Artist: Frequency Deluxe

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Artist: Frequency Deluxe

Date: 11-05-02

By: Mars

 

Q: Who are you, where do you come from, and what are you doing in life except making music ?

A: Frequency: Deluxe is Ken Small and Alex Cornfeld. Shanti Matkin was also part of FD, but he moved away and we haven't heard much from him in the last year and a half. I (Alex) occasionally work in the film industry. The last project I worked on was an IMAX rock-concert film. Ken is the produce manager at a huge organic market.

 

Q: There are not so many psy artists in the states. How did you start ? Were you helped by any other artist ?

A: Ken was a techno DJ in L.A. (DJ Metro) in the late 1980's - long before anyone even knew what techno was. I was also a DJ in the mid 1990's. For both of us, the jump to making music was quite natural as the next step. Ken and I were introduced at a party - Ken had been making ambient music for some time and I had just started making trance - we hit it off and started working together. Shanti was staying at a mutual friends house in L.A. and as soon as we were introduced he joined the fray. For some reason, the U.S. is always a bit behind the rest of the world in terms of art and music. However, there are actually lots of electronic music artists beginning to emerge in the U.S. and it's only a matter of time before they become known.

 

Q: How would you describe your style ? Some people say 'GMS-like....'

A: Well, there is no doubt that GMS has been an influence on us. I always thought their music was cutting edge. And of course, Shanti was working with us for some time (and he is a member of GMS). All of the music we have ever listened to - good, bad, or other - has influenced us. But we would like to think that we are developing our own style, so that someone listing to a new track of ours might think, "Hmmm, that sounds like Frequency: Deluxe..."

 

Q: Where does the inspiration come from when building a track ?

A: Tracks are strange things. Sometimes Ken will have a very specific idea of what he wants to do with a track, and he will carefully craft just what he wants. Other times it's more like divine intervention. We can be working on something for a long time, not completely satisfied, and all of a sudden, for no readily apparent reason, it will all come together.

 

Q: What equipment do you use ?

A: The computer we use is a dual 1ghz Mac running Logic platinum 5 (with many plug ins). We have a Speck Electronics and a Yamaha 03D mixer. We have a Kurzweil 2500, a Nord Lead 2, 2 Roland JP 8000's and an Access Virus C. Outboard effects are an Ensonic DP Pro and A T.C. Electronics Fireworx. And we use a T.C. Electronics Finalizer 96k both for A/D tracking as well as mastering.

 

Q: You have an album ready i heard ? Please tell us more about it.

A: The album is due out literally any day (note : now released since march 10th). It is eponymously titled (Frequency: Deluxe) and has ten tracks. It's being released by Kagdila Records (check 'em out at KagdilaRecords.com...) and we're very psyched about it.

 

Q: Any other projects ? / Would you like to make tracks with some other artists ?

A: Ken is working on his own making ambient as well as trance music. I am working on something a bit different these days: I'm working with a jazz musician by the name of Gil Melle (Blue Note Records, Higher Octave) making an Electro-Jazz album. Shanti, well, like I said we haven't heard from him in a while, but I see his name all over the place.

 

Q: I guess you're staring to play a bit everywhere. When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ?

A: We are just starting to play a bit, so in all honesty we don't have lots of sex, drugs n' trance stories... yet

 

Q: What do you think of the Psy-scene at the moment?

A: Again, we don't really have a good first person opinion on the global trance scene as we have barely been in it. In L.A. there used to be a good scene, though its always been small. But it's quiet now. Up in San Francisco they have a great scene, though it's also small, well, perhaps "tight knit" is a better term.

 

Q: And what do you feel when you see people totally freak out to your music ?

A: Put simply: There's no better feeling in the world.

 

Q: If you DJ , what are your current favourite groups and tracks ?

A: I do DJ, but much of my music is embarrassingly old. Of the new stuff I like 3D Vision artists for the harder stuff and Iboga artists for a little more minimal/mixable stuff.

 

Q: As of today, what is your favourite FD track ?

A: My favorite Frequency: Deluxe track is "Drip Technique." Ken insists he doesn't have one, though we both love a track we just finished called "Three in One" which will be out on some compilation, though I forgot which one.

 

Q: What do you think of the MP3 revolution, and what do you think of people trading them without buying the stuff ?

A: We have very mixed feeling about MP3s and cd-rs... Of course every computer today comes with a cd burner and when a friend has a cd and says, "You'll love this, make a copy..." it's tough to resist. I do have burned music (though some of it was given to me by artists, etc.) and who doesn't want a free cd? But as artists who have music now available commercially we obviously want people to buy it. We did give away hundreds, if not thousands of cds of our own music over the last couple of years. There is no way of avoiding the fact that the music industry has changed recently due to technology. There must be a way for that technology to be embraced and utilized in a positive manner (wish I knew what it was...). Hopefully, it will work itself out in the near future.

 

Thanks very much and we wish you good luck for the future !