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

I love how Lcc develops into a beautiful melody after sounding harsh for a few minutes. it happens in 6IE.CR too. is their a particular reason for it other than it be fucking cool? i interpret it as beauty from chaos.

  On 11/2/2013 at 10:13 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/2/2013 at 8:43 PM, chartnok said:

are you playing any video games or old video games?

 

lately just dodonpachi on my phone

 

Do you play/prefer Resurrection or MAXIMUM? Resurrection is great, but MAX has that cool minimal graphics vibe going on (if you can even use the word 'minimal' while describing a CAVE shooter!)

Nice suprise No questions from me but awesome reading.

I suppose I could ask what you're favorite beers are, but that just seems embarrassing and a bit dumb.

Autechre!!!!

can you recommend what the best headphones are for listening back to your music? are there some headphones you use frequently when listening to your own music?

omg this wasn't a draem! sup autechre!!!!

what do you think about flying lotus his music? imo i think he's great and has a lot of talent he uses well

why didn't he ask you for a track for gtaV that would have been awesome

In terms of music, do you think that hardware manufacturers and/or software devs are charting a path of diminishing returns? By making the process of creating music arguably 'easier' and more accessible, is music in danger of becoming less experimental, compared to the past where experimentation was perhaps led by hardware/software limitations?

And seeing how this has become a (very WATMM) thing: please could you name my MPC1000? it has JJOS installed, if that helps

what was the hardest track you made, like when you afterwards say: that was impossibru but we fucking did it!

  On 11/3/2013 at 7:18 AM, jules said:

ol dirty, gza or rza?

 

anyone better then rakim, if so, who?

 

I'd love some insight into your role in the design process of the last few album identities that tdr had the pleasure of making basic shapes for.

btw this is not a knock on tdr at all, reading it back it does sound a little weird but I mean no offense to them at all, I love all the recent art

you have been a musician/artist for more then 20 years, every release you made was an improvement, i don't even think frank zappa did that and yet you don't get all the praise (and money) it deserves in the world. does it bother you or are you punks in the heart??

  On 11/3/2013 at 12:01 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/3/2013 at 4:27 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

Are you big into Scrabble? If so, what was your highest scoring bingo?

 

What should I listen to on my way to the studio this Tuesday afternoon?

Its been a long time since a scrabble,

 

What method of transport are u planning to use?

 

I will be walking, takes about 35 minutes... longer if the music's really good.

Did you ever have very little sleep (Like what RDJ said he used to do)?

Did you ever heard Caustic Window LP (Cat023)? If so; How it was?

I forget to say this yesterday but, this is so cool of you to talk with us! Thanks!

afternoon Rob!

- which album do you recall being the toughest challenge technically? And which the toughest aesthetically (either in terms of capturing the right sound, or having "writers block", etc).

- I believe from past interviews you've said some tracks you pass back and forth, while others are more solo tracks. Generally speaking is one of you more an "idea generator" while the other is more a "track polisher"/"idea-flesher-outer"? Or do you pretty much share all duties organically?

- care to list 5-10 of your "desert island" records/discs?

Cheers, and thanks for all the great tunes over the years, you have an incredible work ethic! It's quite comforting to have that feeling that another ae album will be coming along sooner or later, and be as mindblowing and detailed as always

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:07 AM, rd1994 said:

also have you ever thought of doing an aduio/visual collab like you do the tracks and then someone else (or even you) create visuals ...like videos for every track of an album? would it be something you would want to try or is it something you don't want to get your fingers dirty with?

it would prob take a while, but yeah if it was feasible there's no reason we wouldn't

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:02 AM, rd1994 said:

when you make music ...before you release the tracks to the public do you get some third party with a fresh ear to comment or is it more like "We do what the fuck we want" kind of approach?

when you ask a question is it always in the form of a false opposition or do you sometimes forget?

  On 11/2/2013 at 4:35 PM, Rob Ae said:

re quadrange, we'd been wanting to do something with variant mixes for a while, in some part due to having a wealth of Eps and extra B sides from artists like Depeche Mode in the past - some of their deepest tracks were unique alternative mixes nothing like the singles or LP versions, and they came across as more intense or over produced even, it was a really nice way to feel what they were doing behind the usual framework they set out in the mainstream…..like a real treat.

Those early 90s DM mixes were my gateway drug to electronic music I suppose...they sent me off on quite a few different musical paths.

It wasn't long after those that I heard your Skin Up You're Already Dead remix of St Etienne...what a heid-burster that was...I still play it a lot now, 19 years on.

So, I guess this is probably like having to choose between your offspring, or whether you prefer June to July, but do either of you have a favourite remix/reworking you've done?

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:09 AM, Jev said:

Oh and yet one more question for you, Sean:

 

Do you know Dabrye's (Tadd Mullinix) music? If yes do you enjoy his work and would you consider colab/remix with him?

 

Thanks.

yeah i love his stuff

i dunno about collab tho, he does p well on his own imo

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:11 AM, hecanjog said:

L-event is on crazy rotation. You guys rule.

 

I'm also curious - it was asked, but I'll chime in again: do you guys have dayjobs too or is it Ae 24/7 for the most part?

 

Thanks!

we don't have jobs other than ae

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:22 AM, DorkingtonPugsly said:

Would you guys like to collab with Clark? Think his unique sounds + your guys' would turn out lush.

 

Sean will you not name by machinedrum and axoim 61 keyboard?

Without a name they will have no personality.

Without personality they will have no sounds.

Without sounds I cannot make the musics.

Without the musics there is no me.

your machinedrum is now called santander

your axiom 61 is now called joey

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:29 AM, Hoodie said:

why do you think that some people perceive your music as noise (to quote someone, "are your speakers broken?") but others find it incredibly beautiful and emotionally stirring? this also goes for experimental electronic music in general.

no idea

different kinds of brain maybe

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:32 AM, Jev said:

 

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:24 AM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/3/2013 at 1:24 AM, rd1994 said:

anyone you still want to collaborate with or remix?

 

yeah, DM

 

You mean Depeche Mode?

 

yeah

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:34 AM, rd1994 said:

how much stuff in autechre is about mocking ...what I mean by that is autechre has always been about anonymity...and also having strange tracktiles...it almost seems as if you name tracks simply because of the fact that you have to do so...am I just incredibly spaced out or is any kind of truth in that?

how is autechre about anonymity?

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:35 AM, Ism said:

Do you remember asking me "watmm? What's watmm?" When we did a phoner interview in 2008 just before Quaristice release. And here we are now... :) you also personally made my day back at the time by stating that you'd listened to some of our old tunes - Rubens 'bank holiday'. Pure magic. We talked about Ruth from Krush who worked for Sound control in Sheffield... I was interviewing you for sound controls mag at the time. Anyway... Latest EP is your most polished since Envane or Anvil Vapre. Top marks for still slinging massive left hooks.

yeah that was a good interview

i forgot that about ruth joy, it's mad that she worked there

Could you please name my Casio VL-1 VL-Tone?

Is the Ae ident music part of a longer unreleased piece or was it specifically made for the DVD ?

i.e. this one -

Plus mentioning Shane Carruth yesterday, I've always thought how similar his film titles/logos are to this, merely a typeface coincidence or was it the same graphics designer?

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:52 AM, lumpenprol said:

If you don't live near each other, do you only see each other when you go on tour? If so are you ever surprised how skinny/fat/old the other has gotten?

 

(disregard if you video chat)

lolno, we work together on stuff as well, we're only a couple of hours apart. i mean that's probably a lot to people who never leave the uk but it's trivial for us, anything over an hour kind of needs 3 day visits anyway.

Do you travel a lot? What are you favorite destinations?

Sean, you mentioned before that you like Germany, what do you like about it in particular? Have you been to Bad Vilbel?

Oh and could you name my backpack please? It's an Arcteryx Bora one in case that matters.

You're so good at naming things.

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:54 AM, marf said:

how did you teach yourself? did you read up on computer programming? dsp reading? have you ever read old books like the allan strange synthesis book, did you have to re-learn Maths to develop your custom patches? Stuff like your aleatoric sound, did you just do it trial and error? Did you have to educate yourself in any specific way to build your sequencers?

i just learn stuff as i go, but patchily and not in terms of high level techniques at all. i did have to learn some new physics a few years ago but usually i just need tiny bits of info to get on with what i'm doing.

lots of trial and error as well.

is your approach different when you do an autechre album track and if you do an remix...of course it is different that you have source material to work from...but from that point on...does it make a difference to you?

  On 11/3/2013 at 2:57 AM, Ism said:

How do you personally view Quaristice? For me, it marked an end to a period that started around Confield where sound design was a much more critical element of your released output. Oversteps marked a transition to more mature review of previous ingredients. Sonically familiar but novel style and still hitting the nail right on the head, despite passing of more time. Do you recognise the so-called periods of work or fans appreciation of a given release?

i recognise that they recognise it, but it's not as strictly delineated as i often read

still, who wants to read a paragraph every time