Expressive and free
Newly signed to DJ Koze‘s label Pampa, the Irishman Mano Le Tough is ending a six-year release hiatus with his new album „At The Moment“. But there was a good reason for the long silence. And it helped the Swiss by choice to reinvent his musical identity, because the former sound somewhere between dance and electronica has been significantly expanded. We spoke to Mano about his latest production, musical tools and his secret love for the guitar.
Beat / Six years have passed since „Trails“. What did you do during that time?
Mano / Six years seems like a long time between records! The biggest thing that happened in the last few years is that we have two daughters now. So between adjusting to fatherhood and maintaining my DJ career „At The Moment“wouldn‘t have been possible earlier. I think I probably rushed the last album and I didn‘t want to make the same mistake again. I was much more patient making this record. „At The Moment“feels like a musical rebirth for me, I‘ve got renewed confidence in my art and my creative passion has come back to where it was when I made my first album.
Beat / How long did you actually work on „At The Moment“?
Mano / I started the process of making the record around four or five years ago, but the main body of the record was written in 2020. I spent quite a while finalizing and mixing the record, too. So it was probably a year to 18 months of solid work. I did also make a lot of other material that will probably be on the follow-up record, which prolonged the process a bit. When the music started to flow I didn‘t want to turn off the tap!
Beat / You produced the record in your home studio in Zurich. Has the environment influenced the music?
Mano / Yes I made the record at home in my studio on the outskirts of Zürich. I have always liked having my studio at home. The studio and creative process are kind of integral to my daily life. I have never really had much separation between my artistic work and my personal life. So obviously my home environment influences the music massively. Also, I think becoming a father and being at home with the little ones and the emotions associated with that totally influenced my new music.
Beat / Did you have a kind of sound vision before you started to write this album?
Mano / I didn‘t really have a preconceived idea of how I wanted the record to sound before I started working on it. I just wanted to go deep into my process and be authentic about the music I was making and the message I put across. The sound of the record is just a result of what I‘ve learned about making records over the years and of course the other artists that have inspired me.
Beat / Were there things you wanted to do different in the writing or recording process compared to “Trails” and “Changing Days”?
Mano / I think the process behind „Changing Days“and the current record are similar in some respects, as they were created in quite a free and expressive way. The main difference is that I am more experienced in music production and songwriting now than when I was making the earlier records. With „Trails“I kind of always had the end product and its reception in mind when I was making the record, much to its detriment. So I‘d say my motivations for making the new album were truer and closer to „Changing Days“. The recording for this record was quite different though as I used a lot more live instrumentation like guitar, bass and hardware synths this time. The earlier records were done much more in the box.
Beat / I have the impression that you take the greatest possible artistic freedom on „At The Moment“. Do you still see yourself belonging to a genre? Mano / One of the main rules I had for myself when making „At The Moment“was that I had to feel free mentally when making the record and not be too constrained by the arrangements and formulas of particular genres, in particular dance music. I like music that is kind of hard to pin down genre wise. So I didn‘t really want to make a record that was in one style. I understand why the press and people in the music scene want to categorize artists as being in a certain genre, but as an artist it’s not really helpful to label yourself.
Beat / Which music has inspired you these days? Mano / I guess having a break from the relentless touring and rave existence of the last decade meant that I didn‘t listen to much dancefloor music around the time I was making the record. I kind of dug back into my roots a bit, and I was listening to various indie and experimental stuff like Yves Tumor, the last Notwist album, which was ace, Grauzone, Whitest Boy Alive, Kev Sheridan, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, The Blue Nile, Sophie, Talk Talk, Bullion, Can, Pole, Leafar Legov, LCD Soundsystem (also the early DFA remixes), Alan Parsons Project, Toro Y Moi, Phil Collins or Neil Young.
Beat / Your music sounds rather spontaneous. How much perfectionism was there in the studio?
Mano / Not that much really. I learned to keep things raw and wabi-sabi. It is too easy these days for me to sculpt and eq sound into oblivion. So I try to avoid that. The first sound picture is often the best. You have to trust your instincts. I think I kind of learned that from Koze a bit actually.
Beat / You mentioned in another interview Koze gave you a lot of encouragement, especially on the vocal tracks. What was his influence like in detail? Mano / I think he just encouraged me to be more like myself, to accept the kind of vulnerability and imperfection in my voice and just go with it. It is always good to have encouragement and feedback from someone who knows their onions.
Beat / How did you record the vocals? Was it a long process with lots of trial and error?
Mano / I recorded most of the vocals though the Neumann U67 into a Neve clone preamp into LA2A or 1176 on the UAD Apollo. Weirdly, a lot of the vocals I used ended up being the first takes. Mostly whenever I went back to re-record vocals it was hard to recreate the right vibe. It goes back to the rawness and the imperfections. On „Empty Room“I must have re-recorded the vocal about 20 times, but had to go back to the first take. It was quite often like that on the record.
Beat / In songs like „Pompeii“you use Autotune and vocoder effects for the voice. How did you create these?
Mano / I used various methods. I think on that track the vocal is using Google speech to text, then with Soundtoys’ Little Alter Boy and Autotune. In general on the record there is a bit of Vocoder, Ableton Max for live harmonic tools and lots of Autotune and Soundtoys’ Little Alter Boy.
Beat / How did your songwriting and production setup look like?
Mano / Sometimes I‘d write ideas for songs at the piano in the kitchen or on the guitar and then transport the ideas into the studio, recording the chord progressions and sounds with the synths etc. I often get lyric ideas when I‘m doing non-music things, like taking a shower or while going to sleep. So I try and write those down. A lot of the songs also come from spontaneous experimentation in the studio. I like the idea of playing in the studio. It shouldn‘t be too regulated or premeditated.
Beat / Were there any instruments, plugins or other devices that shaped the sound of the album? Mano / Yeah loads of actually. Some are old favorites like the Moog Voyager, Roland Jupiter 8, Vermona DRM II or Nord Drum 2. I got a Korg Trident MKII during the recording process. So that‘s on the record a lot as is Superior Drummer 3. I recorded the vocals with my Neumann U67 and I also used the UAD, Soundtoys, Valhalla and Voxengo plugins all over the record.
Beat / You also use a lot of guitars this. What can you say about your relationship with this instrument?
Mano / I actually come from guitar music. I spent my teens playing in covers bands and writing terrible indie songs. I love the guitar, I can express myself with it on a very intuitive and subconscious level. I kind of neglected it for years when I was djing a lot, but started playing again in the last few years. It‘s often more natural for me to write lead lines and melodies on the guitar than on keys. I kind of know where the notes are going to be. So I can let it flow.
Beat / In addition, there are some experimental parts on the album. Can you tell us a bit about the techniques you used to “deconstruct” the music? Mano / Maybe this is linked to the remixing I‘ve done in the past. The very nature of remixing is deconstructing arrangements and shaping them into new forms. It‘s quite natural for me to do this with my own tunes. I think I just do it on an intuitive level when I feel like the tune needs to be more dynamic or weird. As for how I do it, I am not sure really. It‘s just an ingrained part of my process.
Beat / What about harmonies? Some parts sound strange on purpose. Are you trying to make the music sound fresh by breaking certain rules?
Mano / I‘ve always liked the juxtaposition of the harmonic and disharmonic. I‘m also attracted to sounds that jump out of the mix - small elements that are reminiscent of musique concrete, but which throw into relief the harmonic resolution of the other melodic elements. It‘s like adding the randomness of real life into the sound picture. There‘s also a lot of harmonic distortion on the record that links back to my musical youth in the 90s, when distortion was just an accepted fact in alternative music.
Beat / A quote from you from the info text is „Everything I‘ve done - anything that I thought had any kind of artistic value - came from struggles I‘ve had in my life“. Was the production of „At The Moment“also a struggle?
Mano / Not really. It was more an oasis of creative positivity in the really weird (Covid) times. The struggle or crisis was external, the music making was mostly therapeutic. Finishing the record was a bit of a struggle, but more just because the mixing and final arranging was a lot of work, but it was also pretty enjoyable.
Beat / Does the album title say that this album is a snapshot of your life as it is today?
Mano / It‘s kind of about being stuck in a moment in time without the ability to make plans - a metaphor for the Covid times. It’s also about accepting the current moment or situation, being ok with the now.
Beat / Is there any other central theme on the album?
Mano / A lot of the music I‘ve made is about change, but this one is also about stasis, acceptance, fatherhood, the internet or separation. It’s like an amalgamation of all the emotions I had when making the record during an intense period of external and internal pressure and stress.
Beat / What’s on your schedule for the next months?
Mano / I‘ve started to tour again recently, which has been so incredibly inspiring. It’s so nice to be playing cool shows and seeing my international friends. Apart from that I‘m going to release some 12inches of dance tunes I’ve been working on, and I am starting to work on the next record. I don‘t want to have such a long gap between my albums again!