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EDLX SPOTLIGHT #18 KYLE GEIGER
December 23, 2011
[EDLX] How did you start producing and when?
[Kyle Geiger] I started dabbling with production back in 2001, but it honestly felt a little forced. I think I was just producing tracks so people would finally pay attention to my DJ sets. While this is sadly a necessity (good producers aren’t always good DJ’s, and vise versa), I think that’s the wrong motivation to have. So, I kind of put it to the side until I felt like I had something worth saying, and that wasn’t until about 2006. Things started really clicking about a year later.
[EDLX] What is your approach to putting the tracks together in the studio?
[Kyle Geiger] I had a close friend who discouraged me early on from always taking the same approach to making tracks, and that’s forever been beneficial to me. Sometimes I’ll start with synth programming over just one repeating note, sometimes I’ll start with building a drum loop from scratch, but it’s never the same approach. If you do the same approach, you’ll always get the same result. If you go listen to my back catalog, there is a clear timeframe where I got stuck in making a bunch of tracks that sounded very similar. That’s not really music that I look back on with pride. Lately, I’ve really been pushing myself to getting into the sequencing of the track early, as there is a lot of creativity and vision that spawns from seeing the bigger picture. Sometimes you can have a great loop, but it offers nothing for the bigger picture, and other times, it’s somewhat the opposite. There are some things that are best to be constructed in a systematic way. Things you want to “work”. Garbage bags, roofs on houses, piloting a jet (hopefully), etc. I think it’s great being in an artistic field just for the fact that we don’t have to follow rules. Even in the event that breaking rules results in a disaster, we can blame it on the listener by saying “they just don’t get it.” It’s wonderful!
[EDLX] Can you describe your sound?
[Kyle Geiger] Hopefully, my sound is always changing, but I think lately I’ve really enjoyed marrying the tougher sounds with the more soulful ideas that originally birthed techno. This concept was largely what gave birth to the idea of my own imprint, Cubera…so hopefully those tracks summarize it well! I’ve still been getting all the straight forward stuff out of my system as a welcomed break from working on the sounds on my label, so be on the look out for both!
[EDLX] Can you reference some of your influences?
[Kyle Geiger] I really tried to have the ELDX podcast showcase a plethora of my influences, but it goes without saying that acoustic folk music doesn’t really fit that mold, but I enjoy that stuff as well. I’ve always been a big fan of full on rock music as well, but got bored with that a while back and haven’t plunged too deep to find more interesting stuff in years. Shoot your suggestions my way!
[EDLX] What do you listen to when you are not producing music?
[Kyle Geiger] Refer to the question above. Honestly though, I don’t listen to a lot of techno music while I’m not DJ’ing or producing. I think a music as repetitive in nature as techno isn’t really designed to be listened to 24 hours a day, so 8-10 hours a day is more than enough for me. I enjoy old hip-hop of course, some weird electronic stuff, and I’m a huge sucker for 80′s music.
[EDLX] What have been your gig highlights of the last 6 months?
[Kyle Geiger] I think all of my last European tour this fall was quite a success, with Berghain being the obvious highlight. I still have trouble fully describing why that place is so amazing, but having a sound system worth more than most home mortgages is a good place to start. Slovenia has a really lively scene as well. I played a smaller gig in Krefeld that was in a club that was a former World War 2 bomb bunker, so being a school teacher on the side, this kind of raised my educational antennas. I’ve also played a few really successful gigs in the states that have renewed my hope for the once vibrant scene over here.
[EDLX] What is your electric deluxe top ten from the back catalogue?
[Kyle Geiger] Ohhhh…a tough one! But here goes nothing:
1.) Gary Beck – Egoist.
I honestly don’t know many people who better blend the underground with club floor killers as does Gary Beck. He’s an artist who is popular for very good reasons. While this isn’t a feature of this track, Gary also has a hidden secret power where he can make crash cymbals sound cool…that by itself deserves a medal of honor.
2.) Speedy J – Red Shift
This track wastes no sound or space. One of the best tracks to start out a night…as well as one that works as a welcomed lull in a full techno assault. Everything works off of other respective sounds in the track. Perfect mix too.
3.) Terrance Fixmer – Machine
People who make techno are not always synonymous with those who take chances, but when you see a new release from Terrance, you know it’s going to travel to uncharted waters…whether you like the sound of it or not. I haven’t always liked everything Terrance has done, but to me that’s irrelevant when it is put up against the fact that this guy pushes boundaries. I would much rather have someone consistently put out different music rather than do the same tricks over and over again, and this is what makes T’s stuff so inspiring.
4.) Terence Fixmer – Things are over (Speedy J Bonus Beats)
This is just a menacing set of soundscapes that make you feel like your watching that scene in a movie where the main characters life is falling to pieces…for 9 minutes.
5.) Phil Kieran – Empty Vessels (Gary Beck Remix)
Peak time mayhem is the only thing I can think of to describe this one.
6.) Audio Injection – Operation A
I think this record was really important for David. It was that time frame when everyone was getting out of the tracky shuffle sound, and it really showed that he had some adaptability up his sleeve…while also professing his love for beer…all in one EP. All the tools have been super valuable as well!
7.) Trails – Speedy J (Edit Select tool 01 and 02)
These tools were really big for me to use in my longer sets. I would bring things down to almost a halt…and these tools kind of served as the shots over the bow to let people know that everything was about to explode. If I really wanted things to go off even more, the full remix would follow these!
8.) Tommy Four Seven – Surma (Speedy J Dub Tool)
This track should be the audio clip next to the definition of groove in the dictionary. I love manipulating tracks on the fly…but this track really modulates it’s way through just fine on it’s own. The shakers over the bass are good for 10 minutes of texture by themselves.
9.) Speedy J/George Issakidis – Sculpture (Original mix)
A classic track that serves as a reminder that taking chances is always a good thing. Still in my playlist to this day!
10.) Perc/Giorgio Gigli – Varying Paths (Tool)
Perc and I always tease each other about the rampant use of tube saturation…He always seems to think I need more “dirt”….and this tool makes a pretty nice argument for why dirt is a good thing!
[EDLX] What is your next release?
[Kyle Geiger] My next release is coming out late January on my own imprint, Cubera. It’s the second release on there titled the Mimetic Desire EP. Here’s a clip of the tool version of the title track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLJASDXisvI
[EDLX] Who surprises you the most when you play with them? Who is
pulling out records that you don’t know?
[Kyle Geiger] There are lot of good DJ’s out there, but I would say Dustin Zahn has one of the coolest track selections of DJ’s I’ve played with. It’s weird using someone a few years younger than me as a trusted musical encyclopedia, but I guess that’s what happens when you start making dance music before you’re allowed to drive a car.
[EDLX] At edlx one part of releases is always the tools. Do you make tools for your own dj sets are you playing lots of edits.
[Kyle Geiger] Oh definitely. That’s one of the primary values that digital DJing has served to me. Good tools are difficult to come by unfortunately, and when they do exist, they’re equally hard to search out on all the music stores. I’m starting to do similar things with Cubera and always enjoy the concept of only needing to find 1 bar useful, even if the remaining 6 minutes of the track aren’t so much the same.
Electric Deluxe Podcast 059 Kyle Geiger by electric deluxe
[EDLX] Anything else you want to mention or say?
[Kyle Geiger] There are always things that I want to mention or say, but I have learned that while everything may very well be permissible, not everything is beneficial. ;) Thanks for the questions!
