Wayne Lotek, Mercury 2009 Prizewinning Album Producer – Interview Part 2
By Paul Dakeyne
| Posted in Interview
We continue with part 2 of our Wayne Lotek interview:
DV247:
The attractions of visiting new countries and cultures are obvious, but for you it seems to form a vitally important, perhaps even spiritual connection to your musical production, writing and recording process: Can you elaborate on this?
WL
It’s true. I do get a lot of influence from visiting other countries and experiencing other cultures. Sometimes it’s as simple as hearing an instrument you’ve never heard before and being able to use it on a track (like the Gusly on “Nostalgia” from the “Go” LP) other times it’s something more subtle. Each city I went to conjured up new ideas. It’s no coincidence that my most prolific time (until now) was when I was touring UK and Europe with Roots Manuva. However, now that I have been away from the UK for over two years, visiting London has had the same effect as going to Warsaw or Wellington!
It began, to be honest, as an excuse to travel. I could get a gig in another country and they pay my transport and accommodation with a fee on top, often if you ask they will be able to book you extra nights at a reduced rate as they have a deal with the hotels. Other times I would go and stay with musicians I had met at previous shows. At first I just went for a few weeks here and there but the trips got longer and longer.
DV247:
Your concept of the ‘De-Mix’ (re-addressing a track, bedded to the roots of multiple musical genres) goes way beyond the standard and general DJ genre categorization style. This concept of total sonic exploration when revisiting tracks must be extremely exciting for you and any collaborators?
WL
Haha, you make it sound so simple! It’s a lot of fun but also loads of hard work and head scratching. I’m working on something along those lines at the moment. We’ve been looking at modern reggae influenced electronica like dubstep and trying to delve a bit deeper into the reggae sound.
We went back to before ska, before Jamaican independence, to music my Dad used to sing when I was little. It’s folk music played on mostly home-made instruments. This music influenced ska that became rock steady, then came reggae and later dancehall and hip hop and so on. We’ve been experimenting with these sounds, on our very own homemade instruments, mixed with modern electronic sounds. It’s a fun but sometimes bewildering process!
DV247:
Your MySpace page hints at some disillusion with the Hip Hop scene. Has this evolved over the past few years and if so what (or who) do you think may help you reconnect with the genre should you feel like a revisit?
WL
I’m not sure, I think only I can reconnect myself. I think it’s quite natural to grow out of something like this. I remember when I was 15 my Mum would always hear the music I listened to and say things like “that’s not their song” or “music was better in my day”. Now I find myself saying the exact same thing about a lot of music around today. Part of me holds firm the belief that hip hop was better in 1992, but I remember that around that time Tony D released an album called “Deja Vu it’s 1982” which was basically saying that he thought that rap music was best in the early 1980s. In 2012 will they be saying rap was best in 2002?
All the things I love about rap music are still there and still true, it’s just not as evident in the music that you hear. But then that is what’s popular now, so is rap out of touch with its roots or are we older heads a bit behind the times? Who’s to say…
DV247:
‘Outright sampling’ or ‘getting musicians in to replay’ – opinions and observations please…
WL
Wow, that’s actually a huge topic disguised as a short question. To sample or not to sample? That is the biggest question.
The sound of rap music as we know it today is based around the sampling aesthetic. Even those people who use live musicians like Dr Dre will still try to make it sound sampled. There’s something hypnotic about looping a sample.
I love working with samples, it was what got me interested in hip hop production in the first place. The whole process is a lot of fun, digging for the best breaks then chopping them up and rearranging them into a new beat.
Some people abuse sampling technology and use it as a way to cheaply rip off and take credit for some old lesser known music, while others take a massive chunk from a well known established song and just put a rap over it. Neither of these methods appeal to me, and I think as a serious musician you should be ashamed of yourself if you engage in either of those.
I don’t really use samples (from other people’s records) all that much anymore, not because I think it’s wrong or doesn’t sound good but for a few simple reason. Firstly, you are limited with what you can do when working with samples. You can’t change a sample from minor to major (well at least until Melodyne DNA comes out!) Another factor is the creative satisfaction – if I sample a classic soul track then of course it will sound good because it is after all a classic, but where is the achievement?
Aside from all of that there is the financial and legal side. When sampling first came out people had no idea what was going on. Old soul singers felt violated and confused when they heard their voices on songs they didn’t sing and often no money was paid to the creators. Things have changed now and there are people out there who are paid to actively look for uncleared samples.
When I produced tracks for the first Roots Manuva album they handed me a sample clearance form and I nearly fell off my chair. They wanted details on how long the sample was and how many times it had been used. That particular song had about four big samples in it, none of which are very obscure. Had we cleared the samples it would not have been very profitable and of course it would have come out of my share!
So in answer to your question – neither is best really. If I get musicians in then it will be to play something new. However I use the music that I like as inspiration and as a reference point for the musicians.
DV247:
What for you has been the most memorable collaboration in your entire 15 year career?
WL
That’s very difficult to answer. To me, each collaboration has been challenging and in the end has taught me something. The most memorable sessions aren’t necessarily with the most impressive artists.
I did a track with Ghislain Poirier once – he was in Canada and I was in London. I had a webcam set up in the studio and I had wired the output of the desk and the talkback mic into my laptop that was running Skype so he could see and hear everything that was going on. His girlfriend walked in and immediately asked: “What the hell is this nerdy situation!?”
I’d like to think the most special collaborations are still yet to happen.
DV247:
Considering the multitude of projects you appear to balance simultaneously, from start to finish, how long was your gig recording and producing Speech’s album?
WL
It spanned two years, though in actual time it was only about 6 months. It often happens that way – I can’t think of an album that we worked at non-stop, condensing the whole thing into the shortest space of time. The PlayStation game I did was quite concentrated – I spent about eight weeks working on the music for that, which was almost all day, every day.
DV247:
Not that any reaffirming is needed, but could you perhaps identify just what it is about the lyrical content, performance aspect and production sensibilities of the “Speech Therapy” album that sets it apart from the other nominees, capturing the winning vote for this years Mercury Prize?
WL
How the judges decide the winner of the Mercury Prize is probably one of the greatest mysteries of the world! I sat there in 2002 with Roots Manuva for the “Run Come Save Me” album, with everyone saying we had won. Then on the night they gave it to Ms Dynamite. This year we were the lowest selling album and no one thought we had a prayer of winning when the nominations came out, but you know what happened.
Ultimately, it is a great album and the music and lyrics struck a chord with the panel. Also, Speech Debelle is one of the nominated artists that would truly benefit from taking the prize, unlike so many other artists in the past who gave their prize money to charity.
DV247:
For recording, you’ve used a lot of great, high-end mics, pre-amps and processing hardware both currently and historically, but when it comes to the mixing process, do you prefer to keep this stage ‘in the box’ or rely on certain Lotek ‘fave’ external rack units and processors?
WL
I prefer to mix with hardware. It’s a combination of factors other than just analogue vs digital. Partly it’s the analogue summation, and also I like to touch my mix. When you’re mixing on outboard the mix is the size of the room. It forces you to get out of your chair and walk around.
In terms of how it sounds I prefer analogue, but I have done many mixes with plug-ins alone and been happy with the results. I sometimes have to fight with EQ to get it to sound right – I find cutting isn’t too bad but boosting with some plug-in EQs can sound harsh.
I’ve been using the Focusrite Liquid Mix recently as its a good inbetween for me. I get to tweak the settings as I would do with hardware and I can emulate most classic EQs and compressors for a small fraction of the cost.
DV247:
Being a producer very much empowered by acoustic instruments within your work, how does the current mass of software synth, keyboard emulations and plug-ins fit (if at all) within your workflow?
WL
The best emulations fit right in naturally, that’s what I like about them. With something like Native Instruments’ B4 I can have the sound of a Hammond organ without the stress of of using a real one, and it does sound good. I’ve never heard one and thought it sounded synthetic or that it didn’t fit in the mix. Good strings are hard to replicate, likewise with horns. But at the very least I use plug-ins to sketch out songs and parts before getting them replayed.
DV247:
And finally, what’s up-coming for Lotek the Artist, and Lotek the Producer?
WL
Lotek the artist has just finished an album of reggae and ska inspired tracks called “Rebel HiFi”. Lotek the producer produced it! It’s due out when Lotek the Producer and Lotek the artist can agree on what photo to use on the cover. They both think it should be of them! Seriously, “Rebel Hi-Fi” should be out in the Spring next year.
There are a few other projects in the pipeline, including Florelie and The Backlash Brew, which is my girlfriend’s soul/funk/reggae band, as well as my own dub band The Ubiquitous Dub Legitimizers, aka UDL.
I’m still exploring possibilities and I’m open to working on all types of music. The only time I would turn down a project is if I thought I couldn’t deliver.
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Lotek Studios Melbourne Equipment List (Computer, software, hardware)
- Pentium 3 PC Running Windows XP & Cubase 5
- Wavelab 6
- MOTU 828 Audio Interface
- MOTU Micro Express MIDI/SMPTE Interface
- Waves Diamond Bundle, Waves SSL Bundle
- PSP Mix Pack, PSP Vintage Warmer
- Sonnox Bundle
- Native Instruments Komplete 5
- ADAM A7 Monitors
- Tascam M-50 Mixer, Tascam 38 – 1/2” 8 Track
- Revox PR99 1/4” Tape Machine
- AKAI MPC 2000XL
- Speck 3:16 EQ
- Behringer Composer (X2)
- Joe Meek VC3Q Pre-Amp/Compresser
- AKG C414 Microphone, Jeanne Audio 87 Microphone
- TC Electronic M350 Effects Processor
- Behringer Ultra Patch (X2)
- Edirol PCR M50
- Focusrite Liquid Mix
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This interview copyright DV247.com 2009
Tags: Mercury 2009, Prizewinner, Speech Debelle, Wayne Lotek