Trance Forum | Stats | Register | Search | Parties | Advertise | Login

There are 0 trance users currently browsing this page
Trance Forum » » Forum  Ambient & Chill Out - Umberloid Interview pt 1
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on StumbleUpon
Author

Umberloid Interview pt 1

andrew interchill
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  26
Posts :  435
Posted : May 1, 2007 00:21
This appeared in Acid Jazz - a magazine in Italy.

The first question is about how you met.
How did you get to know each other and what was the reason pushing you to form the “UMBERLOID” project?

[Chris]
We met when we were both in our late teens, and spent the last few years of the 1980's in our first band together. Like 90% of bands, we thought we were utterly brilliant when in fact we were just OK.

[Ott]
We were dreadful. Great bass player [Chris], great drummer, ok rhythm guitarist, awful keyboards [me] excruciatingly bad songs and the singer deserved to have his eyes gouged out with forks.

[Chris]
We were never going to go anywhere, but we had a lot of fun and learned a lot together. By the end of it, even though we had full time jobs, we'd be rehearsing or gigging at least 20 hours a week, and still Ott would find time to shut himself away in a smelly room somewhere and knock up brilliant bits of electronic music using equipment that was well past its best... it never ceased to amaze me what results he would get out of utter junk... and he's still doing it today, isn't he? I mean, have you seen his studio ?

[Ott]
Smelly? I, erm… *cough*

[Chris]
We had no money for studio time back then, so we'd record demo tapes in his Mum's spare room, with Ott playing keyboards and being sound engineer. We had no multi-track equipment so he'd just be bouncing between standard cassette decks and, so that we didn't wake his mum up, he'd rig up shoe box lids which would trigger cymbal samples. Far too inventive for someone who painted cement mixers for a living.

[Ott]
Ahhh – those memories! You know those big trucks with the concrete mixer on the back? I used to spray paint those for a job when I was 19. I still sweat and panic whenever I see one.

[Chris]
When the band inevitably broke up, Ott landed a job as an engineer in a London studio and, after a few recording sessions together, we lost touch for about 11 years. Musically, I did a variety of things, most of which are best forgotten.





[Ott]
Oh tell them about the disco band Chris. Go on. Chris used to be Bernard Edwards for a living;

“Freak out! [Le freak, c’est chic!]” etc in his big baggy jazz-funk trousers and white socks…

[Chris]
Then someone invented the World Wide Web and, because I know Ott's real name, I managed to track him down

[Ott]
I was shocked to discover the internet did something other than pornography…

[Chris]
… just as he was about to start on a remix for the Hallucinogen in Dub album. Getting back in the studio with Ott was the best weekend I'd had in ages. It was just like the old days but with less hair…

[Ott]
Speak for yourself.

[Chris]
…and it opened my eyes to a whole new kind of music that was going on.

[Ott]
I remember being utterly shocked that Chris’s music collection hadn’t changed substantially since 1984 – apart from the addition of a few “Take That” and “Busted” albums – which he says were for his daughter.

[Chris]
The Umberloid thing happened after a year of pub talk about doing some music together. Ott has no shortage of well known, talented artists wanting to work with him, so in the end I blackmailed him into doing it by threatening to release some of those early demo recordings onto the Internet!

[Ott]
In my drug-addled mind, this all happened in the space of about 5 days but I suspect Chris’s recollection is far more accurate. He spent the 90’s being a responsible adult whereas I spent them as a kind of freelance psychedelic drug “test pilot”.

Just say No kids…






You come from extremely different musical experiences.
What sound or music genre worked as a connection between your different experiences?

[Chris]
Actually we have a few important things in common... an instinctive dislike of anything exceeding 130 bpm, and a complete indifference toward the term “music genre”. In fact, I confess to being in complete ignorance when it comes to music genres. Either I like a bit of music or I don't, and they're the only two categories I bother with. The fact that Neon Tetra is featured on Acid Jazz Magazine is further proof of my ignorance, I think.


[Ott]
I think the fact that neither of us really understand “genres” is what makes it fun to do. I don’t think I could bear to work with somebody who allowed themselves to be swayed by what was cool or in fashion and with Chris the influences can come from some hysterically unlikely places.

[Chris]
But the main connection is that we're old mates, and getting together in the studio is really just an excuse to drink lots of tea, and wallow in nostalgia. We thought we might as well make some music while we're there.

[Ott]
For me it was just a merciful release from the pressure of constant frenzied masturbation.

I was starting to lose my eyesight.


[continued]
andrew interchill
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  26
Posts :  435
Posted : May 1, 2007 00:21
part 2...

How do you use to arrange the production process of a song?
Do you usually work together in developing a track or does each one of you act in complete independence so that you get together to refine it only in a second phase?

[Chris]
Both really. It'll usually start with an idea that comes into my head, or I'll be jamming, and I'll try and get it recorded into the computer. If it's any good, I'll work at it until it's at least a rough idea of what I might like the finished item to sound like. Then I'll send it over to Ott. If he gets excited about it then we arrange to get together for a couple of days and mess with it some more, add some parts, more than likely throw some or all the original parts away and maybe even start over. As you pointed out earlier, we have different musical backgrounds, but the advantage of this is that if we both get excited about a particular thing, then we know we must be onto something. Hopefully we have the basic arrangement down by the end of those two days.

[Ott]
That’s pretty much it. For me it is incredibly rewarding because I work very slowly on my own but with Chris the whole writing process speeds up and everything stays very fresh.

What he doesn’t tell you is that he’s a very dexterous musician who can get a good sound out of just about any instrument you give him. My background is more in engineering – recording and mixing – and so I just sit there capturing his output and making sure I don’t miss any of it. He spits out ideas faster and more consistently than anyone else I’ve worked with and the trick is to make sure the record light is on whenever he’s playing.

My job is more to edit what he plays and formalize it into an arrangement although not always. I’ll occasionally play a line and he’ll chop the bad bits out of it but on the whole it’s him playing and me editing.

[Chris]
If there's more bits to add afterwards, like a bit more bass, then I can record that back at my place and send the WAV's over the Net – it's quicker than driving 300 miles.

[Ott]
I was shocked to discover the internet did something other than etc etc…


[Chris]
Ott will usually do the final mixing while I make gallons of tea, tidy up the kitchen and get some shopping in.

[Ott]
And unplug the freezer.

You forgot to mention that.

Chris is very safety conscious – probably as a result of having a young child at home – and he has a habit of switching electrical appliances off at the wall. So when the kettle has finished boiling and switches itself off, he’ll switch it off at the wall as well, just to be safe.

Unfortunately, sometimes he gets the wrong switch and switches the freezer off instead so I’ll come home to 30 kilos of rotting fish and a great pool of water on the kitchen floor.


What kind of digital and analogical technology and instruments) are you using?

[Chris]
Ott has a pile of stuff with knobs and flashing lights and I couldn't tell you what many of them are. I think the big thing in the middle there is the mixing desk... (Over to you Ott).

[Ott]
I have this habit, when I visit a friend’s studio, of looking around the lower reaches of their racks, hunting out the old dusty pieces of equipment they never use any more and offering them stupidly small amounts of money for them. I’ve picked up some beautiful toys this way, like an Eventide Instant Phaser for 40 Euros, a Roland Dimension D for 30 Euros, a delightful AKG spring reverb for 50 Euros and various old compressors and things that I got given for nothing, or maybe doing a bit of editing work in return.

Most of my studio is made up of other people’s old junk that I got for peanuts – in fact the only piece of gear in there I bought brand new is a Focusrite compressor/eq which I bought myself as a treat when “Blumenkraft” was released.

I love using obsolete equipment alongside state of the art software – the combination of both throws up some amazing results.


[Chris]
I have a trusty old Yamaha SY22, and a few choice VSTi's which I'll use for roughing out ideas. For bass, I rely mainly on a Yamaha TRB5 which I bought secondhand from eBay. It has the frets ripped out of it. So that, boys and girls, means its a “proper” fretless bass, and not one of those fake ready-made ones you can get down the shops. Oh, and I have a Warwick too, the one that sounds a lot like a MusicMan StingRay... well it does until Ott mashes up the sound with some plug-in or other....

[Ott]
… and I have a guitar that I found beside the road in a dumpster that has appeared on every tune I’ve ever released and that most guitarists describe as “lovely sounding but awful to play.” I wouldn’t know because all I can do with it is tune it to an open chord and hit it with two table knives.

Oh, and a melodica.

And a box full of empty biscuit tins which I use as percussion instruments.

And a truly enormous Doepfer A-100 modular synth which covers one wall of the studio.



How would you define your music?

[Chris]
I honestly haven't thought about it. How would you define it?

[Ott]
Good answer mate. That showed her.







Let’s talk about your productions, in particular about your new album coming out in 2007(?)… What can you anticipate us about this work? Will there be any surprise if compared with past productions?

[Chris]
The album should be a whole series of pleasant surprises. Even we're in for some surprises because each of us are not quite sure what the other is going to when it's their turn to make some noise.

Imagine a well known master chef getting a few new ingredients to cook with... it ought to be different, yet somehow familiar. Ott fans (myself included) should be in for a treat because there will be that distinctive Ott flavour to it, but with enough variation throughout so that they are getting something a bit different to what they might be expecting.

Hopefully people won't spit it all out in disgust.

[Ott]
I think the most exciting thing about it is that neither of us has the slightest idea what it is going to sound like. For me, that is the only reason to do it.


In our compilation of this month we decided to include a song of yours:
“Neon Tetra”. Would you like to introduce our readers in the
listening of this song?

[Chris]
My pleasure...

Ladies and gentleman, the next song is entitled “Neon Tetra”, by Umberloid. Featuring special guest scat artist John F Kennedy.

That's not what you meant, is it?

[Ott]
“Scat artist”? I think I’ve seen some of those on the internet. I had no idea Kennedy was into that kind of thing. Eww.




Your top five list of the most important albums of all times…

[Chris]
A Secret Wish (Propaganda)
Hallucinogen in Dub (Mixed by Ott)
Oxygene (Jean Michele Jarre)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

and I'm still waiting for the fifth one to make itself known....


[Ott]
Autobahn (Kraftwerk)
A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (Cardiacs)
Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
UFOrb (The Orb)
More Specials (The Specials)
Blumenkraft (Ott)

Sorry. That was six.

:0)

bluespectralmonkey
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  80
Posts :  1336
Posted : May 1, 2007 09:38
ott u make me want to say bollocks in an english accent, my dna likes to speak that way when im pissed heh which happens a bit since im uk finn ire scot

shambhala was a fun one but i bet youve fallen off since then lol no way anyone could keep up with a high bar as that hehehe

ill believe it when i hear it meats. i mean mates . boom
          www.bluespectralmonkey.com
www.touchsamadhi.com
www.interchill.com
www.metacrew.com
www.nw-psy.com
Jon Baraka
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  30
Posts :  112
Posted : May 1, 2007 12:36
Excellent. Good to hear more acid jazz phatness on the way.
Trip-
IsraTrance Team

Started Topics :  101
Posts :  3239
Posted : May 1, 2007 14:04
Neon Tetra is an awesome track lads
thanks for the interview post andrew.           Crackling universes dive into their own neverending crackle...
AgalactiA
John
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  76
Posts :  768
Posted : May 1, 2007 19:40
Umberloid in Acid Jazz mag? Cool - i Look forward to some Galliano psydub mash ups or a 15 minute dubbing of Everybody Loves The Sunshine...

andrew interchill
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  26
Posts :  435
Posted : May 2, 2007 00:29
yeah... acid jazz loving umberloid had us a little confused too...

still... good music is good music

and there's no limit on what they will write in their album - i'd be quite interested to hear ott go at it with a brush kit and chris on dbl bass... why not ?

after all neon tetra does have a flamenco bass solo, and a chorus, and an 80's synth/vocal breakdown ...
Trance Forum » » Forum  Ambient & Chill Out - Umberloid Interview pt 1
 
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on StumbleUpon


Copyright © 1997-2024 IsraTrance