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THE ANGEL

Interviewed by Analog Tara via email, June 2001.

Los Angeles-based producer and remixer The Angel has just released No Gravity, her debut album of supremely langourous, jazz-infused hip hop. As with her previous projects, which have included collaborations with artists such as Donald Byrd, the Brand New Heavies, More Rockers, and Jacky Terrasson, No Gravity embraces and tangles the boundaries of jazz, jungle, hip hop, reggae, and downtempo electronic music. Here, The Angel discusses her production process, and the intermingling of jazz with electronic forms.

Q: How long have you been producing music?

A: Professionally, since 1992.

Q: Did you ever study music formally, or have you taught yourself?

A: I studied piano as a kid, but hated reading music. So I would memorize everything, and eventually I stopped taking lessons and starting writing my own tunes. As far as all the technical knowledge that I have, it was all self taught - they say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I'm living proof of that.

Q: How did you learn production techniques?

A: It's hard to say, mainly because I don't believe that one learns how to produce by any kind of step-by-step method. Production encompasses so many different skills. For a start, you need to be a good listener and to care about the music and the artist that you are producing. It's all about having a vision for how something should turn out even before it has been conceived. Then the organization skills come into play and you need to be able to help find all the right ingredients - the right musicians, the right studio and environment for everyone to work in, the right instrumentation, the right programmer (if necessary), the right engineer, etc. I do all of my own engineering and programming - but for an outside project, if I felt it needed someone else - I'd find someone else.

Q: Given that a music-making career is more often a struggle than not, I often wonder how other artists have made the choice to do music and stuck with it. Were you ever pulled toward pursuing a different career? Was there a moment in your life when you realized producing music was absolutely what you had to do, no matter what?

A: I also wonder how anyone suffers the music business long-term, because you are right, it is often a struggle. There are several types of artists in this business, ones that are driven by their passion and creativity and those that are driven by the dangling carrot of fame and fortune. I have always been a realist and got into producing completely organically. In fact, at first I didn't even realize that what I was doing was actually production... I just had an innate sensibility for creating the jigsaw and constructing it. I get so much satisfaction out of the creative process that it makes all the b.s. that one has to put up with in the business bearable.

Q: Are there any big musical influences on your work, either from when you were growing up or from what you're listening to now?

A: I never think of any one group or person in particular as being an influence, yet I know that my love for the work of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Public Enemy, The Sugarhill Gang, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Milton Nascimento, Scientist, Barrington Levy, Earth Wind & Fire, Miles Davis, Cal Tjader and many others have had an effect on the way I arrange music. It's not a conscious thing.

Q: One thing that stands out in your songs is the sheer number of samples packed in each groove. How do you work as far as sampling is concerned? Do you have a library of samples that you draw upon? Where do you gather samples from?

A: I create my own library of samples working with a group of musicians that I have been consistently working with since coming to L.A. I also create libraries of sounds and riffs from the different keyboards that I use, layering, effecting, distressing them. It's all very labor intensive, but it means that not only have I created my own sound, literally, but I can also safely do whatever I want with those sounds, no clearances necessary.

Q: I'm always curious what equipment people use. Obviously it's more important how you use it rather than what you have, but do you have a favorite piece of gear in your studio, a piece that is crucial to your productions?

A: My samplers have always been at the center of my production and I have used every Akai sampler since the birth of the sampler. Currently I'm using an S6000. However, the more I use ProTools the less dependent I am on the sampler. I really don't have a favorite piece of gear, although the effects units and plug-ins can all be fun to use - not all new school either. Despite my digital setup, I still love putting things through my old Mutron.

Q: I wondered if you could talk a little about remixing other people's songs versus producing your own from a clean slate. How is the process different? Do you prefer one way of working over the other?

A: The process differs because when I am remixing I am given tapes of the original song with as much of the song separated out as possible and then I'm left to my own devices to reinvent what is already there. When I produce someone it is an interactive process of working with other people and about having to create usually from scratch. I don't have a preference - they each satisfy a different part of the creative process.

Q: So much jazz flows through No Gravity. You've also done some collaborations with jazz artists like Jacky Terrasson. How do you feel about the relationship between jazz and newer forms, like drum-n-bass, downtempo electronic music, hip hop? It seems that perhaps some of the most exciting jazz works today are being composed under the umbrella of electronic music.

A: Yes, it's interesting to see that jazz is being embraced by electronic musicians more and more these days. When I released my first recordings in '93 I was already incorporating jazz and reggae into my breakbeat/downtempo melange. In those days it was practically unheard of. One of the main reasons that I collaborated with More Rockers to record the Jaz Klash album in '95/'96 was to explore the relationship between jazz and jungle and to push those musical genres further along. I brought all of the live musicianship into the mix with notable guest performances by Jacky Terrasson and Brian Auger. The album, Thru The Haze, is impossible to find in the States any longer, but it's a project that we are all really proud of.

Q: Are there jazz artists of any era you admire, and why?

A: Miles Davis, Cal Tjader, Herbie Hancock, Ramsey Lewis and many more. Miles was the king of invention, a true pioneer. I've been told many a time by my bass player, Robert Russell, that I follow Miles' ethic. I don't think anyone can really touch what Miles achieved.

Q: You've collaborated with so many artists - how have these collaborations come about? Have you picked up musical collaborators by way of your time in Brooklyn, London, and now L.A.?

A: Sometimes the collaborations have come from suggestions by industry friends; other times, I've remixed someone and it has led to more of a relationship. It has all happened very naturally. I'm extremely picky about who I work with because I view the recording process as an intimate one.

Q: Are you DJing out or performing live electronic sets these days, or do you prefer working in the studio?

A: I prefer being holed up in the studio, but I am getting out there spreading the word about No Gravity, mainly DJing. Where it is possible I am joined by one or more of the vocalists featured on my album. In fact, Navigator and Tre Hardson will be joining me at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip.

Q: Do you have new recordings or albums in the works?

A: The next album by The Angel and the next album by 60 Channels. A solo album for Navigator (a true superstar), more film score projects to follow on from Boiler Room. Always makin' noise!

For more info on The Angel, visit www.theangelsoundclash.com and www.60channels.com.