DSF Q&A Sessions 19: Phaeleh

[Disco Nutter]

How do you pronounce your name?

Fella.

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

Do you ever plan your tunes or is it mostly spontaneous (as in start dicking about with some drums and it turns into something) , thanks as well for doing this Q&A its really interesting

[Augment]

Do you ever plan your tunes or is it mostly spontaneous (as in start dicking about with some drums and it turns into something) , thanks as well for doing this Q&A its really interesting

how do you usually start writing a song? i've read in other interviews that you studied music and were playing guitar before you got started with production, so i'm just wondering if you like to come up with riffs, melodies, chord progressions, etc. before sitting down at your computer to get a tune going, or if you create a beat or something in your daw first and work from there.

big thanks for doing the q&a! huge fan here, can't wait to hear what you've got coming next.

There's definitely no set way of making tunes. Sometimes I'll start with a beat, but it's normally a chord sequence or a pad or something. I might hear an instrument which is new to me, and start playing around with multi samples and come up with a riff, other times, i write on the guitar and just sequence the notes in on a synth when I get fed up with how bad I am at playing in time these days! Glad you're rating the tunes too mate!

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

How that balls did i miss that thanks man

[jeanblanc]

Love your music, think that Nocturne is my favourite although also love Fallen Light (the song) and many others.

My question is, if you had to tell the story of your life using only four songs (not limited to your own), what would they be?

[ChadDub]

What were your daily activities when you were trying to get better at what you do? My days consist of me going to high school (weekdays) and then coming home and surfing the internet reading production stuff and just making music in my DAW. That's really all I do, for the most part.

I just want to know if you were like really really dedicated to getting better and making yourself known or if it was just you being a beast and being in the right place at the right time.

[phaeleh]

So, after being familiarized with your sound; here are the things I am interested in knowing..


Can we get a screenshot of some drum arrangements/a fully sequenced track?


Listening back through those tracks you posted for me - I really love how much movement you have while still being quite half-step; fascinated by this! A lot of my drum tracks sound very stiff (though this has come part of my sound now and I like it) I have always been interested on how people get such natural sounding groove and vibes in their drums while still sounding sequenced - I think its a brilliant sound and who doesn't have love for well programmed drums.


Do you think its a lot to do with sound choice?


Also whats your favourite break-beat ? (mines Funky Drummer or NT)

Yeah man, were there any tunes in particular you wanted a screenshot of the arrangement/beats? Or shall I just pick a few at random?

I think with drums sound choice is important, but it's more about varying the velocity and having a few different snare/hat hits to use to keep it interesting!

Favourite break? Amen everytime!

Yo Phaeleh! What a great surpirse seeing a Q&A done by you!
First of all I recently discovered your music and I feel sorry, for my self, that I didn't find it earlier! I think your track If is my favourite song right now..
And now to the questions.

1. Do you have any superspecial tip to keep good variation in your drums throug a whole song, without loosing the original vibe?
2. The vocals you use in your tracks are possibly the best ones I've heard, what is the trick!?
3. Who is your favourite aspirng/underground/unknown producer?

Thanks! You're the boss!

Nice one mate, always good to hear such a positive response to the music!

1 - As I've just mentioned, I think varying the velocity is key here. I remember my music teacher at school pointing out that no drummer ever hits the drums with the same amount of power and the precision to hit them in exactly the same place, so mixing up a few different samples, and keeping the velocity varied really helps. Turning off the quantize will also give it a human feel, but I never do this myself.

2 - I've always liked to work with vocalists who have an emotional quality to their voice, so in terms of the original vocals that's probably the key. In terms of the more sample based work, I always try and use words or phrases which are likely to work well at conveying a certain mood or feeling without it being too obvious. I like filtering and hiding the words, so people will often sing back a song to you with completely the wrong lyrics, but I like that people will fill in the gaps themselves so it means something to them. I'd never tell someone that they're hearing it wrong, as that could destroy their entire relationship with the song.

3 - That's a tricky one, as I'm probably more removed from the scene now than I've ever been. But I guess people like J-One, Killawatt and Nanobyte are all making stuff I'm rating at the moment!

Big up mate! Thanks for the interview we did a while ago (hint)

I read the topic so far, but don't remember hearing about this one.

How do you deal with creative blocks and how often do you find facing one?

Cheers!

That's a good question! I think in the past I've always just tried to work through creative blocks, starting project after project in the hope that the next one won't be as useless as the previous.

In all honesty though, I realise these days if i'm not feeling the beats, I'm not feeling them and there's very little point fighting that.

I think the two options you have are to firstly just try something completely different, a style you wouldn't normally make etc, or my preferred option, just have a break from making beats. In my own experience, the creative blocks tend to happen when I've been doing nothing but music for a while, and need to do something different to maintain my sanity.

The only time this doesn't work is for remixes with tight deadlines, so there are occasions where I have to just be more methodical, and go through the usual process of making a beat, even if I'm not feeling it.

In the past I think creative blocks tend to happen to me after I've finished a batch of tunes, but I've found them increasing in the last year, which I think is due to hearing less music which inspires me, whether dubstep or something else. I've given myself the summer off of making tunes in the hope that a few months off of making music will help me feel refreshed when I do eventually get back on the beats!

A couple of questions from me. Firstly, how long does it take you to finish a tune? and... what do you use to sequence your drums?

This really depends to be fair, I tend to work on multiple tunes at the same time, and I only ever work on a tune if i'm really feeling it and have ideas. If I feel like I have to force the creativity, then I'll close the project and start something new.

The Within The Emtiness album was me picking out tunes from the previous 2 years which I felt would sit well together, so in that sense you could say 2 years. Other tunes like Rise featuring Indi Kaur took me 3 months to just be happy with the vocal levels, yet other tunes like Afterglow I wrote in one sitting which took about 20 minutes, and after that was just a case of mixing the vocals on top of the tune. I remember Caustic Storm from the latest EP was started in the evening and I finished it the following morning and it was sent for mastering of the EP the next day, So it varies a lot.

My advice to producers is to just take as long as a tune needs. Whilst you might not ever be 100% happy with all the parts (I never am), you have to reach a point when you know it's time to let go!

In terms of drums, I either use audio or midi via battery!

Hey man, was wondering about developing your own musical style. How long did it take for you to develop, and how much of your sound has been influenced by other artists?

I'm just finding it difficult to develop an individual flavour to my songs, since I enjoy so many different types of dubstep and different styles of music and enjoy jumping around on producing different tracks...

How do you make a Phaeleh track Phaeleh? Is it something consciously done through use of similar effects chains/plugins and vsts as well as keys and drum patterns, or is it something done subconsciously and done regardless of the type of song or plugins and equipment?

Cheers for doing this man, I know you can't immediately respond but I'm keen to see your reply

Tricky one really, I've always written what I wanted to, and guess it's always been a result of all the music I've listened to in my lifetime combined with whatever my mood is at that moment.

On one hand I'd say I don't go through the same processes each time to make a tune, but do tend to use similar scales and chord progressions which will evoke a certain response in the listener. I'm definitely a fan of mixing synthetic sounds with more acoustic/traditional instruments. So guess there are some consistencies through my sound.

I've been using cubase for about 16 years and in that time I've written Ambient, Breaks, Hip Hop, Electronica, Jungle, DnB, Acousmatic, Film Soundtracks, Funk, Jazz.... The list literally goes on forever. I wouldn't say I was ever on a quest to make my own style, I think over time you naturally start combining all the elements you like from various genres and that's when you start producing what others perceive as your own style.

Whilst I appreciate it's difficult trying to figure out where you sit in the grand scheme of all things musical, I wouldn't rush to find the answer, just spend time working on tunes, developing your sound and production, and when the time's right I'm sure you'll know what you should be doing. My key advice as always, is not to follow trends or whatever the cool blogs are hyping at a given time, just stay true to yourself, and people will hear this in the music and you'll be more likely to get somewhere, rather than missing out each time the hype machine gets bored and wants a new toy to play with.

love your tunes, thanks for making yourself available to this community!

Thanks man, as I've said previously dsf is one of the first places I started to get positive feedback from, and without that I probably wouldn't still be making music, so look at it as my way of saying thanks to the music community here.

How do you pronounce your name?

Fella.

What he said

How that balls did i miss that thanks man

hehe all good mate, there's a definite element of 'too long, didn't read' about most of my replies!

Love your music, think that Nocturne is my favourite although also love Fallen Light (the song) and many others.

My question is, if you had to tell the story of your life using only four songs (not limited to your own), what would they be?

That's a well good question, I'm sure you lot should be journalists as these questions are much better than the crap they ask me!

Having said that, this is a tricky one, not sure the music describes my life, but definitely reflects certain periods...

I'm gonna roll with the following:

What were your daily activities when you were trying to get better at what you do? My days consist of me going to high school (weekdays) and then coming home and surfing the internet reading production stuff and just making music in my DAW. That's really all I do, for the most part.

I just want to know if you were like really really dedicated to getting better and making yourself known or if it was just you being a beast and being in the right place at the right time.

Well I guess the time I was still new to production was when I was at uni around 2001 to 2004. Whilst the course opened my mind to a lot of new ways of thinking about sound, it wasn't a prescriptive course in terms of how to produce and engineer. So most of my production/mixdown techniques were from Sound on Sound or Future Music magazine articles on production. A lot of this was focused on EQ or compression so I think I got a lot from that. I was also very fortunate to have a lot of musical friends. Without their input I wouldn't have got anywhere, so I definitely think it's important to share ideas with other musicians you know.

On a daily basis I guess I went to Uni, did coursework in the early evening, then sat up most of the night and all day at the weekends working on my music. I definitely rocked the hermit life, I think I went out about twice in those 3 years, as I was really keen to make the most of the free time and work on my tunes. It wasn't done with the end goal of getting signed or anything, I just loved making music and viewed it as the only time I could get away with making beats all the time without the hassle of a parent or girlfriend telling me to stop wasting my life and get a 9 to 5 job.

In terms of dubstep, I had written a few tunes, but was when I moved to Bristol in 2007 that I decided to take it more seriously. I was training to be a teacher at the time, but realised that I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I hadn't tried at some point to get anywhere in music. So I put the teaching on hold, got a crap and poorly paid job which hours fitted with late night music sessions and went from there. I spent all my free time making music, got a lot of shit off of people telling me I was wasting my time and obviously had no talent as nothing was happening, but after about 18 months of getting no responses from labels and respectible names telling me no one would ever buy my music as it was 'shit', I started getting positive responses from actual people. Not labels or blogs, but everyday people who like listening to music. I'd say with the support of these people I felt motivated to carry on trying, and I'm glad I did.

So I'd say it took about 3 years solid work on making tunes and sending out demos etc before stuff really started to go well. There was obviously an element of timing about it. I don't think I could get there now doing what I did, back when I started getting noticed there were hardly any digi labels, no one was giving away 320s, and the scene wasn't saturated as it is now. It would take a thread about tunes about 3 or 4 days to disappear off the main page, whereas now they don't stick around for 3 or 4 minutes.

I'm sure a lot of people get lucky and get thrown into the limelight after a few tunes, either by being in the right place at the time or being mates with someone who's already in the scene, but it's important to know that if you do want to try and get somewhere with music, it's a lot of hardwork and you have to make a lot of sacrifices and be prepared for no one to give a shit for a long time. I'd just try and use any negative feedback or lack of response as the inspiration to raise your game and try even harder!

[E-T-F]

very heart warming to know you tried so hard for your music! how did it work just settling down somewhere with a crappy job? did you have friends around or family? im not sure i have the balls to do what you did but evidently its paid off!

[ChadDub]

Alright man, thanks. I really appreciate you taking your time to say that to me and others.

[Sliptek]

Hey Phaeleh,

Love your tunes man! Cant seem to think of anything to ask you...any good ideas on promoting yourself? and does the UK despise the US in the Dubstep scene?

[akcept]

Sup Phaeleh, love the tunes.

What is your favourite song to play on the guitar?

[icanicant]

big up for the Q+A and for the tunes.

Hope this makes sense but cant think of any other way to phrase it.
My question is how did you get the bassline for plateau sounding so 'dubby'?

[phaeleh]

very heart warming to know you tried so hard for your music! how did it work just settling down somewhere with a crappy job? did you have friends around or family? im not sure i have the balls to do what you did but evidently its paid off!

Well I moved to Bristol as had a lot of mates there as apposed to where I was living before, which was a bit more of an isolated vibe. I was quite specific when I decided to hit the music hard, and that was if nothing was really happening by the time I hit 30 then I'd call it a day knowing I could move on with the satisfaction of at least trying. Luckily stuff kicked off with a few years to spare, so just gonna roll with the music for as long as possible!

Alright man, thanks. I really appreciate you taking your time to say that to me and others.

It's really no bother mate, just glad people are finding it interesting!

Hey Phaeleh,

Love your tunes man! Cant seem to think of anything to ask you...any good ideas on promoting yourself? and does the UK despise the US in the Dubstep scene?

Thanks man, well I guess just stay busy. Record mixes, try and do remixes of other artists to try and get out to a wider audience. I really think social networking is important too, I definitely got my name out there through word of mouth rather than hype. So I'd make full use of that, but be humble. Don't think you're better than anyone else, be keen to interact with anyone showing interested in your music, and if you're playing gigs, be polite to everyone, regardless of how tired you are and the fact you don't really want to talk to anyone. I guess those are all relevant! Just gotta stick to it, and get your name out there as much as possible, without becoming that annoying spam guy who no one ever bothers reading the updates/emails. It's a fine line, but it can be done!

I don't think the UK despises the US scene, only thing I'm not fond of is your Visa process

Sup Phaeleh, love the tunes.

What is your favourite song to play on the guitar?

Cheers mate! That's a tricky one tbf, haven't played properly in about 10 years in terms of other peoples stuff, just tend to improvise or jam over the top of other stuff.

Guess I used to love playing lots of rock/grunge/metal stuff, but at the same time would bust out some jazz standards or some classical lute suites if i was trying to impress a girl or something.

big up for the Q+A and for the tunes.

Hope this makes sense but cant think of any other way to phrase it.
My question is how did you get the bassline for plateau sounding so 'dubby'?

Well i'm guessing it's becuase it was written on a bass guitar, which i recorded on the tune, then high passed and layered with a sub underneath, so it cut through on a system.

I guess in terms of style i've learnt a lot from some mates, as i write all the guitar for these guys http://www.counteractionsoundz.com/ and think i picked up what makes a good dub bassline

[brettheaslewood]

just realised i have no idea where you're brighton show is on the 27th, can you confirm?

[phaeleh]

just realised i have no idea where you're brighton show is on the 27th, can you confirm?

haha just realised neither do i.... i'll make the call and find out man!

[brettheaslewood]

just realised i have no idea where you're brighton show is on the 27th, can you confirm?

haha just realised neither do i.... i'll make the call and find out man!

cheers mate, much appreciated!

[jeanblanc]

Thanks very much for replying to my question, really appreciate you taking the time and got a lot of respect for your choice of songs, stuff like early Prodigy got me into electronic music in the first place.

[phaeleh]

just realised i have no idea where you're brighton show is on the 27th, can you confirm?

haha just realised neither do i.... i'll make the call and find out man!

cheers mate, much appreciated!

Waiting to hear back tomorrow, will post up here when I know....

[phaeleh]

Thanks very much for replying to my question, really appreciate you taking the time and got a lot of respect for your choice of songs, stuff like early Prodigy got me into electronic music in the first place.

No worries mate! Glad you enjoyed the choices, was a pretty hard question but I'm pleased with the answers!

Experience is a contender for my favourite album of all time, the amount of ideas in that shit on pretty much every electronic album made since imo. Never fails to put a grin on my face!!!

[Collyer]

Was there anything over the time that you were first learning to produce that would have made you better, faster or did you get everything quite quickly? HUGE fan of the music. Without doubt in the top three artists accross all genres for me!