all quite quickly. I started playing around Brighton a lot and not too long after I got offered a record deal with Planet Mu.

Do you think you can label your music as “chilled out”? I mean one can say he loves it, one can say Ital Tek’s music “makes even snakes sleepy” but whats the view of a maker? Don’t say its good or not, can you just say if you sense this at the moment when you produce?

For me chilled out means that theres not much going on or its not particularly interesting. Some of my music is definitely mellow, but I always try to create rich textures and keep things interesting. If others want to describe some of my tracks as chilled out or relaxing then I’m fine with that it’s just not what I would say. Everyone has different interpretations of music and different ways of describing it. I want my music to be enveloping, it should take the listener somewhere if that makes them feel “chilled” then that’s cool.

Ital Tek - Pixel Haze

And similar question concerning your producer name. Everytime I like to say “non italian producer Ital Tek…”, it just always come to my mind when introducing your name. J Does it mean something for you?

No! I get asked this a lot and there isn’t really a particularly interesting name behind it. I was pushed to come up with a name just after I started producing because I got offered a gig straight away at some local night and they needed a name for the flyer. It just came to me and I went with it, I think artist or band names are often strange when you take a second look at them, once someone listens to the music it takes on it’s own meaning or identification.

And what about your musical roots? Do you have any classical musical education?

Yes I’ve always been quite musical. When I was much younger at school I learned the clarinet and piano and played in the school orchestra. But that was never really a passion of mine it was more just something I found myself doing. It wasn’t until I started learning the guitar at age 13 or so that I really started to love making music. I played in bands with friends and made a lot of recordings onto cassette of hours of weird music with a load of effects pedals that I had. I recently moved house and found a whole load of the tapes and so I’ll have to listen to them again!

Oh, you surely have to, you never know, what you gonna find! J Now I hear about a guitar on one side and effects gear on the other side. So how did you decided or … better to say how did all the things went that you ended up like an electronic music producer?

…well growing up I was listening to lots of jungle, and electronica like all the warp catalogue and planet mu etc and it just seemed really magical to me because I had no idea how it was made. I wanted to discover how to create something

like that and I was also becoming bored of playing more conventional music with others in a band. I’m quite a control freak when it comes to writing and I just wanted to do everything my self. I was 18 when I first got a laptop and just spent all my time making music and learning.

Can you name some effect, specify some nature or attributes or just say some words which can describe your music or yourself creating music in your point of view? Your musical style production range is quite wide, is there anything like “common factor”?

I don’t let myself be defined by tempo or genre really, I try to be honest to where my inspiration is at that particular moment when I’m in the studio. Melody is a strong part of my music and that often drives the ideas, I can hear the thread running through my music over the years as it’s a very personal thing to me and hopefully that comes through to the listener aswell. I try to find the balance between exciting myself by changing up what I’m doing and maintaining a musical identity which is very important.

I like the idea of the thread. Do you agree with opinion that if anybody wants to be a really interesting producer and bring something new or more to the arts he’s involved, one should write music only when he has the emotions & moods to share?

I think that’s a really good point yes. I’ve learned over the years to not just keep pushing and pushing whilst making music if I haven’t got something to “say”. If I’m stuck for a while I tend to just make sound effects or record loads of random loops and stuff until something triggers a new idea for a track.

Ital Tek - Strangelove VIP

Your music sounds very  authentic and impressive to me. What do you listen to at home when you want to hear & enjoy something interesting and / or inspirational. Would you rather pick some hype of the moment or you draw on the experience of some old masters?

It doesn’t tend to be a conscious decision to seek out inspiration by listening to anything in particular. It just happens really, and it’s not necessarily from just music. Where I’m at inside my own head is as much a part of being inspired as having a specific melodic or rhythmic idea. The slightest of sounds can set it off for me. It’s like a chain reaction, I could hear a certain sound effect in a film and it flicks a switch in my head and then maybe it leads to a track. In terms of “old masters” as you say, there are artists who definitely inspired me a lot to start making music in the first place and that influence has carried through with me over the years but I don’t look to certain musicians and try to emulate what they’re doing really.

Agree with the first sentence and thanks for additional info, but… J You can see I didn’t really get the answer for a question…which was seeking for some music you listen to and maybe for some names of “old masters” in your point of view?

When I was learning to produce and first getting into music software I was a big fan of Aphex, Squarepusher, Dj Shadow and also all the old jungle legends, Photek, DJ Krust etc those kind of producers. I still listen to all of that now. In terms of whether I would choose to listen to classic records or current “hype” I don’t really think about it to be honest. The best music is timeless anyway so whether I’m listening to footwork or Kraftwerk I’m just as happy.

…and concerning the last sentence of previous answer and emulating…everybody knows who was Kuedo looking to when he was creating his Severant album and most of us like it. Hmm?

Vangelis? Well the influence is obvious there yes, and Vangelis is a big influence on myself also. Kuedo’s album was one of my favourites from last year for sure.

Ital Tek - White Mark

Understand you are so far with your music production skills, that the impact just comes from your head – your inspiration. Where do you get your inspiration and what drives you to create? Beside music, do you have enough free time for some proper hobbies & activities?

I can’t really put my finger on what drives me to create, it’s just a release for me. I love going into my own world when making music, it’s a really interesting head space when you’re writing without thinking too much about it. It gives my mind a workout and when the ideas are just flowing out its an amazing feeling. On the flip side when it’s not working so well it can be really frustrating and painful, but I’m quite good at dealing with that. I know when to take a long break. Aside from music I mostly just do all the normal things that everyone else does, going out with my mates and my girlfriend. When the weather is nice I go to the beach a lot in Brighton, it’s a nice relaxing city to live in. I get to travel a lot too and that keeps my brain switched on!

Do you listen a lot to other new stuff coming out these days? How does it goes together with “staying true to your specific sound”?

When I’m busy writing I don’t tend to listen to as much new music as I’d like to as I’m totally focussed on my own ideas and there isn’t really time. I’ve recently finished my 3^rd album which took me a long time and now I’ve got some time off from producing it is refreshing to get back into listening to loads of different stuff. Recently I’ve been really feeling the new Actress LP, Debruit’s forthcoming album too. Both those guys are just totally doing their own thing and you can hear they don’t give a fuck. For the past few years I’ve absorbed a lot of footwork and juke, always listening to hip hop. It all soaks in on some level and informs my inspiration.

Understand perfectly. When is your album coming out? Can you say something special about? …ehm, Actress rocks!

I can’t say anything about it yet sorry, all the details will be announced very soon!

You say it was a long time to prepare the whole new album. How long does it take to make a track for you? Do you put the whole idea in short term and then work with it just slightly or every part take its time to be recorded? Can you say you have some own way or it just depends on…?

I normally get the main idea down for a track very quickly in a couple of hours, if it doesn’t happen like that then I normally move onto something else. There’s only a short period I find to really make the bones of a great track, after that everything is just details. The new album took a long time because I was trying to make it the best possible thing I could write, the label also were really pushing me to take it to the next level. I’m really happy with how it’s turned out, it was tough but I’m really excited for everyone to hear it

How does your setup looks like when you do live appearance and what type of show can we look forward to hear in Prague?

I break down my tracks into parts and loops in Ableton Live and then use a couple of controllers to mix with effects. I tend to play a lot more upbeat dancefloor kind of sets, and for this show there will be quite a lot of new material that no one has heard.

And what setup do you use in studio? Do you have a kind of own studio, HW, do you collaborate a lot?

I have a relatively simple studio set up. The main program I use and have always used to produce my music is Ableton Live, I know it inside out now and can work really fast which is how I like to do things. My attention span isn’t very good and I need to get ideas to work quickly or I get bored and move onto something else. At the moment I only have one hardware synthesiser which is the Roland Juno 106, I’ve used that extensively on my records for the last few years. I don’t really collaborate much at all, I have made tracks with friends and other producers but just for fun more than anything.

Ital Tek @ Dubspot - Interview, Workshop Recap + New EP \’Gonga\’

In fact if you check my instagram profile there is a picture of my studio set up, and I’ve just filmed a studio interview and production class video for Computer Music Magazine which will be online so check that out if you want to know more!

What does it means to you “to produce own music”?

Well for me it’s just something I have to do, I don’t’ particularly enjoy working with other people and it’s just how I express myself.

Your part done for civilization? J

Haha, we’ll have to see…

links recommended:

www.soundcloud.com/ital-tek

www.twitter.com/italtek

www.italtek.co.uk

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ital+Tek

160 bpm set:

http://www.urb.com/2012/01/23/ital-tek-exclusive-mix/