(the Fly EP - veryverywrongindeed recordings)
The Fly is very much a party track. It's really a reference to The Bee by The Scientist from around 1990. The Scientist, more currently known as Phil Pure Science, did 2 classic rave type tracks back then. The Exorcist and The Bee. I love both of them to bits. They were both party tracks and both were kinda up and dark at the same time. A great contradiction! I guess I'm trying to achieve the same with The Fly. The bass line in the Fly is one of the 1st tracks I'm making full use of the idea of not putting the bass notes on the beat of the kick drum. It's quite interesting as it doesn't sound like that, to me at least. It can be tricky sometimes to get this to work. If the bass and kick sounds are too different in timbre or loudness it sounds really disjointed and the effect doesn't work at all.
The AA side is Small and Brave is kinda similar rhythmically the meaning and intent is a bit deeper. The vocals are from a friend of mine Francesca Sciaca. We did a recording session a few years ago, before she went back to native Australia. That afternoon of not managing to get any songs done has nonetheless been an absolute gold mine for vocal snippets, which have been used in everything from On and On to Brave and Afraid.
Small and Brave is abstract, but it's about how we are so small in the face of the universe, or even just London! But to get the most out of life you have to face it square on. You have to embrace your vulnerability. It takes real bravery to really be IN life without all the false layers of armour we usually protect ourselves with. It is only be stripping the shells of protection (there are many) can we truly experience what it is to be alive.
(Petit mal EP - Living Records 007)
Petit Mal EP is quite varied. Everything from the minimalisch party flavours of Olé to the twisted cut up acid rhythms of Petit Mal to the demented dubby Chicago pulse of 50 Ways.
Petit Mal has seen a few forms in it's life span from straight(ish) up acid house track to this pretty twisted, slightly cut up version. I was really caning the Native Instruments plugs for this, especially Reaktor and of course the great AudioRealism's Bass Line for the acid. The title is a play on words of minimal and a petit mal attack. A petit mal is actually an effect I try and induce in my music. According the the Medicine Plus online Encyclopaedia “A petit mal seizure is a temporary disturbance of brain function caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain and characterized by abrupt, short-term lack of conscious activity ("absence") or other abnormal change in behaviour.”
So I try to affect something similar. A temporary disturbance of the mind, particularly the internal monologue we so voraciously suffer from. Why? Partly to have a taste of thoughtlessness as I think it's healthy and there's nothing more “being-in-the-moment” than when there are no thoughts to distract us. I think it's a healthy respite. Also it might jar someone into an altered state of being, a second attention, from where they can see things from a higher perspective if you like. Stop the World on Arcola from way back in 2002 is about the same thing. The samples in Petit Mal ask us to question how we are not ourselves. When are those times we are not 100% true to ourselves? I don't mean in some belligerent, getting your own way and stuff everyone else kinda way. But more like those times we hold back for fear of being foolish. Or maybe even the opposite when we give it the all that and act in a over-confident way to cover up the fact that deep down we might actually feel quite insecure at times. Mmm, I wonder if it's fair to say that ALL of the worlds problems stem from people not being them selves. Quite Possibly.