Interview with Bob Gourley, Chaos Control Issue 007, April 1994

Interview by Bob Goruley for Chaos.Control 007, on April 27, 1994 https://discmaster.textfiles.com/view/5565/Another.not.for.sale%20(Australia).iso/feel%20the%20pain%20of%20everyone/Chaos%20Control/chaos_c.007

Transcript

"Most of the music that we make is something we would buy," says Sean Booth, one half of British electronic duo Autechre. "We're driven by the urge to be as good as the people that we really admire."

From the sound of "Incunabula," (Wax Trax!/TVT), Autechre's first full-length US release, it seems as if the group has achieved its goal. The instrumental electronic soundscapes bring together analog and digital textures in a very unique way. Listening to the album brings several ideas to mind of who those people are that Autechre are driven to as good as, but it is clear that Autechre has succeeded in bringing together many electronic styles into their own unique sound.

Autechre is comprised of Booth and Rob Brown, who met through a mutual friend six years ago and started DJing together before starting up the band.  The group had its first release at the end of 1991, though they got ripped off by their first label.

Autechre's break came along when they approached Warp and got onto the "Artificial Intelligence" compilation. That release was put out to show the public the potential of experimental electronic dance music, and it did succeed at opening up the doors for new styles.

"At the time, the dance scene was going really bad, it was all disjointed," says Booth. "There was like garage and there was break beat techno and there was nothing else other than the stuff that was drifting through from Europe or America occasionally."

Autechre's music brings together their electro and acid influences, with a desire to avoid thinking about music in traditional terms. Within the band, neither member has a specific role. In fact, some of the tracks are created solely by one member and put out under the band name.

"It's totally free style, we just do whatever we feel like," says Booth. "It literally depends of what bit of gear you're setting up when you're writing, whatever you feel like messing with, you mess with. So if Rob's got a drum pattern I might do the chords and key shifts, and it might be totally the opposite on another track"

Most of Autechre's music is created with a combination of analog, sampler, digital and drum machine sounds. The group is not so concerned about the equipment itself, as they feel too many artists focus on the sounds rather then creating an interesting song to use them in.

"It's trendy to get a 303 or a 909, so everybody's going to do it," says Booth. "They're not just doing it because they like the sounds, they're doing it because they've heard the sounds on other records. We do use analog gear, I'm not saying that it's all crap, and we use digital gear. But we try to use it well, as opposed to just using it. A lot of bands are just using analog gear and thinking that makes them good."

Despite the increased popularity in analog instruments, Booth doesn't see it leading to overkill anytime soon, since there is so much that can be done with the machines.

"You can program an infinite number of sounds on a piece of equipment that's truly analog," he says. "You turn the knob a millionth of a millimeter, and it will make a difference. There are no limits to analog gear, so no one's ever going to reach its full potential."

Autechre's desire to push the technology to the limits comes through in their live show, where the music is harder and more improvisational than their studio work. The group doesn't care about how they look on stage, preferring the audiences to concentrate on the music. Autechre also doesn't care about performing in a traditional sense and prove that a truly "live" set can be performed without actually playing any of the parts.

"We don't physically touch keys," explains Booth. "Some of the work's done because the sequences are in the gear. When we get on stage we completely improvise what we've got in the gear. We're good at jamming off each other because that's how we work in the studio. It's different every time. We just sort of mess around with the sequences and do whatever we can with them."

Eventually, Autechre would like to do 2 hour long live shows, though they are currently limited by their equipment. The group enjoys playing out, but prefers to be in their studio recording. As a result, they do mainly one-off shows and don't see themselves doing a full-scale tour until at least a few years from now (Autechre recently did a short US tour that also featured The Orb's DJ Lewis).

Musically, the group's live sets are completely different from their studio work. The tracks are much harder, and in order to keep the show special, Autechre do not release any of it.

Sifting through all their material to select what they do want to put out can be problem for the band, as they are highly prolific in the studio. Autechre will try to release as many singles as possible so that they can include bonus tracks, but they still find themselves with material left over. However, the group has no plans to start releasing under pseudonyms, like artists such as Aphex Twin have.

"There's no point," says Booth. "There's various reasons for that, but we just don't see the point in diluting yourself like that."

Autechre have a new EP coming out soon, as well as some plans they are currently keeping secret that involve collaborations with other artists.

Copyright 1994 Bob Gourley