Ta-ku

This song has been all over fbi recently. Great chilled beats from Perth's beatmaker and produce Ta-ku.
Check his soundcloud, download lots of his music for free at his bandcamp.

Interview With Tim Shiel a.k.a. Faux Pas

What do you use to make your music?

I use Ableton Live. I don't have a big library of virtual instruments, I tend to just find a range of sounds that work for me and stick withthem. I also use samples, generally very small snippets that get cut up and manipulated into sounds that are often a long way from where the sample came from. Even though most of the sounds are virtual I try and use hands-on controllers as much as possible, MIDI keyboards and drumpads. I have a lot of random MIDI controllers - I have a cheap MIDI theremin which can be fun in some situations. I also play guitar - I have a MIDI pickup which allows me to play synth lines and drum parts in on my guitar - and have done some very basic singing, harmonies, and also some found percussion.

Where/when do you best make your music?

I tend to be able to make music whenever I turn my mind to it, which I think is lucky. I think its dangerous to get into a mindset where you think you work better at certain times, because you can kind of use that as an excuse to not be as productive. Most people who are making interesting music are doing it in and around a million other commitments, so its important that you develop an attitude where you are comfortable and ready to be creative whenever the time arises. But even that takes practise, that 'readiness'. Its taken me a few years to get to that point. Everyone has 'bad days'- sessions where you sit down with the best of intentions, but just nothing worthwhile comes out - but the longer you stick with it (I mean over the years) the less bad days you have, or thats been my experience. Discipline is pretty important if you want to get better at what you do. I guess the only thing I would say is that I am most productive when I am having fun.

What would be the ultimate way to get money for doing what you do?

Grant money definitely helps, if you can convince the right people that what you are doing is worthwhile. TV and film licensing can be good too, and I've had some luck with radio airplay in the past, which can lead to some good royalty statements. I'm lucky because my music doesn't cost a lot of money to make. But even so it doesn't add up to minimum wage, not for me anyway. Finding ways to make money from your music (even just enough to make back what you spent on making it) is kind of a full-time job in itself and it can really distract you from just concentrating on making good music.

Has anyone ever called you fox pas?

Not really, though I have been called Pho Pas by someone who was extremely hungry.

What else do you do musically besides Faux Pas and how is it different?

I tend to release everything I do under the name Faux Pas, sometimes I wonder if that is confusing for people. Someone who comes across a cheesy synth-pop song that I've made, and really digs that and wants to hear more, is potentially going to be pretty disappointed when they download their next Faux Pas mp3 off some blog and it turns out to be an 8-minute ambient techno track or something. I'm not sure there are many people out there who are going to be into everything I do, so sometimes I get the feeling that most people who are engaged with what I'm doing are not really fully engaged - they're just crossing their fingers and hoping that the next thing they hear from me is going to be something that they can get into. I don't really know. Maybe I would be better off splitting up some of the different things that I do and putting them out under different aliases.


 Maximums by Faux Pas 

You Have been making music under the name of Faux Par for a few years now, how has the music and the way you make the music changed?

I started out by making sample collages very much influenced by DJ Shadow and RJD2 and The Avalanches. Horn blasts and dusty breaks from old records - except that all those old records I sampled I'd actually downloaded from the internet, exotica blogs and whatever. I remember for a long time people I met would be shocked that not only was I not a crate-digger, and not a DJ, but that I didn't even own a turntable. I grew up in a house with no turntable, never developed a fetish for vinyl, on the flip-side I've always been mad for computers since I was a kid. So the whole 'dusty beats' thing was a bit of a weird fit to being with. I'm still interested in sampling, but over the last few years I've moved more and more towards incorporating my own melodic and rhythmic elements into my songs. My hands are a lot more involved in the process now beyond mouse clicks and cut and paste stuff, a lot of played keys and guitar.

You have your music for sale on itunes and bandcamp, are these websites helping you out?

Sure. If you're going to put a price on your music and try and sell it to people, you may as well try and place it in as many stores as you can, digital or physical. The difference between iTunes and Bandcamp is that with iTunes, a large chunk of what the customer pays goes to Apple, whereas other services are more artist-friendly. But on the flipside, the customer base for iTunes is colossal. The majority of my digital sales have been through iTunes.

What do you do when your not making music?

I watch a lot of TV. I'm currently watching Doctor Who, David Tennant era. Excellent stuff. I like to read science fiction.

Something that no one knows about Faux pas?

Right now I am completely obsessed with AFL football. I love watching it, I think its the most elegant sport of all. Robin Nahas is my favourite player and I have a Toyota Dream Team.

Who would you like to make music with?

I think I'm actually at my best when I'm working alone. But there is a very long list of musicians that I would love to just watch working. To be a fly on the wall and just watch the way that they make music and take notes.  I learn by trying to replicate what other people have done, so I would love to spend some time looking over the shoulders of giants.


Check out Tim's soundcloud, facebook and youtube. You can catch Time Shield (Tim Shiel) at The Gate's No fixed address gig this Saturday 16th.

Exit!

So this guy is from Georgia, and he makes songs and they're pretty good. Check out his soundcloud and last fm.









Chanta by Exit!

Just Plan Ant

 Nowadaze by Just Plain Ant
Just Plain Ant from the states check out his soundcloud and bandcamp for some more of his tunes.

Obsolete..

Subsequent by Obsolete..
Super chilled beats and samples check out his soundcloud.

Interview and new tracks from Yes/No/Maybe

  N.N.N. (need new needle.) by yes/no/maybe
Where are you from? what do you do? where are you going?

     I'm from Melbourne, at the moment I'm living in ST Kilda. I'm not a huge fan of the south. It's mostly just the beach part I'm not keen on. I'm just working for the time being and playing music to keep me from going crazy. I think I'm just going to keep up this way of living for a few years, it's going well so far.

What do you use to make your music?
     MPC TILL I DIE! Its by far the most fun I've had with any form of musical creation. I chop all my samples in my MPC and when I'm finally finished with a beat or song ill record it in to pro tools and do some mixing to it. But that's only if I want to put it on the net or something. lots of beats I've made from a year ago are still sitting in the MPC waiting to be used. Some times I'll pull out my casio sk-1 and play around with that. And even more rarely I'll record some guitar.

Where do you get your samples from?
     I like using records for the most part. But if it sounds good, I'm happy to use it. I've made some beats from you-tube samples before. But its more satisfying finding a good sample or break from a record you found in some country town op-shop.

Is making music a lifestyle or a hobby for you?
     I would say a lifestyle. Although the line is kind of blurry. I find it hard to really dive in to being productive (I blame the internet, ha). I know some people who every time I see them have made about 10 or more new beats, and I'm lucky if I've made one.

What music influences the music you make?
     Apart from people around me who keep making crazy good stuff I would say the paranoia I have about looping something straight from a record. I find it way more fun to chop samples than to find an amazing 4 bar loop and add some drums to it.
its just the way I like to do things. I'm making beast for my own fun at the end of the day.

Do you play any instruments other than the MPC?
     Not well. With the band I play in called Patinka Cha Cha I have to sing, does that count?

How much time do you spend finding and editing samples vs playing them?
     Finding the sample is guess work, some times I put a record on and there it is. Other times I spend a whole night listening to records and I'll find some stuff I like but just can't make any thing I like out of it.From record to a mostly finished beat it will take about an hour to an hour and a half. The sequencing is the quickest part. Some times I just load an old sample and make a new beat with it, the pie-an-o track that is up on my sound cloud is like that. I'm not a fan of the 1st version. I'm a lot more happy with this one. Even though its still quite rough.

Will you be releasing any music for us to hear any time soon?
     With the Burt Bacharach EP it took me about 4 or more months between the last beat made for it to actually being "finshed" and on the net.
It was one of my friends who pestered me to release it. If he didn't it would all still just be on my computer doing nothing. So an ep or something like that is unlikely. But I'm sure you will hear some bits and pieces.

Can you recommend any music from your part of the country?
     AOI. if you like hip-hop or electronic stuff check him out.
He's got an LP coming out soon with Wax Museum Records.
Very excited about that. The amount beats that guy is sitting on is crazy.

The Burt Bacharach EP is a great listen and can be checked out here. Yes/No/Maybe's myspace and soundcloud.

Strong Arms. by yes/no/maybe

Adam Bomb

Paracusiast by Adam Bomb
Beats with a solid bass line
 Check out his soundcloud.

Interview with Oscar + Martin

Oscar + Martin Live - Recognise from Rex Gibson on Vimeo.


How is Oscar + Martin's music made?

In Stages. Many songs start with a cassette tape loop (we use like a less robotic version of a sequencer), that we build on, using lots of things like kids key boards, and vocal sounds and percussion.
but having said that, many of the songs start just with chords and lyrics . We use a mixture of live instruments and electronic processes. We often sample our own recording. Oscar: I sample a lot of my own vocals and work them back into recordings. 

Recognise is a great track, when will we get to hear more from your new record?

We have another single 'Do the right thing"out being featured on the sugar mountain website. And the rest of the album is due out some time in may.


What influences your music?

We are influenced by things that make us move, from hip hop and r'nb to afrobeat adn old-shool soul to post Dub-step contemporary beats stuff, which is at odds with the content and sentiments of the music (most of it is inspired by Romance (stuff with girls and imagination) we are hopeless romantics but offset that with musical style. We think about deep sea a lot and nature shows. Shaw brothers movies and Egyptian fashion accessories. Oscar likes japan. Martin likes basketball clothes.


Is Oscar + Martin your only project at the moment?

Oscar: I also play in a project with Rapper: Html flowers. We are called Brothers hand Mirror. I produce the beats and he does the raps.

Martin: I play Drums in the Harpoons, and collaborate R'n'b vocalists Bec Rigby (who features on the O+M album) and Juliet Rowe 

We both work independently on up and coming projects


Your part of Two bright lakes, what does that mean for you?

Its being part of a supportive and enthusiastic family you can count on, with like minded folks. 


What do you do outside of making music?

Oscar: I do a lot of craft and drawing and dancing.
Martin: I try to spoil my Girl.

A lot of the music I'm listening to at the moment comes from Melbourne, what's happening in Melbourne's music scene? Who would you recommend?

Galapagoose has been exciting us lately with amazing live sets. The Pups. NIck Huggins. Speed Painters  


Do you guys come up with something by yourselves then bring it to the other or is the music formed when you jam together?

We bring prepared things to each other, but work shop them from there in varying degrees. We also like to start performing songs when they are quite fresh, and that really influences changes based on the experience of playing it live and the feed back we get. I think its important to not get too attached to an arrangement; to be able to strip the song back or build it up is a freedom we enjoy.


What does the future hold for Oscar + Martin?

We are really excited about releasing our album "for you" and keen to tour it. And then do another one. 


When will we see you guys again in Sydney?

We will make it to Sydney no later than may this year