Home News What's On Annual Poll Photos Forums DJs Features Music Venues Reviews Links

Features Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!

From the Gathering to the Glade with Pitch Black Reported by HarderFaster / Submitted 23-07-08 21:29 One of the highlights of last weekend’s Glade Festival, Pitch Black showed once again why they’ve been considered one of the most innovative electronic acts around since their first live set at the 1997 Gathering Festival. Consisting of Paddy Free and Mike Hodgson, Pitch Black's sound is impossible to pigeon-hole, while their mind-blowing visual performances are even more difficult to describe. With Paddy mixing the sounds live on Ableton and Mike creating the most intense visuals you may see in a club, their music takes on another dimension to make one hell of a sensory experience: they've been described as “Richie Hawtin meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor”. In London for just one live set at Cargo tomorrow night (Thursday 24 July) - preceded by a free workshop the guys are giving with fellow Kiwi Tom COSM on Ableton - Mike was kind enough to take some time out at the airport to answer a few questions for his fans on HarderFaster… Pitch Black at the Glade 2008 by Sarah_G Who or what have been your key musical influences over the years? For me it is the artists that play with sound and manipulate it, rather than make “songs” structures, such as Warp artist, Amon Tobin. Then there is those that make it as songs but mess with production, like Adrian Sherwood. For me it is about losing time and being shifted. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have 5 albums each with you, what would they be? Starship Africa — ‘Onu Sound’ Coldcut — Sound Mirrors’ Mozart — ‘Requiem’ What’s the music scene like down under these days? Pumping… we have an industry and a scene, so there are artists really making a go of it and artists that are happy just doing their own thing because they want to. The public are right behind local tunes, there is plenty of NZ music on TV and the radio. The live scene is full of young bands getting it together and touring. Do you play out much home in New Zealand or focus more on studio work? We probably play overseas more than in NZ now, partly because our main crowd all have kids now and tend to only go out from time to time, so it is hard to do regular tours but we play festivals and special shows. We are currently planning some one-off AV shows and trying to work in other areas than the traditional clubs. Your most recent album was the wonderful ‘Rude Mechanicals’. What was the main inspiration behind it? It was time to make a new album. We tend to work over a couple of years here and there creating bits of vibe etc. Once we have some new material we get together and go over it all. We then bring personal sounds, beats, riffs to the table and choose which ones we like. Then we start in a studio for about six weeks and out pops a record! Do you find each new album easier to put together or does each pose a new set of challenges? It feels like every record is a challenge. We have our own style and we always want to improve it, so we push ourselves very hard each time we start the process. It always has its moments, but mostly it is a lot of fun to bring forth new tunes. Since you first got together studio technology has evolved considerably. Have you had to change the way you do things much over the years? The main change is moving away from analogue dubbing. We now use a fully digital mixing path, so we have lost some things we loved but gained others. Other than that it’s still about the output not the equipment. What software and hardware do you use at the moment? Sound Ableton Live 2 x Mac bookpros 2 x Drebank midi controllers Akai sampler Remote 25 Video Isadora What are you looking forward to checking out this summer in the UK? Or is it all going to be work and no play? Unfortunately it is all work. This is a short tour and we are pretty much just jumping in and out of the shows. Next time! You first formed Pitch Black at the Gathering Festival on New Year’s Eve in 1997. When did you first meet and how did this come about? We met a few months before and jammed in a studio. We both bought a new dimension to each other’s work, so started to make tunes and then went live with two of them. It was so much fun we bought the company. Had you both been making music individually before then? Yes for years. Both of us had always played electronic music live so we had a real desire to do that. Paddy was in Mesh when we met, I had a dub personal called The Projector, mix mashing up local tunes and mixing video live. How do you think growing up and living in New Zealand has influenced your music? It helps with the big quiet spaces in our tunes. 11 years on, what have been the highlights of Pitch Black for you both? Still loving playing live. Loving being in the studio. Loving being able to do this as our life What goals do you have for the future? Keep going to new places to play. Do a film score!! Why the name ‘Pitch Black’? Have you seen the movie of the same name? I had a studio with no windows; it was called Pitch Black studios. When Paddy and I had to get a name fast for the Gathering show we stole the studio name. Yes, we went to opening night in Auckland when it came out. Your tracks have been used on C.S.I. Miami, films, fashion shows and you’ve worked on a game for Playstation. What’s your favourite TV programme? Are you big gamers or do you see such projects as another form of music promotion? Not really into TV, but I follow Lost and currently am enjoying the new Outrageous Fortune series. WE do not play games, it is all about creating an emotion so whether that is on an album, film, game or whatever, it is all about this. I do not see it as music promotion. You’ve been described as “Richie Hawtin meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor.” How would you describe the music you make? As above. You’re renowned for your awesome live sets. How do you put them together — music first or sound? What set up do you use to play live? We work out how to turn the studio versions into bits and then join them together. It’s a lot of fun to drop these bits live and push the versions around. Your bio says that: “Paddy wants to do it for the crowd, Michael wants to do it to the crowd.” How does this work in reality? Paddy likes to entertain and make people feel good, I like to challenge and push the sonic barrier. So really Paddy is making sure that there is a musical through line and I am making a sonic through line. You were one of the first live electronic acts to add the visual element to your music. Is this part of your musical inspiration? What inspires you to create such awesome visuals? From the outset I always thought watching people twiddle knobs was boring, so I created video shows. Even though you’re based in NZ you still tour the UK fairly regularly. How does this help and hinder your creativity? Would you ever consider living in the Northern Hemisphere full-time? I lived here for two years. Paddy would come over each summer and I would go back to NZ each winter. That got us started touring over here. We both love living in NZ and travel enough to have both worlds. New technology like Myspace has completely changed the way music is distributed and promoted. What’s your take on the digital download debate? You’ve recently given some downloads away for free, do you think this is where the future lies? We love it. We signed all our digital rights three years ago to a single aggregator and sell plenty of tunes online... it’s all good. Photos courtesy of Pitch Black. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By HarderFaster: HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in! HarderFaster Awards 2014 - The results are in! Lashes, Dimples and the Brighton Music Conference HarderFaster Awards 2013 - The results are in! HarderFaster Awards 2012 - The results are in! The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments:

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. All other content is (c) 2001-2024 HarderFaster.

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Text Mode