Listening to my albums and most live shows, I tend to do more song-based stuff (vocals/guitar, verse, chorus, bridge). But there is an electro side that has been part of my studio experiments for quite a long time (since my 4-track cassette days as far back as the late 80s). I simply gravitated more toward guitar and voice because that was what people responded to, and where the most interaction was possible with other musicians. Now that is changing as a result of the electro-music community and the Internet.
My current live electro setup is based around a pedal board, with a Stereo Jam Man at the center. In some cases I play against loops mixed with live performance on guitar and effects. In other cases I’ll sing/play guitar in a more traditional sense against fully-produced backing track.
Though my recordings to date are mostly folk/rock influenced, there is likely to be a gradual move toward “electro” in future projects. It’s simply too much fun!
I like found sounds, and literally carry a recorder with me at all times just in case. I particularly like weird percussion and ambient sampling, and mixes of Asian and (particularly) Indian instruments with electronics (I love tabla). I also like processing my voice and stacking layers of oddball stuff to make a sonic space that has a cinematic quality.
Recording-wise, I am fluent in Sonar which I used for over 10 years, but lately I am using Propellerhead’s Record. I have also used Reason, Acid Pro, Garage Band and a few other apps. I hate Cubase. Main synth is a Korg Triton Extreme, but I tend to use more Reason presets, Kore and Kompakt for sounds. Ableton is awesome – almost everyone at the electro fest was using it. I saw some awesome stuff with the Percussa audio cubes at EM2010 – truly amazing, and just shows how complex (and expressive) digital instruments can be.
