RS: Do you find it harder to work with male vocals than female vocals?
Hybrid: No, not really, I find it easier to start a good male vocal
than I can a female vocal, probably just because it contains the stuff
that I like to listen to.
RS: At one time you worked with the Seattle Orchestra. When you
work with an orchestra, do you write the parts or how does the music
get translated for them to play?
Hybrid: Well, basically, me and Mike have got string libraries that
you can buy from all these companies who sell them on TV. They're
really orchestras but they're kind of replayed and they're
synthesized. We use those to build a track and make the building
blocks of something, and basically it's almost a completely finished
track. I mean we could release it with those strings on it, but it
doesn't sound as good. So what we do is then we hand it over to
Harry, who helps us score, orchestrate, and record the live session.
So we used him and basically he makes it work for an orchestra, with
all the notations. We can write strings but we can't write music down
onto paper, certainly not for an entire orchestra. So we always had
help with that side of it, getting it down onto paper, orchestrating
it, and taking it somewhere and recording it.
RS: How was working with the Seattle Orchestra different than
working with the Moscow Orchestra on your last album?
Hybrid: Well the Seattle Orchestra were just more professional, I
mean all these guys are actually players from a ministry, so they've
all moved to Seattle. The quality of the instruments is better and
the players might be equally as talented but the recording equipment,
the quality of the instruments and the general professionalism behind
them is a lot better than the Russians. I mean the eighty-five
players that we used on the first album, it might sound impressive but
I don't think it sounds as impressive as the Seattle Orchestra, even
though the Seattle Orchestra was like thirty-nine players.
RS: I'm also getting from the CD a real industrial feel, are you
a fan of industrial music?
Hybrid: No, not really, we just like those sorts of sounds. I mean
it's not really music, I mean we've got techno collections, along with
drum and bass and breaks from the house and everything. So we've been
into a lot of different music over the years. But in fact, not that
we're fond of industrial, but we just like those sorts of sounds,
those futuristic sorts of sounds.
RS: I don't want to say it's like retro or electro or new
romantic like the trendy sounds are but I'm getting an old school
Depeche Mode vibe on tracks like "Hooligan Spirit" especially.
Hybrid: Yes. Joy Division, New Order, and Depeche Mode were big
influences on us years and years ago, so that's probably always been
inherent in us somewhere. So it's just shining on this album a little
bit more, I think.
RS: Very cool. When you're working on your music, are you using
Logic or ProTools, what software do you use?
Hybrid: We use Logic and we use Reactor for all the sound design,
because the sound design is a bit part of what we do. So basically we
record strings, vocal, two guitarists and maybe a drummer for one
track. Petty much all of that will be put through Reactor just to make
an effect to put under the original instrument or maybe to replace it.
RS: And are you using any outboard gear or are you all inside
the computer now?
Hybrid: We've got tons of outboard but we don't use it anymore to be
honest, it's all inside the G5 and a laptop.
RS: What's in your iPod right now, what are you listening to
when you're on the road?
Hybrid: What am I listening to right now? Thom Yorke's new album,
The Eraser, James Lovell's UNKLE album, and Muse's album. I mean we
make film music, we make electronic music a lot, but I tend to listen
to breaks and stuff that I want to make, probably for that reason that
I make it.
RS: In your DJ sets, what are your biggest tracks right now,
what are you playing out a lot?
Hybrid: Let's have a think. There's some Elite Force stuff which is
really nice, there's loads of stuff. There's a guy called Steven
Anion and we're playing a lot of his stuff. There's a load of stuff
on Slave Recordings, which is Steven Mires's label, and we've always
played a lot of that. That's the main thing at the moment, and lots
and lots of Hybrid records.
RS: I live Steven Anion, he did a really great job on that Tears
For Fears "Mad World" cover a few years back.
Hybrid: Oh yes, we like that track as well.
RS: This is an interesting question, whenever I talk to breaks
people they always talk about this big rivalry between the UK and
Miami as to who runs the scene. Do you have any take on that?
Hybrid: Not really, I think they're two completely different musical
scenes. Miami is more Miami bass which is very inherent in Miami, it's
their sound. Whereas new school or UK breaks is a completely
different idea. To me they're completely different, it's completely
different music. I can see the similarities but I think actually
they're both very different.
RS: Anything you want to say to all your fans out there?
Hybrid: Look out for the remixes that are coming from the album,
there's like twelve remixes coming from I Choose Noise and some of
them are awesome. We've already got some so they're being releases
soonish.
RS: Can you tell us who they are?
Hybrid: There's the Four Future Funk Squad, James Lovell, UNKLE,
Snip Warren, Dave Seaman. There's quite lot of people. So there's a
load. Also, I want to say thanks to all of the fans. Thank you for
supporting us, and supporting us if you want to hear something new and
different.
