Metamotional Music

Simon Jones and the Progressive-Sounds crew go back some 12 years to help reveal a bit of Madoka’s true identity and discover the influences that have shaped our forward-thinking producer. The following text was taken from their website. Be sure you have plenty of spare time and a snack before reading–it’s a lengthy one!

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PS: Starting with Dive back in mid 2001 on Plastic Fantastic and moving forward through Slightly Forward on SAW and more recently with your own releases on your own label Private Reality. You have suddenly sprung into the minds of many club goers and vinyl junkies alike, as well as gaining support from the likes of Sasha and Digweed. Are you happy with the way the spotlight has quickly been put upon you and has there been any particular moment that has stood out from the rest?

M: Of course I’m happy. I have been setting rigid goals for myself for a long time and after the last year alone, I am in a better position than I ever expected to be in at this time. I have been forming some really great relationships with some people lately and I think that trust is crucial in this game. Finally being in a position to bang out a track, run it down to a legendary DJ and hear it being tested out the same night is priceless.

PS: How long ago did you first start to get into electronic music, and when did you first start producing?

A guy at my local record shop handed me 808 State’s Utd. State 90 and the rest is history!

M: I first began listening to Industrial and Electronic music around 1989. I quickly realized that the groovier side of those styles moved me more than the noisy, experimental ones. Most of the old Wax Trax stuff was great and Meat Beat Manifesto was undoubtedly one of my biggest influences back then. I guess a year later, a guy at my local record shop handed me 808 State’s Utd. State 90 and the rest is history! At the same time Nigel Richards and his crew started putting together warehouse parties around Philadelphia ages before 611 Records even existed, and Josh Wink hosted his college radio show he called Rave FM. This is how I was first exposed to house, techno, and in those days, rave. The sounds in Philly were always really mixed too. We always heard an awesome variety of styles in one night and that is definitely how my sound has grown to be so diverse. I could still listen to the first Tresor tracks just as much as Tarantella and Redanka’s new ones.

I actually learned classical and jazz piano for a good ten years, writing little tunes with my piano, crappy synth and tape decks while I was growing up. I had a 4-channel mixer with a short sampler in it so I would run aplayer and the tape decks into the thing and create a rough loop. I would record it, then play it back again layering new melodies and sounds over the recorded piece with my keyboard. I also did the whole cut and paste cassette thing too! Around 1995, I transferred to a new university and was suddenly able to start working with computers, the internet and multimedia. I finally started to seriously approach music by using Soundedit 16 on a Macintosh. I would sit there for hours and record loops, then try to sequence them somehow to create a full track. I actually wrote a bunch of songs this way, including some drum & bass and hip-hop.

PS: With the recently released Mass/Broadband having been released to acclaim on your own label and If We Begin now out on Deep, what other original material can we expect to hear from you over the coming months?

M: Well…I have tons of original stuff that I am trying to wrap up. I want to finish up like ten bangers and use one or two for Private Reality’s next releases then shop out some of the rest. As my profile grows, I want to work with other labels as well in order to prevent things from getting boring for me and for listeners. I am producing tracks of many styles right now so it is a bit difficult to figure out what to do with all of the different material. I really want to bring out my house sound more though.

PS: Will Private Reality one day play host to other artists, and if so what kind of direction would you like to take the label in?

M: I think so. It’s great to finally have an official channel to put my own stuff out there, but eventually, I wouldn’t mind bringing other talent aboard. That day will be a bit hard though, because I have been carefully crafting my vision for Private Reality since I was practically a teenager. It will be tough but I fully understand that you can’t do everything alone. As far as the musical direction goes, I get tired of my sound after 4-5 songs anyway so I am always trying to change things up. I will probably search for talent that has a different feel than me too. It’s great for a label to have a signature sound and remain true to it, but I will definitely try to mix things up on Private Reality.

PS: With a Mix completed for Overdijk & Londi’s Not Done on Extrema, can we expect to see you Mixing any other artists soon?

M: I am working on something interesting right now. It’s a great remix opportunity from someone who admired the emotions I created with Mass, and in turn, is giving me an amazing amount of creative freedom to bang something out. It’s going to begin more as a personal project for the person and if the tune can prove itself, it may be released someday. I love the first edit I have already finished, so hopefully, it will see the light of day in some form or another.

PS: Do you have any plans for an extended or perhaps full artist album project sometime in the future and if so what would you try to incorporate into it?

M: I have been wanting to create a single, solid body of work such as a full-length for the longest time. I am totally into the art of storytelling with mixes and tracks so my album would have to tell an amazing story in order to satisfy my expectations first. I want to incorporate tons of elements from different styles of tracks to even dialogue. Don’t hold your breath because this is definitely going to take me awhile.

Writing amazing songs doesn’t happen overnight. I still have so much to learn about how to move or control a dance floor before I can tackle a project such as an artist album.

PS: What producers/artists/DJs/singers influence you? If given the chance, is there anyone you would like to possibly work with in the future?

M: Some of my biggest influences over the last few years include Danny Tenaglia with his soul-throbbing, relentless, twisted pounding. Sasha & Digweed with some of the best stories I ever heard a DJ tell during their Twilo years. Satoshi Tomiie with his smooth gliding but tough turns. Cass & Slide with the way they manipulate technology It’s what it’s all about anyway isn’t it?). Pink Floyd with the way they created mental imagery and developed awesome tales. Sander Kleinenberg with the way he can incorporate emotion into any tune he makes. Early Masters at Work remixes with just the purest sound of house music to me. The mix of Li’l Louis Music Saved My Life could still command any proper house dance floor around. I would love to work with Kate Bush’s voice. I have been a fan of hers for a long time.

PS: Do you have a software or hardware production setup or a combination of both? What tools or tips would you recommend to someone else looking to start out to in production?

Anyone can slap together a bunch of loops and sequence them into a song, but until you learn how to give your music its own personality, emotion and attitude, it will always fall flat.

M: Virtual, 100%. I haven’t owned a real synth yet. I have been experimenting with tracks for ten years and technology always helps me the most. I never had a lot of cash to invest in tons of gear so I was always limited to my computer. This situation constantly created a challenge for me in which I think helped me for the better in the long-run. The virtual technology today is great and can definitely get someone up and running a lot easier than buying gear. If you believe in your music, take the time to properly learn the tools you have, even if it is only a single computer, and create the best tracks you can with it.

With all of the technology available today, it doesn’t always matter whether or not you have the hottest new piece of gear, instead it’s the ideas and creativity you bring to the stage of making a tune. Anyone can slap together a bunch of loops and sequence them into a song, but until you learn how to give your music its own personality, emotion and attitude, it will always fall flat. Even though I initially learned on a Mac, I use a PC today, learning a million techniques every time I make a track.

PS: It’s been documented that you have worked in radio and as a DJ before. Do you try to bring through the same ideals you apply to your music to these mediums, and are there any plans to use both in the future to further your career and releases of your label?

M: For me, it’s the opposite. I apply some of the techniques from DJing to my production work. Unfortunately, I stopped picking up tons of records a couple of years ago in order to exclusively focus on producing a proper tune and how to get my material out there. I stopped spinning, put Private Reality together officially in 1998, and with the help of a good friend, went down to the Miami Winter Music Conference that year to independently distribute a record I made to use solely as a learning experience.

I do want to DJ again though, and a few industry heads have really been riding my ass to start spinning again in order to help build my profile. I want to spin differently than most so I really have to spend a good amount of time strategizing for that moment. I want to incorporate original work and pieces into my sets more than anyone else so it will definitely take a while to figure out a successful and efficient system. It will happen, but for now, I am just spending that valuable time trying to improve my original work first.

PS: Name 5 of your top albums and gives reasons why they stand out for you.

Chocolate Chords – Terry Lee Brown Jr.
I was digging through the crates of hundreds of junk CDs to be thrown out when I used to have my radio show in college and found this pretty nondescriptat the bottom of the bin. I took a shot, pulled it out of the pile, slid it into theplayer and from start to finish, the sound and the feel of the album completely changed my perspective of dance music.

Violator – Depeche Mode
Timeless electronic music that’s crafted so meticulously. Still their best album to me.

99% - Meat Beat Manifesto
Crucial album. I began to fully appreciate the groovier side of Industrial music which eventually led me to rave and Techno music.

Utd. State 90 - 808 State
I wore this album out ages before the early warehouse raves in Philadelphia at the start of the 1990′s. I discovered how to truly appreciate music that had no vocals. I still listen to it regularly.

Disintegration - The Cure
I can’t neglect to mention my earliest influences such as The Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen, but for this one, the Cure’s Disintegration takes all. This album definitely explains my love for texture and melodies.

PS: Being someone who crosses boundaries, fusing sounds and genres that some people would say don’t really mix with ease, what kind of music do you think we will see coming from the electronic and progressive scenes over the next few months?

M: There has definitely been a lot of amazing tunes out this year, but I think dance music as a whole is just stagnant right now. A vast portion of the new tier of DJs and producers are extremely open-minded though and have diverse influences, so hopefully, this background will help new styles and sounds evolve. Trying to predict the next best thing isn’t always so fulfilling to me. Just doing your own thing and letting the sound of a new club or movement emerge on its own is more satisfying any day because it is so unexpected: It’s that underground feeling we live for.

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