Craig you’re not a new name to us; you’ve been around for some time now releasing music on established labels like Instruments of Rapture, Is it Balearic and Mr Weatherall’s Bird Scarer imprint but it feels like your starting to receive the recognition you deserve, is that fair to say?
I’ve been in the trenches a while and have been been making or attempting to make music for a good few years. I think my first release was back in 2002. I’m not sure I would say its the recognition I deserve as there are a lot of great producers around but it is nice to be noticed.
I’ve seen you lazily labelled as a nu-disco artist recently; but that’s not fair is it? Listening to your records one can hear Detroit, electro, acid house and Balearic influences…
Yeah, I suppose its easier if you can be pigeon-holed or shoe horned into a genre. I’ve been into electronic music for a long time and have seen it mutate into various forms including New Beat, House, Techno, Jungle, Drum and Bass etc as well as all the sub genres that have emerged and I thinks its inevitable that those influences come out through the music you make.
Do you think you sound has evolved over the years?
Definitely, listening back to my early tracks I think my production has come along way and the sound has definitely matured.
Why have you chosen now to release your début album, is it because you have a collection of tracks together you feel would suit an album format or is it something you’ve been working towards for a while?
I had a few tracks I had been working on as well as a few that had already been released and as they were all a bit different thought they might work well together in the album format.
How did the relationship with Tsuba come about?
Kevin is a friend of a friend and we had talked about me doing a remix or a release for the label for quite a while. I sent him a couple of tracks I had been working on and mentioned I was thinking of doing an album. He asked if I would be interested in releasing it on Tsuba and that was that.
You run your own label Magic Feet Recordings; tell us a what’s happening with that at the moment. Are there any releases coming up you can tell us about?
I’ve just released a digital compilation ‘Now That’s Magic’. It includes a few tracks that have previously been vinyl only and also includes several tracks by artists new to the label. There is also an EP due for release early next year. If I’m totally honest, the label has had to take a back seat for a while as I’ve been busy with the album, remixing, Djing etc and still have to fit in a day job and spending time with my family but it should be business as usual soon.
Let’s get nerdy for a minute. I know you’re a fan of hardware gear; what’s your favourite piece of kit and are there any synths you could not do without?
My favourite part of any interview! It can change on a regular basis , one day I gush over a compressor I’ve got or a spring reverb.At the minute I’m boring people about the MFB Dominion 1 synth. Its a semi modular synth that seems to have gone under the radar. Its a beast.
I read that you were working on building your own synth, how’s that going and does something like that not take you away from creating music?
I started building a modular synth a year or two ago, its a rabbit hole. I’ve got it to a stage where I’m fairly happy with it but its far from perfect and there are always new modules being built, I don’t think a system is ever finished, its definitely a double edged sword, sometimes its great and other times incredibly frustrating. It can stop you making any music as it is a steep learning curve and you can spend hours patching and creating sounds that are never to be heard again.
Give us an example of a record that inspires you to make music
Again, this varies depending on the mood I’m in. For something modular it might be something by Oneohtrix point Never
Thinking about a crowd, space and sound, what makes a good party to play at for you?
A mix of clued people and freaks, in a dark basement with a great system works for me everytime.
Craig Joins us on Saturday 6th December in a dark basement witha great system event details –facebook.com
