TALKING SHOP
Jennifer Touch|
JENNIFER TOUCH
Drawing influences from post-punk, electro pop and techno, Berlin’s Jennifer Touch is a vocalist and producer capable of bridging the gap between club music and classic songwriting. On her debut album – Behind The Wall, released this summer via Fatcat Records – she pulls together all these influences and more, to create an album held together by her ear for a great synth sound and skill at building tight electro grooves. We caught up with her to find out more.
When did you start making music?
“I started as a singer in bands, then one day a friend gave me Reason, and I started to create beats and some noises. That was my first experience in making electronic music. I changed to Logic soon after, but today I use Ableton only. For a while I just played around with plugins to get an idea of it and my first ‘gear’ was a MIDI controller, a Shure mic and a Scarlett Audio Interface, followed by a MicroKorg – the classic first synth. I loved this one! It was something I could afford and I was so happy to tweak some knobs and get more into shaping the sounds. Today the MicroKorg sounds aren’t my style anymore, but it gave me a lovely introduction into synths.
“I started with classic indie bands, also some Peaches-inspired electro punk, but I was always touched by Krautrock synth sounds, cold wave/ post punk noises and 808/909 beats. I also fell deeply in love with PJ Harvey and her songwriting. I’m more and more coming back to post punk and indie. I try to find my own sound in between all these influences.”
Tell us about your studio
“Three years ago I rented my first studio space in Berlin Marzahn. Before that I used to work at home in my bedroom studio but it wasn’t possible for me to express myself properly, so my vocals always were a bit shy and hazy.
“As soon as I got my studio I felt such a relief. It also changed my way of making music. I was always totally into hardware but never had a proper space for it, or enough money. Now I have a nice hardware setup and I record most parts of my songs and tracks via hardware and combine it with plugins.
“At the moment I work with a PolyKorg-800, a Korg DDD1 Drum machine, a Nord Rack 2x, a Juno-60, Arturia MicroBrute, Korg SQ1, some controllers, guitar, bass, some percussion elements and external delays and reverbs.
“At the Fat Cat studio I used the 909, 808, 303, a Moog Subsequent 37 and ARP Odyssey in addition to my own stuff to record my album.
“I also got the Boss Box to add nice overtones. We used that to mix my album at Devon Analogue Studio and I liked it so much that I bought myself one.
“For plugins I love the Emu Emulator Synth, Drumulator, the Jupiter-8 and D-50 VST. I record and compose with Ableton and the mixing is mostly done with internal plugins after recording. I just bought an Ozone 9 for basic mastering of single instruments, especially for my live setup. I´m looking for some rack modules like a preamp and EQ or a Channel strip, but the ones I want (Neve or Manley) are super dear.”
What one piece of gear in your studio could you not do without, and why?
“At the moment the Nord Lead because I still find everything I need in it, from bass sounds to bright noises. I always come back to my Emulator VST too, which has a vintage vibe that’s interesting to combine with the Nord sounds.
“And I love my tambourine, it brings a special natural vibe into electronic music and sounds.”
When approaching a new track or project, where do you start?
“Mostly I start with a synth sequence from a single synth, I never play more than one, I just concentrate on that sound. This is the heart of the song or track. Usually a bass voice. Then I’ll add drums and try to get the vibe. Then I try vocals or another synthesizer or a guitar to wrap a melody around it. Usually the vocals are the last part of the meal.
“Once the basic notes are established, I go into individual parts for structuring, do the actual songwriting and put things in place.”
“I love my tambourine, it brings a special natural vibe”
What are you currently working on?
“I’m working on my live set: replacing my laptop, adding new effect and synths and concentrating more on singing and playing lead synths. I don’t want to jump back and forth between controller and vocals and synths every second. I try to figure out how much space I need for myself to enjoy the performance.
“I’m also about to finish a track for a charity compilation that Orchid (booking agency) wants to release soon. And I’m thinking about my next album, even though my first has just been postponed. It’s a strange time, so I just plan from one day to the next. But I want to be prepared!”