25/04/11
Firstly, can we talk a little about life in Necton when you were younger and how that got you into Electro?
Well I was born in Kings Lynn and lived in Norfolk up until about the age of nineteen. The music direction came from listening to the radio. I really got into the Electro stuff from reading magazines about the equipment used. That got me kind of curious about how you make music. I mean at school I didn’t really know anyone else who was into music. I went to high school in Swaffham but they were really sporty; you were kind of considered a bit of a loser if you were into music…
So who would you state as musical influences at this point?
The first band I really got into (and am still into) were The Prodigy. That was when I was about fourteen. I didn’t really listen to a great deal of music back then, but the stuff I heard that really made me want to make electronic music were things like Orbital and Aphex Twin…
Do you remember a defining moment when you thought I want to make music for a living?
There wasn’t really a defining moment. It was gradual thing as I was buying bits of gear. But I never thought I was that good. I never had anyone to tell me whether I was shit or good; none of my friends were really that into the music or interested in the scene. I’d play a couple of my friends one of my tracks and they’d be like “yeah it’s alright”, but nothing more than that really. I suppose when I was making it, it was a dream to be like Aphex Twin - I really didn’t think anyone else would like my music…
Did you come to Norwich much during this period?
I went to college in Lynn so I was more into the free parties in North Norfolk, in places like Brancaster. I did go out in Norwich when I was younger, but that was for mainly birthday parties and stuff like that…
I believe you left Norfolk to go to Music College in Reading, but you ended up dropping out. Why was this?
I suppose I was about seventeen when I seriously started to make music and then went to Reading when I was nineteen. I dropped out around the start of the second year. During my first year I started releasing stuff. I ended up becoming more busy doing remixes and records due for release rather than any of the coursework. The guys at the course kind of said ‘Well, if you are doing alright…’ I was the only person on the course who was making electronic music as a solo artist. So there was no one on the course that was really into the type of music I was making…
It must have been difficult not having anyone around to point you in the right direction or affirm if what you were doing was any good?
I never really expected to get anywhere with it, let alone to be able to live from it. None of my family are musical, so this all came out of nowhere. My Mum and Dad were initially a little edgy about me wanting to pursue music as a career. They come from an agricultural background so they were more inclined to suggest me doing some sort of apprenticeship. I can completely understand why they felt like that, because even doing a musical course doesn’t guarantee that you can make a living out of it.
How do they feel about it now after the success you’ve had?
Yeah, I think they are really proud. My mum likes my music and she plays my album to people, which is quiet nice.
You are signed to Border Community. Can you tell us how this deal came about?
This happened during my first year at college around 2003. The guy who runs it - James Holden (I’m quite into some of his music) - I basically e-mailed him a track via his website that I hadn’t quite finished and he e-mailed me back saying he liked it but asked if I could send back a finished version. That eventually ended up being my first track that came out on Border Community – well, my first record ever. It just went from there really. After that I did a remix for Border Community...
It must have been an exciting time?
Yeah it was totally weird, the fact I’d been a big fan of James and then suddenly I was making music for him. It was very exciting but it was also really surreal as well. I was knocked for six for a while.
I’m guessing it must have been a bit odd as well if none of your mates were that in to the scene? The first thing any of us want to do is tell our friends when something exciting happens…
Well my mates in Reading were pretty excited and supportive about it all, but they were into their music. When I told me Mum and Dad they were a little confused - I think they thought I was going to be on Top of the Pops!
In 2006 your debut album ‘Drowning in a Sea of Love’ came out to great reviews and was voted Mixmag’s 2nd favourite album of that year. Did this help you in any way?
To be honest I didn’t pay any attention to that whatsoever. I don’t ever read Mixmag – I suppose that makes me sound a bit like of an asshole. But getting a good review or a bad review doesn’t really change a whole lot. Really it’s one person’s opinion. But saying that, getting a good review is a nice feeling; I find it quite strange reading other people’s opinions of it. With the Mixmag thing, I always thought they were more into their commercial dance stuff but it was cool - I’m not saying I didn’t appreciate it.
Did things change for you after this accolade?
No not at all. At that point I was still touring the album, so I think if my profile was raised then; it was due to the touring rather than the Mixmag thing.
Has there ever been a defining moment in your career so far, when you’ve thought ‘I’ve made it’?
Yeah, there’ve been a couple. Erm, when you get positive feedback from someone you really like or respect; as I’ve already said, I grew up listening to Orbital and I think I was playing in Rome and Paul Hartnoll (from Orbital) came up and introduced himself to me and told me that he really liked my music. It was mental, that was a pretty big moment for me…
So Mr. Fake, you’ve had the luxury of playing in some of the world’s best clubs over the last few years… there must be some great memories etched in your mind’s eye?
Some of the more memorable ones would be playing in Japan. I went with another couple of guys from Border Community and we did a festival out there which was kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was quite a small event set in amongst these hills; the whole thing was really magical. It was like nothing I’ve seen before in Europe. The hills were really, really green and covered in flowers. Playing out there at seven in the morning as the sun came up over these mountains, it was really surreal.
I’m guessing there’s been a few bad ones…
Yep (laughs), there’s been a few pretty bad ones as well. There was a show in Rome in this place called Purple Club, which was outdoors. The crowd were really drunk and seemed pretty posh, and they were not into the music at all. When I was playing, people were shouting at me in Italian (probably screaming play something else or something better than this). Then some guy just came up to me and called me an asshole. It was a weird gig which was pretty gutting really. I went home feeling pretty strange after that one.
From the UK, to Rome or Japan, have you noticed a cultural difference in crowd response to you?
Even within Europe there is quite a difference. Going from say Italy or Spain to Holland or Germany you can definitely notice a difference. Even in Japan, I found different I got responses in different parts of the country. When we played in the North of Japan, the crowd were really civilised and just clapped politely at the end, whereas in Tokyo, the entire front row was filled with girls who were crying (laughs). You never get that sort of a response in Europe…
I’ve read that playing live over the last couple of years has had a big influence on the way in which you make music now - can I ask in what respect?
Since the release of my first album and then working on its follow up, I was playing live pretty much non-stop. I think it has helped me make my music less rigid and more fluid. It taught me to arrange stuff differently. When I was working on the first album, I’d never done any gigs before, so I was writing and not really taking into account that I might be playing it live. But now with the new stuff I am always thinking how it will transcribe when it’s being played live, I play a lot of new and even unfinished stuff live to see how it goes down. It’s definitely a big factor now on the compositions.
Do you find inspiration for your art outside of music?
Yeah there are a lot of non-musical things which I find inspiring. I suppose it’s about your mood. Like if you go out and meet someone nice… I think my music is very different now, compared to when I was living back in Norfolk. Although essentially it’s still got the same parts to it, living in London has changed it. Now if I listen back to some of my stuff from when I was in college I find it quite fluffy; I think I was a lot more naive then. For me, I think it’s about where I am in my life. I guess I’ve grown up a lot since then. Although I can’t really say why it’s changed - it just has really. I think with electronic or dance music generally it’s a lot more functional than say guitar based music. With say Techno, its made for DJs to play in clubs, so I guess there is a large amount of this kind of music which is purely functional, whereas that scenario doesn’t really exist within the Rock world. I know there is both good and bad stuff within Rock, but it seems to be for the sake of the music, than just for playing it loud in a club. For that reason I can totally see why people don’t like, or really get Electro music.
I believe you are based out of a Bedroom Studio in Hackney - how does that work? Do you find you are waking up in the middle of the night filled with ideas, so it’s a case of getting up to er, get them down or is there more structure to it?
Yep I end up doing that sometimes. Generally I’m quite a disorganised person, so I don’t really have much of a routine going on. I do work from home, but I always have done since I first started back in Norfolk. At the moment I’m not really writing an awful lot because the record has only recently come out and I’m tour quite a lot. When I have stuff I need to be working on I’m a little more organised, but at times like now… it’s a bit sort of ‘whatever’ really.
Is it a solitary life?
When I was first touring the album I was with a friend who was doing visuals so that wasn’t so bad, but now a lot of the time it’s just me. From a business point of view though, that’s not so bad because you don’t really have any overheads, but going to and from Airports alone can be a bit boring. The gig part is great, but the travelling part isn’t as much fun…
There used to be a lot of visuals used for your shows - is this the same now and do you have much of an input into this?
For the last year or two I haven’t really been using many prepared visuals, but on the first album there were a lot. For the first album I did it with my friend Vincent and we’d have our two laptops linked up. I was sending midi data to his laptop and then we would manipulate the visuals on his. But it ended up being really complicated because a lot of venues didn’t have the facilities to put it on. It was hard to find the right venues and crowds to play it to. At the moment though I’m on my own a lot, but I think its still pretty exciting watching one person on a laptop rocking out. Well as long as I don’t look like I’m checking my e-mails or something. If you look like you are having a good time, then that looks cool.
Finally, you are still at a really young age to have achieved the level of success you currently have. Is there any advice can you give to up-in-coming DJs / Producers?
The only advice I can give to people is do exactly what you want to do - don’t try and sound like anyone else and don’t try and make music to fit into any particular scene. The only thing I’ve ever done is make what I make and that seems to have worked for me. So that’s the only advice I can really give. There’s a lot of pandering to scenes within the Electronic world. Be yourself and do it for yourself… be really selfish about it.
Mark McCormick
Catch the exceptional Nathan Fake launching a new Electronica night ‘Spectro presents…’ at NAC on Friday 29th of January. For ticket information go to www.norwichartscentre.co.uk/. Nathan will also be playing at the BLOC Weekender in March alongside an absolutely amazing line-up. Details of which can be found on the back cover of this edition.