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Interview: Neil Landstrumm |
We conducted an E-interview with Neil - here is the result:
As a producer based
in Avionix Recording's home town of Edinburgh, Neil Landstrumm’s
uncompromising take on various electronic dance themes has peaked the
interest of many Avionix collective members since our formative years
in the clubbing and music scene. Watching Neil and partner in crime
Tobias Schmidt tearing the place apart at a friends party years ago, it
was obvious that the man was going to take the world by storm. His
early jacking rhythms and discordant melodies, combined with a sinister
feel and abstract - yet funky - sensibilities, have held many a dance
floor in a spell and made many a critic's ear twitch.
Along with fellow producers Christian Vogel, Dave Tarrida, Si Begg,
Justin Berkovi, Steve Glencross and the aforementioned Tobias Schmidt,
Landstrumm has developed (and some would say helped pioneer) a high
octane, glitch-infested hardbeat sound that is enjoyed all across the
globe.
 AVX: As a multimedia producer, do you feel the new
wave of graphic arts and multimedia productions such as Warp Record's recent DVD is changing the face of the
electronic scene as we know it?
NL: I wouldn't say that it is changing the scene
more adding to what’s already gone before… innovation in music and
visual arts has always gone together in my opinion. Warp were clever in
using the Designer’s Republic from the start to compliment their own
groundbreaking releases. Good graphic design and packaging attracts
people to the records and I'm sure plays some part in the purchase.
People who buy electronic music on the whole are collectors and having
a good looking series of releases on a label makes the package even
more attractive... It just seems a natural progression for Warp to have
moved into music videos etc. and then releasing them as a DVD... It’s
just another release on the label after all. I would like to see more
use of video and animation in clubs. It’s not so hard these days with cheaper projectors and laptops, DVD players etc...
AVX: Do you feel that the emergence of multimedia
will contribute to more multimedia-based nights, possibly replacing
traditional nightclubs with more futuristic lounge bars dedicated to
viewing graphic and environmental art whilst listening to complementary
sound? Or is this something which would interface with clubs as we know
them?
NL: I don’t think nightclubs on the whole have
changed very much since Northern Soul nights. The same principles still
apply: Loud sound system, sparkly lights, dirty walls and so on. Even
though when the acid house and rave explosion happened it felt new, I
doubt looking back with hindsight that it was any different to disco,
new wave or northern soul. It was still people staying up late,
listening to loud banging music in a dark room. Trendy bars may adopt a
more multimedia approach with plasma screens etc., but I doubt your
average scum-ball cheap nightclub owner will embrace the new technology
until he absolutely has to. The UK is still way behind Europe in
quality soundsystems, so I can’t see any plasma screens down Studio 24
any time soon!
AVX: How do you feel about the current computer
games market - do you feel that this is a niche you would like to turn
your hand to, or have you already been making waves here? Is this
something that electronic musicians and multimedia artists should be
getting excited about?
 NL: I was more into video games in the 80s than I
am today. I fully appreciate the amount of work and excellence in
today’s games, but find them to involving to really get sucked in for
weeks at a time. I prefer the more instant pick-up-and-play games that
are out there. I worked for Rockstar in New York for a while working on
motion graphics for their trade stand at the E3 show in LA, and also on
logo animations for Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar are making some of the
best games ever at the moment, and have a couple of the fastest selling
titles ever. Video games are taking over a large part of people’s
entertainment budget and time which perhaps isn’t so healthy. They do
kill the human interaction aspect of social life which is a bit shit,
but if I didn’t have other hobby and sport interests then I probably
would be more into games. From a music perspective, video games still
sometimes lack good soundtracks or rely on licensing in older music.
The sound-design part of games is usually excellent though - this was
an area I would have liked to explore more, but again it’s a full-time
job and not something I have wanted to go into.
AVX: Your sound has evolved dramatically over the
years, from the dirty Chicago and heavy-techno influences on “Brown By
August” to the more hip-hop infused electro and IDM cuts on your newer
albums on Tresor. Has there been a conscience move away from your
earlier sound to enter a more out-there sort of sound, or is this
simply a reflection of taste and environment?
NL: Its just a case of not really wanting to
repeat myself musically and go over old ground. This policy has been
both a help and hindrance. Techno fans and lovers tend to want the same
record over and over again, the “repeat shag”, and if you get known for
a particular sound they only want that or think it isn't good.
Sometimes people who claim to be open-minded techno fans but are the
most closed minded people. Originally techno wasn’t like that and I
think it’s for the worse that it fell into that trap in the late ‘90s
and early ‘00s. I have a strong feeling that the scene is pulling
itself out of that fug now as the wannabes and losers have been caste
off in the clearances of the last few years as techno is no longer the
"new" music to go out to.
I have always tried to reflect a feeling of the times in my records
and also environment. A record made in Edinburgh is never going to
sound like a record made in New York for example. I feel passionately
about techno and electronic music in general, but sometimes you just
want a break from it or to listen to something else for inspiration. I
really don’t see anything wrong with that. In fact, listening to other
music and creating hybrids is what it’s all about - cross breeding
music.
 AVX: Tell us about the meaning of the “She Took A
Bullet Meant For Me” album. Have you been watching too many gangster
flicks over in the US or is there a deeper comment to be made? Do you
get all Jim Morrison on it when you decided the album and track names,
or do you just use the first thing you thought of?
NL: It’s just an album title taken from a TV
sample I used in the title track. The rest of the track titles are more
telling about social commentary. “USA Wants More Oil, Thanks” for
example was named before 9/11 and all the Iraq crap that followed. A
bit eerie perhaps..? Usually I have a few scraps of paper with stuff I
have heard on TV, radio or from friends.
AVX: What do you make of the current techno scene?
It's true to say there are more types of techno than ever with
different sounds emerging, the staples in the form of the whole Swedish
linear looped-techno sound, the combination of dirty hard-trance and
rough edged techno (Schranz I believe they call it) etc. What do you
make of all this? Are you a fan?
NL: I wouldn’t say that there are more types of
techno than ever before. The Schranz sound from Germany is shit in my
opinion. It’s all the same and a bit of a joke now in Germany - dead
dead dead. Loopy techno is also pretty devoid of ideas and talent. How
many of those records will stand up in a few years time? Very few, as
you cant tell the difference between them. That kind of techno choked
the scene. They are OK in small doses, but not all night. In most cases
those labels were distributor-driven labels, which is a massive
conflict of interest and pushed the more creative cool labels off the
scene and out of the shops. Loop techno also caused shops to stop
buying in as many techno records as they couldn’t tell the difference
between the good and bad records and they ended up with a glut of
records they couldn’t sell.
Techno is best when it combines song structure, groove, abstract
sound and clever production, not some pish sampled drum loop, distorted
with a ride cymbal coming in over a 5 minute period. I mean. come on…
You can do better than that.
Schranz in Germany is typified by Dr Seuss hats, platform sneakers,
rave pants and "crown of thorns haircuts", you dig? Schemey Ned-ville
Deutsche style.
 AVX: As one of the established artists from what
some may now consider the Old School, are there any new
school/progressive, experimental or electronic acts that have caught
your ear? What do you make of acts such as Akufen, Suhtekh and the
clicks-and cuts-brigade: Kit Clayton, Pole etc? Do you feel that more
progressive takes on the sound are genuinely moving the scene forward
in terms of presentation, style and technology, or are we simply
getting into making a racket in a clever and unusual way?
NL: Its funny to be thought of as "Old Skool". It
doesn’t really seem like so long ago myself, T. Schmidt, Tarrida,
Vogel, Begg et al were pronouncing ourselves as the "New School"....
What does that make Mills, Saundersen etc. these days then? Geriatric
Skool? Ha ha! I keep up on most cutting-edge music through the radio
and keeping my ears open. Particularly through internet radio or the
BBC’s "listen again". It’s a real loss to music that John Peel passed
on. He was simply the best at keeping you up to date in all genres of
music. To be honest I am not that fond of the clicks-and-cuts stuff
although I appreciate it. Suhtekh is a friend of mine from SF. I prefer
the Grime and Sub-Lo scene from London/Manchester/Birmingham. Some of
the new producers in that world have really impressed me with their
take on old-skool techno bass, bleep and rave sound mixed with a more
progressive hip-hop and 2-step beat style. Plasticman, Jon E Cash, Code
9, Wylie etc. Music moves on regardless. I think having a heavy dose of
history and old skool values in contemporary music is a good thing. If
you don’t know where you have been you wont know where to go next.
Music is very much a cycle based thing.
AVX: What projects are you currently engaged on - music or otherwise?
NL: I have been playing LIVE on tour for most of
the last few months in Europe, UK and the USA. I get a big kick out of
playing live properly with boxes and machines the old skool way, rather
than turning up with a laptop, running Ableton and hitting start. I
have a totally unreleased and original live set of new material right
now which has been ripping up the clubs. You can download it as an mp3
at http://www.littledetroit.net
from the mixes section. There are some producers who really know how to
use Ableton etc well live and some who have gotten very lazy and turn
up and hit start. That’s weak in my opinion, and it sounds shit and
crunchy out of a laptop. I have a few records coming out on Iron Oxide,
Leit Motive and Input Output records. I am also about to embark on a
new wave of recording to see the light of day next year. I also have
the Scandinavia Wear clothes label which sells direct to people through
the website or though various shops in the UK, Germany, Japan, Sweden
and the US. I am also kept pretty busy with motion graphics and design
jobs for various clients including MTV, The Royal Bank of Scotland
Group and others,
 AVX: You are involved with Tobias Schmidt on the
Sugar Experimentation Station project. Are you a fan of collaboration?
Tell us about some of your other collaboration projects. Additionally
what next for SES – any plans for future releases?
NL: Collaboration is a good way to make music
making more fun, drawing on other people influences and talents. Toby
and I are old friends and have been making tracks for at least 12 years
together. We have some tracks on a new Sativae compilation and a new
Iron Oxide E.P. We also play together as SES now and then. We have been
working on a down tempo project called The Verticals with different
vocalists, which will probably have a release on the Scandinavia
website for mp3 download. I am currently doing a big web upgrade at the
moment so check the site in the New Year.
AVX: How does the sound translate from the studio
to a live environment with projects such as SES? Do you use laptops, or
is it pure hardware all the way? If hardware, are there any staple
machines in there?
NL: Hardware gear all the way. I use Macs for mastering and recording but I have always been a fan of dedicated boxes and synths.
AVX: Finally, you've come a long way since playing
at nights such as Sativa and Pure. How does your current outlook
compare to those days? Have the clubs changed much? Have the type of
people who listen to your music changed? How about their attitude and
identity?
NL: Its always pretty much remained the same in my
opinion, apart from maybe the newness of it all in those early heady
days. That can never be re-lived though. Sometime it feels as if clubs
are 4th-generation copies of those early clubs, but it’s not a bad
thing. I just wish Edinburgh could get a decent soundsystem together,
although the last time I was in the Venue it sounded pretty good.
AVX: Do you like Blue Cheese?
NL: Yeah, can’t beat a nice bit of blue on a cracker with some grapes or slices of apple.
http://www.scandinavianyc.com
-Scandinavia Graphics
-Scandinavia Wear
-Scandinavia Records
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