Ahoy sailors! We’ve got Alex Metric on board!
British musician, DJ and producer Alex Metric has released numerous EPs and is known for his remixes of artists such as Depeche Mode, La Roux, Gorillaz, Phoenix, Ellie Goulding and Bloc Party as well as working as a producer for acts such as The Infadels, Charli XCX and Adam Freeland. Given that he has a plethora of productions and remixes under his belt, Metric’s creativity is as vivid as his bubbly personality.
Metric is the guy who can make cool synth-pop, disco house, electro, or progressive and determine what is the right sound for the song as well as what he is feeling. This British bloke who played at Future Music Festival Asia in 2012 will now be cruising on It’s The Ship this November. Thanks to our good friends from Livescape Asia, we caught up with Alex Metric to find out what he’s been up to since the last time he was on this side of the world.
Hi Alex! How’s it going? Where are you right now and what are you currently up to?
Hi! Good, thanks. How are you? Haha I am in the studio right now, trying to finish off some new music before I head off on tour. I’m about to go away for 5 weeks, so just trying to finish up some work.
I’m good, thanks. So, we last saw you at FMFA 2012 in Sepang, Malaysia. What have you been up to since then?
Oh wow, that’s a really long time. What have I been doing? I’ve been touring the world relentlessly, I’ve done three EPs since then on Owsla, collaborations with Jacques Lu Cont as a single, my new single “Heart Weighs A Ton”, a lot of remixes, I don’t know haha. It’s been a blur and I’ve done a lot in the past few years.
Despite your music being categorised as something of the dance music genre, you’ve got a unique indie-sounding thing going on. Is it hard for you to stick to that kind of sound in the changing times?
Erm…Well I don’t think that’s like the defining thing about my sound. I think my sound does sort of change and adapt as the years go on but that’s always an undercurrent and an element of my love for songs and the indie side of things but that’s not the main aspect to my music. It’s certainly always going to be an element that’s there and my music just evolves, I mean I don’t ever want my music to evolve with what’s going on around me, with what interests me, and with what keeps me entertained. I’ll never chase a new sound that’s out at the moment but my sound just naturally evolves as I try to keep myself interesting.
Having said that, you’re pretty popular for your bootlegs. What are the 5 bootlegs that you’d really want to work on but haven’t had the ways or means to, or time to yet?
Hah! If I give away 5 really good ideas for bootlegs right now, then everyone else would do them. Haha. I’ve been thinking of doing a couple of bootlegs recently and I kind of want to do “Out Of Time” by Blur. I also kind of want to do one of “Brand New” the new single by Justin Timberlake and Pharrell which is on the new Pharrell album. That’s all I can share for now because 5, that’s just too many good ideas. Haha.
What are you working on right now? More collabs/originals? Also, please tell us if you would consider singing on your new originals anytime soon because we hear that you used to sing in a band!
I’ve just finished a remix for Madeon and yeah, I’m just finishing off my next EP. Just some solo stuff at the moment and then hopefully get into the studio to do some new Alexanders material which is a project I have with Yuksek. Yeah, I’m hoping to get a new EP out before the end of the year. As for singing, yeah I used to sing on my Alex Metric records as well. Do you know what? For the first time in almost 3 years, I did write a song and start singing on something the other day and I really enjoyed it so I just might start doing it a lot more again.
How different is your gig at It’s The Ship going to be as compared to the set you’d usually play as festivals? Perhaps you’re planning your set for a more intimate show?
I have absolutely no idea. Haha. I don’t have a stock festival set where I turn up and play the same records every festival. I’ll feel it out as to how many people are there and what the settings are like. Honestly, I can’t tell you what it’s going to sound like until I step foot on that stage and have a look at what’s going on. I’ll just try and go with the vibe on the day, you know? I think it’s the best way to do things because you can turn up with a preplanned set and have the most inappropriate music for the set that you’re doing and then what do you do? Spend an hour annoying people who are wishing you got off stage? Haha. I just prefer to feel it out and see what happens, which is what I’m going to be doing for It’s The Ship.
We saw your response to the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll results & we just have to ask, what do you personally think of it? Is it still relevant or has the poll become nothing but a popularity contest?
It’s not even a popularity contest that is…I mean yeah, it is a popularity contest to a certain extent but it’s not a popularity contest that even acquaints to the most popular DJs in some aspects. There was somebody who had 3,000 followers on Twitter who was higher than Eric Prydz on the poll. It just shows how flawed it is and what it has actually become is who’s best at buying votes online. You know, for people like Disclosure, who are some of the biggest producers/DJs in the world right now and for them to not be in the Top 100 despite them selling millions of records is just bizarre. It’s a snapshot of a very particular scene and a very particular sound and I don’t think it’s a representative of DJ-ing as a whole. Then again, do we need a list to say who the best DJs are? Surely people can just make their own minds up and enjoy the music they want to enjoy.
And on that note, if you could pick your own DJ Mag Top 5, who would you pick & why?
Erm…I would go for…Wow, tough question. Okay, I would go for James Murphy, Maceo Plex, Chemical Brothers…Who else? James Holden, well actually the Chemical Brothers are two so that’s 5, there you go! Haha.
Lastly, leave a message for all your Malaysian fans!
I look forward to seeing you all very soon and hopefully see you guys on It’s The Ship!
And we’re done! Thank you so much for taking the time out to chat with us Alex.
Awesome, thank you and see you guys soon!
Till then, we leave you with Alex Metric’s latest track “Heart Weighs A Ton”. Enjoy:
Special thanks to our friends from Livescape Asia for making this interview happen for us!
For more on Alex Metric follow him on these portals: Website, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
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