Name: Pale Blue
Members: Mike Simonetti, Elizabeth Wight
Interviewee: Mike Simonetti
Nationality: American
Occupation: Producer, DJ, songwriter (Mike Simonetti), vocalist, songwriter (Elizabeth Wight)
Current release: Pale Blue's “Dive” is out via Crosstown Rebels.
Recommendations: My Fender Rhodes Mark I through a Roland RE-201 Space Echo

If you enjoyed this interview with Pale Blue and would like to know more about the duo, visit them on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



What was your first studio like?

I’ve only had one studio here in NJ in my house. I have never worked anywhere else.

How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you?

I like to keep things the same, because I'm not very good at technical stuff. I’m not a real musician … I can't read music or anything. I just mess around and listen for what I think sounds good, and I roll with it.

I’m not a purist. I have a lot of great hardware, but I also use tons of plug-ins.

Some see instruments and equipment as far less important than actual creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

Yeah I think it can be limiting for some people, especially those who don’t have the means to buy gear or plug ins. Music equipment is pricey. Even a decent clone is expensive. That’s always been something that has bothered me, how you have to have money in order to have access to quality gear. It can be a turn-off to someone starting to make music.

Electronic music is very classist, as is DJing. Some of the best music was made in a bedroom with whatever stuff they could get their hands on. The creativity, honesty and feeling behind the music is what’s important to me. Watch any youtube tutorial and you’ll see the most proficient musician with the best gear making the most boring middle of the road hotel lobby shit … I think people on the dancefloor react to a feeling more than technical proficiency or a whether they are using a real Pro One for their bass sound.

A lot of producers lose their edge as they get more popular, and their music begins to sound more glossy and professional, and it loses the personality. Sometimes that’s not a good thing.

A studio can be as minimal as a laptop with headphones and as expansive as a multi-room recording facility. Which studio situation do you personally prefer – and why?

I prefer something small.

When I make a track I first mix it on headphones, then I play it on studio monitors to hear the difference. People listen to music on headphones more than anywhere else. If I can strike a balance where it sounds good on headphones and the club, I'm happy.

I also test out songs on my car stereo. Not everyone is going to be playing my songs on a perfectly tuned Function One …

From traditional keyboards to microtonal ones, from re-configured instruments (like drums or guitars) to customised devices, what are your preferred controllers and interfaces? What role does the tactile element play in your production process?

I'm an Ableton person. I record and mix with Ableton. I’m also tactile. I like to be able to touch knobs and control things that way, but I can also use my laptop … Whatever it takes to make a song sound good to my ears.

I have some cool pieces of gear that I use to make Pale Blue sound like Pale Blue. For example, I have an old Moog AX-301 synth amp that I run all my hardware through. It gives everything a fuzzy / shoegazey feeling. I even run vocals through it. It’s a very rare Moog piece actually. The thing about it is that is has a 3-band parametric EQs for each channel, and a ten band graphic EQ. Which is great because I'm a tactile person, and I can use it instead of a mixing board.

It also has a built-in spring reverb which you can tweak via the master return - in real time running through the amp head. It’s like a little bit of Moog built into the amp head. It’s very unique. It also has the original 1970s Moog processors, so it’s super loud and beefy sounding as well. The unique sounding spring reverb makes it loud yet soft. It’s 400 watts so it’s super loud.

… Or, I may use a cracked plug in that I got from a message board 10 years ago …

In the light of picking your tools, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Not at all. I’m selfish. I just want to find the best and easiest ways for me to make original sounding music.

I obviously respect traditions, but it is so easy to replicate old sounds these days. If you listen to Pale Blue or my solo stuff I’m sure you will hear music that’s out of tune slightly or not in time.

I’m not a perfectionist at all, I’m quite the opposite. I think the looser, the better. I think all this technology should be made available for everyone. I love that it’s easy to make music. I just wish it was less expensive for everyone.

Most would regard recording tools like microphones and mixing desks as different in kind from instruments like keyboards, guitars, drums and samplers. Where do you stand on this?

As I said before with the Moog amp - I see a desk as an instrument. Same with microphones. They are all instruments to me. I read interviews with these famous producers talking about their $10,000 Neumann microphones and gold plated cables. That’s great, but its not my thing.

I like the ambient noises made by cheap microphones or broken drum machines, or a synth with a fucked up oscillator …  To me, that’s the thing that gives music personality. That, and a clean signal path.

How would you describe the relationship between technology and creativity for your work? Using a recent piece as an example, how do you work with your production tools to achieve specific artistic results?

I wrote the song “Dive” on my laptop while messing around, sitting on my couch - using a few plugins. At the time I was listening to a lot of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, the polyrhythmic stuff, especially the “Phase Patterns”, “Music For 18 Musicians” and “Six Pianos” LPs.  Jon Gibson … All that stuff. Just trying to figure out the technique. Watching live youtube videos. Totally immersed in the polyrhythm thing. I still am.

But I wanted to make a song like that, but more melodic and for the dance floor. Using multiple arpeggiators, etc … But with melodies.

After I sketched it out, I took it to the studio and cleaned it up, added stuff, replaced sounds. Then I sent it to Liz and she recorded the vocals in Los Angeles. I think having a good ear and knowing what sounds good is probably 90% of music anyway. If I’m not feeling anything within the first 30 seconds of a song - it’s probably not good.

The fact that Liz is not in the studio works really well, because she will send me a vocal and I will change the entire song around it. It’s almost like I'm remixing my own song. It gives us an edge that way - though most would consider the opposite.

Within a digital working environment, it is possible to compile huge archives of ideas for later use. Tell me a bit about your strategies of building such an archive and how you put these ideas and sketches to use.

I have hundreds of sketches. Some are 30 seconds long, some are almost full songs. The thing about me is that I work fast.

Also, I cannot sit in the studio for hours on end. I'm only good for a few hours a day, usually in the morning. After that my ears start to hurt. I have terrible tinnitus from going to hardcore and metal shows when I was younger (without earplugs). So if I write a sketch, and I feel like its going well, or something good - I will stop writing immediately, save it, and come back to it in a few weeks.

When I go back to work on it again, I’ve probably forgotten what it sounded like (which is the idea), and if it still sounds good - I will work with it. I just keep building on it.

How do you retain an element of surprise for your own work – are there technologies which are particularly useful in this regard?

Ableton is good that way. Their stock audio effects and EQs are pretty good for what they are. I’m always surprised to find weird shit in Ableton I didn’t know about.

I’m still learning how to make music, and still learning about all this technology, even though it’s been 15 years for me … There is so much you can do. It’s quite amazing.

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. How much of your music is based on concepts and ideas you had before entering the studio, how much of it is triggered by equipment, software and apps?

It's about 50/50. Sometimes I hear a pop song on the radio and think the melody would sound good as a techno track, so I would try to replicate that. Other times I hear a song in the club and think to myself: “This song is so good! I want to make a song like that.” So I go home and try to make something similar, but it always ends up sounding nothing like it. But the influence is there, thats what drives it.

Other times I'm just fucking around and suddenly something comes out of nowhere and sounds good. Mostly, it’s just pieces. A lot of times I sit down and get nothing, and I feel like nothing I write is good - I get depressed …Sometimes I wont make music for months. I’ve been down dark mental holes when I hit writers block.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly changed or even questioned the way you make music?

I see some producers using controllers and making music on the fly. Or someone like Kink, who is a master at what he does. He’s a fucking wizard …  I wish I could do that, but I don't work that way.

I’m jealous of the person who has a Push and a laptop and is making tracks. I can't work that way. I tried ... It doesn’t work for me. I guess I'm a traditionalist.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. Do you feel as though technology can develop a form of creativity itself? Is there possibly a sense of co-authorship between yourself and your tools?

I don’t think AI will ever be able to make an emotional song. Sure they can make an emotional SOUNDING song, but there won't be genuine feelings behind it.

The unique experience the human is bringing to their music is what makes it special. A robot will just mimic it.

What tools/instruments do you feel could have a deeper impact on creativity but need to still be invented or developed?

More touch screens. Ableton touch screen would be cool. I need to touch stuff.