Episode 38 is a layer cake of Sultry synths and italo tipped numbers thanks to Manchester-based DJ and producer Elliott lion. Read AMF‘s interview with Elliott below 🙂
Hey Elliott, thanks for coming on the blog. You’ve had a pretty busy few months playing at several festivals. Can you give us a rundown of where you’ve been and what you’ve been up too?
Yea, its been a busy summer! For those that don’t know me, as well as DJing and producing I also play in the band Editors and we’ve been busy on the road playing festivals. Its been a great Summer! Playing with The Cure in Bucharest and Florence were definite highlights. Their my favorite band ever and we’ve been very fortunate to play with them a few times over the last few years. Its been pretty surreal.
You released your Magnolia EP back in May. What has the response to the tracks been like so far?
Yeah, it’s been good! It was a bit of an experiment as I’ve been releasing on some great labels like Futureboogie, Warm and Cin Cin. All of which have been great experiences with great people.
I just had a strong itch to see how the label whole process worked for myself, so I put it out on my own Elliott Lion LTD.
It was fun! quite a lot of work, sorting distribution, artwork, press/radio. I’m not sure the reach or impact was as big as if id worked with an established label and it was a lot of time banging on doors trying to get people to pay attention, it got some great radio support from 6 music and good press/DJ pick up. Its satisfying doing something for yourself. Big love to Lucas Grassmay who designed the artwork, amazingly talented german artist you should check him out.
You’ve also previously released tracks with Futureboogie. How did that partnership come about and are you working on any projects at the moment with the label?
That came through Ali from Cin Cin/Warm who was the first person to discover my music, he’s been a bit of a mentor, helping me navigate things and just super supportive. He thought Dave Harvey at Futureboogie might like a couple of the tracks. I’ve been a fan of Futureboogie for ages, so to be able to release with Dave on the label was an honor and to have Roman Flugel do the remix was just surreal. I would love to do something with them again.
Your compositions seem to rely on a lot of synths elements and arpeggiators. Who would you say are your musical influences when it comes to creating music?
I’ve had a fascination with synthesizers since I was a teenager, always had a love of 70/80’s films and soundtracks. I think the music I make at the moment is inspired by a couple of things. Firstly a love of 70/80’s Disco, Synth-Pop, Soundtracks, Krautrock and all things analog.
Secondly, I came from a more band/indie/rock music background so growing up records that had a big impact on me that were more electronic were things like Radiohead – Kid A and James Holden – The Idiots Are Winning. I think I try to find a balance between the more organic playfulness of old analog disco or synth-pop and mix it with more futuristic modern sounds.
Could we chat a bit about your production process? How do you like to create music? Do you rely on hardware or a DAW?
Both, sometimes I create totally in Ableton, no hardware, all soft synths, vst drum machines, and samples, but that’s mainly because I’m traveling a lot and I like to try and work on the road where possible. However, I find it much more satisfying to get away from the laptop and play or program things using hardware. It does sound much better to me, a good analog synth will add way more personality to a track than a plugin. I’m currently selling a lot of my gear, so I can start buying different stuff again, I like to keep things fresh, it keeps you on your toes.
I’ll backtrack a bit and ask how and where did you start producing music and DJ’ing. Did you become a musician by a happy accident or have you always known you were going to be a dance producer?
I’ve been in bands since I was about 13. Although they were indie bands and I predominantly played guitar and sang there were always synths, keys, or electronic elements. It became a natural progression to start making more dance-orientated music. In my early 20’s I was in a band touring a lot but also discovering clubbing and delving further into dance and electronic music.
I started going to record shops like Piccadilly, Eastern Bloc and Vinyl Exchange every week, discovering labels, DJing/producing at home. Just for fun really, i didn’t have an intention of ever playing out or anyone hearing anything. By the time I was in my mid 20’s id joined Editors and had amassed a decent collection of demo’s that I was testing on friends and decided to send some to labels like Cin Cin on their SoundCloud, not really thinking id get a response, but by chance they heard it and wanted to put out my first release.
So the ball started rolling accidentally really, the tracks picked up a bit of steam some big Dj’s started playing them regularly it was all quite surprising. I still feel like an imposter, i don’t have a super tight nit crew of dance friends to bounce off so its quite an insular thing for me. When I play out I get very nervous!
But I love being in the booth, sharing music that connects with people is a huge kick for me. I love playing things that people don’t expect or music that isn’t necessarily designed for clubs, I’m not really interested in whats super hot or cool all the time.
Let’s talk a little about your mix. How did you approach the hour and are there any standout tracks in the mix you’d be happy to share with us?
I always try and approach mixes as if I’m making a mixtape for a friend at school again. I wanted to have some tracks that have influenced my productions like Shit Robot – Dingbat. I love DFA and this is one of my favorite tracks from that label, it always changes the atmosphere in a room when i play it.
There are also a few tracks from Electrique Music a label out of Mexico City. I’m not too sure if the label is still active but they were a go-to when I started and still are really. I’ve always been into the music coming out of France and I’ve been discovering a lot of interesting pop stuff this summer thats coming out of there so I wanted to share some of that too.
Finally, what events or releases are on the horizon for you?
I’ve just finished touring for the summer with Editors. I’ve also bought a house so I’m knee-deep in trying to be an adult and sort that out. Once I’ve got a studio space set up again I’ll knuckle down and get some new music in the bag.
I’ve got a clear idea of what I want to do next and I’m very excited about it. I’d also like to get some DJ dates in the calendar, I’ve had some pretty amazing nights DJing at YES over the last year, it’s becoming my spiritual home. I find myself buying records purely with YES in mind so it would be good to get back there asap.
