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WT: First off,
how and when did you first come into contact with the chiptune scene?
Decktonic: Years ago I discovered a few chiptunes
artists via 8bitpeoples. I remember listening to a lot of David Sugar and
little-scale on my iPod. The song that really stuck with me was "Come Back
To Me" from little-scale's Error Repeat EP.
WT: Have
little-scale and David Sugar been a large influence on your work, or do you
draw inspiration from elsewhere?
D: little-scale
and David Sugar just got me interested in the scene. My work has been heavily
inspired by Daft Punk, Danger, Shinichi Osawa, Henry Homesweet,
HarleyLikesMusic, Anthony Seeha, Disasterpeace, KODEK, Cheapshot, ???, Lone,
Akufen, Machinedrum, and Strip Steve.
WT: You also do DJ
work, what inspired this route of output?
D: I have
wanted to be a DJ since I was a teenager. This was an interest of mine long
before I considered producing. Growing up in Miami, DJ culture was very
prominent. I always dreamed of being a club DJ. I guess the two factors that
attracted me are the influence a DJ can have over a crowd and being considered
a tastemaker for making good song selections.
WT: Could you take us a through a brief overview
of your past releases please?
D: I'll just cover the major EPs and albums that I've
done in the past few years. On December 7, 2011, I self-released my first EP,
"Dark Mode." This was a follow-up to a single of mine that was
included on the Pxl-Bot singles compilation earlier that year. All 5 songs were
made entirely with the KORG DS10. It was the first attempt I made at
establishing my own sound as a producer; raw, gritty dance music with a lot of
bass. The response was a lot better than I expected, which encouraged me to
continue working with the DS10.
On March 3, 2012, I released my second EP,
"All My Robot Friends," on NoiChan. This was a heavier dubstep &
electro EP, all 5 songs again made entirely with the KORG DS10. Admittedly,
this was one of my weakest releases; while I had managed to develop some cool
sounds with the DS10, the songs were unpolished and lacked the finesse that I
think good dance music actually requires.
After All My Robot Friends I was lacking direction
for my next project until a series of unfortunate events motivated me to write
a very emotional album "Stars" which I self-released on June 27,
2012. This album featured a mix of styles using mostly the DS10 and also
introducing Nanoloop for iOS. At the time I was writing Stars, I was dealing
with a lot of anger and frustration and I chose music as my outlet. Most of the
songs are extremely angry and I usually have a difficult time listening to them
since they remind me so much of that time, but the last few songs represent a
turning point, with the title track "Stars" being a positive, even
optimistic closing song.
After Stars, I took a break from producing original
content until I saw Henry Homesweet's Lo-Bit Bassment series. I
was inspired to do a continuous house/techno mix written entirely
with the DS10 in a straight, "stream of consciousness" approach. I
ended up with a 12 minute mix made up of 3 songs which I called "Union
Square." Towards the end of 2012 I wrote an album with this raw techno
style, including 2 tracks from the Union Square Mix, which I called
"Forgotten Machines" and released on 56kbps Records. While Stars had
a story behind it, Forgotten Machines was a concept album written for the sole
purpose of making a dance album with a unique sound. I tried to merge the
classic analog synth sounds of the 80s with a modern "future techno"
aesthetic. The result is my favourite work to date. It is also probably the
last pure "chipmusic" release that I will have, since I am now
incorporating or exclusively using Ableton Live for all my work.
WT: Could you tell us a bit about Love &
Tonic, what it is and how it came about?
D: Love & Tonic is a netlabel that I started in
2011 to release & promote my own lo-fi dance music along with releases from
other artists. At the time, not many U.S.-based netlabels were actively
promoting lo-fi dance music made with something other than a Gameboy. Things
have changed since then, but Love & Tonic has momentum now and I'm still
releasing music on a regular basis. Jake Allison, iNanoloop extraordinaire from
Oklahoma, has been a key player in helping bring great releases to the label,
and this month two big releases dropped: a joint album from Jake Allison and
Strong Suit, and the debut album from Ricky Brugal.
WT: Could
you tell us a bit more about these releases?
D: Jake Allison informed me months ago that he
was working on a split album with Strong Suit. Jake has been helping me run
L&T for over a year and we've collaborated on some projects, including one
track on my first album Stars and a collection of remixes all made with
Nanoloop for iOS (including one from Strong Suit). Jake also helped me get
tozo's debut album on the label, which I consider to be the gold standard for
iNanoloop production. Jake and Strong Suit are both diehard iNanoloop devotees,
besides being a couple of underrated young talents in the chip scene. Their
combined effort, titled "Summer In The States," is 14 tracks of
hard-hitting bass music. Their styles work very
well
together and I think they have crafted a perfect example of just how intense
iNanoloop can be.
Meanwhile,
Ricky Brugal was sending me demos of his debut album. I've known Ricky for
years, since his days as "Da Pantz," and while I've always been a fan
of his work, the new material he was sending me definitely solidified for me
why this is a new direction in his musical style. Ricky's new work is like
cyberpunk reggaeton, and if that doesn't get you excited then I don't want to
associate with you. Plus, the composition is more mature and the tracks are
just all around fun to get down to. The album is called "Assorted
Women" and it's a perfect fit for the L&T catalogue.
WT: Could you tell us a bit about what went into
creating your WeeklyTreat?
D: Any Time Any Place was inspired by two songs:
"Los Angeles" by NNNNNNNNNN and "Moe Moe Kyunstep" by
chibi-tech. Each of these songs pushed their respective hardware / software in
unexpected ways to create powerful dubstep sounds, and I wanted to do the same
with the DS10+. Armed with a patch from Anthony Seeha, I set about modifying it
and layering it until I had a mid-range dubstep lead that I was happy with
(what you hear at 1:26). I ended up writing a song on top of a work in progress
that I had started shortly after my first album, Stars, and I decided to go for
all-out unapologetic dubstep. It's really a combination of a lot of composition
and sound design techniques that I learned since I started working with the
DS10, and I think it's a good example of what can be done with the software.
WT: Talking about your flagship use of DS10, what
about the software made you choose it over other methods of chiptune
production?
D: When I first picked up the DS10, I had no
expectations. I had just heard about the software and I figured I'd try it and
see what I could make with it. I eventually realized I wanted to explore the
software as much as possible and try making dance music with it, but it wasn't
like I went in comparing it to other software. If I didn't like it so much I
probably would have dropped it for something else. I've also done a few songs
with Nanoloop for iOS, which is fun but I don't like it as much as DS10, and
I've taken up working with Ableton Live on my laptop, which is actually my favourite
platform for music production. These days I'm mostly working with Ableton Live,
incorporating plugins like Plogue Chipsounds, Razor, FM8, Massive, and a few
others, and in some cases even sampling the DS10 for my Ableton
productions.
WT: What have you got planned for the future of
Decktonic?
D: I am currently working on a techno / electro EP
with a couple collaborations featuring radionarcotix. I also have a few remixes
lined up. All the production work I'm doing currently is in Ableton Live. I am
also playing live shows with a dual DS10 setup running into a classic KORG
KM202 (a mixer with a built-in kaoss pad) and I'm DJing a variety of styles
with Traktor 2 and a Novation Twitch. I think in the future you will see more
remixes and collaborations from me.
