Christopher Coe has produced, collaborated and performed with some of the world’s greatest electronic producers and DJs including Mad Professor, Carl Cox and DJ Krush to name a few. Under the moniker Digital Primate, he has DJed in the hallowed dungeons of legendary Berlin club Tresor alongside DJ Rolando, Surgeon and DJ Hell. Having recently dropped his latest album project ‘MNTNSofSLNC’ on his new label venture, Awesome Soundwave, with Carl Cox, we caught up with him as he gets set to release his second single from the album ‘Let It Go’.
A huge welcome to DMCWORLD Christopher, where on planet earth are you today?
Hi there and thank you! Today I am in the city of Melbourne, Australia in my favourite Journal Café.
How has your 2018 been so far?
Well it’s been amazing! I released my album ‘MNTNSofSLNC’ and it’s been the culmination of 2 years of work. So there is that. And Carl and I started our new label Awesome Soundwave.. amazing.. It’s been a great year so far!
What is the best piece of new music you have heard recently?
Jon Hopkins “Singularity” album.. which, coincidentally, was released on the same day as my album: May 4th! I was almost more excited about that than my own release! (Heard that a lot already!
You’ve recently launched your new label venture with Carl Cox, Awesome Soundwave, how did that all come about?
Yes, I’ve known Carl for many years and, as he is with his friends and people in general, has been very supportive over the years. So, when I played him my album, Carl suggested that we release it together and start the label as a vehicle initially to release my album which he liked a lot. He then suggested we take it further and make a label that focusses on electronic artists who play live and long play projects. His vision was to support artists to push beyond the sometimes limiting parameter of doing dance floor ready Eps. So Awesome Soundwave was born!
What’s the idea behind the label and who have you got lined up for future releases?
Live Electronic artists doing albums and telling stories. We are working with a number of people who are making albums, but nothing locked in as a next release until such time as we have these records that blow our minds…
Will there be any musical collaborations with yourself and Carl?
Yes indeed! We collaborate a lot already on many things.. And we did recently release a great collaboration between Carl, Reinier Zonneveld and myself. It’s a track called “Inferno”.
You recently released your brilliant new album ‘MNTNSofSLNC’, what can we expect to hear and how does it differ from your previous works as Digital Primate?
Thank you for the compliment…It’s a more cohesive work than I have achieved before now and I think that is because I had the singular vision to go back to my roots in the west of Ireland and work to try to translate the misty mountainous landscape into a sonic landscape through the idiom of techno. To me the mountains are like techno, there is a brooding rhythm and sense of space that one experiences there in the west of Ireland that I have only found a similar sense of when listening to some deep darker techno. Some say techno is industrial…but for me, my love of techno definitely comes from my appreciation of the landscape of my youth, which is not urban.. it is remote, mysterious and majestic.. And so this album differs from all my other work as it is more focussed and deeper. So, I decided to go out under my own name and make a new departure.. sort of start again so to speak! Without the baggage of the past work.
What was the inspiration behind the album?
Mountains…west of Ireland particularly.
Talk us through your own personal favourite track?
My own personal favourite is “They Walk, The Mountains” because I think it came out the closest to the sound I had in my head for that track.. also, I like the name the most because, they do.. The mountains seem to change dramatically in the blink of an eye and I am convinced at night they re-arrange themselves, I have climbed them and it is a different experience every time.. The track is in my opinion the most successful creatively and features the heartbreakingly stunning piano playing of Joost Swart. He came to visit me in Ireland from Amsterdam when I was making the record and collaborate with me. So, I made him climb the mountains with me before he touched a note. That was important. Then, one night, we took the lid of the piano, lit some candles, opened a bottle of whiskey and he played. The fire was crackling in the background, the creaks of the old house are even heard on the recording, but he captured something deeply transcendental at that moment if you ask me! It is my favourite moment on the record. It is true emotion.
Your second single from the album ‘Let it Go’ is about to be released and is the only track from the album featuring your own vocals, what’s the song all about?
Letting go.
The single also includes remixes from Saytek and Steve Mulder, what did they bring to the table?
Sayek is a genius live artist and one of the people we are working with towards a release. It was important to have a remix from him and I knew he would treat the track in such a different way that it made sense. And Steve is solid techno.. a lovely man who makes great stuff, I wanted a remix from him for ages.. this, again, seemed fitting!
What’s your favourite piece of studio kit and what instrument epitomises your sound?
Um…my favourite is my Pittsburgh Modular lifeforms rig.. I am still learning the modular way, but I love it and the possibilities are endless. But on the album, I actually think what epitomised my sound was the textural stuff that I used and manipulated to create the atmosphere. I recorded so much stuff and then fucked with it to create pads and textures. I recorded the sound of traditional Irish musicians playing on the pub, I recorded the wind on the bay as I travelled on the ferry out to Clare Island (a place I love dearly ), the sound of praying mourners at a hillside funeral lashed in torrential rain.. so many things.
You’ve been on the scene for a long time, how does the industry compare to back in the day and what needs to change for the better now?
Well these days it is far more organised and well planned…it is actually an industry now with budgets and money makers and everything that comes with that. It’s really all about the festivals these days. I think what will change and what is coming is that we will start to see a lot more live acts. I mean, how much longer can we stand just looking at a DJ.. the festivals have become so big and crowded that it is really hard to actually dance at them.. so that is different from the raves and outdoor parties we started with.. Having said that, there is far more scope now to do truly amazing things as there are so many more people into the music.. and some of the music being made now is so amazing!! I am constantly impressed with how far the whole scene has come creatively. We just need to keep pushing the creativity forward and keep focussing on that, that’s what comes first before anything else – without the music and the artists and the lovers of music and dancing there is no festival, no party.
Over the years you’ve produced and performed all over with the likes of Mad Professor, Carl Cox, DJ Krush, Surgeon and DJ Hell and many more, please tell us about a favourite memory from back in the day.
I remember playing at Tresor in Berlin back in ’95, and I had played on the same night as Dj Rolando (Detroit, Underground Resistance). A lovely fella. This was BEFORE he made “Jaguar” .. anyway, the next day the booker of Tresor suggested that we go round to visit Mark Ernestus. At the time, I was very naive and had no idea of who he was…So we went round to his place, had coffee and spoke of music, then he took us to his record shop Hardwax and presented me with three 10 inch records by his project Rhythm and Sound saying “here you go Christopher, I think you will like these..” I was very moved by this generosity, but I still had no idea of the towering musical influence of this very polite and nice man I had just met. It wasn’t until I got back home and spoke to some DJ friends and realised, after they had gotten from falling on the floor in awe, who I had actually met! I was stunned myself! Ah, the naivety and arrogance of youth!
What precious piece of advice would you give to any producers just starting out?
Learn the technical stuff first…learn it well. Listen carefully to the music you love and listen to anyone who has more experience than you. Then break all the rules and make sure you find your own voice. Do not just copy. It only took me 46 years to realise this!
We come to raid your record collection, which embarrassing record do you chuck out the window before we arrive?
Um…my Jim Reeves Greatest Hits record? Or .. Abba ‘Arrival’? I don’t know.. what is ironically cool these days?
What record makes you say ‘damn, I wish I made that’?
Oh just every record ever…but specifically, any of the Rhythm and Sound records..
Finally what’s coming next from you?
I am remixing a track for Marco Bailey, hope he likes it. And I am working on a big audio visual live show featuring the amazing landscapes within which I made this record.. that is going to be next level! I love techno.
Christopher Coe ‘Let It Go’ (incl. Steve Mulder & Saytek remixes) is out now on Awesome Soundwave.
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