Example: When did you start producing?

Starkey:  I started doing electronic music about 10 years ago now.  I started off doing some backing tracks for the band I was in at the time, plus I was studying production in College.  I was also doing some of my own music at the time, just kind of learning how to work with synths and signal processing.

Example:  What sort of stuff were you producing before you started making dub step?

Starkey :  My music has always come from the same direction.  If you listen to the first tracks I made, then compare them with something like "Less Than Paper", my first release ever, and a track like "Alienstyles" from the new album, you'll hear the same foundations.

Example: who would you say has influenced your sound?   

Starkey:  Everything influences my sound... even things I dislike.  But the most influential stuff was probably the first records that I really remember enjoying when I was a kid.... "Thriller", "The White Album" and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".  Then I'd say people like Bjork, Tricky, Portishead, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Venetian Snares....... then Dizzee Rascal and the whole grime movement in the early part of this decade.  Those were the most influential things in developing my sound.

Example:  how would you describe your sound?  

Starkey:  Epic spaceman street bass anthems

Example:  how would you say your new album differs from the last?

Starkey :  This one has lots of original vocals.  Plus musically it's just the next progression in my sound.  It was written as an album from start to finish... unlike the first album which works as a cohesive listen, but was pieced together from tracks that I had written over that past year or so.

Example: What else can we expect from you in 2010?

Starkey:  Not quite sure yet..... definitely lots of remixes to start.  Then I'm thinking about doing a release on Seclusiasis.  There will probably be something on Civil Music as well.

Example:  What producers are you listening to at the moment?

Starkey:Lots.  Music is so good right now.  Here's just a few..... Slugabed, Eprom, DNAEBEATS, Kaiser, SDUK, BD1982, Numan, NastyNasty, Swindle, Terror Danjah, Bok Bok.  Really, there are too many to mention here.

Example:  What is the dub step scene like in the USA?

Starkey:  Dubstep is definitely one of the buzz words in underground music in the US right now.  People's approach to the music is so different across the country though, because it's such a big place with people coming from all angles.  There are people doing things in the US who people across the globe have no clue about.  There's different scenes that have embraced the sound.

Example: What do you think of the manchester music scene?

Starkey :  Yeah it seems pretty cool.  There's a rich history there..... dating back to even people like Hermit's Hermits and the Hollies in the 60's.  Then of course Joy Division and all that.  I haven't spent too much time there, so I can't really say I know that much about the place.  But Hit & Run has been a good time both times I have played that party.

Example:  where do you see the genre going in the next few years?

Starkey: Just expanding and branching out farther.  People will continue to push in their own direction until new "genres" are formed.  That's what happens to all music.

Example : do you like Marmite?

Starkey:  I don't think so.  But to be fair.... I haven't really given it much of a chance.  It sounds gross.

Example: What tune can't you live without?

Starkey: The Beatles "I'm Only Sleeping".... it's my favourite song of all time.

Example: A lot of your songs are themed around space, any particular reason why?

Starkey:  Yeah… I'm obsessed with sci-fi movies and the idea of space, traveling through space, living in space.... all that.  I think it's really interesting to think about the future and what may be possible with technology.

 

 

http://www.starkey-music.com/