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Part 2

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?

Sam i: I can remember this one remix I did long ago for my N.A.S.A. project for a song called “Way Down". I spent forever banging my head against the wall, trying to figure out a way in.



One night I spent all night messing around with my Jupiter 8. Finally, at 6 am, I started tweaking the cross modulation slider and it created a crazy lead that was modulating all over the place. I never would have thought to play that myself, but the technology of the synth modulated in such a way that totally surprised me and inspired a whole direction for the remix.

As soon as I got that, I knew I had figured it out. I went to sleep having the rest of the remix laid out in my head. When I woke up the next morning, I got up and quickly made my way through finishing the rest of the remix.

Shmuck the Loyal: Technology has been fundamentally ingrained in my workflow for a very long time. Technology and creativity almost go hand in hand because of how technology streamlines creativity.

Ultimately, most of us want to shorten the timeframe between idea and execution and that is where technology is incredibly helpful.

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.

Sam i: There’s a song on our new TRY project with Moses Sumney. Moses and I wrote the song with beatboxing, singing, and my vintage Wurlitzer 200a in 2012. This song sat on my drives for 8 years.

In 2020, Shmuck and I started putting our album together and we resurrected the song. Shmuck went in hard on the song, bringing his dope drums, heavy subs, and exciting drop to it, all done digitally in Maschine. When I heard what he had done, I got inspired and reproduced huge sections of the song in Ableton.

The bass I used was a Korg MS-20. I programmed it with the KORG plugin version but then ended up re-tracking the bass with the real analog vintage version which is perched to the right of me within arms reach as I write this. Then we ended up programming a bunch of strings in MIDI, but replacing them with real strings which we recorded in my studio through my vintage Neve console.

This is an example of how an old recording or archive gets reimagined and reinspired after years of sitting on a drive. Also, of how the combination of new digital technology and vintage analog can combine for a tasty cornucopia of sound.

Shmuck the Loyal: I personally don’t do this for music. My writing process typically starts as a reflection of my life at that moment. I do however love to make archives of stuff that interests me like photos of cars or video games I need to play etc.

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

Sam i: Yes, for sure. I love being surprised by tech. I love randomizing functions on any software or synth. It always inspires me in ways I’d never expect. Ableton 11 really stepped up a lot in terms of randomizing parameters which have served as an endless source of inspiration for me.

Shmuck the Loyal: The element of surprise is ever elusive and constantly changing. Once you capture and integrate a concept into something, it isn’t a surprise anymore.

Fortunately, as I grow as an artist and my perspective changes - I’m always able to explore new ideas that, at the very least, feel surprising to me.

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?

Sam i: Every song or track I make has a seemingly random genesis. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night with a bass line or melody in my head, record it on my phone, and start from a voice memo. Other times, it’s a loop from Splice or another song that won’t even end up in the final version. Sometimes, as I described for the “Way Down” remix, the technology will inspire an idea.

Shmuck the Loyal: I very rarely walk into my studio with a clear idea of how I want something to turn out. I think most of my ideas come from experimenting in the moment, and finding ideas that resonate with how I’m feeling.

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

Sam i: I think every new programming technology has profoundly influenced the way that I work.

When I first started using my Akai MPC, it changed the whole flow and groove of my music. Then with protools it was a game changer. Ableton allowed me to enjoy the playfulness and feel or playing stuff and programming live while the track played, while still maintaining the complexity of a DAW.

Shmuck the Loyal: The technology that did that for me was probably the accessibility of samples. So basically services like splice. Being able to access massive libraries of sounds from many different genres is game changing and totally changed how I worked.

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?

Sam i: Full disclosure, my company Squeak E. Clean is an investor in an AI music company called Soundful. I’ve been impressed by the software every time I’ve played around it with.

In my opinion, AI definitely has a place in the future of music as it does in most of the arts. I’m looking forward to seeing how this collaboration evolves.

Shmuck the Loyal: I think AI integration is very interesting and it will definitely be a part of the music industry but I don’t currently have much of a desire to utilize it. I really enjoy the process of making music and don’t want to give that up for the sake of convenience.

That being said, I’m excited to see where it goes! I’d love to see AI systems that provide a little nudge or prompt to try new things.

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

Sam i: I’d to see software that enables electronic musicians to manipulate and play their tracks back in a more interesting and engaging way.

I love seeing DJ’s and electronic music when there’s a great spectacle, light show, dance, or visuals, but I do miss seeing the skill of someone performing and expressing themselves on an instrument. I love a great vinyl DJ who is skilled, but I haven’t seen many live presentations of electronic music that allow an electronic musician to perform or manipulate their sounds and music in a way that’s been entirely satisfying.

I’m looking forward to some sort of technology like this, different than someone staring at a laptop or tweaking knobs on a CDJ.

Shmuck the Loyal: I really want to see more options in the integrated hardware / software world. Things like Maschine and Ableton Push. I also think there is a lot of room to grow when it comes to collaborative workflows.

I can’t wait to see advancements in how multiple people can work together on the same song both in person and remotely.


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