AAA - Ask Autechre Anything - Sean and Rob on WATMM!

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:37 PM, daed said:

I always find it difficult to fathom constantly working with another person. Are there any "solo" tracks that either of you have put out?

 

What are some tips for collaborating with other musicians and not being completely selfish/dominant?

 

yeah tons of our tracks are solo tracks, usually trying to one up each other

about 1/3 of it is non-solo, as a really approximate guess

 

i dunno we just compete a lot, that seems to work for us, ymmv of course

Sean: Have you recieved that one PM I send you, with a link to the 2007 Dour Festival recording? It says "not yet read" over here, could be an error maybe.

What the heck is going on in fold4wrap5 timing wise? I can't get my head around it. Is it slowing down and speeding up or are the subdivisions changing? Is the name a clue?

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:44 PM, marf said:

have you guys noticed how little music seems to come out of these synth forum enthusiasts? like a guy with 30 grand in serge modules doesn't seem to make any music. do you find there is a danger in making the gear center stage? do you think it gets in the way of making tracks?

 

i think its more that there are shitton of people who see music as a lifestyle choice, and buying gear is easy for people who aren't really very motivated

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:47 PM, triachus said:

Sean: Have you recieved that one PM I send you, with a link to the 2007 Dour Festival recording? It says "not yet read" over here, could be an error maybe.

 

yeah sorry i haven't checked my PMs yet, i prob will go thru them all when this is over

thanks

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:39 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:30 PM, nth said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:08 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:04 PM, nth said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFwCN3TTEE&list=PLC37AC9E52F3C505F

  Quote

 

1. There is a chance on releasing this in good quality without people? start in 4: 37 but also full would be cool;)

2. If there are other versions of songs from the Exai I mean Quaristice (Versions) only, that for the Exai 3. may in the future I will let your album or ep, I'd like the names for them;)

 

 

iirc jamie did record this set but he did a mix of soundboard and room mics, so no basically

 

3 questions one response ;(

 

 

oh sorry

your weird formatting threw me

 

2 there are but no plans to release any yet

 

3 can you rephrase that?

 

 

Thanks

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:47 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:37 PM, daed said:

I always find it difficult to fathom constantly working with another person. Are there any "solo" tracks that either of you have put out?

 

What are some tips for collaborating with other musicians and not being completely selfish/dominant?

 

yeah tons of our tracks are solo tracks, usually trying to one up each other

about 1/3 of it is non-solo, as a really approximate guess

 

i dunno we just compete a lot, that seems to work for us, ymmv of course

do you mean 1/3 of released tracks? or do you mean just overall tracks that you've ever done?

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:45 PM, Wurstwasser said:

Any thoughts on that in 50 years maybe nobody listens to your music and in 500 years all your stuff is forgotten and lost forever? Do you care?

 

yeah this seems about right, but who knows

i mean i have trouble predicting what's gonna happen next week tbh

  On 11/6/2013 at 4:28 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 3:51 PM, gmanyo said:

What do you think about the rise of electronic music in the popular realm, both in Top40 pop songs and with electronic-exclusive artists like Skrillex or Avicii? Do you like any of this music? edit: especially knowing that Skrillex and I assume some of these other artists consider you to be one of their major influences.

 

How does it feel to have your thread now be longer than the Skrillex thread?

reptile's theme is good. avicii is nothing like skrillex

 

Just listened to Reptile, it's actually not bad. And yeah, Avicii is def very far from Skrillex; I was more just talking about them as part of the new wave of electronic music that's really popular, even more so than in the past with groups like The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. I was just wondering how you felt, coming from a time when pure electronic music was only for theorists and homebrew musicians, to a time where "bloops and bleeps" are widely accepted as mainstream music.

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 4:31 PM, RandySicko said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 4:16 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 2:26 PM, Bambi said:

I haven't read all the questions, so don't know if this has been asked (or answered) but

 

In your opinion why and how do you think music (making and appreciation) evolved in humans?

 

communication

 

Collab between you two (bambi and ae)??? (also for any watmmer: has this ever happened?)

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:49 PM, Alcofribas said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:47 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:37 PM, daed said:

I always find it difficult to fathom constantly working with another person. Are there any "solo" tracks that either of you have put out?

 

What are some tips for collaborating with other musicians and not being completely selfish/dominant?

yeah tons of our tracks are solo tracks, usually trying to one up each other

about 1/3 of it is non-solo, as a really approximate guess

 

i dunno we just compete a lot, that seems to work for us, ymmv of course

do you mean 1/3 of released tracks? or do you mean just overall tracks that you've ever done?

 

nah released stuff

for overall it's a lot lower i reckon

Were you guys in a particularly dark place when you made Chiastic Slide? A lot of the tracks seem quite sinister and/or melancholic, ie Tewe, Hub and Recury.

 

I'm interested because I don't know whether I project my own emotions onto the tracks, whether they were intentional on your part, or whether you subconsciously imbue the tracks with moods that you were in at the time.

 

Even above in this thread, someone called Chiastic a "bright" album, which confuses me and suggests a real ambiguity to the emotional side of your music that I haven't really encountered much with other artists.

Does this worry you, that you don't have complete control over the way your music affects people, or do you prefer that people can use your music to explore their emotions and come to different conclusions? Maybe learn something about themselves?

 

Do you go back to your old albums and surprise yourself, hear emotions that you weren't aware of at the time you made them and think "shit, what was I feeling when I made this"?

 

Apologies if these questions are wanky/cheesy. I don't know anything about the technical side of music, I'm more interested in emotions, textures and atmosphere.

  On 11/6/2013 at 3:14 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 2:43 PM, naawRaybarn said:

*just sneaking in discreetely to bump my post back to the surface"

 

  On 11/5/2013 at 9:32 PM, naawRaybarn said:

 

Greetings! Long time fan from Norway here. Big thanks to you guys for doing this, and of course thanks to watmm and Joyrex for making this happen! So some questions from the top of my mind (haven’t read through the whole thread so sorry if some have been asked earlier) So let’s jump straight in, shall we:

- Which book(s) are you currently reading (if any)? Are you mostly into fiction or do you read non-fiction as well, such as philosophy/science/documentary stuff etc?

- Any philosophers from any time period you are specifically into?

- Salvador Dali or M.C. Escher?

- Do any of you speak a foreign language? Do you know any phrases or longer sentences in Japanese?

- Are the chopped up robot sounding voices in Lentic Catachresis (sounds like a bunch of droids/machines/robots having some kind party, then it goes mental) sampled from any album or is it like field recorded samples? Have you ever used your own voices in any tracks (if yes, do you mind revealing which ones)? And who are the female voice used in Second Scepe?

- Did you sample any actual bell-like instrument for Parhelic Triangle? This track have so much substance, but yet a sense of creepy paranoia that I always get lost into it.. like I’m wandering around in a long dark corridor on some alien world with abandoned laboratories around me, where horrible experiments took place along time ago… and there’s some kind of lethal sentient entity (possible a result from one of those experiments) somewhere watching my steps…

I see films have been discussed in the thread so here are some film-related questions:

- Are you into Christopher Nolan’s films, like what do you think of Inception? And his revival of the Batman franchise? Opinions on Bane’s voice/accent?

- What do you think of Blomkamp’s last film, Elysium?

- What do you feel about R. Scott’s return to the Alien universe with Prometheus?

- Do you like Monty Python, and if yes, would you like to mention any favourite sketches?

- Who would win a match of pool (eight-ball, etc) between Sean and Rob? What about chess? Or othello (reversi)?

- Will you ever come back to Norway for a gig? I really enjoyed your set in Oslo during the Oversteps tour. If I’m not mistaken that was the first time you ever performed in Norway? How did you like the visit?

- Speaking of which… did you know that Pule actually means ”to f*ck” in Norwegian? (I really like the track btw, it has a feeling of rusty dryness to it, in a meditative calming way kind of)

Ok that was that! I really hope you’ll take your time to reply, but I see you have a hell of a job digging through all these posts!

(Oh and btw, I really appreciate your good sense of wit and irony you are expressing throughout this discussion! there seems to be a great vibe of light-heartedness going on between you guys and your fans!)

Cheers! :)

regards, Jan from Norway

 

 

oh and one more thing I wanted to ask: I was happy to discover that you included a few tracks by Yello in your Exai webcasts. Yello was the band who first triggered my music interest as a kid (when I for the first time saw the music video for rubberbandman on MTV, still remember it as it was yesterday.. ahh... memories... My friends thought my music taste was a bit strange. ah well anyway..)

Any favouroite albums/tracks by Meier and Blank? And any favourite music videoes? :) What do you think of their last album, Touch?

 

*sneaking out just as discreetely as I entered...*

yeah get u - bumps being essential in a 4day thread this size and counting….

btw every question is read, but not answered not cos its shit or anything, just timing mbe.

 

yello, shit yeah been into them since stella, more recently doing a backtrack for some others more rare.

their idea of how to throw together the superfine grain and smooth sound of their use of the digital gear, the slick production with perverse 80s off hand arrangements back then was intense for me mostly sculptural use in tracks like Ciel Ouvert or Stalakdrama, lots of camps with cash doing it at the time like trevor horn and others with computer workstations n that.

but this was the most oblique for me.

 

 

cheers Rob, thanks! Haha Stella was THE first album I really played a lot and aloud on my first stereo system! ahh.. good memories! yeah been rediscovering the band again over the previous years or so. You just inspired me to keep on looking! Any specific rare albums you've found you'd like to mention? lots of ace tracks on their first albums like Solid Pleasure and Claro Que si. Really like their sense of humour as well, like they have a kind of cheezy image but still manage to keep it serious and cool at the same time. Guess it has to be their moustaches. I think no other band can beat their awesome moustache factor! :) Oh and btw, in the second part of your Exai webcast you gave me a pleasant surprise with the abrupt transition from Mantronix straight into Coast to Polka. And then you mix Meat Beat Manifesto into that again, just sheer awesomeness, surprises like that give me a great joy, cheers for that! :)

ehhmm so..... anything you would like to say regarding my questions about the Confield tracks (Lentic Catachresis/Parhelic Triangle)? aaand..... Who is that female voice you used in Second Scepe? A sample from an album? A friend lending her voice to you? Sorry I'm just too curious to let these questions pass, so I'll try again! Thank you so much again for your time, this whole thing is just incredible cool you guys to do!

oh... and it seems to be some kind of trend going on here, so I'll give it a shot. Could you please name my...... ehhm, lets see.. *looking around in my room* ah yes!

Could you please name my new Kindle for me? Would be cool to name it something as I use it alot!

when you guys are getting your live sets together, do you usually start with a base of the record you are touring on or have a whole new thing going on? with stuff like flex 96, it seems all fresh but the untilted tour had obvious stuff from the album which then morphed into stuff for quari. i havent heard any of the oversteps tour (hint hint)

 

im excited over what exai material could morph into live with all those huge grooves.

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:44 PM, marf said:

have you guys noticed how little music seems to come out of these synth forum enthusiasts? like a guy with 30 grand in serge modules doesn't seem to make any music.

 

Spot-on.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Jev

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:49 PM, nth said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:39 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:30 PM, nth said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:08 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:04 PM, nth said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFwCN3TTEE&list=PLC37AC9E52F3C505F

  Quote

 

1. There is a chance on releasing this in good quality without people? start in 4: 37 but also full would be cool;)

2. If there are other versions of songs from the Exai I mean Quaristice (Versions) only, that for the Exai 3. may in the future I will let your album or ep, I'd like the names for them;)

 

 

iirc jamie did record this set but he did a mix of soundboard and room mics, so no basically

 

3 questions one response ;(

 

 

oh sorry

your weird formatting threw me

 

2 there are but no plans to release any yet

 

3 can you rephrase that?

 

 

Thanks

3 I would like to issue the album or ep . . . and I'm looking for a name for them, could you please name them?

 

 

i'd rather not, sorry if this is disappointing - it just takes time to listen to things and think of names

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:45 PM, Wurstwasser said:

Any thoughts on that in 50 years maybe nobody listens to your music and in 500 years all your stuff is forgotten and lost forever? Do you care?

figured it was a certainty

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:40 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:36 PM, kero said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:31 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:08 PM, kero said:

ok cant find my old question on here but was wondering if u guys ever upgraded to a pacarana or still messing with kyma language ??> :)

answered this earlier but no, our Capybara is with Daz Fitton, Bola

 

ahh cool couldn't find earlier. was wondering about your guys kyma usage, i thought i saw u using during a show in detroit festival a few years back , some black boxes sitting beside laptops. could have been harddrives though. im just 2 years into kyma language thanks to the butthole surfers :)

 

nah we didn't take kyma outside.

 

smart

maybe been asked this or perhaps it is a stooopid question but are you disapointed with how music has evolved (or maybe not evolved) since you started making tunes ? did u expect it to be more adventurous by now ?

 

do u imagine ur music as visual art and if so is the gantz graf vid close to your idea of what your music would look like ?

 

also if joyrex had asked you to openly chat to your fans on WATMM 10/15 years ago do you think you would have done it and if not how do you account for the change in atttitude ?

 

also what do u think of 3D movies ? do u think it enhances movies/television ?

 

what new technology music or otherwise would autechre like to see developed in the next few years ?

 

do u think technology will ultimately be a good or bad thing for the human race ?

 

thanks AE

Would you two like to submit a Christmas-themed track or cover (as an alias of course) to WATMM's annual Christmas Compilation? All you have to do is email the finished, unmastered track to cytoplantastic [at] gmail [dot] com before December 8th.

For more info here is the topic for this year's comp: http://forum.watmm.com/topic/80841-a-very-watmm-christmas-2013/

 

Thanks very much Sean for answering my question on page 82 :)

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:52 PM, jules said:

when you guys are getting your live sets together, do you usually start with a base of the record you are touring on or have a whole new thing going on? with stuff like flex 96, it seems all fresh but the untilted tour had obvious stuff from the album which then morphed into stuff for quari. i havent heard any of the oversteps tour (hint hint)

 

im excited over what exai material could morph into live with all those huge grooves.

 

it really depends, with quaristice etc it kind of happened 'organically' cos we didn't have a full studio for a few months and we were jamming with sequences from the live set

and sometimes we take sequences from album tracks and throw them into whatever live set we're doing

but yeah for the most part we start from scratch

Would you have put 'iris was a pupil' 'no border' and 'ylm0' from move of ten on oversteps if you had the room? They sound like oversteps. iris is a true favorite of mine, really hits the spot.

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:47 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

 

yeah tons of our tracks are solo tracks, usually trying to one up each other

about 1/3 of it is non-solo, as a really approximate guess

 

i dunno we just compete a lot, that seems to work for us, ymmv of course

 

that's fascinating, I thought the number I had heard before was 1/3 were solo tracks...but actually most of it is solo? Amazing you can integrate them so closely style-wise into a cohesive album.

 

It also makes it all the more interesting that you're loathe to tell who did what. After all if it's 60% solo work, you'd finally get to learn which of you the fans would call Ae's "John", and which "Paul" :-)

 

Edit: and can you comment as to whether or not you've seen this competitive spirit with other duos, eg., BoC?

Edited November 6, 2013 by lumpenprol

  On 11/6/2013 at 4:16 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 2:26 PM, Bambi said:

I haven't read all the questions, so don't know if this has been asked (or answered) but

 

In your opinion why and how do you think music (making and appreciation) evolved in humans?

 

communication

 

 

what form of communication is trying to slam bambies in mud?

Is "gestural" one of the worst insults you can give to a performer?

 

Are there times/circumstances when gestures are ok during a performance?

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:53 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:49 PM, nth said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:39 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 6:30 PM, nth said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:08 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:04 PM, nth said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFwCN3TTEE&list=PLC37AC9E52F3C505F

  Quote

 

1. There is a chance on releasing this in good quality without people? start in 4: 37 but also full would be cool;)

2. If there are other versions of songs from the Exai I mean Quaristice (Versions) only, that for the Exai 3. may in the future I will let your album or ep, I'd like the names for them;)

 

 

iirc jamie did record this set but he did a mix of soundboard and room mics, so no basically

 

3 questions one response ;(

 

 

oh sorry

your weird formatting threw me

 

2 there are but no plans to release any yet

 

3 can you rephrase that?

 

 

Thanks

3 I would like to issue the album or ep . . . and I'm looking for a name for them, could you please name them?

 

 

i'd rather not, sorry if this is disappointing - it just takes time to listen to things and think of names

 

Okay, not disappointed, I took into account the answer. btw my workstation waits for the name;D and by the way, I wanted to thank you for filling my life your music

 

 

What do you guys miss, if anything, about pre-internet times?

 

What are your thoughts on a singular artist's vision vs a collaborative one?