Don't underestimate how big his other guests are within their genres though.. this interview was excitingly loads better than I was expecting from James, but in terms of guests there has been some perspectively bigger artists interviewed to the credit of Why We Bleep. Hopefully this gets a broader audience across the podcast though! :)
This is one of the most phenomenal interviews I’ve seen in recent memory and I do not say that lightly. Deeply insightful, honest, passionate. All of the things. Thank you both
I have seen James playing live twice and both occasions turned out to be pivotal in his career. First time at the Big Chill festival (2011 ?) headlining the main stage. I remember he was totally besides himself to the point of saying something on the line of "I can't believe I am here now, when last year I was behind the bar spilling beer, or something similar. He rocked by the way. The second time was at the Roundhouse in Camden Town I believe when he won the Mercury., I recall been very impressed again as his sound had become monumental in a relative short period of time. 🙏
Without a doubt my favourite podcast episode ever. James is incredibly articulate and came out with so many gems from his music creation process to criticism and the power of music; absolutely loved listening to every second of it. Fantastic artist, great stories, well done teasing it all out of him. Inspirational and very honest, especially about how not everything he makes is any good! Given me the drive to finish some more music "The cutting of the gem has to be finished before you can see whether it shines" (Leonard Cohen) 🙂
your talk about 1:02:30 in about live electronic performances: i wonder if y'all realize that a lot of truly electronic music doesn't conform to the frameworks of traditional music, and thus, synchronization etc is as much a performer as your live drummer etc... Blakes music translates live so well because structurally it is an excellent representation of what makes traditional music great: strong melodic content and song structure. Most important tho is the strong melodic content. Even tho his albums have awesome sound design which would be next to impossible to replicate live, the song isnt reliant upon such things (in contrast to something like dubstep which is heavily reliant on the sound design) so in a sense its apples and oranges and not a very comparable thing when taking about how different artists perform there music live. It truly depends on the kind of electronic music it is... that being said, there is a lot of music that i feel has an identity crisis and as a result never really hits it home in either approach (melodic vs sound design) I think one of the most special things about Blakes music is that he does both in such an epic way. (hope that made sense lol)
13:22 It's indeed an absolute shame Geist II isn't supported anymore. I contacted ROLI/FXpansion support about this and they confirmed. Would love to learn what company mentioned by James is able to get Geist II going on updated Mac's, there's a little bit edited out there, maybe he gave more info on that? Great interview!
Don’t think he elaborated on who did it, got the impression it was ROLI staff who helped? Would need to ask - I am dead curious to try it too after this chat and checking it out. Seems pretty unmatched/unique still?
I think James very astutely pointing out that the corporatization of the internet is a very negative thing and also saying that NFTs are the way forward are two very contradictory notions. Also, the corps that control the flow of data on the internet have a vested interest in people arguiing and the discourse being very negative. it drives clicks. its not a matter of people not knowing how to argue and disagree. The platforms are this way by design, not by consequence.
Great interview! Loved the bit about the Pitchfork review thing and not messing with the artist-audience relationship. James really comes across as a really earnest guy
Excellent discussion, especially the elements about process, success, originality, and live performance. Thanks to you both for sharing this insightful interview.
Heh yeah! He was referring to this vid for any curious to dig more into it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c_WiOiWhPDQ.html (Also worth reading “Why your five year old could not have done that”)
your talk 40min in about splice music: i personally dont vibe with it, at one point had an unhealthy hatred/negativity twards anything resembling music made with splice... then i had a revelation which def helped get my head straight: splice music is akin to collage art... also my view on all music has changed for the better: even if i find something to be garbage, as long as it is connecting with people and providing some sort of emotional connection than it has worth, regardless of my personal feelings... im sure most of you reading this be like no kidding... but was profound for me, and ultimately such a beneficial perspective shift... i bring this up because i see/have seen so much energy being wasted by producers (usually ones that are not very successful *maybe theres a connection?*) talking sh!T about other peoples music. (or even genres... like i never understood how trance could be a thing until i played a festival in Australia and saw thousands of people moving and vibing like one organism to trance.. it was a beautiful thing to witness *not so much to hear haa, but at least i learned to appreciate things for the service it provides humanity) such a great conversation! glad i came across this.
1:09:00 as a live musician who has found myself reinvigorated by a passion for synthesis, this discussion is so amazing to hear. I've stayed ignorant of this concept for the last couple years, hoping it'll be more or less "solved" when the time comes where I start gigging with a hybrid electronic/acoustic band--and just like Dr. Blake here, with a drummer being the conductor of the modular train. So now I am very excited to hear this is possible and in fact central to such a high level live show.
there’s like dips in ur voice where u sound exactly like Tom Hanks & i’m like , are you dubbing ? , is that like something you do on here , granted it is my first listen / watch to ur station because i’m obsessed w james blake- anyways , haha , this was a beautiful , informative episode . that dude was so open , it must be ur presence that allowed him to be that vulnerable . v great , thank you for this . imma be super corny & cringe though , just because i feel that you and / or someone else in the chat may appreciate it but i released a song & video called “ Laboratory of Fun “ it’s on here- RU-vid , if you have the interest to check it out . thank you again for this piece !
Well that makes me so much better about letting go of tracks midway through because I lost my semblance of discipline. I rarely delete the project files though. because there's usually something I can come back and reappropriate from it at a later date.
For anyone interested the tempo syncing to drummer james had worked out how to do in his setup ,can be done in ableton . It’s built in feature in the latest version .. happy days live 11 drummers ..only just found out myself , so can’t wait to see how grooves some of my dance tunes sound with me steering the ship ..lol
12:58 Yeah, I can totally relate to that in terms of both acquiring bits of gear and getting them set up in different ways. Furthermore, my library of films and music will never be complete. However, I think the most intense version of this that I experience is with books. I read non-fiction, mainly academic but sometimes general audience texts, and there's always that fascinating book and within will most likely be references to other fascinating texts. I've already probably got enough books to see out the rest of my life but the prospect of not buying another would seem strangely terminal. I've noticed people in synth communities often talk about their G.A.S. While I think artists need to be aware of how the toolbox fallacy can lead to procrastination, I think it is a discourse that is a bit self-flagellating, and so it's nice to hear genuine expressions of the pleasure that comes from the journey. In my experience, it is true that the journey is better than the destination... stay safe on your journeys, friends
47:10 Having James Blake casually saying your music sounds great must be amazing. I‘m sure it was hard putting on a pokerface there and _NOT JUMPING ALL AROUND THE ROOM_ 😅
I hear ya on the window-shaking bass… Years ago I managed to get myself a photo pass for a big festival, & found myself in the photo pool of the main stage - between the barriers holding back the rest of the crowd & the stage itself - while James was playing. The whole front of the stage at ground level was lined with huge subs that were taller than me, & we were literally within a few feet of them for the first half of the set. Felt like my innards were liquifying. Would recommend.
Thouroughly enjoyed this chat. Solid. "I'm not playing it to my nan at Christmas", hahaha, awesome. Unless your nans a Bleep head! Wholesome AF! Thank you.
Why is afraid so scared to death of calling out pre made loop users to the point where they always tiptoe around things like Splice & sample packs in general? It’s trash. It’s not creative, it’s pointless. It’s not art. Make your own music. Splice is not a creative tool, it’s a GameShark for talentless hacks
It’s important to be considerate to the fact that it could well be a valid and important part of what it takes for someone to make music especially early on - after all, Sample CDs and Libraries have been around since the dawn of samplers (anyone for a spot of ORCH5?) and we don’t question that people use 808/909 sounds that everyone and their dog has used too. At the end of the day using pre made sound elements/presets and even loops is just a means to an end - if you’re serious about music making and committed then the end result will have your unique spin on it, and if it’s something that gets someone to a point where they better know what they want - then why not?
It’s a bit disrespectful, in my opinion, to be going on and on about Aphex Twin when you have James Blake sitting in front of you lol. Aphex is well respected but he hasn’t has half the career that James Blake as had.
Great chat with so many nice nods to some other superb artists and a great insight into how you both approach making music. Going completely off topic here your warp tunnel behind the chat boxes reminds me of the 80’s childrens show “Knightmare”. 🤣 I really wanna put that cgi face with the helmet in the middle and see it start breaking apart!! Apologies for this nonsense being my first comment on your content sir!! 😳🤦♂️😅
I thought this was one of the best interviews ive heard on this podcast and id actually never heard of james blake before. Will definitely check out his music now. Thanks!
@@mylarmelodies Stevio Freero’ may be interested in that. Similar to myself he has a degree in Architecture. Great interview Alex, the section about ‘the drummer’ was interesting, playing along to a click track etc. P E A C E : )
Insane that the man that made Retrograde, Digital Lion, Love Me In Whatever Way, Once We All Agree, Radio Silence etc etc cares about reviews?! James, they'll never get anywhere near the source!
28:40 I teach at university but the part of the job that I hate is grading people - it feels depressing and reductive to put a number on things. Worse, taking the time to point out how something might have been done better/differently also strikes me as a bit pedantic and pointless. On the one hand, it might hopefully help people to improve but on the other hand, I might be looking at someone who thinks "Ps get degrees" and wasn't trying to break their brain to give their best answer: consequently, a sincere and thoughtful response is not fitting. But even when you're reasonably sure that people have done their best, it feels of limited value to highlight what might have been. It's marking season at the moment and it's often marked by a cool disappointment with how things have turned out generally - while there's always some bright sparks that offer you truly impressive work, there's always the papers that actually shock for the extent to which they fail to understand the topic they address. I celebrate the success and I accept that some folks are off track in a way that we can not find a bridge to a pass but there's always this sense that things are now settled. I don't really like that feeling. I much prefer the feeling of a third of the way into the term, where students are just likely to be tuning in to the course - there's all these feelings of hope and potential: "Maybe this time I will explain things so clearly that the capable students will have a ball and the confused will be struck by lucidity!" Alas it never quite turns out that way but those parts of the journey always bring similar feelings. James Blake - I have not picked up your latest album but I've bought all the others. I love your work and while I do not love each track equally, I think you are very skilled at making an album, and that it's this holistic skill that helps me through the journey. Thanks Thanks Alex for a super interesting podcast... Wait, what's that? Not a quarter of the way through yet? Oh
the nft comment might base on a bit of an oversight, it would presuppose that there are no platform holders in between. but there will always be platform holders now that we have the internet as centralizing agent, it just offers too much to bring 'buyers and sellers' together. unless he wants to go back to some type of patronship, which we can also observe trends towards and might not be as bad as it sounds on the surface. in the history of authorship, i have heard argued that artists only were free in the liminal space between being patronized by nobles and the emerging book market. things like private donations and patreon (a platform again) might become more of a viable model. but im not sure what an electronic and automatic proof of ownership token would be provide here even if it would be entrenched in a supporting law.
at 01:04:30 James talks about using Yarn by mutible instruments to track a drum set to midi and CV but does anyone have examples of doing this with polymeter/polyrythm?
Okay im starting to spam but i have to stop here and say, how do you keep a pokerface like that when james blake tells you how amazing your music is. fantastic interview so far, i already took alot from it.
Awesome episode/podcast!! Loved it. First time seeing your face. As something that could be called a compliment disguised as an insult or vice versa, you look WAY younger than I imagined from your voice 😂😂😂 Keep up the amazing work
This is so fascinating holy shit please do more of these and thanks for just letting him talk and ramble about his process and not cutting him off every 2 seconds
Great interview! So interesting hearing JB talk about how his songs are not "just his" after he "submits" them to the world and then go on to mention how they gain a new organic life, when being performed live.
You've said it in the end : this interview is absolutely everything at least I was begging to hear and learn from an artist like him. He's giving the exact tools you want to have when you're composing any kind of music. His process is so interesting and inspiring, just the idea of re-harmonizing is itself a breathe of fresh air when you think of it. And as a huge fan of Aphex myself, I like the way he views it : there's no need to deify him, but rather be thankful to hear the music. Thank you James for the amazing music, thank you for spreading the knowledge and beautiful ideas. And obviously thank you Mylar for putting this together
Great podcast! Fascinating to hear his process and just really interesting topics overall I don't often listen to podcast from start to finish but this was right up my street.
I know you‘re both pros and everything, but can I take a minute to appreciate the fact that you actually recorded your clean mic sound and sync‘d that up to the video recording instead of just using the crappy Zoom audio? I wouldn‘t even mention this, but there are countless podcasts out there from audio pros who DON‘T do that. Here in my little corner appreciating that and the work that went into it. (On my second watch now.) ❤
Thank you!! Yeah I use Squadcast which lets you chat in real time remotely but actually records local WAVs and beams them to your dropbox after the chat, it’s smart!
Hearing you two talk makes me contrast our modular idiosyncrasies vs our musician friends who learn one instrument and focus perfecting that their whole career. I could never… Perhaps we lean more towards the adhd spectrum vs their ocd.
