lzy
02/05/2011 11:28
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Interview@ KMAG
Raiden is something of a veteran producer these days so it's hard to believe that he's still never released an album. Not for much longer though, as his debut LP, Béton Armé, is out on his Offkey label around May / June. So what can we expect?
How come it's taken you so long to release an album?
I've always wanted to make an LP but I lacked the discipline and usually signed tracks to other labels. Now the time seems right as I'm finally making music I like and my abilities are at a stage where I feel I can represent myself properly. I'm particularly proud of this because as I've always wanted to make an LP but was always intimidated because it's such a large project. I always thought making an LP was going to be this life's work but in the end you just knuckle down get on with it!
Why the title?
Béton Armé is named after a style of 60s modernist architecture that uses striking repetitive angular geometries using reinforced concrete, also known as 'brutalist'. Brutalist buildings are infamously ugly, imposing buildings made worse by aging concrete. The city I grew up in was famous for having Europe's most ugly brutalist building called the Tricorn which was a huge source of inspiration for me growing up. Every time I looked at that building I felt inspired as it was a menacing structure but the architects dared to dream. As the designer of the Tricorn said "If people don't notice it, it's not architecture".
How does that relate to the vibe of the LP?
I wanted to make an LP that takes the same approach as brutalist architecture but in a musical from. Brash reinforced concrete beats, arcane angles where the ugliness becomes its beauty, but it also has the organic elements represent the life of these buildings. Each track is themed on a famous example of brutalist architecture such as the Trellick Tower and Ryuygong. Bizarre architecture music!
Did you use any new influences or sounds on this album?
This LP fuses my old and new influences. Béton Armé has my trademark heavyweight, technical bass but with organic percussive elements. I wanted to go back and perfect the old dark rave sound which has always been my biggest influence whilst combining my newer percussion elements and an organic hi-fi production using analogue equipment. I tried to take the more dancefloor influence of OffKey and fuse it with the percussion of my Voodoo output.
http://www.kmag.co.uk/editorial/new...arme-album.html
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