FRIEDMYLITTLEBRAIN

DB: QUANTAX hello. What is your history prior to this new ‘Rebuild’ ep?

QX: Hi there. I’ve had a few releases before this new ep. I had a beautiful 10” out on Surely Bassy Records last year, a couple of tracks on Fentplates Recordings, a 4 track EP on Flexout Audio (‘Untold’, below) then a fair few remixes in between that time.

DB: What influences do you have? I feel like there’s this glee you got in sourcing sounds and overlaying them, it’s inventive and artistic. It sounds like you love working with sound.

QX: That’s very flattering of you thank you. I guess my influences for writing music span so many genres and styles that the final outcome always ends up becoming an amalgamation of all these things. A huge influence over the last few years has definitely been Amon Tobin’s ‘Foley Room’ and any composition by Kanding Ray thus the use of obscure sounds and field recordings has always made sense. The percussion on my forthcoming EP called ‘Rebuild’ is solely built around ‘found sound’ and sound design. It’s something I’m really proud of.

DB: You have a very unique take on production so this is a question akin to asking someone what was their first ever music purchase: what was your first experience at music production, what did you do?

QX: My first real experience with music production was probably staring at a dodgy copy of Cubase SX years ago and being confused why it wasn’t making any noise. It took a long time until I felt comfortable with producing music. I’m still definitely learning.

The inspiration for the composition changes as the tracks evolves. It’s quite organic.

DB: Taking this into account, who’s your fave producer, any genre?

QX: Wow. There are so many people who I listen to and still can’t figure out just how they did it. I guess people such as Jason Swinscoe from the Cinematic Orchestra. I think I’ve listened to some part of their ‘Everyday’ EP every week for the last 4 years. They produce some of the most beautiful sounds and I’m a sucker for Rhodes piano, strings and flared drumming.

DB: Mentioning those specifics, what is your fave production element? Could be a kick drum.

QX: Ha I love it all man. If I had to choose though my favourite bit it would probably be the beats and percussion. I love the way they can intertwine with each other and the slightest of movements can completely change the groove. A large portion of the mixing process is spent on ensuring the drums & perc sound as crisp as possible. I get a little obsessed with putting transient designers on everything.

DB: Back to influences, what kills you in music?

QX: In D&B, I’d have to say Rockwell and the rest of the Shogun Audio. Those guys are definitely producing music that blows my mind every time I hear it. I’m a huge fan of Hybris and have also been heavily rocking the new Octane & DLR album. The Cymatic tracks on that album are incredible. Also Ruckspin.

DB: Pick a track from the new ep and tell us about it?

QX: The title track rebuild is a bit of a crazy one. The whole track ended up being manipulated and time stretched within inches of its life. The sounds produced eventually become the main sound design elements of the final track hence the name ‘Rebuild’. We somehow were able to pick out the sections we wanted from what was fundamentally now a 15-minute ambient piece. The percussion is solely made from sounds recorded both in the house and on a few random visits around the Yorkshire Dales. I seem to remember the bass line starting out as a dustbin hit with a bat. It was a pretty funny process thinking back.

DB: The studio session question: which album session in time would you have loved to have attended?

QX: I would’ve loved to have been there when ‘Lateralus’ by TOOL was being recorded & mixed. Apparently they used over 27 microphones on the kit alone. The vibe must have been incredible. Having previously worked in a stunning studio being surrounded with incredible outboard gear live drums are still a delight to record. It’s something I’d love to be involved with again.

The Quantax ‘re-scrub’ of Bjork’s ‘Mutual Core’/free dl appears below

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