8. Ricardo Villalobos: Do you mostly make music just for yourself or do you make it for others?
“Well, the people come into your mind when you’re doing stuff. Sometimes people kind of flow past you. Sometimes you fixate on a person. Most of the time you’re not thinking about it, it just comes in. People just come into your head. Because when you’re making music it’s like meditating, when it’s good, when you’re really good. Sometimes, if I like the taste of a person, I try to make music I imagine this person really likes. Which is quite interesting. I don’t even think I want to play it to them.”
„When you’re making music, it’s like meditating, when it’s good.“
9. François K: As you’re getting into a phase of your career where you’re finding yourself among often much younger DJs and producers: Do you sometimes feel it is important to pass some of your ideas and techniques to those who are curious about them?
“Yeah, totally, it’s really important, I think! If people want to know, I’m not protective anymore about ideas. So, if someone wants to know, it’s fine. But people have to find me, it’s quite far away where I live in Scotland (laughs). I always tell people, if they’re asking me something. But I don’t really like to go into specifics like equipment or technical things. If I would teach, it would be purely philosophical. Because I don’t want to make someone good at using Traktor or whatever, I wouldn’t want to limit him to that. You want people to come up with something new and maybe make you learn something.
I have two children and they ask me all the time. They’re totally interested in music. They are six and eight and they’re just asking me more and more details. What software to use? How did I get this sound?”
10. Sven Väth: Which relatively new musicians have you been listening to or enjoying recently?
“There are so many! I suppose most are from the dubstep genre, it’s stuff I find on [the download and record store, ed.] Juno. There’s actually one thing that is pretty large: It’s some kid called Sd Laika. Generelly, I think, I listen to old stuff more than to new stuff. At the moment I listen to lots of early 90’s Techno, I’m pretty obsessed with it. I really like that, because it’s so raw and basic not so complicated or detailed like my own tracks. Most of those early techno tracks have only three things in them.”
11. DJ Koze: Do you feel curious about how people will react on your new album Syro, as it has been such a long time since your last release? Are you nervous because of this?
“In a way, yeah, but I think I know my stuff so well. I’m really objective now, so no one could really say anything I wouldn’t have really thought about. If you make anything creative, you have to be your worst critic if you want to be good or in order to succeed. You have to tell yourself you’re rubbish in order to getting better! The only thing that can hurt me is, if someone criticizes me, and it’s true and I haven’t thought about it before. I selected the tracks of the album and made it pretty accessable. It’s one of my pop albums, so I kind of know what kind of reaction it will get.”
Stream: Aphex Twin – minipops 67 [120.2][source Field Mix]
12. James Holden: Does it suck to be you?
“No, I’m really happy with who I am.”
13. Nicolas Jaar: Have you ever had a ghost, a spirit or an accident speak directly to you through making music or while making music?
“Yeah, I always felt a presence or something, I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s just a human conditon, but it always feels like the gods are looking on us and are like: ‘Ah, let’s make him do this’. And it’s really weird, because the other day I got stoned and went to bed, and I had the biggest intense feeling of someone watching over me.”
14. Miss Kittin: Do you still think you have very short attention span?
“When I’m doing my stuff, I got really good concentration. But when it’s someone telling me something to do, it’s terrible. Then I have to really concentrate. I think I’m a bit hyper actually.”
15. Henrik Schwarz: Do you continue using the Yamaha Disklavier?
“Yeah, actually on Drukqs I only released the simple ones. Because when I bought it, I didn’t want to put things in it, prepare it. I’ve done algorythmic stuff as well with it. So I used patches [for it] to play itself. It’s really good for that actually. I just bought another one – the Mark 5 Pro. That’s like the best one you can get. I used it for the last track on the album [‘Aisatsana’, ed.]. I program the piano now instead of playing it. I’ve also been doing like jungle on it.”
Stream: Aphex Twin – Aisatsana
16. Mathew Jonson: Messing around with the Yamaha GX-1, I came across certain things – especially in the rhythm and bass section – that reminded me of some of your tracks. Have you used it in certain tracks and what’s your experience with the organ?
“Yes – there’s even a track called ‘GX1’ – and it does have a great rhythm and bass section. But I gave it to this guy who makes this amazing sequencer Cirklon. He’s a Scottish guy and he’s a kind of genius. I gave it to him and asked him to clone it for me. That has been three years ago, but he’s getting closer.”
Stream: The Tuss – GX1 Solo
17. Tale Of Us: We are really big fans of your track “IZ-US” [from the EP “Come To Daddy”, ed.]. Whose “big face” is mentioned at the beginning of the track?
“That’s my face. It’s my nephew talking to me. He was about four years old or something at the time. I was following him around and trying to get samples and he wouldn’t say anything. So I started to make all this stupid faces and that’s what he said. He’s about 20 now and knows about the track.”
