The most prolific producer on the planet gets set for Space
Interview : Dan Prince
Savant continues to assert his global musical domination as he reveals plans for his ambitious ‘Space Tour’. Savant dropped his massive 20+ track album ‘Orakel’ late last year to widespread acclaim and significant chart success. Savant has been releasing a track a day to his ravenous fanbase, and even created a special competition to allow fans to create music with him. It’s certainly overloaded his inbox with submissions, but he loves engaging with fans personally – usually on a daily basis. On his upcoming Space Tour, Savant will perform many of the songs from Orakel, along with new works – some that he may have written that very day – because, let’s face it, he’s not called Savant for nothing!
Aleksander welcome to DMC, where in the world are you right now?
“Right now I am kicking in my studio with my boy Twistex on a collab for his album LUME which comes out in the spring. Working on some stuff for Infected Mushroom, remixes with BT and Opiou and my next album too.”
We have had some prolific producers featured in the magazine over the years, but no one, no one has ever come close to you and your productivity. You suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome and you therefore need an outlet for your constant stream of thoughts and emotions…you admit you put your music and art before eating and sleeping and often push yourself to your physical limits. Is there a sense of satisfaction when completing a piece of music or do you know you can always do better?
“You always have to turn what you are good at into a living. With Asperger’s you have to deal with that in a really quirky way. Some can do math stuff and get a job doing that, for me I just have to create music and live music. It really doesn’t matter how much music I make. But I do enjoy making it, it connects me to myself and to humanity.”
I asked your Head Of Press Sara Cooper how many tracks did she think you had made to date. “Well over 10,000” came her reply. So let’s put this into context, how long does it take you to make a record, what is the most you have made in a week and do you ever put out music you are not entirely happy with?
“People on the internet go he has made over 10,000 tracks…that’s like 2.7 tracks a day over 7 years. I make between 2 – 10 tracks a day and have been doing that for years. Some are demos, some are overdone, some are in between. The things i release are the things I feel people need to hear from me at the time. I could spend a lot more time with stuff and make it crystal, squeaky but it is not good for me to spend so much time with a piece of music, because I am a restless soul and I need to keep exploring and discovering new things. My music to some folks sounds may sound half finished but for me its about making a point, not technical perfection. It is about getting my message across and if that message is communicated then the track is finished. This doesn’t mean I only paint in one brush.
When was the last time you had a vacation? Do you do vacations?
“I was just in the Maldives for a whole week and I have gone to Thailand twice in the last two years. I did make the Overkill album in Thailand though but it was warm and sunny and I love that!”
Okay let’s kick off with your forthcoming Space Tour, 15 dates taking in North America, Canada and Europe. Part of your wonderful life sees you concentrate on gaming, art, design and visuals…what can we all expect from a Savant live experience on tour these coming weeks…?
“We are in an in between phase right now. I am changing my look. New costume and really thinking about what I want my production to be like for the next tours. I experiment a lot in my live shows and test out a lot of new things I am working on. I never do the same set twice and take a bunch of risks with my sound, somehow it works and I am looking forward to seeing my fans and make new ones. I’m playing SXSW too which is exciting and my first headline in New York City so expect some naughty shit.”
The last time you hit North America however you came home distressed. You released your ‘Cult’ album soon after, part of the long player was a means of release for you to show everyone your emotions after encountering “poverty, egotism and the commercial side of the music industry”. Can you elaborate on what you saw and how it affected you…
“I am affected by the things I see just like everyone else and had to get it out. I become what I am around because of the way I see the world. It was a dark time. I had this booking agent, Brandon from Oddtree who had stiffed us for way over $10K, I was not making as much music as I wanted because I was on the road, I was moving to a new place, everything was changing so fast. So much has happened since then I have just moved on, things are looking brighter than they did then.”
Your musical influences are very varied. Bach, Dr Dre, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Aretha Franklin and Metallica all nestled in amongst each other! What are your earliest musical memories from your childhood, we hear you were hitting your grandad’s organ at a very early age? Man, that sounded rude!
“Haha! I like good music what can I say, all of those people touch me in a way. I remember having a Casio keyboard where a bunch of the keys didn’t work so it forced me to be creative with just a few of them, it didn’t stop me, I just used what I had and had fun with it. I guess it taught me how to hack and work my way around things.”
You are currently in the middle of a brilliant competition/opportunity where you are offering your fans the opportunity to make a track with you. All they have to do is submit some form of music be it singing, scratching, drums, production, some melodies…man they can submit anything by March 1st as long as they think it’s great. So how are the entries doing, you must have a lot of material to be going through…?
“My manager was just bitching about having gone through over 1,000 submissions..it’s crazy and they are in all shapes and sizes from full tracks to people making weird sounds. Who knows where this is going but it will be fun.”
You have a very loyal fan base and it seems the love flows both ways. I loved this post on your Facebook site a while back…”The way I feel about your production is the same way I felt about Infected Mushroom when I first heard them in the beginning of 2000.” And another one…“I see him as a Norwegian response to Daft Punk.” That must have felt good reading?
“My fans inspire me. They elevate me and ground me. I couldn’t be luckier.”
Have you any plans for any collabs in 2014?
“A bunch of stuff. Working with BT, Opiou, Kaster, Infected Mushroom, Mr. Bill and whatever else comes my way that I find interesting and will challenge me…”
Who are some of the producers around the world you are giving respect to at the moment?
“The guys that I am working with of course. I just A&R’d an album called Bon Voyage on my label (SectionZ), this guy blew my mind making EDM with Blues songs! But that is not it, he did so much with this music.”
A recent quote from you…”My music is very eclectic, it’s very intense, and it’s very layered – and it’s always two emotions at the same time.” Discuss…
That was one way of saying my music is crazy, it’s many things to many people. I try to make sure that there is always something for listeners to discover as they listen to the track again and again.”
Is there a musical genre that you don’t think you can contribute to?
“I don’t care about genres, I just do what comes out, what is in the Aether. I have a ton of music left to do in my career so we will see about that.”
Last year you remarked that you hoped 2014 would be the year you reached out to films and video gaming…what’s the latest?
“There are things in motion. Finally signed a publishing deal and with my game Savant Ascent winning awards some interesting options are opening up.”
I was leafing through some of your old interviews and found this remark from a reader…”I know you can consider Aspergers as a form of Savant Syndrome, but should you really base your career off the fact that you have it?” What were your thoughts on that little comment…?
“It is a part of my story as much as not having a childhood was a part of Michael Jackson’s, it is not going to change. But I really want to help create more awareness around Asperger’s and help people understand what it is because in my case I was really lucky.”
Here’s a tough one. What is your greatest ever piece of production?
“The one I have not done yet.”
Good answer. And finally dude. That dream you had where you had a fight with Hardwell. Who won?
“We all know the answer to that one Dan.”
www.savantofficial.com
Savant Space Tour…
2/20 – Bærum, Norway
2/21 – Montepellier, France
2/22 – Paris, France
3/12 – Buffalo, NY
3/13 – Orlando, FL
3/14 – SXSW, Austin, TX
3/15 – Minneapolis, MN
3/16 – Victoria, BC, Canada
3/19 – Birmingham, AL
3/20 – St. Louis, MO
3/21 – New York, NY
3/22 – Montreal, QC, Canada
4/17 – Oppdal, Norway
4/18 – Zurich, Switzerland
4/19 – London, UK
