By day, most people know Davey Havok and Jade Puget as members of the wildly popular Californian rock act AFI. You can imagine how surprised, then, fans and critics alike were when the duo released a completely electronic album and single in 2007 under the name Blaqk Audio. Although AFI had flirted with electronic instrumentation in recent years, few would've expected the unapologetically fully-electronic dance tracks Havok and Puget unleashed on the single "Stiff Kittens
and the "Cexcells
" album that followed (both on Interscope Records). As the world awaits that album's follow-up, I spoke with Jade Puget about Blaqk Audio and the process behind it...WAVEFORMLESS: Blaqk Audio obviously sounds quite a bit different from AFI. What prompted you and Davey to start it and how did it come about?
BLAQK AUDIO: Davey and I both developed a love for electronic music fairly young. In the 80's, when I was around 13, we listened to a ton of punk and hardcore but I was really drawn to some of the industrial music that was coming out then because it had the same aggression and intensity as the hardcore punk I was into, stuff like Nitzer Ebb, Laibach, Skinny Puppy, Einsturzende Neubauten, Front 242, KMFDM,and Ministry. At the same time, though, I was a big fan of New Order and Depeche Mode, I appreciated the melodic side of electronic music that was happening. The love of electronic music continued for both of us and about 7 years ago I finally started getting into programming my own and approached Davey with the idea to start an all-electronic project where any type of "real" instrument would be anathema and any of the genres we loved would be fair game.
WAVEFORMLESS: What's been the reaction of AFI fans to the different sound?
BLAQK AUDIO: Amazingly positive. They understand that this is something completely removed from what AFI is and they appreciate it for that. At the same time, I have kids telling me all the time that it sort of opened their eyes to the existence of this whole amazing side of music that they might have otherwise not explored. I think it's often the case that if you've never been exposed to electronic music you might have the tendency to assume you just wouldn't like it, but there's just so many great things happening in these genres.
WAVEFORMLESS: How does the process of creating a song for Blaqk Audio differ from creating one for AFI?
BLAQK AUDIO: Markedly different. I do all the programming, write all the music, and then send it to Davey and he writes the melody and lyrics. In AFI, Davey and I do much of the work in the same room together, but the way BA songs come together is exciting because everything the other person writes is a total surprise, I never know what he's cooking up and vice-versa.
WAVEFORMLESS: Between both bands and all the touring you do, it must be tough sometimes to constantly be coming up with new ideas. How do you keep the creative juices flowing so you don't hit a wall?
BLAQK AUDIO: Luckily the one thing I've never suffered from is lack of ideas, I'm constantly writing a ton of material, both on the AFI side and the Blaqk Audio side. Quantity doesn't necessarily equate to quality, but at the very least I never suffer from writer's block!
WAVEFORMLESS: What's your home studio like? Do you record strictly at home, or do you use professional studios as well?
BLAQK AUDIO: I record all the music at home. I have musical equipment strewn all throughout my house, synths and laptops under foot everywhere. When we do vocals we record in professional studios though.
WAVEFORMLESS: Since you tour a lot, do you write while you're on the road as well? How is that process different from writing at home or in the studio? Which do you prefer?
BLAQK AUDIO: One of the reasons I love to write electronic music so much is the portability of it. I've written some of my favorite songs sitting in the airport, or on the tour bus on an AFI tour, or in a hotel room. It's instant gratification of any creative impulse or idea you might have. Several of the songs on the first Blaqk Audio record were written on the AFI tour bus.
WAVEFORMLESS: Any favorite pieces of gear or software?
BLAQK AUDIO: I have a big Roland Fantom that is great for getting ideas down, it's got a full keyboard and the soundset is versatile enough that you can flesh out any type of song on the fly.
WAVEFORMLESS: I was impressed to learn you do most of your work in Propellerhead's Reason. Do you have any tips or techniques you'd care to share towards getting such slick results out of it?
BLAQK AUDIO: I compile all the songs in Reason at the end but often they have their genesis in other places. Sometimes I drop a bunch of samples in Pro Tools and put together a beat and then record some synth lines over it. I like to also start a song out by writing a hooky synth line or pad chord progression in Reason, or Fruity Loops because I've got all my favorite VSTs crammed in there. Starting out in Ableton is fun too because you can drop a sample or loop in there and do all kinds of interesting automations that might lead your song in a direction you wouldn't have thought of. Sound Forge and ACID are also great programs to edit and process pieces that form the basis of songs. I hate to stick to one way of writing because then you start getting a little stagnant, if you write everything on the same synth or piece of software you might find yourself unconsciously writing the same basslines and drum patterns, or arrangements over and over.
WAVEFORMLESS: Let's talk microphones and monitors. Any particular favorites?
BLAQK AUDIO: I've been using the passive Dynaudio BM6s, powered by a Hafler, for the past few years and they've never stabbed me in the back. As far as mics, we used a Mojave Audio ma200 on the vocals for CexCells and I loved how they sounded. On newer stuff we've used a Rode Classic and it sounds pretty boss as well.
WAVEFORMLESS: What's the one piece of gear you wouldn't want to be without? Is there anything you'd like to add to your setup in the future?
BLAQK AUDIO: Definitely my laptop. Music technology never ceases to amaze me, I love the fact that you can write an entire electronic record on this little square of plastic and metal.
WAVEFORMLESS: Okay, now to get all Barbara Walters on you... If you could go back in time ten years and tell the old you one thing, what would it be?
BLAQK AUDIO: Buy 10,000 shares of Apple.
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If you enjoyed this interview, be sure to check out our tech interview with Burikusu!!! and keep your eyes here for other interviews in the future!
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2 comments:
Very cool review. I found it sorta ironic that you hooked up with these guys when you did. I never really considered either of them 'electronic' artists obviously because back in post-high school and my punk rock days I listed to them with much different ears. I even enjoyed them when they got up to the Sing the Sorrow phase(Probably one of the best albums in 2003 period) where a lot of their 'punk snob' fans did'nt. So I definatnly didnt find it weird from that 'industrial snob' perspective its just that these guys kinda came outta nowhere and said BAM its dance music fools! . I've heard bits of Techno like in "Death of Seasons" so I often wondered how much they really did like it. I did'nt take it very seriously and kinda thought they were stretching but the album totally shut me up.
Now I can kinda go into their more recent AFI stuff and hear the synthpop and late 80's influences in their work, but subconsciously grouped it with The Cure obviously.
Very cool review and always great to hear people's perspective. Also cool they consider the computer an instrument. Its becoming much more accepted but when I started it was very much frowned on and not taken seriously at all. Times have changed!
It can't really have effect, I think this way.
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