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THE HIMI MAG #12 DECEMBER 2010 SWRMXS SPECIAL EDITION v2
Citation preview
SUMMARY
0.0.2INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN
RUSSOM
0.0.3INTERVIEW WITH DIAMOND
CUT
0.0.4 INTERVIEW WITH oOoOO
0.0.5INTERVIEW WITH MORGAN
PAGE
After Screamworks “Love In Theory And Practice Chapters 1-13”, HIM give us their new gem: SWRMXS.SWRMXS is the first remix album in the history of HIM. a very important step that enables HIM to explore in a deeper way their music. You may can call it “the Screamworks trilogy”, the studio album, the acoustic album "Baudelaire in Braille," and finally SWRMXS to close in a perfect way this year. A year in which HIM gave to the fans everything they could give, and in the best possible way!
This month Himi interviewed some
of the great artists whocollaborated on SWRMXS: Gavin Russom, oOoOo, Diamond Cut and Morgan Page.What are you waiting for? Flip through the pages and explore the heart of SWRMXS!
SWRMXS is available on heartagram.com in the bundle pack version or in the normal version:http://www.heartagram.com/splash/
Enjoy your reading!
0.0.2
Interview with:
GAVIN RUSSOM
You have been making
and unmaking synths
since a young age
while searching the
unity between man,
machine, and art, you
basically build your
own tools, effects and
sounds...
How everything
started?
I was always
interested in creating
sounds for music. I
studied both musical
composition and
sculpture and I
became interested in a
way of combining the
two processes. I built
many acoustic
instruments to try to
achieve this but when
I discovered analog
synthesizers they
were obviously the
way forward. I
learned the basics
and began to create
instruments and
instrumental systems
to create the music I
wanted to hear.
How was to work on
the HIM's song Ode To
Solitude for making
the remix?
It was a very
interesting process.
There was a lot of
material to work with
and I really ended up
creating a new track
which was especially
inspired by the intro
of the original HIM
song.
How everything
started?
I suspect the band was aware of my music and
remixes and was curious what I would
do with one of their
tracks.
Surely, the fact that you use your own
instruments, is important for the
final result, but what they have in addiction
respect the other ones, which is the
basic advantage?
I think creating instruments and
understanding electronics on a very
basic level allows me to approach making
music in a very physical way. I use a
lot of commercial instruments as well,
and I think knowing them inside and out
gets me to use them in a very deep way, and in
unusual combinations.
Do you usually
prefer, during a song remix, to maintain the
main idea, the main structure of the
track, or you like to rebuilt it,
highlighting the other potentiality
that the song itself offers?
I like to maintain
something of the
original, but to take
it to a really
different place, so
that someone
listening would
instantly know the
original, but be
surprised by the remix
as well.
Ode To solitude is surely the heaviest
song on the album, what we have to
expect from your remix?
I tried to find an
equal heaviness, but through a very
different channel. And especially to
highlight the dark mood of this song,
even to increase it. You can also see in
the track listing that it's quite long.
www.myspace.com/
gavinrussom
www.gavinrussom.c
om/
0.0.3
Interview with:
DIAMOND CUT
How your Diamond
Cutting Room project
started?
I really wanted to
start a project that
represented what I
love about great
electronic music:
emotion, clarity,
power, intensity. So I
started with the
Diamond Cutting
Room & started
referring to my
remixes as "Diamond
Cut" which I thought
sounded cool &
reflected the
precision I like to put
into my work. It's
built into a nice
mysterious project
where no-one really
knows who I am or
much about me! I like
that mystery.
Tell us your setup.
My studio set up is a
mixture of the old
world and the new
world. I have a whole
bunch of great
vintage synths, and a
couple of new ones,
which form some of
the backbone of my
sound, and I also use
Logic and Pro Tools a
lot. But I've also done
several remixes on my
laptop in hotel
rooms, mixing on iPod
headphones! Maybe
the
result isn't as precise
but I think the paints
& brushes are less
important than the
picture you're trying
to paint.
You have a bright crystal style, like a
diamond, with some 80's influences that
fits with the happy mood in the HIM's SW
album (i mean the music, what we have to
expect from your part?
Thank you, that's a great response to the
remix! I really loved the SW album because
it has a lot of production values
that I relate to & love. It was easy to find
things to grab onto for inspiration. I love
the 80's aesthetic but I try not to get too
stuck in reproducing that sound too much.
I use some of the vocabulary but I try
to speak my own language! I always try
to maintain my own individual style & I'm
going to continue down that path. I
think it's crucial in electronic music to
have a unique touch!
How did you started working on the
"Scared To Death" track, did you worked
together with the band or on your own?
Ville approached me
saying he'd heard some things that I'd
done & thought we had some
common ground...
turns out we love a
lot of the same music!
So I created my remix
after talking with
him a lot about music.
And I was really glad
that the band liked it
enough to include it
on their release.
What is the main
difference (in the approach) between
remixing a rock track and a pop track?
The main difference
between remixing a rock track & a pop
track is usually the vocals. Rock vocals
tend to be a bit more aggressive & leave
lots of room to build intensity. Pop tracks
hopefully have vocals that are great for
melody & mood. But often in pop tracks
there will be instrumental parts
which you can grab & build from, whereas
usually with a rock band it's easier to
start with vocals, or a segment of vocals.
It really depends on the track! The great
thing about Scared To Death was that it
had some great instrumental parts
which I was able to use and build from, as
well as a great vocal to work with.
www.myspace.com/
thediamondcuttin
groom
0.0.4
Interview with:
oOoOO
You are an artist
that try to escape
from the
biographical details
(your name oOoOO is
an example right?) to
focus in a very
original way on the
final work, the music.
How everything
started?
I started out making
remixes and moved
on to original tunes.
oOoOO isn't even
really a name, its the
absence of one. I just
wanted to be an
anonymous
producer. I'm
definitely more
interested in people
hearing the songs
than hearing about
me.
You remixed "Shatter
Me With Hope" for
the SWRMXS album: a
mythological,
enigmatic and
melodic track that
fits very well with
your latest work "CD-
R": dark, misterious
and elusive, how was
to combine the two
styles?
I'd never really
remixed a song based
around guitars
before, and the
original is pretty
fast, so I slowed it
down and added a
lot of synths. But
yeah, the song is
kind of dark, and I
enjoy working with
tracks like that. I
tried to make it even
darker, I guess.
How was working on
that song and with the band? Did Ville
gave you some specific guidelines for the
song or not?
No, I was pretty much told to do whatever
I wanted to, which is cool. Ville seems
cool.
Your music style is original, haunted,
gothic... But i'm wondering... Which
are your main inspirations?
A lot of other music,
especially pop, but film and
photography are important to me, too.
i like to make music that feels like a lot
of my favorite photographs feel to
me.
http://www.myspace.com/
wkwkwkwkwkwkwkwk
0.0.5
Interview with:
Morgan Page
Morgan PageAcclaimed Producer, Remixer, and DJ; Morgan Page is one of the brightest stars in US Electronic music. Page has built a loyal following from his string of club hits including The Longest Road, Fight For You, and his latest single, I’ve Had Friends. As a remixer, his recent productions include tracks for Adam Lambert, La Roux, Madonna, Katy Perry – and most recently HIM. His style merges punchy House beats with strong melodies and song structure that connects resoundingly with dance music veterans and newcomers alike.
You remixed Nelly
Furtado, Katy Perry,
Madonna but also Korn
and Coldplay, how it's
the way of approach a
song? And the original
genre of a song
influence you and the
final result?
I always start by
focusing on the vocal -
I take the acapella, drop
it over
a beat, and start
working on the
syncopation and then
the chord progression.
The arpeggios and other
leads follow after that.
I try to work quickly,
and make music without
over thinking it.. you
have to trust your gut,
in order to get your best work.
Your latest album
"Believe" fits perfectly, in my opinion, with the
directions and the intentions of the latest
HIM's work, even if the two genres are really
different, but what genres do you prefer to
remix?
I like to remix anything that has a strong vocal
and a good song to begin with.. once you
have that foundation, you can do anything
with it.. I find it very difficult to remix
instrumental songs.
Music Piracy is affecting every artist in the
"Internet" era, also HIM, now sell like 10.000 copies
is like to sell 100.000 copies in the '80, and is
also frustrating for an artist touring the whole
world, with tons of sold-out gigs, even if the
album, that took so much work, didn't sell
so good. According to you, there is a solution
for that?
The biggest problem is over-saturation - there's
just so many bands and DJs, and there's only so
many channels for them to reach people. You
have to find new ways to stand out.
You have to make music
that excites people and
makes them want to
Shazam it, ask what the
DJ is playing, and track
the record down. The
record business is done,
but the music business
will continue to thrive.
Talking about the HIM's remix on their upcoming
album SWRMXS, how did the idea born and how
everything was developed?
HIM wanted a club
remix, and I had done some work for Warner
Bros in the past - remixing Madonna, so
they sent me all the parts - and I took the
vocal and just made a club mix that I would
play live.
all the HIM's fans are
waiting for buying the album, we didn't hear
anything, but we are super-excited of this
much needed work and important step for every
rock band, even if HIM are making remix since
1997. What we have to expect from your part?
I'm excited to hear all
the remixes.. I heard that Tiesto did one as
well. I hope everyone enjoys my mix! :)
www.morgan-
page.com
www.myspace.com/
morganpage
0.0.6
DISCLAIMER
All photos are not of HIMI
properties. We used them to
informative and visual
aims. These images are
not been published for
profit and commercial
purposes , and
belong to their respective
owners.
This issue, like all numbers
of “The HIMI Mag”, is 100%
free and printable.
this is not a journal
because it is updated with
no periodicity. It can not be
therefore considered an
editorial product under
the Law 62, 7.03.2001.
CREATIVE COMMONS
Creative Commons Attribution
Not Derivative Works 2.5 Italy
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I’m a monster, but
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