Interview I Aphex Twin

ou could say that

Future Music's
attempts to track
down Richard D.
James (aka Aphex
Twin, AFX, Gak,
Power Pill and
countless othe<s)
CNer the years
have been
comparable to
George Bush's
antics emf Bin Laden, but maybe that's stretching
the truth just a bit. We haven't invaded anywhere to
get to him. Yet (although we thought about Cornwall
as a target when James lived thete). But if you were
to ask any of his press people, they'd testify that the
monthly phone call they dreaded most was the one
from our offices in Bath requesting a chat with this
most enigmatic of people.
We actually talked face to face with him in issue
36 (October 1995) of the magazine, but for the last
decade he's gone to ground, rarely talking to
anyone, anywhete. And with that silence -as with
Kraftwetk- comes the rumours. They say he makes
his own hardware, that he plays sandpaper records
at gigs, and that he programs his own software ...
pieces every now and then). But every time
something comes out under whatevet alias, you can
guarantee that, enjoy it or not (and the fonner is
usually the case), it's always- and I mean always-
very clever, well produced, witty and powerlul stuff.
And so to the interview efforts. The last time he
appeared in the mag it was nearly a decade ago
alongside Philip Glass. It was a phone interview. I
made the call, and I had to shout "Richard!" down
After a decade of trying, Andy
Jones finally tracks down Richard
D. James for his most insightful
interview yet. It turns out he
hasn't been avoiding us afterall;
he's just been too busy entering
our remix competitions ...
Then thete's the well-known 'fact' that he drives
around London in a tank, that he has 1,000
unreleased tracks and writes music i n his sleep. You
name it, everything has been said about him, which
means it's inevitable that an Aphex Twin intetYiew is
the one we're asked for more than any othet.
But the gossip and rumours aren't the only
reasons you guys keep bugging us for an interview-
there's the small matter of his music too.
My first experience of James was, like so many
others, listening to Selected Ambient Works, a
rec()'d so fine, so na'ive and so glorious that it still
occupies a top ten slot in my 'albums of all time'.
Since then there's been true ambience, true acid,
true innovation, the hardest techno and (if I'm
totally honest, some truly unlistenable bits and
an answerphone for about five minutes before he
picked up. It didn't get much better after that.
Young !OK, younger) and wet behind the ears, I was
armed with some of the lamest questions you could
ask and they received the answers they deserved.
(Me: "Philip Glass describes you as 'quite a nice
young man', how would you describe him?" James:
"Philip Glass is quite a nice old man.")
So nearty a decade on and it's around the time
of the release of his Chosen Lords album, a best of
his Analordsvinyl releases which have sold like hot
cakes in their flash limited edition cases the world
over. As with every other release over the last
decade, I ring up the press people and ask, "does
he fancy an interview?" Normally the words, "okay, I
just thought I'd ask," tumble out of my mouth
AphexTwin I Interview
and after
ShotS of Richard'$ stil\t ()tl
ro Yt.m YOUJIIN ...
before I even get a reply, but this time things are
different! "You could try emailing some questions
over," is the rather hushed response. Now I think
back to that awful 'Glass episode'. Can I put
together a set of questions slightly better than those
this time round? I fire some off not knowing what
the outcome will be- a swift "Fuck off," probably.
lime passes, and then an email pops through my
inbox. I'm a bit shocked to say the least ...
Do you remember the bloke you met wiho was
dressed in a nappy holding a copy of Future
Music and had his picture taken with you in
order to win one of our competitions?
Ha! Yeah I do, that was classic.
What were you thinking when he showed up?
And, mone to the point, what was he thinking?
He was pretty nerwus; a nice bloke. I liked it: out of
the ordinary and good fun.
We were slightly proud. Q readers would never
have done it. Can you believe the only thing he
won was a bit of [albeit very good - thanks,
Focusrite- Ed.] Focusrite outboard?
Aw, not bad I think for a quick bit of nappy wearing,
You could have stipulated he was to be pushed in a
pramasweU.
So, on to the Chosen Lords set of vinyl. The
original collection is changing hands for a
fortune on eBay now. What do you think about
that, and do you have any left that I can have?
I plrumed that and it is flattering, 1 have all the white
labels, different test cuts, alternative version tests and
aU that. Many, many boxes, and maybe two finished
sets left with I gave the rest away to my
friends.
I was very strict about the quality and almost
caused Rephlex Master Control a nervous
breakdown. We hassled different pressing plants
until it sounded near perfect. It w35 shit loads of
work. Vinyl bas the capability to sound better than
CO with good. equipment, and if the pressing is
done properly, but because most music these days is
so loud, people don't notice the poor vinyl quality as
Interview I Aphex Twin
much. I think people should start demanding re-cuts
if their pressings are too noisy/scratchy until they get
it right!
To my ears, vinyl or tape is better than digital -
even if the quality isn't as good -for the simple fact it
always sounds different, and no two copies are the
same. The emphasis on recording perfection is
idiotic. When we hear natural sounds like people
speaking, they're never the same. So why should our
music be? This isn't to say the quest for perfect
recordings is a waste of time- it isn't. It has its place
and suits a lot of music. As they say. variety is the
spice of life but the emphasis should be on character
not specifications.
One day there won't be much place for reoording
mediums as we'U be able to download another
muSician's eweriences and perceptions directly into
ollr bJains pnd experience it in as many different
What do you think about so many people,
seemingly, making music like you?
Jf you plan to be good at anything, it has to happen
using your own ideas. Its inevitable. It's exactly like
natural selection.
Are they all really you anyway?
Some of them ...
What do you think of the whole unsigned music
upload thing? Is it a music revolution handing
over the power to the kids? Or too much
bandwidth taken up by too much bad music?
J like to think it's a bit of both. like all things that
change, there are certain pros and cons and I'd say
it's definitely bener than it was- it's much more fun,
anyway! Most of it isn't copyrighted, so that's the
biggest plus for me.
You've said that some of your own heroes have
lost their way musically. Who did you mean?
Early Chicago People. It's really upsetting. Mr
Fingers, what happened mate? Get your old
equipment back for fuck'ssake.
How many tracks do you think you have in your
unreleased archives?
literally thousands ... it's out of control...
What do you think will happen to them?
Some will come out, I'm SW'<'. I'd like to do some big
old romps. but the time it takes me tO do one romp.
I could make almost the same amount of newies.
Is there anywhere musically that you haven't
explored yet?
Yeah, almost everywhen:. I feel like, "OK, I've just
started and got the feel for this shit now -let's
fucking have it!"
In the studio
In the histoly of Future Music, the Interview
we've been asked for most was one on you
and your studio. Why do you think we were
asked so much?
Because I'm
So why do you always say no?
Because I'd rather do a track.
Would we be disappointed because the myth
has gone so far beyond the reality?
No, not if you saw one of my studios!
Should our readers stop asking (and what can
we do to stop them)?!
What pisses me off most about the current
Well, I might do a proper, mce-
to-filce interview next time.
What's the most ridiculous
music scene, is that there are too many
sheep and not enough shepherqs...
And, thinking about It,
ways as we like. Digital is just easier than finding the What plsses you off most about the current wnat_:, th ridiculous thing you've ever
right tape or reoord. We're just lazy bastards. music scene? heard a yourself7
The web
Unsigned musicians uploading music to get
feedback is huge but, frankly, a lot of what we
hear seems to be influenced by either you or
Boards Of canada. Have you ever been tempted
to upload your own tunes anonymously to, say,
MySpace, and say 'influenced by Aphex Twin'?
Not on MySpace, that's just for networking. l don't
do networking but that site is probably very good for
some people to get a shag!
I've put my music around anonymously though I
Actually 1 entered the Luke Vlben Future Music
competition under the name 'Tahnaiya RusseU'!
I think I got runner up or something (he actually
won but we gave it to someone else in the end when
we found out!- Ed.).lt was fun reading the review.
Too many sheep and not enough shepherds. Lds all That I'm not a nice person.
sit back and have a long hard think, then make
something different! We can all do it, surely?
And what do you like about it?
www.ubu.com [an independent website dedicated to
the avant-garde, ethnopoetics, and "outsider arts" I
Me and my music
Who do you currently admire musically?
Just off the top of my head: Kraftwerk. Guy Called
Gerald, Derrick May, Mr Fingers, 808 State, Lil Louis,
Lidell Townsend, Bass Master Warriors, Noel
Wtlliams, Manin Hanneu, )ay Dilla, Sten Hanson,
Xenaki.s, Piero Umiliani, Brian Bennett,
Squarepusher, A.E, Grace Jones' Pull Up To The
Bumper ... I could go on for ages.
What would you like to Invent or see Invented
gear-wise?
It's one of my ultimate aims for Korg, Yamaha or
someone who is capable to let me design an
electronic/hybrid instrument-but really let me be
the boss and not take over half way through.
Come on, please! I'll make you the best fucking
box that has ever been created, I promise: it will
totaUy own everything.
You've obviously gone back to analogue with
this album. Does that mean you've turned your
back on a more digital computer route?
I'm always working with different set-ups.side by
side. I can't keep the same setup for more than a few
U'acks, I wish I could. I take it all down and s!al'l
again, and right now have four studios on the go.
Ha..e you, like most of us, ever been tempted
to do evet)'lhlng musically on a laptop?
Yes.
Old you regret It?
No. The worst thing is monitoring. Even with the
best headphones in the world you ean't compete
"'th real monitors. My fuve laptop/portable
monitoring is Epytomic Research inear thingies.
What do you think of computers running
everything musically?
It can be nice sometimes, but my fuve music is
music with the most depth and if it's all coming out
of one box, you're not going to get it. It's good for
demos of equipment-"'This is what this sound card
sounds like" or"This is this program." I'm not saying
it can't be good. Limiting yourself is nice but it's like
eating the same meal everyday.
Multiple soundcard support would be a gigantic
improvement. Then you could have a whole array of
soundcards fiom cheap to plush. I'd love to have
eight different soundcards running. having different
dements coming out each one. You wouldn't have to
throw your old cards out either, as you'd 6nd a use
for them, tike, "I really like this soundcard for
hihats," and so on.
Everyone raves about software like Ableton Lire.
Have you used It?
Yes, two innovative things about it are one-handed
mouse navigation of waveforms, and the EZ
browsing/auditioning of stuff. Oh,and recording
Those rumours: true or false?
We've had a look into those rumours and
have come up with our own ideas ...
He OWI\I I tank
Yep, sort of true. I t ~
actually an armoured
ear lor yO<J military
bulls. But he does also
own a sub too, bought
from Russia.
He builds his own par
Yes, also true. He was
pictured in FM yean
back with a home--
made sampler and
also c&aims to have
produced sound
from a ZX81 by
messi1111 wijh it's
machine code. Cool!
HeptOSramshls
own softwMe
Almost dofinitely.
He hints at it in the
Interview and was a
very earty user of N I
software when tt was
hard to use!
Ho hu thousands of
unroleased tracks
Oh, yes ...
Hellesln eWJry
lnlerllew
Hmm ... Probably!
There are one or two
I>O$Sible half truths
e...en In our interview,
altllough It is a fact
that he did enter - and
wrn - that remix comp!
He u,.. some kind
of lucid dreaming
when composing
Oh that's what
your tive 6ddting into an arrangement. The beat
stretching. although fun, doesn't sound as good as if
you had cut something up by hand manually. It can
be good for a bit and to try things out, but to put
everything through it is a bad move. Nice try. I don't
use it. I find that Livesli<>! VST is better, another
program for that kind of thing.
I tike trying programs out even if I never use
them, just to see how people are thinking about
music. Live's simplicity is its downfull for me. The
programming is sticker than just about anything else
though, so respect .. .
What software do you use?
UPICby Xenakis puts almost everything else to
shame. It's under 1M Band it shits on everyone.
Have you made provisions for your studio
secrets to be kept under wraps after you depart
this mortal coli?
No but other people probably will.
AphexTwin ! Interview
What would you swap a boxed set of Chosen
l.onls for and why: A dusty old Mlnimoog, a
laptop stuffed to the gills with the latest
software and plug-In synths, a complete set
of Futl/re Music Issues 1 to 1 n or some
ammunition for your tank or sub?
Definitely submarine ammo as it's almost
impossible to get.
We're sure everyone would loYe to know what's
In your studio. can you aMI us a kit list?
Sure. Raveolution 309, the Raven Max, MC-909
timited edition, Quasimidi Van Heiden, MAM
Freebass 383, Roland DJ-70, ,.I 5, SP-808, Akai
$3200, Behringer MX602A and all the Behringer
effects that copy other things.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
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Email us at I\Jt!Jn!ITlU$IcOiuturenet.co.uk
Mr. Richlrd 0. James.
l;tdl6 and gentltn'IM ...