UK artist Saytek is known for writing and recording his productions live and has become one of the electronic music scene’s most in-demand live acts. His work has been supported by the world’s DJ elite, including Carl Cox who recently dropped 2 tracks from Saytek’s new ‘Machine Jams’ album on his Essential Mix live from Space for BBCR1. Ratha Gud checks in with the master improvisor!
Hi Joseph, where are you in the world right now?
Hey DMCWORLD! I am at my flat in London taking a bit of time out from the studio with my family. It’s been a crazy year so far for making new live material, I’ve spent a few months there seriously putting the hours in and have been doing a lot of touring ,so its nice to take some time out.
What was the first piece of music you heard today?
‘Topsy and Tim’ theme tune, it’s a program my boys like, they are 20 months old and 3 and a half. So lots of kids TV on in my house!
What does the name Saytek mean and where does it come from?
I am not sure myself to be honest and always have a few different stories as to how it came about . Truth is it was coined in quite a hazy period of my life.
How would you describe your sound?
It’s all underground House and Techno; From deeper melodic stuff to straight up acid to Detroit influenced Techno, to dubbed out House grooves and more experimental left-field Tech. I like to think of my sets as a tough, but deep journey though everything I personally love about House and Techno. I am not tOo bothered about trends but always keep an ear out for new and fresh sounds to inspire me.
Congrats on your superb new album ‘Machine Jams’, tell us a bit about it…
This album is a snap shot of one of my live performances at clubs and festivals across the world, all the music is written, produced and performed live by myself. It’s a real cross section of my music. From the deep and melodic opening track ‘Putting The Pieces Together’ to the analog Detroit inspired synths of ‘Asymetric’; the Acid rubbed ‘Acid Jam 2’ and ‘3’; the bleepy synth work of ‘Subtractive’; through to the darker tougher ‘How’s It Feel’ and my own personal favourite stretching time which is emotive – I think ‘Machine Jams’ displays my vision of House and Techno and I’m really proud of it.
Most people spend months, sometimes years, writing an album. Instead you record your albums as one spontaneous live as a jam. How do you do that… and why?! Are there any pre-record writing sessions at all prior to the big record session?
Well I have to spend a lot of time writing the raw material to jam with, I spent months in the studio making patterns on drum machines, synth lines on hardware or sound design on the computer. Before the recording nothing exists as finished music itself just raw ideas sitting in the machines to be performed live, but it’s music that has been written. Then jamming before the recording, just to see which elements work with other elements and thinking of a rough musical structure for the finished jam. Then the final jam is just one take of me putting the pieces together live and there is a lot of writing and improvising that goes into the performance itself. New drum patterns, synth lines and FX get created during the performance .
What obstacles do you come up against writing in this way and how do you overcome them?
I actually find it very rewarding, it’s very time consuming though, but it feels like I am writing a whole piece of music. I am writing 2 hour live sets at a time. I can really get sucked into it and it can take a toll on my life in the outside world. But I actually find it easier writing like this than one idea at a time.
Did you have to restart from scratch a few times or do you just go with it on first take?
It’s funny if I am recording by myself, I always make mistakes and start again. That’s why I like it when there is a camera crew or I am streaming live as the adrenalin of knowing there is just one take improves my performance and I never really make any major mistakes. So thats what I try and imagine – one take is always best.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
These days I get a lot of inspiration on tour I often dance to the other DJs who are playing on the night when the mood is right I really get inspired.
How does ‘Machine Jams’ differentiate from your previous albums, what did you set out to
achieve this time?
Well my other albums where continuous live sets, this is a continuous live set broken down into DJ friendly tracks.
It seems everyone is in love with Techno again, what are your thoughts on the rise of current underground Tech scene and which producers are rocking it for you right now?
This really makes me laugh actually most people don’t love techno they love the word what they listen to is tech house . As a result the real techno has become even more inaccessible as the techno fraternity try to distance themselves from the band wagon jumpers. To me i have always loved techno and underground house equally and the stuff I have enjoyed most has been the stuff you cant label is it house or is it techno it has elements of both with out being tech house. I see a lot of people jumping on a bandwagon and say they are into techno but for me techno has soul , groove , melody and is not formulaic music.
Who would you most like to jam with on a new project?
Octave One, I played with them at an amazing festival in Croatia – an underground one not one of the big ones. It was in an ancient forte in Trogir and was unbelievable the second day everyone was live it was Octave One Analog Cops and myself, it was so much fun and there was so much gear everywhere. Octave One where amazing and they where really complimentary of my stuff as well really sound down to earth people.
You’ve got a huge amount of kit when you perform live, almost as many as Octave One, what’s your favourite toy?
I am loving the Elektron stuff at the moment have Analog Rytm and Analog 4.
Have you ever hit the wrong button?
Oh all the time, it wouldn’t be live if I didn’t.
What’s the best thing about performing live?
I love being in the zone with the crowd going off, it’s a really special place to be.
What’s the one piece of kit essential to creating Saytek’s sound?
None, I mean my sound relies on lots of different pieces coming together.
As a maker of electronic music, many would expect to see you behind the decks too, but you have steered cleared well clear, why is that?
No real reason apart from it was never something I got into, I kind of skipped that stage went straight from producer to live act really early.
Finally, what festivals / gigs are you most looking forward to this Summer?
I have great shows lined up in London, Berlin, Czech Republic + more – best to look at my social media for gigs as loads are in the process of being confirmed at the moment.
‘Machine Jams’ is out now on Cubism.
