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HarderFaster interviews Simon Posford
Reported by HarderFaster
/
Submitted 01-04-09 18:31
With the more recent commercialisation of psy trance by the likes of Infected Mushroom and Astrix, many forget that the genre has had a rich heritage in the UK for decades. Simon Posford started out as an engineer for the legendary Dragonfly and T.I.P. labels and it is certainly no exaggeration that his albums 'Twisted' and 'The Lone Deranger' helped make psy trance what it is today. Running Twisted Records and juggling three guises, he rarely has time for interviews, so it was indeed an honour when he agreed to answer some questions from the HarderFaster crew last week ahead of his Hallucinogen set at Alpha Omega this Friday night at the Coronet...
Who are you? (The Kerb)
I am you and we are many...
You’ve been playing and producing dance music for many years now. What have been the highlights for you? (Tara)
The feeling of accomplishment when I finish making a tune that I feel is really good (a rare feeling quite honestly!) is reward enough. Trying to please myself is the hardest thing, I am my own worst critic. So when I finished ‘DMT’ or ‘Day Turned to Night’ I remember being particularly excited and telling friends, “I think I’ve just made the best tune I ever made!”
As far as playing music goes, there have been a few memorable gigs. Sometimes the location and people (Mt. Fuji in Japan is a highlight), and again challenging myself as an artist by doing something like the Shpongle live at the Roundhouse. To think that 2 weeks before that show the band had never even met, never played together and didn’t know the music! By the time we played the show, we still didn’t know the music of course. But we managed somehow to pull it off with only a few mistakes, and mostly enjoy it too. The trick is to surround myself with people who are far better musicians than me! I still wished we had done a few more shows before deciding to film it for a DVD tho’ — what idiot releases their first ever gig???
The Twisted forums ask the question “Are you a millionaire yet”..... So are you? (Amanda Mizz-B)
Haha! I wish! I think people really have no idea how little money is in music now. Record sales aren’t enough to live off, and thank goddess for the gigs which at least enable me to continue making music. But I’d probably have more chance of becoming a millionaire by appearing on Dragon’s Den with that chocolate teapot idea I’ve been mulling around for a while....
You’ve got 3 guises, could you please tell us how they differ? (Tara)
Hallucinogen: Me on my own, making (or not making) psychedelic music for the dancefloor, that is nearly all electronic, and dancey.
Shpongle: With Raja Ram on flute, making anything we like with no rules and no concerns about it being for the dancefloor.
Younger Brother: With Benji Vaughan, more organic instruments and traditional band-style set up but processed electronically, and something we would want to listen to at home or go and see as a live band. We get a chance to explore our ‘indie’ roots! Of course there are overlaps between all of them.
I am in all of them, so my musical taste will permeate throughout, and I mix all of them so they will have my production sound.
What led to your decision to stop producing harder trance music many years ago and will you ever produce harder trance for commercial release again?? (Andy)
“Harder trance music” — just those very words sound kinda gay! Hehe I’m just kidding. There was no decision to stop doing Hallucinogen or trance, and in my heart I plan to make some more. It’s purely a practical result of the lack of time: days are too short, and I have too many projects and I’m fundamentally lazy if left to my own devices.
When you announce a release, it’s always late. Is that because you are such a perfectionist? (Amanda Mizz_B)
Many things can delay a record’s release. Often it is the artwork, because we tend not to think about it until the record is actually finished. Our distributor went bust at one point too. And thankfully deadlines are set, otherwise a record would never leave my studio!
It is very rare that I think, “this album is finished — there’s nothing more I could do.” Normally the voices in my head telling me that I am crap, the music is rubbish and no-one will buy it anyway will stop me working until the deadline has passed and I think, “you really should start that tune now,” and so I start it and think “this’ll never be ready — I should have started it weeks ago!” I am a perfectionist, but I don’t think that in itself delays a record.
You’ve produced some wicked dub sounds. Have you heard any New Zealand dub like Salmonella Dub and would you ever play a dub gig there? (Sowilo)
I have yes. I think I played with them in Australia in fact. Sure I’d play in New Zealand, they certainly have the space and the landscape of incredible beauty.
The Twisted Records party at SE1 3 years ago was amazing, and the 90 screens at the one at Brixton Academy were awesome to watch. Any plans to do another like them in London? (Amanda Mizz_B)
Probably at some point. Right now we are working on Shpongle at the Roundhouse again, for Halloween 2009, trying to figure out how not to repeat ourselves.
Do you have any plans to incorporate ‘real’ instruments into live performances on a more regular basis?? Perhaps form a proper band?? (I know the full Shpongle line incorporates real instruments but by all accounts you rarely get together for a live show). (Andy)
Shpongle performs as a real band, and so do Younger Brother. YB is fun because all I have to think about is playing my guitar and a few synths. Would I do it in Hallucinogen? No, because I think a live guitar or singer over trance music is cheesy and not psychedelic enough for what I want to hear on the dancefloor.
Why have Shpongle featured in so few live performances? (GMReq)
Because it is a hard unwieldy beast to tame — 12 or 13 musicians, so much equipment, it’s expensive and time consuming and stressful. Not many promoters would take it on. I wouldn’t! Some dream and try, but don’t even manage to pay a deposit to secure the musicians....
I would like to do more, but it is difficult. And it is left to me to organise the musicians, and who is playing what when and how, and who needs what cues and can I get a smoke and where’s the pen and what key is this in? Am I playing in this one? How did you make that sound? I can’t play that!! Where’s the lighter? What time is lunch? Suddenly I am a bit like a secretary, and that’s not what I signed up for! I would rather hide in my studio and make music.
Who are your main influences and are they all based on electronic forms of music? (GMReq)
Not only are my main influences mostly not based on electronic music, most of them aren’t even musicians! Bill Hicks, Robert Anton Wilson, Salvador Dali, Terence McKenna, my girlfriend, my friends, so many movies and books. I could fill pages and pages with incidents and people that have had a major impact on my life, how I perceive the world and what/how I want to communicate in art.
Musically I can give you a few key albums/tracks:
The Cure — particularly these albums: ‘Seventeen Seconds’, ‘Pornography’ and ‘Faith’
Ozric Tentacles — ‘Erpland’ (every track on that album....except ‘Erpland’ itself!)
Jimi Hendrix — anytime he picked up a guitar Bob Marley — not so much a musician as a demi-god prophet.
Supertramp — ‘Breakfast in America’ Oh yes!!!
E.L.O. — ‘Mr.Blue Sky’.... the dangers of too much cocaine in a 48 track studio 
The Smiths, Pink Floyd, Portishead, The Orb, Brian Eno, Erick Satie, J.S Bach, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Flanger, Vini Reilly, David Bowie, Lee Perry.
Ok I’m going to stop now, I haven’t even got on to world music.
What other sorts of music do you listen to/enjoy (other than the kind that you produce)? (Stace)
See above! Generally not any forms of trance tho’, surprisingly to some. The closest track to something people would expect me to listen to is ‘Take me into your skin’ by Trentemoller. I am addicted to this track right now! Often this is how it works, I get addicted to a track, listen to it over and over until I am sick of it and can’t ever hear it again.
Who/what inspires you? (Stace)
See above....
What is your favourite country in the world and why? (GMReq)
Japan, the food is so good, the people are weird and the culture interesting. The countryside is stunning and the cities fascinating. A great place to remove yourself from your comfort zone and connect with that buzzing excitement of the unusual.
What do you think of the success of Israeli acts in the mainstream of psy trance? Does it help to have a more commercial side, or would you prefer to keeps things more true to the original sound? (DMX)
I don’t care. I don’t feel it relates to me in anyway whatsoever. I don’t like mainstream psy-trance, I don’t listen to it, and I don’t consider it when I make music. I don’t object to anyone having success, or scenes changing or moving on. In fact, I encourage it. The only thing I object to is, to quote Bill Hicks: “Fevered egos tainting our collective unconscious and making us pay a far higher psychic price than we realize.”
Is it true that OTT, that fantastic producer on your Twisted records label, lives a hermit-like existence somewhere in the West Country just churning out incredible music and swigging flagons of proper cider?? (Andy)
No. He lives in Spain, where he has learned how to say “I need a poo” in Spanish, sits by his pool in the sun drinking great wines and eating tasty tapas.... while deep down the illusion of it all tears at his soul until he is forced into his studio in the 120 degree heat to create something beautiful in an attempt to salvage some slight satisfaction — to scratch the itch that will never go away, no matter where he lives!
What does the ‘psychedelic’ in psychedelic trance mean to you? (Tara)
It means something that will tickle the brain cells in new ways, that stimulates you on a much deeper level than other music, that takes our twin strands of DNA and rearranges them into a smiling face laughing at the cosmic joke, so full of love that it heals you to the core. Something that continually surprises you and entertains you and scares you and comforts you and makes you question everything you have ever thought you knew.
What TV show floats your boat?? (Andy)
Curb your Enthusiasm, The Office, Alan Partridge, 24, all genius for different reasons.
What are your forthcoming releases, under what guise and when will they be released?? (Andy)
‘Shpongle Live at the Roundhouse’ DVD, a Younger Brother album and a Shpongle album, all apparently finished by September! I guess we’ll be missing a deadline or two, especially as Raj is sitting here with headphones on watching The Wire’while I do this interview instead of working in the studio!!! Ok shorter answers now...
Do you have any goals for the next few years or do you prefer to take each day as it comes? (Tara)
I can’t even plan what I’m going to have for lunch. I’d like to be truly happy one day.
Who would you most like to produce music with? (Andy)
Beth Gibbons, Bjork, Spike Stent, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg and Robert Smith to name a few.
Do you think Ableton is the future and will replace decks, the same way that CJs are starting to bump off vinyl? (CK)
Ableton is an amazing piece of software, but in the future we can’t even imagine the incredible delights (and horrors!) that science and technology will bring us.
What is your favourite piece of hardware, be it synth or any other piece of electronic equipment? (GMReq)
Right now it is my new in-ear monitors — it’s like being in the womb, in pristine stereo! I also really like my oven, my laptop, my Oscar synth. I’d love a really good mixing desk as I still haven’t mastered mixing ‘in the box’.
What software do you primarily use in the creative process of production? (GMReq)
Logic Pro
How long do you spend making a tune on average? (GMReq)
About 10 days, sometimes quicker, the longest being 2 weeks.
Festival time is almost amongst us again. What’s been your favourite festival over the years? Are you playing at any festivals this summer? (Tara)
Glastonbury up until about 1996 and Burning Man. I will be playing at several festivals over the summer. Check www.myspace.com/therealshpongle or www.twisted.co.uk for dates.
Shpongle was my favourite moment at 07/07/07 festival, what was yours? (Sowilo)
Someone rear-ended my car (not badly), but it turned out the driver was an old friend I hadn’t seen for years!
Free downloading: are people stealing your music or is it a way of promoting your gigs? (Tara)
Both...
Are you looking forward to playing the Coronet on April 3rd and can I request ‘Gamma Goblins’ please (Disco Diva)
Yes! And you can request anything you like, I might not play it But I do enjoy ending with ‘Gamma Goblins’!
Check the Facebook event link here:
www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=63076133851
For more info about Hallucinogen check out: www.myspace.com/therealhallucinogen
For more info about Schpongle check out: www.myspace.com/therealshpongle
For more info about Twisted Events check out: www.myspace.com/twistedeventsuk
For more info about Twisted Records check out: www.twistedmusic.com/
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Other Features By HarderFaster:
HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2014 - The results are in!
Lashes, Dimples and the Brighton Music Conference
HarderFaster Awards 2013 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2012 - The results are in!
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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So he isnt a millionaire yet (Grant are you reading this? 
) 
and there is another Twisted Records party maybe soon.... Simon Posford in all his guises is an excellent musician, roll on tomorrow night!!
