Interview // Current Value

Tim Eliot, aka Current Value is a very busy man; one possibly reaching the top of his game and continually pioneering new directions in Drum and Bass, Dubstep and Techno. Possibly his crowning moment to date came this last week, with the release of one of his contributions (of 2) to Bjork's Biophilia remix series. This is following hot on the heels of providing the beats to her album track 'Sacrifice', and a high-profile Noisia remix on Deadmau5's Mau5trap label. He has continually pushed the boundaries of the genres he operates in, with his incredibly unique sound and highly technical and precise production values. The time is ripe for booking this iconic member of the electronic scene, and with more exciting (secret) projects and collaborations in formulation, he is only set for bigger things. 


He's taken the time out of his schedule to answer a few of our questions, as well as piecing together the latest edition of his ongoing 'Ultramonics' series of mixes as a MethLab dedicated special - one of the best mixes that we at MethLab have heard to date. So hit play on the mix and read on to find out a little of what goes on in CV's head...


MethLab // What were you doing just before this interview?

CV // I was doing some shopping for next weeks fruit ration.

MethLab // When did you fall in love with snares?

CV // That must have happened around the late 90'ies when I became aware Tech Itch's work.
I've always loved it's kind of crunchy jazzyness combined with a solid tech step arrangement.
I think it was generally my love for harmonics and overtones and thus the singing and ringing within various drumsounds - snares in particular.  

MethLab // You're about to have your 75th release (the Bjork remixes) launched, with each year since the 90's seeing an increase in your output. Do you feel you have come close to perfecting your style in this time? 

CV // I think one's style is constantly moving and changing as well as being inspired by other music.
I certainly learned a lot in all the years and what matters most for me is to be able to transform certain ideas into music as quickly as possible to be as true to your intentions as possible.
A well trained ear and a certain level of skill are inevidable on the way to perfection...
The journey is the destination.

MethLab // Recent years have seen you branch out into dubstep, and you maintain your distinct sound in this output. Where do you see the heavier end of dubstep heading in the next few years? 

CV // I could imagine a growing gap between the noisier end of hard dubstep and the more focussed cleaner and weightier end. There already is one. But I think it will grow...

MethLab // Do you think that the possibilities of the amen break have been exhausted, or is there always more to discover?

CV // For me there's definitely always something new to dicover with amen breaks. Not only in terms of manipulation... Im talking about inventing or recreating amen breaks. My recently released tune "Prism" could give a bit of an insight about that.

MethLab // What was it like collaborating with Bjork? Where you sharing the studio, or was it a distance collaboration? How much input did she have on your beats for Sacrifice? 

CV // It was a distance work from my side creating the beats but I didn't touch the mix of the tune.
I got contacted by Bjork's manager who told me that Bjork wanted to sample beats of my tune "The Good" out on my Tech Freak LP. I replied with a clear  "no" offering to create a similar beat as close as possible to the one in "The Good". The thing was that they were running out of time and it was literally the last night before the Biophilia album mastering! So I recreated the beat that same night and sent it to them. Later they requested me to render the single parts of this beat for the iPad/iPhone/iPod - App.

MethLab // Having worked with Bjork, and then being first in line for the Biophilia remix series, it seems like you are reaching the top of your game. Where will you go from here? 

CV // Yeah, I'm really happy about that as I got two parts (pt 1 and pt 4) of the remix series providing four remixes for them. So let's say "Im aiming high" as for collaborations and remixes in the future :)!

MethLab // Can you imagine producing other types of music than techno, DnB and Dubstep? (Are there any other very popular artists who you would like to work with?)

CV // Yes, I could!
It's just that energetic momentum that catches me in loop based dance music.

MethLab // You keep your production techniques a cloesly guarded secret - is there anything insightful you can tell us about your studio? 
  CV // I'm working on laptops with FL Studio, Ableton Live, Reason, looking into Studio One now as well.
since I want to keep my setup as mobile as possible I use headphones for monitoring.
Among my recommendations:
Over/On Ear:
- Sony MDR CD900ST
- Roland RH  A30
- Brainwavz HM5
- Beyerdynamic DT990 (2005 Premium, 250Ohm)

In Ear:
- Monster Cable - Turbine Pro Miles Davis Trumpet Edition
- Sony MDR 7550 / EX800ST

MethLab // You're a vegetarian.. it seems counter-intuitive to what can be seen as an aggressive sound =) Have you always had this diet? 

CV // I'm a vegetarian for 14 years now and happy with it. I really dont see it as a diet.
Yeah some people came to a similar conclusion as well - of it being counter-intuitive...but thats maybe just to first look. I look to it more as being a system of energetic levels - on a food level as well as on a sound level of things. It's more about creating rather than destroying.
I see these things from a producers side.
For me it's a clear win in life when I realize I'm the one to decide, I'm in control if it - to not have meat. Secondly it's surely not about survival - at least not where I live - in a big western city where you can get anything you'd ever dream of in terms of food. I even thought about going raw some day.

MethLab // Favourite country for playing? 

CV // Really hard to say... I love to play everywhere but if I'd have to put it in a nutshell,
probably Russia.

// Interview - Vaetxh

// - What are you working on at the moment?

Tuneswise I'm working on some techno for Traum and a concept EP for Schematic. Non-tuneswise I'm making the final touches to my Harry Potter book masher. It statistically analyses the 7 books and uses that to generate thousands more pages of miscellaneous wizarding pap. The best bit though is that you can throw other books into the mix for japes. My favourite combo is Harry Potter mashed with Descartes, and a bit of Mein Kampf thrown in to spice things up. Harry Potter and the Bourgeois Parties is a cracking yarn.

// - Who have you enjoyed collaborating with most?

I don't do many collabs really. I need to be in the same room as someone so we can work on it then and there. Working seperately, I like to work at my own pace and I tend to dip in and out of music, which can be probably a bit annoying for the people I'm working with. That said, I'm collabing with Ruby My Dear at the moment and I've just recorded a mate playing piano parts for that which are sounding fuckin lush. But, yeah sorry Ju for taking so long...

// - Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?

Nils Fraum would be great. AIso I'd like to make some sub-15Hz ultra-minimalist avante-garde space-age machine techno with Loopshaunt at some point.

// - Any big plans for 2012?

Remix, then EP, then techno, then a 3 month motorbiking trip to the Black Sea and (if the shitty 125s make it) back, then moving to Barcelona. Should be a stonka.

// - Any message for 2012 apocalypse hippies?

Planetary alignment happens every fucking year. Also, it's not surprising the Mayan calender only went for 10000 years. You don't see Justin Bieber calendars that last up until the year 12012. People barely think about what's going to be happening next week, let alone next deca-millenia.

// - What's your favourite VST plug-in?

The Cuntpressor v2. Or any of the ones on xoxos.net, abused.

// - Do you use any analogue hardware?

I'm a big fan of radios and microphones, but that's about as analogue as it gets. It's all too expensive.

// - Any advice for up and coming producers?

Just keep going. Try out new things. It doesn't matter if they sound shit because getting stuff sounding polished can be learned in a month.

// - How do you feel about Dubstep these days - do you think it's dying?

Nah it's just diversifying, which is a good thing.

// - Where do you think the dark/heavy sound can move next?

Sampling nukes.

// - What's your tipple of choice?

It would be alcopops if they got you more pissed. Though the last time I tried to buy some I got IDed and didn't bloody have my driver's license. It was pretty humiliating having to put my two bottles of WKD back. Other than that some good cider.

// - The best event you've ever played?

Probably this arty farty sit-down show I played to a room of middle-class wine holding intellectuals. Pretentiousness aside, I really enjoying the freedom not having to make things even remotely danceable. Plus it was my first fully live set (no pre-recorded material) I was pretty chuffed to have got 45 mins of vaguely interesting sounds from a mic and dsp.

// - Words of wisdom?

There's no excuse for boredom.

// - The last thing you ate?

A Fox's Classic Original chocolate covered biscuit bar.

// - Most unexpected tune on your mp3 player?

A 2 hour long track of noise... (Methlab: Actually Rob... that's not so surprising.. ;) )

// Interview - Loop Stepwalker

// - What are you working on at the moment?

I'm finishing my first sample pack, for samplephonics. They are also hosting a remix contest for the track 8.9, from my album with Balkansky.

 

// - Who have you enjoyed collaborating with most?

I'm sure that Ivan Shopov (Cooh, balkansky, drum kid) is the one. We have very similar tastes, and that makes it easier when it comes to chose whats good or not for us.

 

// - Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?

Hmmm.... I'd ideally like to collaborate with people like David Guetta, Pitbull and Dj Tiesto... :P haha.. Jokes apart, i'm really open to new projects, lets just see what the future holds...

 

// - Any big plans for 2012?

There's something brewing between Ivan and I, we're going to come up with something that people would never expect. So stay tuned coz it will be electrifying!!

 

// - Any message for 2012 apocalypse hippies?

I'll be a fucking zombie and i'll eat your brains... oh wait, hippies have no brains... damn it!

 

// - Favourite VST plug-in?

Decapitator <3

 

// - Do you use any analogue hardware?

I have a nice screwdriver, and a box full of clips, the metallic ones that we used back in the 90's when people used that thing called paper... and a nice pair of Adam's A8x, NI Audio Kontrol 1, M-Audio O2, Korg Nanopad (a friend gave it to me broken and i had great fun fixing and customing it

 

// - Any advice for up and coming producers?

Self criticism, be persistent and never show clips or works in process... that would make people to think that what u show is what u are able to reach... so if u show something that's not too good, people won't check again on your next links coz they'll think that they wont be good.

 

// - How do you feel about Dubstep these days - do you think it's dying?

I think its mutating, u can see that... its like DnB back in the days, everyone wants to be a part of it! It was the starting point of something bigger :)

 

// - Where do you think the dark/heavy sound can move next?

As part of the scene I know that we can expect anything... in 2 years there was just broken note doing good heavy stuff, now u have people like Sinister Souls, Niveau Zero, Brainpain, Balkansky and Current Value that are killing it! so expect the unexpected :)

 

// - What's your tipple of choice?

Belgium Beer, specially Weissbier :)

 

// - The best event you've ever played?

Prspct XL 14, and all the Ad Noiseam parties that came up last year... it was great to be playing with such amazing artists...

 

// - Words of wisdom?

You can do it, just keep on trying!

 

// - The last thing you ate?

Shit, it's 4:20 and i ate nothing... damn you music! 

 

- Most surprising tune on your mp3 player?

Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - I've Had the Time of My Life (yes, the Dirty Dancing's main song, i'm such a romantic... hahaha)