psychedelic-techno

5 Minutes with ALLABY [Interview]

Allaby has just released the third instalment of increasingly popular his S.W.I.M Series. Good psychedelic techno is not always easy to find; luckily, we have our own inhouse techno maestro who knows more than just a thing or two about psychedelics…

Matt Allaby gives us the lowdown…

Growing up in the UK was interesting because…

I got to see dance music explode as an underground phenomenon in the 90’s. It was a wild ride.

My favourite movie of all time is…

Probably ‘Jaws’. It’s almost a perfect film. It set up the formula for how to make an interesting and exciting adult thriller with great characters.

If I was a cartoon character, I’d be…

Pink Panther , cat was a dude. 

My weirdest gig experience ever was when…

I have so many.

Here’s one that happened a long time ago; most gigs these days happen without ‘weirdness’ as you call it : I was over tired and a bit worse for wear after a performance at a festival in Brazil. I woke up with some poor guy trying to communicate with me in an animated fashion very close to my face. I tried to tell him I didn’t speak Portuguese and I’d just like to sleep some more. Next thing I know he’s pulling me out of the tent by my ankles.

Apparently, I’d gone to sleep in his tent. I was nowhere near the artist camp, so it was quite a disorientating experience.

Best gig I’ve ever played was…

Probably one of the Glade festival sets.

Maybe the one where it rained for 3 days and the entire site was underwater. People looked like they’d been through a war. I played the last set of the party on the Origin stage and the sun came out. That was a joy.

Ever learn to play an instrument?

I was a drummer in Jazz and rock bands from age 11. Haven’t played for years at this point though. I’m also a dab hand at the Mongolian bassoon.

Best way to keep occupied on flights and in airports is to…

Listen to comedy podcasts and sleep.

Favourite musician/artists of all time…

Beatles.

If you were not a music producer what do you think you’d be doing?

I probably would have tried acting more seriously, got bored of that and become a carpenter. Built a house in the hills and lived there with my wife Hilga and our three dogs  (only some of that is true).

Your go-to hardware or software synth in the studio…

SH101 hardware and software. I’m loving the ARP Odyssey as well at the minute (that features quite heavily on ‘Black Sands’).

Being part of the NANO artist roster is….

‘Lekker hey!’  Love those guys

Having released the third instalment in your S.W.I.M series, which track to date has surprised you the most by the response its been getting?

‘Hiding to Nothing’ as it got almost no response and I think it’s one of my best and most original tracks. My new one ‘Black Sands’ looks like it’s doing quite well though.