Jeremy P Caulfield Interview | FWD Entertainment

sallman said on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 19:53

Jeremy P Caulfield

At a time when so much techno feels like endless variations on a played-out theme, it’s heartening to know that there are still a handful of artists, labels and DJs who can combine experience, skill and forward-looking ideals in style. Step forward Jeremy P. Caulfield, who amply ticks all of the above boxes.

You literally have (IMO) some of the most intense and thorough sound design skills in the techno industry. Tell us what excites you about the details and what you are attempting to share/provide for your listeners?

Strange, I always found myself a bit clunky and rough next to my contemporaries but I guess that's my sound and it's what people like from me.. I'm excited about digging deep into machines and synths and also developing rhythms from random patterns, sounds and micro-rhythms.. I really hate straight, chunky tech-house sample CD style programming, I mean that's big and makes you popular but it's boring as hell to make. Unfortunately, how I like to write is not necessarily in tandem with making big hits.

Why no releases in 3 years? Can we expect you to return with a vengeance at some point?

With a vengeance I'm not so sure. I no longer feel I'm as much of a total producer as I was years ago. That does not mean I'm not immersed in music 24/7 but I am in a transition period and my priorities have changed. I'm trying to inhabit the role as a front man for the label and an organizer and leader for the great roster of artists we have - and of course that translates more to being a DJ out in public and running the back end of the label together with my partners Mino and Ingo. It's difficult to inhabit both worlds of producer and Label head and DJ. To do 12 hour days in the studio and also meet the promises that your artists expect is very hard. As well I'm developing other businesses. But i have changed my focus in the studio - rather than concentrating on working a track from start to finish I instead develop a few strong key ideas: either loops or patterns, experiments with weird plug-ins or synths, playing vocals, etc, and I bring that to the table and collaborate or work together with others and base a track on these ideas. When one is constantly focused on just making "tracks" very little experimentation is ever done. So the next things from me coming up will be collaborations with others and tracks worked together with others based on my key ideas and experiments. But funnily enough I write complete tracks faster when I'm experimenting ..

You are rolling through Europe and North America on a Vakant/Dumb Unit tour in the coming weeks. Tell us about that concept and what synergy your labels share.

Well it's a diversity of sound mixed with a common thread of understanding of what it takes to be an original and individual label. Alex from Vakant and Myself have very diverse musical tastes, but we are collectors and music junkies and have a love of great labels. Although our rosters are different, we share a common interest in running labels that will leave a legacy - not ones that are purely based on sales.

What hardware/software/sample packs do you use and recommend? Tell us about your studio set up?

I no longer maintain a complex studio like a used to, I have a very simple desktop set up with the ability to record some of my older machines quickly. That said i have the fastest computer available, the best headphones in my opinion - Sennheiser 650 - and other great tools and -- great and "legal" plug-ins. I spend a lot of time researching what i need. I still have an older studio that i now rent out which i will eventually return to but more as a "Label" studio where myself and others can comfortably complete sketches and work on the real meat and mix-down. Like Abbey Road, just smaller and for techno ;-)

What are your top 7 tips for unique sound design and super clean studio production?

Keep your set up tight, small and manageable, understand what you are working with and try to build on your ideas rather than just having gear-lust , buying the newest toy and then being lost again. It's more important to have a machine you understand than to have the most expensive, best sounding thing. Buying monitors and creating a good listening environment is boring and expensive but essential, especially when you start. Eventually you learn what sounds right and you don't need to focus on this so much as it comes naturally. Collaborate - that was/ is my biggest mistake - not collaborating enough - two people can motivate each other through difficult creative periods and can teach you new ways to create and manage song writing. Finally crap in, crap out - work with the best source material you can, whether it be audio, samples, etc - work quickly but keep an ear on what you are doing - try to write with the mix in mind - sure a sample might be cool but if it's all bottom end and you already have 3 basslines then move on. And yes, although you would not gather it from my output - work quickly, the faster you work the less likely you will over-think and fuck up your mix .. Of course take time to revisit it but write quickly and save your energy for mixdowns, etc. It's like running, you have to remember to save energy to get home, if you’re so exhausted by writing a track and sick of it you won't have the energy you need to make it shine..

What drives your creativity in electronic music? What inspires you to keep going and is it the same thing that got you involved in the first place?

Yes it's the same in some ways but it's matured in others, too. I still get lost in hearing a perfectly constructed hypnotic stoned groove. I mean that is still my history - from my early days of going to see Rich[ie Hawtin] - complete repetition. I'm still always on the look out for the perfect "rave" ;-) but now processes, brands, personality and potential for crossover also inspire me. Wolfgang Voigt , Ellen Alien, Rich[ie Hawtin] , Damian Lazarus - people taking their craft and labels to a next level, looking for new ways to connect with audiences - this is more of what interests me these days. In the end it is about the music but music needs to be delivered in new and interesting formats.

Tell us about Dumb Unit. What is the inspiration behind the label, how does it stand out from the hoards of other techno labels? What do you look for in demos and new artists?

I don't listen to any demos unless they are recommended by a friend. Even then the personality of the artist is just as important as the music. I don't want to run a nursery, I have no interest in running a label with a roster of musical geniuses that are socially inept and can barely tie their shoes. To me their personalities and interests and history have to be diverse and this will show up in the music. It must be so depressing to run a label with a bunch of meatheads who only want to go to Ibiza and meet girls or "get famous". Our roster is diverse, musical, perhaps a bit chaotic - but all are good guys with a strong vision of the future but one that is tied to reality and not just hoop dreams. I'm not into artists that just call for their check and for bookings. Because of this we might miss some "hits" or shiny new artists but that's fine for me. We are ten years old for a reason.

How does techno influence your social/political/spiritual views and visa versa? Do you ever attempt to communicate something deeper in your productions as a concrete thought process or do you just go with your feelings?

Techno and house are a soundtrack to my life. It is a give and take relationship with the material world. A painting, a visual, a building or a sound can influence my ideas for music but reversely techno and the lifestyle that surrounds it influences my decisions about life. That's why I live in Berlin and not in Utah.

Do you have any comments on your FWD mix for the listeners?

Enjoy !