Slater
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Posted : Aug 18, 2009 21:40:48
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An interview with Solid Snake translated from Balada Planet, Brazilian music website and forum, by John Doe.
1. First I’d like to thank you for giving us this interview. Now tell us a little bit about you guys. (Both)
O:Thanks, my name is Omar Chelly, I’m 30 years old and I’m living in the south of Sweden, in a city named Malmo. The city has around 300.000 inhabitants and is the third largest city in Sweden. A part from music I like languages and have studied English and French at Lund’s University.
A:Hello! Anders Rosengren is my name, born and raised in Malmoe Sweden. I am 26 years old and I am currently studying language.
2. And how/when did your passion for music began? (Both)
O: It started at an early age, I was first into break-dance and that kind of electro/hip hop stuff of the mid 80’s then I later moved into the hardcore hip hop scene of the early 90’s. But I also listened to my father’s records, he had a nice collection of electronica such as Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre. Later on I was introduced to Psychedelic Trance and from there the rest is history as they say.
A:For me it started at an early age, my parents has always shared their burning intrest in music with me. I remember a long time ago when I was sitting on my fathers shoulders taking a sneakpeak over a big fence at a concert, if i can recall it correctly i believe it was Alice Cooper performing his track “Poison”. Not that Alice Cooper is a source of inspiration for me (haha), but seeing everything around it with the crowd and the lights and everything might have inspired me to be creative and do what i do today.
3. Which influences did you take to electronic music? (Both)
O: As mentioned in the previous question I have influences from hip hop, electronica and a touch of World Music.
A:I used to love the old styles of hiphop and i´ve always had a crush on reggae,dub and other more experimental genres. But since I grew up around the huge names like Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones spinning on the recordplayer I am sure I bring a lot of that to the table.
4. Btw, when did you decide to produce electronic music? And did your family support you when you made that decision? (Both)
O: I started playing around with some software as soon as I bought my first PC, this was in 1998, the first software I worked on then was Rebirth. Later on I formed my first project with Jason and we decided to buy the proper stuff to be able to produce professionally. Happily my family approved and we worked out of my bedroom at my parents’ house for the first 3 years of Tegma, until we found a place where we could build a studio.
A:I started my musical journey around 96-97 in a little musictracker (a type of sequencer) called FastTrackerII, the results were, well questionable haha... I have to thank my family for the neverending support I got at that time, I can only imagine the headaches haha. Even though we might have had our diffrences regarding the scene it all turned out towards the good in the end
5. Now tell us a little bit about the Solid Snake project, with your friend Anders Rosengren and the debut album about to be released on Tribal Vision Records.
O: Sometime in early 2008 I had an idea for a new project, a project that would draw inspiration from past and future sounds with a dose of twisted ideas.
I also wanted to experiment with sounds I haven't used in my other projects.
While I started to work on the structure of the first tracks alone, I didn’t really have a clear goal of what direction they should take.
I returned to them after a couple of months, and had just met Anders for the first time in many years. I decided to bring him along on the project, and from that it was easy. Most of the tracks were done quite quickly.
It has certainly been a great and fun experience, from moving and relocating between two different studios to suffering from power failure and system malfunctions.
6. How do you make your Live performance? What kind of gear (Software and Hardware) do you use? (Each one could answer his part of the live)
The Solid Snake Live performance will be made by one person only (me or Anders), so that means it will be less advanced than the Tegma one. The initial setup will be the following: A Macbook Pro laptop running the software Ableton Live, a Novation Nocturn Automap controller, an Evolution EC-33 midi controller, a Korg Kaossilator and the Echo Audiofire 2 audio interface.
7. You are already a High Standard in terms of Progressive with your TEGMA project. What made you start another Progressive act? Did Jason have any influences on that decision?
O: As I told before I wasn’t sure what was going to be the outcome of this project, I did it merely for fun. When I started to gather some tracks I thought it would be best to release them together as an album.
8. How did you come up with the name Solid Snake?
This is a funny story, as my name Omar is closely related to the Swedish word “orm” (which signifies snake). Some of my friends used to call me the this when I was younger, so I thought it would be funny to reuse that name, I added “solid” to it so it would be an alliteration(the repetition of the same initial consonant). This makes it easier to remember the name.
9. Techno became a huge thing now a days, just out of the sudden. And you sticked to Progressive. Tell us why.
O: As always I have been inspired by other electronic music scenes than only the psytrance one, so sure I love techno and whatever the club dj’s are playing at the moment.
However I feel that I belong best in the psytrance scene, considering it gives more freedom for the type of ideas I want to make when it comes to music. Also, I feel comfortable in this scene considering my long experience with it.
That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to try out other genres of music, but I’m not writing music on a fulltime basis, so finding the time to dig into another genre is impossible at this moment.
10. Omar, you don’t usually make DJ Sets. Why do you prefer doing live performances?
O:I have never had the time to invest to learn how to deejay properly, as I’m more interested in how to produce music and all the technical stuff behind it. Besides even though I have some basic mixing skills, I think that to be able to dj properly, one needs to follow the latest releases and what’s hot or not. This is another time demanding issue which I unfortunately don’t have the time for, since besides music making I have other things going on in my life.
11. What’s your daily like routine? (Both)
O: On the days I don’t work I usually go to the gym, do some shopping and cook. After that I probably go to the studio.
A:Every day starts with a cup of coffee and a few well selected websites, from there it is school and then a visit to Huller Ohm Buller studios. And hopefully a very productive session.
12. What are your plans for the future?
O: For now, Anders and me are working on a new project. It’s called “Crossfeed” and will also be in the progressive psy genre. However, the sound will be different from Solid Snake, as it will draw inspiration from more dubbier and melodic vibes.
13. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when asked about: (Both)
Omar
Food: Churrascaria
Drink: Coffee
Language: Too many to remember.
Book: 1984 by George Orwell
Movie: Anything by Tarantino.
Perfect place:
Work: No work unless it’s for something groovy!
Women: Yes.
Life: Enjoy it to the fullest!
One goal: Happiness
One deception: Windows
Anders
Food: Omar’s famous feta cheese and chili sandwiches, obligatory in the studio.
Drink: Coffee
Language: Parlez-vouz francais?
Book: Snabba Cash by Jens Lapidus.
Movie: Baraka
Perfect place: Phuket Thailand
Work: Anything related to sound.
Women: Those who mind don´t matter, and those who matter don´t mind.
Life: Unpredictable
One goal: To live a long and healthy life
One deception: right is left and left is right!
http://www.myspace.com/solidsnakemusic
  Out now:
*V.A. - Vanguard vol. 3 compiled by Duca & DJ Slater |
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