Guest antic Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I'm not sure if it was posted here, so mods please delete it if it was. It was originally posted on psy-forum.co.uk, by JohnM. Enjoy Simon Posford probably doesn’t need too much of an introduction, unless you’ve been in the upper Amazon licking strange toads for the past fifteen years and even then you’re probably sampled on one of his tracks…As Hallucinogen and half of Shpongle, amongst his many projects, Simon has produced some of the most successful and adventurous psychedelic music of the last decade and this year looks set to be another busy one. I caught up with Simon, while he was buried deep in studio gadgetry, to find out about new material from Metal Sharon (with Merv Eat Static), a Younger Brother album and even the promise of a new Hallucinogen album, not to mention a big celebration of Ten Years of Twisted records (Simon’s label) at the SEOne on Fri 3rd March. What have you been up to day? I have been in the studio working with Benji (Prometheus) on the new Younger Brother album, which is nearly finished. This morning I had a long bath, as an excuse to read my book : "lunar park" by Brett Easton Ellis which I am really enjoying, in spite of the tricks it plays with my head... How was Australia? Australia was.... Big! What a huge country to have to travel across, with haemorrhoids sitting on an iron spike! The gigs were good though, and I met some cool people. Highs/lows of 2005? High points... getting a new G5 computer, so that I can crash or freeze quicker and more powerfully than ever before... Also, seeing several of my friends get married and have kids. Low points.... seeing several of my friends get married and have kids You seemed to have the bad luck of being the only person to lose out from the freak good weather at the Glade last year... must have been frustrating? Not as frustrating as having the volume turned down as low as it could go, without actually being "off"! Actually, the monitors on stage were quite loud, so the first I knew about it was when Tristan came up to me on stage and said "Don’t worry mate – it’s not your fault!" to which I replied, confused, "what do you mean?" and he turned the monitors down.... whereupon a hushed silence fell over the place... I could swear some tumbleweed rolled by... and if I listened intently, I could hear the P.A trickling out the tinniest smallest sound, underneath the cries from the crowd of "Turn it up mate!" I was later told it was due to the freak weather... it was quieter than a gnat’s chuff in front of the sound system, but if you went to a village a few miles down the road, the Mayor’s Wife’s bed was jumping with every kick drum! And it seemed the whole village had their phones on re-dial to the police...so I was a bit gutted, yes.... Have the first ten years of Twisted gone as you expected? Obviously I had hoped for Total Global Domination by now... but we are at least still going, where others have folded, or had to change their name and start up again... High points: making and releasing three Shpongle albums... Low point: losing about 50 grand (10 years of hard work and profits) to our distributor, who went down this year. Would you say there is Twisted "sound"? What would you say the Twisted artists have in common? I am not sure about a Twisted sound, but all our artists are unique and particularly non-conformist when it comes to the general generic boring sound of most trance records... this is something none of us are interested in, and we all try to challenge ourselves creatively on a daily basis. I would like Twisted to be known as more than a trance label, as I don’t really consider acts like Shpongle, Younger Brother, Ott, Flexitones and Metal Sharon to be trance acts... even though some of us were inspired by the outdoor parties of the early nineties. How much involvement do you have with the day to day running of Twisted? None...I offer a guiding hand, but the real work is done by Simon Holtom, and his team of one! How is the trance industry shifting? Are you looking at any plans for legal downloads of your material? Yes, we are currently uploading all our music to the site, to be available in various download formats... and the whole site itself will shortly be replaces with version 3. I have an mp3 player myself, but I don’t have any trance on it... I think more than any other type of music it needs full bandwidth quality to be able to appreciate the sounds and production. Do you think the shift in format (vinyl > CD > MP3 download) has altered people's relationship with music? I am not sure... do you think music has become more "throw-away"... less collectable? I have stopped collecting vinyl, but if I really like something I buy it and play it from CD... I have an mp3 player in the kitchen which churns out mainly pop, and other more song-orientated music that transcends any system it is played on. How did you find working with Merv on the Metal Sharon project? I really enjoyed it... although trying to get time when we are both available to do the Final Push to finish it off has proved extremely tricky... We are both obsessive programmers, at times, and this frequently shows on the album... how "pernickety" we can be... our objective was always just to make each other laugh... with delight and amazement! Did you have any windows in your studio? Does the (lack of) view affect the music? (I recently saw Dave Gilmour talk about his studio on house boat on the Thames, saying he had had a life time of windowless basement studios & now wanted a view when he worked!) I do have windows, but always keep the curtains shut anyway! Also I do most of my work at night, so there usually isn’t much to see anyway... I rather enjoy the womb-like nature of the studio... but I do find I get tired quicker when I can’t gaze out of the window occasionally. Any plans for more Hallucinogen tracks? How do you keep your live set fresh for yourself when some of the tracks are a decade old ? I am moving into a new house soon, where I will get the 3rd Hallucinogen album underway... the last few years I have enjoyed working on collaborations, but I feel an introspective phase coming on, where I will retreat into the studio on my own and get lost in the hallucinogenic world... it is hard to keep my live set fresh, but I can at least throw in some of the trance collaborations I have done...Hallucinogen in nature, if not by name... Is that the end of Shpongle? There are no plans to do another Shpongle album... but I would love to do a live DVD one day... but never say never! Also raja and I will continue to work on other projects together... What other projects have you got coming up? What would you like to do music wise? Younger Brother is my main focus at the moment... in fact Benji is hunched over the G5, sorting through the mess of guitars I left him to keep him occupied while I do this interview! Do you think of yourself as a "dance music" producer? Not today. Do you enjoy playing live? As Hallucinogen... No. It is no fun under the spotlight on your own... I am shy and not really a performer... as Shpongle… No, because it is too much hard work! But as Younger Brother - I LOVE playing live! When you have another musician to bounce ideas off, and jam with it makes much more sense... Any thoughts on the Twisted SEOne party? You'll be busy that night, are you doing three sets? I hope not! but I am not sure exactly what they have stuck me up for yet...but the line-up looks really awesome... Greg Hunter was always a hero of mine... and it is an honour to have Youth on board too... plus some of the newer acts like Bluetech. Apart from Massive Attack, I cannot think of many non-reggae artist that have had a dub album done of their stuff - any thoughts on the album? I love it... I think those psychedelic sounds lend themselves to dub remixes very well... all my favourite dub has a strong bass line and drums, with weird noises over top. Do you think Ott will ever actually produce his mythical second album? Yes... he is working on it now... will he manage that tricky THIRD album, I am wondering! Do you listen to much music when not producing? Sometimes I go totally off music, and prefer silence... but now I am loving music! The Magic Numbers album I am listening to a lot at the moment… I wake up most mornings with some part of it going thru my head... so I guess that is the last thing i heard that inspired me: I really like their arrangements, and use of just 3 instruments to fill the space, which is usually very un-cluttered… Actually RIGHT now, I am listening to a loop of the younger brother track, while Benji edits some headphone spill! Normally headphone spill is seen as a problem and removed from the track... but in this case it is being used as a feature. Any final thoughts, comments, rants?? Thanks for listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxx Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Nice hopefully we dont have too wait so much longer for the 3rd Hallucionogen album,sounds like he´s ready for it now,when he moves that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Nice one, Antic. Good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatpat Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 good read, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Psychiatrist Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Yesss, new Younger Brother.. Will i live to hear it? Here's a little update from the Younger Brother regarding the album: Hello everyone....just a little message to tell you whats going in the younger brother bunker.. the albums coming on a storm but we're not rushing it as its gotta be just so and that means giving every track a bit of time to breath before commiting to a final mix and arrangement....so here's where we're at (this isnt an album track order and all titles are just working titles) track 1...called chester and featuring our friend called amazingly ......chester. its on our myspace sight so you can preview it there track 2 sleep walker ...an epic piece of mellowness, split into two parts. we've been playing it at gigs and it seems to be tweaking the right synapses out there. track 3 yodalistix....the first track we did for the album, based around a guitar movement but unfinnished as yet as we're getting a super amazing vocalist to come and give it the final tingle. he's called rupert and has a voice of an angel. track 4.....3rd track....yes you guessed it we wrote this track third. Its a super soft ambient builder thats finnished and we love it...so there track 5... battery..this was started in december and is still awaiting its final mix. its a synth driven 5/4 journey with a twist...can't wait to to get the final mix done on it as it should be a killer track 6...elephant machine...just did this last week. Its full on led zepplin on acid and should sound massive at a festival near you soon. track 7 just started this ....only a demo at the moment so i'll say no more so there we are.....gotta couple more to do then we'll see where we are and set about pulling all the strings together, stitching the final buttons on and whipping up the icing for the cake and we'll be done......we're really chuffed with it so far and can't wait to get it out there................may the force be with you LOVE YOUNGER BROTHER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest antic Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 track 3 yodalistix....the first track we did for the album, based around a guitar movement but unfinnished as yet as we're getting a super amazing vocalist to come and give it the final tingle. he's called rupert and has a voice of an angel. OMG! Younger Brother is soo geigh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trolsk Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 track 1...called chester and featuring our friend called amazingly ......chester. its on our myspace sight so you can preview it there Younger Brother @ MySpace.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranceVisuals Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 As I wrote on psyforum: I wonder if it is the snafu effect, but there were a lot of people around me and within earshot not complaining of the volume, but the trite music that he played. For me as well it just didn't tweak the neurones, and that had nothing to do with the volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmogenesis Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Thanx for the interview, Antic, I have learnt a lot of things here! A new hallucinogen album? Can we expect something with the same touch as" Twisted" or "The Lone Deranger"? Or I'm dreaming too much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reger Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Nice one, Antic. Good read. 566225[/snapback] your god has spoken Thanx for the interview, Antic, I have learnt a lot of things here! A new hallucinogen album? Can we expect something with the same touch as" Twisted" or "The Lone Deranger"? Or I'm dreaming too much... 566464[/snapback] not so long ago he was saying sort of that hallucinogen is in past? do i hear "money money money...?" track playing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmogenesis Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 your god has spoken not so long ago he was saying sort of that hallucinogen is in past? do i hear "money money money...?" track playing ? 566751[/snapback] Yes, you're probably right indeed! On a past interview from the twisted website, I don't know if I had understood well, but Simon has said that the Hallucinogen project belongs to the past! So, I suppose he has changed his view about it. With this new album and the difficulties of the label, God saves the twisted machine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 thank you for posting this interview! so now it is clear that the new hallucinogen album will come some day, and that´s a very good thing, oh i will be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy when the new hallucinogen will come out, i hope from my very heart it won´t be fullon but a album like twisted or thelone deranger, i will make a party and invite al my friends when the new album will come out, it will be for me like a birthday, it will be like a birthday for me, like christmas, it will be soooooooooo great, i hope it will happen soon, i won´t download this album ever, i swear i will buy that, i ´am dreaming of the new hallucinogen album, i expect i won´t sleep for a year, i´am on fucking fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Thanx for the interview, Antic, I have learnt a lot of things here! A new hallucinogen album? Can we expect something with the same touch as" Twisted" or "The Lone Deranger"? Or I'm dreaming too much... 566464[/snapback] Vasil, if that will ever happen, i will be sooo lucky, the two hallucinogen albums are more than music for me, as some other psychedelic trance, it is by far the best musicstyke ever involved by people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupture Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 i´am on fucking fire. 566859[/snapback] we know radi,we know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 thank you for posting this interview! so now it is clear that the new hallucinogen album will come some day, and that´s a very good thing, oh i will be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy when the new hallucinogen will come out, i hope from my very heart it won´t be fullon but a album like twisted or thelone deranger, i will make a party and invite al my friends when the new album will come out, it will be for me like a birthday, it will be like a birthday for me, like christmas, it will be soooooooooo great, i hope it will happen soon, i won´t download this album ever, i swear i will buy that, i ´am dreaming of the new hallucinogen album, i expect i won´t sleep for a year, i´am on fucking fire. 566859[/snapback] he cummed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-scream Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Lone Deranger was released in 01 Sep 1997... will he make it to 01 Sep 2007? I think so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 thank you for posting this interview! so now it is clear that the new hallucinogen album will come some day, and that´s a very good thing, oh i will be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy when the new hallucinogen will come out, i hope from my very heart it won´t be fullon but a album like twisted or thelone deranger, i will make a party and invite al my friends when the new album will come out, it will be for me like a birthday, it will be like a birthday for me, like christmas, it will be soooooooooo great, i hope it will happen soon, i won´t download this album ever, i swear i will buy that, i ´am dreaming of the new hallucinogen album, i expect i won´t sleep for a year, i´am on fucking fire. 566859[/snapback] Great post, radi. It will indeed be like a birthday, Christmas and Easter rolled into one joyous day. The day the album is released the sun will feel warmer, the birds will sound lovelier, enemies faces will look kinder, charity organisations will see a rise in donations, lions will smile at gazelles, and the world, if only for a day, will seem a safe place. I can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Great post, radi. It will indeed be like a birthday, Christmas and Easter rolled into one joyous day. The day the album is released the sun will feel warmer, the birds will sound lovelier, enemies faces will look kinder, charity organisations will see a rise in donations, lions will smile at gazelles, and the world, if only for a day, will seem a safe place. I can't wait. 566931[/snapback] he cummed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 thank you for posting this interview! so now it is clear that the new hallucinogen album will come some day, and that´s a very good thing, oh i will be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy when the new hallucinogen will come out, i hope from my very heart it won´t be fullon but a album like twisted or thelone deranger, i will make a party and invite al my friends when the new album will come out, it will be for me like a birthday, it will be like a birthday for me, like christmas, it will be soooooooooo great, i hope it will happen soon, i won´t download this album ever, i swear i will buy that, i ´am dreaming of the new hallucinogen album, i expect i won´t sleep for a year, i´am on fucking fire. 566859[/snapback] Great post, radi. It will indeed be like a birthday, Christmas and Easter rolled into one joyous day. The day the album is released the sun will feel warmer, the birds will sound lovelier, enemies faces will look kinder, charity organisations will see a rise in donations, lions will smile at gazelles, and the world, if only for a day, will seem a safe place. I can't wait. 566931[/snapback] What would you guys do if the new album really sucked?? Or more realistically is just way too disappointing 10+ years to build something up, it's hard not to be dissapointed. (Remember Star Wars Episode 1?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faze Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 What would you guys do if the new album really sucked?? Or more realistically is just way too disappointing 10+ years to build something up, it's hard not to be dissapointed. (Remember Star Wars Episode 1?) 566954[/snapback] Then I get to throw the party and cum and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 What would you guys do if the new album really sucked?? Or more realistically is just way too disappointing 10+ years to build something up, it's hard not to be dissapointed. (Remember Star Wars Episode 1?) 566954[/snapback] What would I do? Seriously? Maybe turn my back on psy-trance. I mean, I'm almost there already so such a momentus disappointment could quite easily be the final nail in the coffin. I'd accept it too, hell, there's enough good music in other genres to last a hundred lifetimes. Luckily though, it won't disappoint. Look at how far Posford has come in terms of engineering and producing. Imagine the skill, craft and know-how he gained during the Shpongle trilogy applied to a new Hallucinogen album. It will be a landmark in sonic manipulation, I'm convinced of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 What would I do? Seriously? Maybe turn my back on psy-trance. I mean, I'm almost there already so such a momentus disappointment could quite easily be the final nail in the coffin. I'd accept it too, hell, there's enough good music in other genres to last a hundred lifetimes. Luckily though, it won't disappoint. Look at how far Posford has come in terms of engineering and producing. Imagine the skill, craft and know-how he gained during the Shpongle trilogy applied to a new Hallucinogen album. It will be a landmark in sonic manipulation, I'm convinced of it. 566962[/snapback] Let's hope!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 What would I do? Seriously? Maybe turn my back on psy-trance. I mean, I'm almost there already so such a momentus disappointment could quite easily be the final nail in the coffin. I'd accept it too, hell, there's enough good music in other genres to last a hundred lifetimes. Luckily though, it won't disappoint. Look at how far Posford has come in terms of engineering and producing. Imagine the skill, craft and know-how he gained during the Shpongle trilogy applied to a new Hallucinogen album. It will be a landmark in sonic manipulation, I'm convinced of it. 566962[/snapback] charlie why you are almost gone of psytrance, man don´t do this, there is still so uch good undiscovered stuff like i find 3 days ago thanks to my bulgarian friend, i will share my new goa if you want but don´t go from psytrance, it is aktually the infinity of emotional msuc man, you can´t throw this away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 charlie why you are almost gone of psytrance, man don´t do this, there is still so uch good undiscovered stuff like i find 3 days ago thanks to my bulgarian friend, i will share my new goa if you want but don´t go from psytrance, it is aktually the infinity of emotional msuc man, you can´t throw this away. 567083[/snapback] 10 years ago I felt exactly like you do, radi, I thought psy trance was the finest musicical genre in the world. But today, I don't know, the music has changed (and continues to change), I've changed (and continue to change) and I think psytrance and myself are heading in different directions and feel it has very little to offer me. It holds too few surprises and seldom satisfies me on an emotional or spiritual level in the same way other styles do. If I do turn my back on psytrance, I'll still keep my favourite psy albums and play them from time to time, but I won't buy anything new or check the latest releases. Who knows, maybe a few years down the line I'll get back into it again. But anyway, it's given me a decade of joy, and that's pretty good, and I'm thankful for it, but as they say, nothing lasts forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Psychiatrist Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 10 years ago I felt exactly like you do, radi, I thought psy trance was the finest musicical genre in the world. But today, I don't know, the music has changed (and continues to change), I've changed (and continue to change) and I think psytrance and myself are heading in different directions and feel it has very little to offer me. It holds too few surprises and seldom satisfies me on an emotional or spiritual level in the same way other styles do. If I do turn my back on psytrance, I'll still keep my favourite psy albums and play them from time to time, but I won't buy anything new or check the latest releases. Who knows, maybe a few years down the line I'll get back into it again. But anyway, it's given me a decade of joy, and that's pretty good, and I'm thankful for it, but as they say, nothing lasts forever. 567198[/snapback] Wise words baba, i feel the same. Radi, grow up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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