You’ve remixed artists like Muse, Gorillaz, September, Robyn and Radiohead. Other than being asked, do you have a chance to choose who you like to work with? Any preference or favorites thus far?
After the last one I felt like I was getting better at remixing. I learned a lot through remixing and a lot about music by doing early Feed Me remixes. It was an interesting challenge because that was when American labels were starting to realize that dance music was something but they didn’t have the data or the returns to work out what it was, so they were just throwing money and trying to understand what was happening. From that point of view, if you were an up and coming producer at that time, it was really strange because I knew exactly what I was doing. You’d get a label approaching you and it would be like someone from an old peoples’ home, you know, they came over and were like ‘do some of that music that you do… oh I like it!’ It was so vague, misconceived and distant because the American record industry was so far behind at that point but they were realizing that there was something in it. They were sending me these remixes and asking me to do strange things. I was getting asked to do lots of remixes but they were so unspecific because they couldn’t work out, they really didn’t know my music. They didn’t know what they wanted, but they knew that if they got a dance remix, they would sell more on iTunes; I was just trying out all these random things; it was pretty odd. Before I was taking Feed Me seriously, I was taking all kinds of stuff on, but each time, I always tried to do my best. I would never try to undersell anything I’d be involved. Now, I feel like I’ve defined the sound more, I have a lot more emotional attachment to what I have been doing all my life; I’m more selective. So I kind of stopped doing remixes because I wanted to focus on the album. More recently, the last one that we got offered, which I thought sounded cool, was Depeche Mode. That would be incredible, I would love to be involved with someone like that. It’s more the case now of doing things that I think would enhance my life; I don’t need to do remixes and I’m not sure anyone does either. I feel like, especially in the dance music industry you kind of thrive on your own… the remix ‘thing’ could be good to create instant press but the tracks that last are the ones you can really possess. That was a re- ally long answer, wasn’t it? [Laughs]
Do you want to collaborate with anyone? Prince. That is it!
Many artists/producers consider “making it” by crossing over into the main- stream. Is that something you’d like to do?
I don’t see any detriment of being successful. If a billion people want to buy my record that’s fine, they can all buy it. The way drum and bass was; you had to be kind of underground to represent a certain sound. Even if you wrote an under- ground record and it achieved something that was a success you would always get a certain amount of negativity towards it because you weren’t underground anymore. I was just making music. I didn’t care how many people have heard it or how many people have bought it. It’s whatever you enjoy. Music is an individual’s choice so that’s fine, I mean, if I feel like making a record and it is successful, that’s great! I’ve never set out to write Top 40 records, I think that would kind of go against my projects, but if that happens to me, that’s fine. Buy my records. All of them.
What do you think makes you different or stand out from so many other dubstep/electro producers out there right now?
I wear a lot of stripy t-shirts. I wear one stripy t-shirt (laughs).
Where do you see your sound moving/progressing in the coming months? This year?
I’ve enjoyed making more aggressive stuff for a long time and it’s always, I guess, been my focus. I’ve spent most of my adult life focusing countless hours on how to make something sound more guttural or aggressive or animalistic. I’ve enjoyed focusing moments like that around musical flare. In the future, once the album’s out, I’d like to see how it’s received, see the response and then just move forward from there. I would like to keep incorporating melody and down tempo stuff, slow it down a bit, maybe. We can all chill out and lie on the floor.
It is with great relief that we can inform you than nobody was chilling or lying on the floor that night. In fact, based on the crowd’s hysteria, elaborate dance moves, signs, and logo inspired props, it is hard to believe that this multidi- mensional artist wants to make anything other than huge tracks that make his fans dance like they’re having an epileptic seizure. On the contrary, someone as insightful and talented as Feed Me is most likely, capable of anything he sets his sights on.