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Union Jack Interview
http://worlddj.com/article/feature/view.wdj?id=192313
| quote: | After a decade of lurking in the shadows, Union Jack are finally back, and with an all new partnership. Paul Brogden, better known as POB, has teamed up with Simon Berry on their forthcoming album 'Pylon Pigs'. Pre-release singles 'Swarm' and 'Papillon' have been causing quite a stir, and with just under a week until the albums release, the two took a moment to answer a few questions for WorldDJ.com
» How is the year going for you so far? What's been your biggest highlight?
Paul: We've spent most of the year so far in the studio so for me I have to say the biggest highlight is completing Pylon Pigs.
Simon: Likewise.
» How did the decision come about that you began working on new material, and performing your returning live show at the Ultra Music Festival last year?
Paul: We got asked to play Ultra Music Festival last year because one of the organisers was a fan and wondered if we'd do a sort of 'comeback' gig. We were up for it and it went so well that we decided go back in the studio and work on some new material.
» What's been the most exciting thing about making music again?
Paul: For me it's being able to write the sort of music I want to. I spent some time recently writing music for a US TV series. Although this was a great opportunity for me, and it pushed me writing in specific styles under pressure, it's good to have the freedom to pursue my own musical direction. Working with Simon is a real bonus as his production standards are very high and he has a clear idea of the type of sounds he likes.
Simon: The buzz of creating a track that gets you dancing round the studio is second to none. Writing Papillon, the first track we wrote for the album was a bit like that. Just sheer excitement that we had a good idea in the bag and once that happens with a track, everything else just comes together.
» Why did you decide to get back into making new tunes, both Art of Trance and Union Jack?
Simon: I had a break for three years after writing Persia with Natacha Atlas as Art Of Trance. Platipus was changing quite a lot from being quite singles-based to doing a lot of compilations so I spent a lot of time developing that. After three years. I felt the urge to get back in the studio, to re-assure myself I hadn't lost it - if nothing else, and I wrote Swarm, which really inspired me to get my teeth stuck into a bigger project, so I approached Paul with the Union Jack album concept.
» Are you guys still using hardware much?
Simon: The only hardware synth we used on the album was an Access Virus Ti and we didn't really use that as much as I thought we would. Most of the old analogue synths I had in the past have now been accurately emulated in software form. I had a few synths that still haven't been 'sufficiently' digitalized into software yet, such as my EDP Wasp, Oberheim Xpander, SH-09 with analogue input, Roland Juno 106 and Roland ProMars. Anyway, there are plenty of soft synths I've gained in the process like Moog Modular, Yamaha CS80, and Prophet V - which all got a fair crack of the whip on Pylon Pigs.
» What type of setup do you have now, in comparison to when you first started as Union Jack?
Paul: I come from a background of having large analogue desks. We'd have loads of sound modules feeding into a large analogue desk with outboard effects. Now, the computer has all that running in software. Amazing really and the big advantage of that is that revisiting projects becomes incredibly easy instead of a real pain and virtually impossible to get the sound exactly the same as before.
Simon: I had a huge spaceship-like Amek Rembrandt Mixing console and racks of old analogue synths. I had my studio broken into a few years back - some kid took an axe to the door and took my Oscar, Juno 106, Minimoog, MKS80 and a load of other synths. I even went to an identity parade to see if I could recognize the little f**ker I saw lurking around the studio earlier that evening, but he never turned up.
Anyway, I managed to replace like-for like at the time but I don't have any synths like that anymore. All I use now is a fully loaded MacPro, some UAD and Powercore cards, a pair of Dynaudio nearfields, an 8 in 8 out and my Virus. That'll do me fine.
» The music you guys are making right now is phenomenal, and it's no surprise you're getting so much support as a result. Have you found it difficult to continue your own sound and not try to follow any other popular trends that are always changing?
Paul: Thanks very much. Our sound has changed but I think it's still our own. This has been a natural progression because of our desire to explore the new technological frontiers in music production. Technology's moved a long way since the original Union Jack material was produced. With the new tools we were able to produce a more rich and detailed sound and do things that were previously impossible.
Simon: We were definitely clear in our objectives with the album, in that we weren't necessarily going to directly cater to current trends or DJs and just make the music we wanted to hear.
» What has been like having Paul Brogden join you in Union Jack? Is Claudio still part of the group?
Simon: It's a f**kin nightmare. One bastard goes out, another comes in. No seriously, Claudio moved to Florida about ten years ago so that put the whole Union Jack Project on ice. It's been great working with Paul. He comes from a BBC engineering background so he's got a great set of ears and although we have a completely different set of musical influences, we share a fairly similar vision once ideas are underway resulting in compositions we're both really proud of.
» It's very comforting seeing someone like you or Paul come back out of the shadows and re-educate a whole new generation, was it a conscious decision to drop off from the trance scene?
Paul: As I said before, I spent a few years writing TV music which I needed to do as paid work. Coming out of the shadows was partly a reaction to this as I wanted to write music in a style more true to me. Also, it had been a while and we were curious as to what would emerge.
Simon: I was aware that the trance was becoming quite mainstream and debatably quite stagnated. I'm hearing very little that I haven't heard at the end of the 90s when the likes of Ferry Corsten and Tiesto did their thing, and did it well. Saying that, there is a load of trance music out there that I like a lot - on the more progressive, techy, minimal tip. Of course they wouldn't dare call it trance - even though to my ears it still is.
» How long have you all been working on the album?
Paul: I reckon about nine months.
» 'Pylon Pigs' is out on pre-order in just over a week, what's the feeling like waiting for it to finally get out there?
Simon: It's very exciting. I had a look at some of the trance forums for the first time yesterday and the feedback has been really positive. A friend of mine has done some videos of the album tracks and that's been really exciting getting those out in the public domain and checking out the initial reactions.
Paul: I can't wait for people to be able to hear the album. It's one thing hearing the odd track on the Myspace page or youtube but the full quality CD in its entirety will be another experience.
» Pylon Pigs Release Date:
October 5th, 2009 (Platipus Records).
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