We’re really excited for our upcoming show happening on the 23rd, and we’ve been asking the performers some questions in the days leading up to the event. We’ve got one of our headliners, Com Truise, himself, to answer some of our prying questions, and we learn about his life before his music career, his music influences, and much more.
Check out what he has to say below, and if you’re in London, make sure to come out to grab a ticket here.
Hey Seth, good to be catching up with you. Can you begin by telling us a little bit about your work as an art director before getting into music? What were your creative inspirations at this point?
I worked in pharmaceutical advertising as an art director for five years before my music career took off. I think at that point I was very inspired by structure, by deadlines, and influenced by being visually creative a majority of the day. I would go home and the music would almost just pour out of me. I miss it from time to time.
You moved into music as a Drum n Bass DJ. What inspired you to start creating music?
I think it was just logical progression. I just wanted to try to create my own tracks to DJ alongside my favorites.
You cite ambient music as a big influence. Was any of this inspired by Ambient DnB or Liquid DnB acts?
Not so much, it was really when I heard Boards of Canada. It was a major turning point in my musical journey. The drum and bass I was into wasn’t heavily focused on melody. Soon after I pretty much gave up writing drum and bass and started down the ambient/down-tempo path with my various early projects (Airliner, Sarin Sunday). It might show through in some of my music but I wouldn’t say I directly pull influence from it these days. I have recently started listening to some of the old stuff I really enjoyed and I’ve grown to miss it. I always think about sitting down and just doing a drum and bass track, so maybe in the future I’ll give it a go.
What are your top 5 albums of all time?
Boards Of Canada – Music Has The Right To Children
Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
Aphex Twin – Richard D. James
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
What are your top 5 films of all time?
Blade Runner
Videodrome
The Godfather: Pt. 2
THX 1138
They Live
You moved onto music production using Reason. What do you feel the pros and cons are of using this programme?
As far as pros, I’m just comfortable using it. I have been for about 13 years. There really aren’t any cons for me at this point. They finally incorporated timeline audio editing, and maybe its a little rudimentary but they’re always updating. But I have almost always used Reason in conjunction with another DAW.
Are you using Reason live on stage as well or other software for the live shows?
I don’t use Reason live, I use Ableton for the live shows.
What was the first piece of outboard gear that you bought and how does it compare to your current studio set up?
It was the Eventide H3500 DFX, I pretty much run every synth through this unit. It’s by far my favorite effects unit. I’m still building my outboard gear setup, some stuff is pretty hard to find.
Are there any new synthesizers that you have your eye on?
At the moment, I think I need to pump the brakes and really focus and push the synths I do have. I have so many and I think I’m happy with the type of records I could create using what I have. That said, I’ll always be building my Eurorack setups, always room for that stuff!
Do you ever record your music using reel-to-reel tape machines?
I used to, I had to part with my reel to reel a few years ago, I broke and really wasn’t worth fixing, it was a bit too old. I think after the next set of tours and I finally move back into the countryside, I will being to record to tape again. I truly miss it.
And finally if there was an artist you could collaborate with, dead or alive, who would that be?
I would really like to collaborate with David Frank of The System. I think it’d be amazing to get down on some Oberheim funk with him.
Thanks for the chat Com Truise!
