You used to teach at a music college, do you still get time to do that at all?
I haven’t been there over the summer, but I’ve been teaching there for about two years. It’s just one day a week and I teach the music industries project class which is effectively doing things like music for advertising and films. It’s quite nice because I think students get something from actually seeing the work that I’ve done in that space. It’s good fun and the thing I like most about teaching is that someone can come in and ask you why you do something, something quite simple, and actually when you think about it you’re like “You know what, I don’t know… I’ll go away and think about it and come back to you”. So it really keeps you in check, it makes you realise why you do certain things the way that you do them.
You mentioned you’ve done work for TV and film, do you think you would ever get into score writing?
I’d love to. It’s something which I’m really working towards at the moment. I’ve done a couple of things, mostly for computer games or parts of soundtracks. There’ve been a few bits for TV, a couple of documentaries, but I’d really like to get into doing a whole soundtrack and working closely with a director or producer just to create something. I’ve even toyed with the idea of trying to make a film of my own but I don’t necessarily have all the know-how to make that happen yet. I’m in the process of researching a few things, writing some ideas down and trying to write a script as well.
Do you think you’d release that under Raffertie?
Probably not because I think it would be something quite different from that whole world but maybe, it depends.
What’s exciting you most about the UK scene at the moment?
It feels like a vibrant and forward thinking place to be. I’ve been lucky enough to play around a few places in Europe and I’ve been to America a number of times, and it seems that there are quite a lot of people who look towards London for musical inspiration. It feels- I don’t know whether it’s an arrogant to say- but it feels like it’s quite far ahead in comparison to a lot of places. It’s a stimulating place to be, and it’s exciting all the different concerts and gigs you can go to. It’s wonderful, we have such variety.
It seems that there are quite a lot of people who look towards London for musical inspiration.
Like Tim Exile playing with a 30-person orchestra at Village Underground.
So was it live electronic combined with this orchestra?
It was a combined performance and he was live-sampling using a custom instrument.
Sounds amazing. I saw a video recording of something that Aphex Twin did at the Barbican and he had these screens above the orchestra which all corresponded to his controller. Effectively each part of the orchestra responded to one of these columns and there were six different symbols on the screens which each indicated a certain way they should play. Consequently there were times when it was just chaos and nothing would come together and then there were points where it all gradually came to this massive climax of playing in synchrony with one another and then again faded away.
I love that idea of accidental harmonies, just seeing what happens.
I suppose the real thing with that kind of music is that it needs to feel like the chaos was worth the wait. Often when things are just noodling along it can just sort of feel like you don’t quite get enough chaos.
Do you feel like you get enough time to take in the scene or do you think making music yourself holds you back from that a bit?
I didn’t feel like I had enough time towards finishing the record but I’m slowly getting back into it now and just trying to go and see a few more things. I try and go as much as I can.
Sleep of Reason is out now on Ninja Tune. Raffertie plays Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and London at the end of October – check out his Facebook, SoundCloud or Twitter for more information.