What inspires me when creating is any sound which evokes emotion. I draw inspiration from many different sources when it comes to music. My work is definitely influenced by late 80s to mid 90s house, techno, electro, and IDM, but I have also found inspiration from the current wave of electronic producers, including some established names like Vince Watson and Andy Jaggers, as well as some relatively new faces (to me anyway) such as Arne Weinberg and Microthol.

If you could steal a favourite track from any artist / group to release yourself, what would it be and why?

Hmn, tricky question. Electronic music wise it would be a toss up between Laurent Garnier's 'Acid Eiffel' and URs 'Final Frontier' (Acid Electro track). Other than that Id love to have the credit for the track 'One in a million' by Aaliyah, as this is not only a track that Im really feeling but one that would make me a few quid too :

You are magically transformed into a tiny gecko and can run, duck and hide
yourself anywhere in the world and listen in. Where would you scuttle to?

Anywhere in the world is tough! Maybe Id start off at George Bush's house, see what hes up to, catch him out on some dodgy dealings. Or maybe even check out Bin Ladens hideout! More locally Id go to Danniel Beddingfields house and terrorise him….hopefully into retirement!

What are you hoping to accomplish, and where can you see yourselves in 5 years?

In 5 years time I hope to have a nice portfolio of releases under my belt and a regular place on the worldwide electronic music circuit. Im working towards a live show ultimately, one where I could combine live percussion, keyboards, etc, and hope that by 2010 I will be in a position to spread my sound to as many people as possible. Id also like all the top boys (and girls) mobile numbers, on first name basis, stored on my phone :

How did your relationship with AI records come about?

I found AI through a mutual friend who suggested I send them my material after he worked with the label on the 'New Town' LP. After an initial chat with Jason towards the end of 2003, it was clear that we had a lot in common in terms of music and forward thinking and so I put together a cd and sent it over. Out of that cd came the 'Forbidden Medicine EP'.

Which artist / group produces music that makes your heads open up and listen?

Cant narrow this down to one group/artist. I literally find a new artist every week that makes me listen. For consistency Id have to say Andy Jaggers and Vince Watson, both make me want to boogie whilst still tapping into my emotive needs.

Is your interest just in electronic music or do you have a broader taste?

Definitely broader, I was listening to 'Enya' this morning for example. For me music is all about moods and feelings. Depending on the mood I might play something from 'The Orb' or maybe Ill stick on Jazz FM. I also listen to Hip Hop, mainly old Hip Hop (Eric B & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, etc) and some newer bits from Snoop and Jay Z, as well as the genre they now call 'Neo Soul' with albums in my cd collection from 'Musiq', 'Raphael Sadiq', and 'Amel Larioux'.

Tell us a bit more about Musik4Life Ltd, and what your aims are for the company.

Musik4Life has changed form a couple of time since being formed 3 years ago. Initially it was set up to be a kind of music workshop, with a full studio as well as a couple of DJ booths for practicing and recording. Lack of finances killed off the original plans, and since then I have decided to use the company to promote the music of my friends, and to release a yearly compilation series called 'Life Works', with volume 1 including tracks from renowned producer 'Mysteron' as well as some other quality known, and unknown artists. Particularly excited about a project from 'Strange Pair', aka Rob Piper and Jay Andrews. Watch this space as they say.

Where and when did you begin working on music?

I began, like so many, on a bog standard Atari with basic Cubase in the mid 90's having DJ'd since about the age of 14. I had a friend who went to the Brits school in '94 and I used to go round to his 'studio' (Atari, Cubase, Controller, Sampler, and a sound module) pretty much every other day, and try and learn as much of him as possible. After numerous drug fuelled sessions and all nighters I soon found that I was ready to expand my own setup and began working on my own from home

Can you tell us what equipment and software you use.

I don't mind sharing some of the tools of my trade, after all, its how you use them eh. Software wise I wire Reason 2.5 (soon to be 3.0) in Cubase SX, and have an extensive library of instruments, refills, and effects for both. Externally I have a Yamaha CS1x Synth/Keyboard and I also use a friends setup for adding outboard sounds from the Nord Lead Synth, the Proteous, and a basestation, as well as using an external sampler at times.

What was the last piece of music that you listened to?

Im listening to Vince Watsons new album 'Sublimina' on Headspace, as I type.

If you could organise a live night, where you and five other chosen acts
would all be playing live, who would join you on the night?

1. Laurent Garnier
2. Kraftwerk
3. Carl Craig
4. Kenny Larkin
5. Andy Jaggers

What are your thoughts on file sharing over the internet? do you think it has a negative effect on you?

I don't get into it to be honest, I like to have the packaged product myself, but can see that it wont be too long before the internet controls most of the music industries sales, certainly for pop music. I don't think that buyers of my kind of music will generally look to download a dodgy mp3 from some shareware site (I could be wrong) but are more likely to want the real thing, and that's kind of a key reason, other than music, for signing with AI, as they are focused on the partnership between music and design.

If you were a robot, where would you work and what would your name be?

Id work for the government, being responsible for quality control in popular music. Id have the authority to permanently 'retire' people like Mr. Beddingfield (notice a pattern emerging) using any necessary force. My name would be 'Deckard'.

Any live dates in UK coming up?

Just got the ball rolling in terms of gigs. I am playing a live laptop set at Public Life on June 25th for the guys at Bleep 43, and am looking at doing a mini tour of part of the US sometime in August/September. I am new on the scene now, and with this being my second release to date I'm hoping to get out and play more now that people have a broader perception of what Im all about. Aside from that, I've been in the studio so long I'm only just spending time now with my records, and DJing again, so hoping that this year will be the start of things to come.

Which other artists / labels are you into?

3 labels I'm into at the moment are Headspace, Trust, and Touchin Bass. Headspace is releasing a lot of quality 12"s, and the future LP releases following Vince Watson's have got me pretty excited too. Trust I have come to know through the guys from Microthol, and along with Touchin Bass are producing my kind of electro.

What are your top 5 albums of all time? [any genre]

Im tempted to change this everytime its asked :

B12 - Electro Soma
Virgo - Virgo
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85 - 92
Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
Fingers Inc - Another Side

Which print / online magazines / newspages do you regularly read?

Got to be honest I haven't bought a magazine for years! I always just have a surf on the net to check out the usual suspects, such as your good self :

How would you describe your music in three words?

Emotive Electronic Soul………hows that?

How often do you work on your music?

Until fairly recently pretty much every day in one shape or form. I have found myself round at a friends, or out and about, when suddenly I realise I've been drifting off, thinking about something to do with my music, and more often than not I end up shooting home and switching on the gear. Following a recent health scare and the fact that I have my album out soon, I've felt the need to focus more on my performing and will leave the production alone for a little while (he says)

How does the your process for selecting the tracks you release work?

Well so far it's been a case of me sending a disc to AI and wait for Jason to have a good listen. I then do my own shortlist for what I think should go on the release and wait to see if the two lists match up. So far we've pretty much been of the same opinion, and I value the experience that AI bring to the table, so to be honest its been quite straight forward…so far ;)

If you had the power to go back in time and alter it somehow, what would you
do and why?

No way I can answer this one without getting too personal. Lets just say there's a lot of things I would change, a hell of a lot! If you want one specific general event then pick from the thousands of criminal cases where the victims are children. Id go back and kill each and every f***ker charged!



Big thanks to Jacen for answering the questions and Jason at Ai for hooking me up with this Q and A.
Jacen Solo - Virgo is released on Airecords 20th June 2005.