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Name: Squire aka Jaime Alguersuari
Occupation: Producer, musician
Nationality: Spanish
Current release: Squire's debut album Stop is out on Mobilee on November 5th. Pre order it HERE. Second single ‘Fall into the Dream’ feat. Rachel Bachman is out now.  
Equipment recommendations: Reaktor by Native Instruments and The Omnisphere.

If you enjoyed this interview with Squire and would like to stay up to date on his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



What was your first studio like?

My first studio was a computer with a midi keyboard and 2 speakers. More than enough to start with to be honest ...

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’ve been making music for 12 years now and for me it’s all about originality and being part of a new experience. I think if you take music seriously it’s part of the process to experiment with different tools and machines that can lead you to unexpected and surprising areas.

I have a vocoder and a Moog Voyager which I feel are very interesting when it comes to designing new sound patterns.

The digital studio promises endless possibilities at every step of the process. What is it that you actually need from these potentials and how do you go about selecting it? How do you keep control over the wealth of options at the production stage?

Yes, I think sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the process because you have endless options and ways to go, however I think it’s crucial to keep it simple. Move between a few nice elements that can explain a story. When you start adding too much you lose the message and the audience.

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?

Both. (laughs)

I’m actually setting up 2 studios at the moment. One made all in wood with all my gear and heavy stuff and the other one for music listening, an “on the go” studio so I can plug in my laptop and create music instantly.

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 a big fan of Universal Audio, I think they’re the leading company in bringing the old fashioned to the new digital era. I use almost everything from them.

However, there’s also a combination of real physical instruments in my music that I definitely enjoy for playing and creating new sound presets. I don’t have a preferred route, as long as the whole final result is that the music is to my liking.

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?

Technology has inspired me massively to achieve certain sounds. Nowadays we have the possibility to have everything on our hands … Plugins, Fxs, synths, arps, virtual instruments, the most amazing eqs, compressors etc ...

The way I work with all these possibilities is by trial / error. It might take me a very long time but this way I can sometimes extract something very exclusive.

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.

These ideas normally happen on a laptop, as I say ‘on the go’ because it’s so easy to write something in your DAW when you’re at the airport, or in the hotel, or at a friend’s house ... it might just be a simple beat but it has already been recorded so somehow this is saved and can be of use for a later project.

I work a lot like that and even if you change the initial idea so much for the end result, it gave you a way to start.

Despite the aforementioned near endless possibilities, many productions seem to follow conventional paths. How do you retain an element of surprise for your own work – are there technologies which are particularly useful in this regard?

Yes absolutely. There is always something new to test / try. It’s a question of challenging yourself in the studio.

I know how I’d like to sound but the way I get to there might be totally different from my last song … so during the process there’s a lot of intuition, test / try, headaches ... (laughs)

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?

Most of the time I get in the studio with a concept in mind, nevertheless, these concepts are executed by equipment and software. The process can vary depending on the concept but I normally know what sounds I’d like to achieve.

How important is it for you that you personally create or participate in the creation of every element of a piece – from sound synthesis via rhythm programming to mixing?

Every part of the creation, mixing and arrangement is crucial for me. I know I can not be super strong on every single area but I try my very best everywhere and therefore it’s a priority for me to learn as much as I can on the areas where I feel there’s a lot of room for improvement.

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

Yes totally. Every day there’s a new tool with new algorithms, acting in such a very surprising way that it might make you rethink the way you were working till today … and I think it’s always going to happen. That’s the whole point of developing technology nowadays right?

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative provess. 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’m worried about the day that forms of technology will understand more than our human minds. AI is cool with a limit - but if we don’t put a limit to it then what’s the point of human creativity? If there’s a source of technology that has studied every single path of our mind and within its own million algorithms can develop and perform music by itself, and very probably amazing outstanding music!

There’s a sense of co- authorship between technology and humans as long as we respect this limit.

Do you personally see a potential for deeper forms of Artifical Intelligence in your music?

Yes, but combining human and technology equally.

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

It’s a difficult one to answer as I believe there has been so much development so far at this point. I can’t think of one at the moment until   a new solution hits the market and revolutionizes the whole industry.