Klute loops
: How does a Klute track come together, in general terms?
TW: “I pretty much start from scratch every time. It’s literally a matter of turning on the computer and looking at a blank page, which sometimes I find like a brick wall – loading up a blank Cubase project can be completely uninspiring, and sometimes it can be really inspiring. Generally, what gets me going is a folder of fresh samples. It’s not even having a sample that’s going to be usable, it’s just having something to explore – it gets me going and starts my exploration, which I suppose is the main thing for me, that I feel like I’m exploring.
“I’ll generally record some snippets from records, put them in the computer, and then either load them as audio data straight into Cubase, or stick them in Serato Sample, which is something I’ve started using for the last couple of years. It’s something that’s always been there in stuff like Ableton, but because it’s got that Serato algorithm, it’s really got a much better sound to it. Plus, you can be messy with it and it comes up with some crazy random results, changing the pitch or transposing, and timestretching or time compressing. It’s basically like a live ReCycle, as a VST. And I find that a really inspiring thing.
“I know a lot of people work from templates, or they’ll have extremely well organised libraries, so they’re literally throwing their own presets into things and can work quite quickly; but although it’s not directly from GarageBand, it feels like that culture where you’re just throwing arrangement clips in and seeing how they all fit together. It’s a different way of working. I try and start with a blank canvas, which can be really frustrating, and sometimes really rewarding.”
: What advice would you give to the novice producer?
“I remember when I first started doing things on the Atari, sitting there, wishing somebody would just show me what to do. Of course, in this day and age, you’ve got YouTube – it’s literally all there, and someone is willing to tell you about it. In some ways, it’s a shame, because people end up thinking that you have to do it that way. I’m all about telling people that there is no right or wrong way to do it – learn how to do it your way, and then you’ll end up with your individual voice.
“My advice is probably a bit boring: just learn how to express your individuality, because ultimately, in the long view, that’s what’s going to serve you better than trying to take a short cut and copy things, and have short-term success. For me, it’s about learning how to bring ‘you’ out in the music, and it’s about communicating rhythms and melodies. It’s about conveying personality to the audience.”
As a label owner, what do you look for in new music from other artists for potential release?
“I just listen out for something that captures my imagination. I’ll initially flick around a track – generally it’ll be a private Soundcloud link – to get a general feeling of what it is. You can tell pretty quickly if it’s going to be very generic.
“And then, if it turns out that it isn’t, I’ll listen in a much more in depth way and hear what’s going on, seeing how the rhythms are and what they’re doing. And then, if it passes all those tests, I’ll give it a proper listen, looking for drama in the way that things are arranged.
“My primary concern is the amount of generic stuff… the amount of stuff that’s just ‘OK’. It becomes really difficult to recognise good stuff out of tons of OK music, because OK music’s kind of bland – when the volume’s up you sort of don’t actually know if it’s any good or not.
“It comes back to what I was saying about conveying your character and giving it that sense of individuality, because with sample packs and the like, people can literally piece things together without moving a fader and make a presentable tune. It’s not hard to do that.
“What’s hard is to convey emotions and humility through it, and I’m not sure if that’s particularly high up on people’s radar at the moment, but it should be. It’s about bringing your personality out in your music, not just on your Instagram or whatever, which is what people tend to do these days – they try and convey their personalities through Instagram as opposed to conveying it through their music. ”
“I like having something to explore. The main thing is that I feel like I’m exploring”