Magazine Sixty Interview with DJ Counselling who talks in-depth about influences, creative technique, and his stunning new album Alt-Mobeat.
Welcome to Magazine Sixty, Ash. I’m glad you have taken the time to answer some questions on the nature of your continuing, significant work. While your music is often uplifting (in the soulful sense of the word) it also suggests cracks below the surface of life and our surroundings. Is that a fair representation? Or if I could ask, how would you describe how you perceive your music communicating with people?
That is definitely a fair representation, I always look to be moved in some sort of way by what I’m creating on an emotional level. I hope that listeners can connect with these emotions and interpret them in a way that is meaningful for them. I’m always happy to hear when certain tracks really resonate with people.
Can you talk us through your creative process (perhaps taking one of the singles from your new album as a starting point)? Do you start with a single idea or does something you may have heard or seen inspire you? And, can you explain the significance of field recordings and how they lend themselves to being incorporated into your work?
Every song is different but for this album the process was quite similar. For the track House Below the Forest Floor, I already sampled some piano and grainy synth sounds that I had in my sampler and also recorded some field recordings of me and my girlfriend walking around a forest in Berlin in the snow. On this particular day, the snow storms were intense, so I ventured out but found myself huddled away in a museum coffee shop, looking out onto the busy streets. The feeling of being tucked away in a cosy little corner looking out at the world really added to the creation of this track. Pitching samples and going through my field recordings whilst tapping out the rhythm in this warm secret space, watching the blizzard through the glass, really made this track what it is. I later added bits of a romantic conversation to clarify the mood and dedication of this track. The main goal with this record was to capture something that wasn’t created in my studio and the hardest part was to not add too much when mixing the album back home in London. It was important for me to retain the essence of what I created remotely.
Do you then have a particular piece of software/hardware you always use to channel those initial ideas through?
For this album I would’ve been lost without my Blackbox sampler and Zoom field recorder, but when I’m in the studio I always end up using my MFB Tanzbär and Dreadbox Nyx v2 for something or other and I have a lot of various drums and percussion instruments that always help to humanize an otherwise mainly electronic soundscape.
Your new album, Alt-Mobeat was written in a short period. Did that quickness yield better, more immediate results, perhaps removing the tendency that artists can have to overthink their music? How would you characterize the music on the album?
Yes definitely. I wanted a project where I couldn’t edit and mess around with the tracks with an unlimited time frame. The point of the record was to get out of the studio and away from home and to not be led by genre, just to see what was in my head for creation. Whatever I made in this timeframe was going to be the project, I didn’t know how many tracks I would get or the style of the recordings. The process was to just let what will happen naturally and to capture the vibe of an experience with as little editing and adding of additional parts whilst mixing.
I was also wondering about how you felt about the place of songwriting in the 23rd century and how you see its relevance in dance/ electronic music to share ideas?
I feel as though music is getting so watered down in the mainstream because of platforms like TikTok. But in underground music, the art has remained and the writing is stronger than ever. There will always be people who really want to sink their teeth into something that has substance and although it may not be frugal to do so, the artistic merit speaks volumes in today’s climate, especially as we move into the advances of AI music.
As an aside from that, could you choose three favourite songs past or present (from absolutely any genre)?
Flim by Aphex Twin still blows my mind like it did when I first heard it in 97
DJ Shadow – High Noon (or anything he produced up until that point in his career). John Martyn – Solid Air (I find his voice so relaxing and pure)
Watching the clip of you and Simon Mós performing Circuit 16 I was struck by the layers of repetition which reminded me of American electronic composers from the 1970’s, such as Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Is there a connection there between your music and theirs? (Or have I completely overthought that!)
Although we’re both fans of theirs, I never really thought about the likeness but I’m completely flattered by the comparison.
Could it be said that ‘dance music’ is by and large simply another form of commerce now? Or does something culturally deeper, more revolutionary, remain? How do you see its future as a cultural force in light of club closures and the predominance of large-scale festivals?
It really depends from what angle you look at it. On one side, you do have big money making machines that don’t really care about the music and it’s just about generating profits through extortionate prices and heavy advertising. Yet on the other side, you have grass roots events and communities thriving for something a bit different and anti-corporate, like at London’s Fold and the modular synth community in general. In particular events like Superbooth and the EMOM events taking place globally, including Factory Setting, which is run by my brother Simon. These events celebrate the art of making music, as well as performance that isn’t focused on what’s popular on Instagram or what’s trending but are instead all about the love of the art and meeting and connecting with like-minded people with a shared passion.
Talk us through your love of drums. Do you still play them? What drum kit would you most like to possess? Which drummer are you most impressed with?
I think I have all the gear I really want but I do obsess over vintage cymbals. As for drummers, I am a huge Clyde Stubblefield and Jaki Liebezeit fan, both of which helped shape my style. Also pioneers like Mark Guiliana, Benny Greb and Keith Carlock are true inspirations to any drummer. I started playing because of the metal drummers I admired as a kid, like Fyfe Ewing from Therapy? And Iggor Cavalera from Sepultura.
Outside of music what inspires your day-to-day, in terms of artists, writers, cinema etc?
I have a big love of film, in particular, horror and anything unsettling. I also love documentaries of all sorts, I like hearing people’s real-life stories. If you haven’t seen it, I always recommend a film called Sound it Out which is about the last surviving independent record shop in Teeside. It’s such a heart-warming watch. I also have a huge passion for comedy and I’m a massive fan of Nathan Fielder, Larry David, Peep Show, Jamie Demetriou, Tim Heidecker, Chris Morris, Charlie Brooker and, more recently, Luicia Keskin.
DJ Counselling Linktree
Download/Stream DJ Counselling – Alt-Mobeat on all platforms Here
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