70 Digital Nation
EXILE BY NAME,
EXILE BY NATURE
Exile is arguably the most intelligent and technically minded music producer that has ever
made drum & bass. The guy can program C++. He is a key feedback provider for Native
Instrument’s Reaktor software. In this interview, we get inside Exile’s brain, and prize out
some interesting techie philosophy.
Exile isn’t like you and I. He’s a genius on a mis- For those that don’t know, Reaktor is a modular, cally do everything In Reaktor that you can do in
sion where little or no one shares his vision. open platform music-production tool, allowing C++.”
Imagine that. Every day you’re fighting against users to physically draw in virtual cables attach-
convention and establishment, to follow a unique ing infinitely expandable instruments to his / her So it’s safe to assume that Exile majored in quan-
belief that exists purely in your mind. How can computer’s outputs. In contrast to users who cop tum physics at university for his PhD, consider-
you know if you’re right or wrong? Where do you out by using Reaktor’s bundled templates, some ing that he likes to break up binary data into little
fit into the world? Who can you relate to? It takes zoom into its architecture to a root level normally pieces? “I majored in philosophy,” he surprises.
a courageous warrior with a drive of steel and understood only by the world’s top programmers.
heart of rock to tread the path of an exile. Exile is one of them. “In Reaktor 5 there’s a stage Exile is an intellectual guy who likes comput-
which is basically like C code,” Exile reveals. “It’s ers. Programming is obviously his hobby and he
So, what exactly is Exile trying to do? “I’ve pro- down to the individual level – sample logic. It’s learned how to do it himself. “Yeah but I got into
grammed a machine to play live with, using Native not just to the byte level, but the bit level, where it through music,” he divulges. “I was never into
Instruments Reaktor as its engine, so I can basi- you can actually command bit operations. I’ve computers when I first began making music. I
cally harness the whole production process in real written some things that actually take apart float- started out using tape machines, analogue synthe-
time and improvise,” Exile begins, cementing ing points, where you can split a floating point sisers, delay lines, effects, mixing desks – so it was
himself as a unique character right off the bat. into the mantis of an exponent. You can basi- kind of like dub stuff. I didn’t even use a PC. I
www.kmag.co.uk
K70-71_Exile.indd 70 29/4/09 13:25:41
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