1. What's new? What has Angel Theory been up to most recently?

The last thing I have completed about a week ago was a remix for New Zealand dark ambient band, “Clear Stream Temple”. The original track is a dark hypnotic piece, which has the speech that GW Bush gave after the “twin towers” came down, running over the top of it. So from this I constructed an up-tempo piece complete with my own manipulations of his words. I’m very happy with the final result, and yes, you have to have a sense of humor.  

1a. What are some of the concepts or themes in your latest recordings?

There is a common theme running through a lot of the music I create. I like my music to be soothing on one hand, and quite aggressive on the other. One of the major themes with the lyrics on the “Fatal Condition” album is about dealing with being a spiritual being in a human body. There is a lot of frustration and confusion, as you attempt to reconcile events that happen in your life.  This is something we can all relate to on one level or another. Its also about how we try to escape this situation, the things we do that help us cope with day to day living, forms of escapism.

2. What's coming up for Angel Theory? New recordings, tours, etc?

Now that the “Transmission” EP is out, and the album should be out by late April, I’ve come to a bit of a cooling off point. It’s been fairly intensely busy over the past 18months. My immediate plans are organizing the European Tour for August this year. I’m playing at Summer Darkness Festival in Holland on the13th of August, and at Infest UK Festival on 30th August. There will be more dates occurring in between these, with a possibility of swinging by America on the way home. Also, I’m going to start writing some new material in the coming weeks.

3a. Tell us about your live shows. You are a solo artist, but I heard that you use other musicians sometimes when you play shows, and you use visuals. What's the set-up like-- i.e., instruments, equipment, etc? And what kind of visuals do you use?
 
The live show is myself on vocals, and I have two backing keyboard players with me onstage. I incorporate visuals in the show as well that compliment the music, and reflect the lyrics. Images of urban desolation, and isolation are a running theme. Although this all sounds very “heavy”, the actual show has a very up vibe about it. It is very enjoyable for the audience and myself. It’s a thrill to watch people dance, and get themselves lost in the music, that’s what its all about.


3b. A lot of electronic music live shows are pretty much just one person standing there with a laptop, and the audience often doesn't know whether to dance or to stare. What have your audiences been like?


Thus far, the audiences have been brilliant. Its very much a two way street, I perform, and hope the audience gets into it, once they are there, we then feed off each others energy. To me, the whole idea of performing live is to connect with people. Connect with your eyes, your words, and motion. I don’t see the point of being trapped behind a laptop, looking like your surfing the net.

5a, b, c. What conditions are most conducive to working on your music? Where do you find inspiration? And what's the creative process like for you?

The best condition for me to work on music is when I stumble across the unexpected surprise. What I mean by this is, when I compose, I usually begin with random sounds, and loops, and just see what happens. The unexpected surprise sometimes is the mistake you make, or the sound that when manipulated by effects, or by editing becomes something greater than its original. This is when I become quite inspired, and motivated. Also I have found the less I think about what I’m doing, the better for the writing process, I in affect remove myself from the creative process, and let the song write itself. The best inspiration for me comes from personal experiences. It is here that I connect with something real, and something that is a truth. I usually use random lyrics initially to get an idea for vocals then I will go back and think a little more about what I want to say.


6. Suppose there was a "heaven," and you went there-- what music would be playing there? What would be playing in Hell?

Well for one, I would take with me a handful of my favorite CDs just in case, I don’t want to listen to the harp all day. So some Bowie, early Human League, Brian Eno etc. And in hell, well they are playing this awful stuff that you know is just wrong, and hurts your ears….. you know that cheap, and cheesy money making cover version of that really good song from your childhood. Forever ruined.

7. What do you think would surprise people about you if they knew?

That I got out of bed this morning on my day off at 5am ! I like being awake.

8. Any good stories from your music-making/ music-playing experiences?

There are no good stories thus far, but if you catch me again just after the tour of Europe in August, I bet I’ll be full of interesting ones !