Artist of the Week - 2007-07-18 - AUDIOGLIDER |
AUDIOGLIDER read the full interview here A very talented producer and dj from South London, celebrating his b’day today, AUDIOGLIDER has had a good year so far, featuring 2 tracks on Nick Warren’s Global Underground 30 and one remix on the recently launched Global Underground Mixed. He is the man on FOEM/Crèma 006.
Interview: FOEM/Adinaaa: Hey Roberto, happy to have you here for this weeks' issue of aotw, since lately you can count me as one of your fans. Now, tell me, where does your artist name come from, as this is the first thing that fans make contact with and it is rather important. AUDIOGLIDER: Interesting one – I wanted to convey the fact that I could put my hands to many genres and straddle different styles – I used to be a drummer in indie bands, I have DJed house and breaks, and most recently found my voice in downtempo music. So this was my attempt at trying to convey those feelings. FOEM/Adinaaa: A-ha. I see. So you go by AUDIOGLIDER for your downtempo sounds and Autovelox for the more uptempo club tracks. Tell me more about your work and your multiple personalities, including the 'pastaboy' phase. AUDIOGLIDER: I am a big music lover, period, from all sorts of guitar based bands, rock music, soul and funk, but I really connected with the club scene in terms of its social aspect, the collective experience – and for the journey that the DJs and music can take you on. I made some tracks in the late 90s with some mates, and it was a great thrill to DJ them out, and really rock a party. I decided to create another persona as Autovelox because after plugging away making music for a number of years, for some reason, my downtempo style seems to have connected with labels and audiences. For that reason I thought it would be wise to create different personas, AUDIOGLIDER for downtempo and Autovelox for clubbier stuff, to make it easier to digest. I have concentrated on developing my downtempo sound recently since my releases on Global Underground and Morrison Recordings. As yet, I haven’t done any music recently that can be considered for Autovelox, although I do have some club tracks on www.acidplanet.com/audioglider. Pastaboy was a moniker I chose purely out of fun – in tribute to my Italian background, and I just used it on a site where I cut my teeth – www.acidplanet.com . It was great to get feedback from peers on tracks that I had just been playing to my friends up until that point. I decided to dispose of the Pastaboy name, as I wanted something a bit more serious sounding, and also, there are established dance music producers, the Pastaboys who are from Naples. FOEM/Adinaaa: Well, I think AUDIOGLIDER is a pretty good choice for your downtempo stuff, cause your tracks make me feel like I'm literally gliding through the audio. They are full of feelings and emotions, giving me such a positive attitude. What do you have in mind when you produce? AUDIOGLIDER: Because I work full time as well – and we have recently had a baby, I don't have a period where I can spend many hours at a time on my tracks. The tracks themselves seem to take on a life of their own and they seem to lead me, rather than me leading them. I have always liked a catchy melody and hook, without too much cheese, and always try to have a hook. I'm also big on basslines, and being an ex drummer, the drum dynamics are very important and has to have some kind of funk and syncopation. FOEM/Adinaaa: When I heard that you are into shoegazing electronica I couldn't stop thinking what the hell that is and I can honestly tell you that it was for the first time I heard about it. Tell me, from your point of view, what does this shoegazing movement represent and how does it influence your music? AUDIOGLIDER: I was a big indie kid back in the day and listened to a whole host of bands that were considered pioneers now – Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, My Bloody Valentine, Lush etc. I loved what they were doing sonically – loads of reverb, fx pedals, dreamy melodies, lots of distortion but very melodic. It was called shoegazing by the English music press – a combination of the fact that these bands were always staring at their FX pedals and concentrating on playing by looking down at their instruments. There are loads of bands round at the moment that have borrowed that kind of sensibility and sonic architecture which I love – Port Royal, Explosions in the Sky, Maps, Manual and others, all in different ways. I try to roughen up the clean positive melodies my tracks sometimes have with the rusty, distorted sound of shoegazing. FOEM/Adinaaa: Well, this is a far better explanation than the one I found on wiki and I think I'm gonna download a couple of tracks you mentioned. Music has come a long way since it's advent, but isn't it hard to be original these days when everything seems to have been done before? AUDIOGLIDER: Yes it is, but I don’t think about that when I produce – there's very little theory behind when I get into the studio. I'm just happy to snatch an hour here and there. FOEM/Adinaaa: Considering that this interview is going to come out on your birthday, it only took you 44 years to become notorious. Are you still 'Jenny from the block'? AUDIOGLIDER: Are you saying i've got a large Latina ass? He he… Nothing that a few trips to the gym won't solve. Seriously, i'm taking it all one day at a time. I'm hoping that my music touches people sometime, somewhere, and who knows what else is round the corner. The internet has been a lifeline for people like me who want to be heard beyond their immediate social circle. I won't sit back now though. If this is my time now, then I want to get heard by as many people as possible. FOEM/Adinaaa: I really think that now is your moment, since you've had a great year so far, but I also know that you have a little bit of history in making music. What really kept you going further and farther all these years? AUDIOGLIDER: I'm a complete music nut, and always believed that i had something, whether it would be as a mere hobbyist, or something more. What has kept me going, is that for a technophobe like me, the technology has become so intuitive, and available, and easy to use, that even i can have a go, and make a racket in my own way. Also, the feedback that i was getting from my peers on acidplanet, and also when i was a member of beatsfactory.com, was very inspirational, and kept me going. FOEM/Adinaaa: Yes, I've read lots of comments from your acidplanet profile and I couldn't find any mean one. You have quite a few fans online. However, there's a little bit of a rumor going on around here and I'm just going to go ahead and ask: 'Is it true that you use beats from other artists'? AUDIOGLIDER: There's one track on this EP - Lens Flare Sky, that I asked a friend of mine, and extremely talented beatsfactory.com artist, Architextur, (go check him and other superb artists) to see if he could come up with some IDMish beats, as he is very skilled in that genre. As far as other beats are concerned, I am not ashamed to say that I use loop libraries and chop and change them, edit and fx them into how I wish them to sound. I do layer loads of beatloops together. FOEM/Adinaaa: I read on the net that you've recently had your first baby. Congrats on that by the way. Are you willing to pass on to your children your passion for producing music and mixing it? Or you prefer they went to college and got a more stable job? AUDIOGLIDER: I'd love to have my son be a musician – and a far better one than me. I can play guitar and drums OK, but would love to play more fluently. However, I'll let him take the path he feels is right, and if he shows an aptitude for music, then I will gladly nurture it. If I try to push him in that direction, he will undoubtedly rebel and become and accountant J. I would also like him to get an education, and these days the options to study all sorts of courses in the music industry are far greater than when i went to uni. FOEM/Adinaaa: I know that you mix from your bedroom in South London, but if you had to choose between vinyl and mp3, what kind of dj would you rather be? A disc jockey or a digital jockey? AUDIOGLIDER: I used to DJ in London quite a lot in the 90s – loads of underground parties, played the Ministry of Sound, and the E-Werk in East Berlin once as well as some clubs in Cape Town – all with vinyl – I grew up with it. But these days, it's so much easier to carry everything on your laptop, hard drive or on CD, and carry it with you, rather than say put boxes of vinyl in the hold of a plane. It may not look as interactive in a club, but it doesn't do Sasha any harm, with his Ableton sets. FOEM/Adinaaa: Yes, Ableton makes it much easier and many great djs adopted this method nowadays. Also, it minimizes the chances that your vinyl case is misplaced at the airport or nasty stuff like that. Here's a mind numbing one. Tell me one thing you're a fan of, something that people might not expect of you. AUDIOGLIDER: I really love vintage Scandinavian furniture design and architecture – Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, are favorites of mine. FOEM/Adinaaa: You really got me there. I was expecting something regarding cats, since your acidplanet profile is full of pictures of your cat. But here goes the final one. Let's say, hypothetically speaking, if you ever retired from making music, what reasons might you have? AUDIOGLIDER: Ooo – that's a nasty one. If ever i lost my hearing, then I would have to retire, although I'd still be able to tap my feet along to big beats and a booming bass! FOEM/Adinaaa: Now, we've all heard about the legendary career of Frankie Wilde. Very intriguing, indeed. I, for one, would love to see one of those concerts live. Anyways, as one of your newest fans, I hope that the events up until now have been just the first steps in a very prodigious career as a producer and dj. Best of luck. |