Culprate Interview
John Hislop also known as Culprate is a Bristol based music producer and DJ. The versatile producer has had a string of EP releases on Inspected Records and is just about to release his first independent album. We caught up with him to ask him a few questions.
When did you decide that you wanted to produce music?
I think it was around a year into college. (13 years ago.. ish) I was doing Music practice, which is basically learning to be in a band (what I wanted to do at the time) There they had computer suites with Reason 2 and Cubase SX, so I started using them in my spare time to make backing tracks to play guitar over. After a while I began to enjoy making backing tracks more than being in a band, which was probably the turning point in my interests.
What are your early influences?
I took/take influence from anything that makes me feel something, no matter whether it’s musical or non musical. I’ve been a massive fan of Squarepusher, Amon tobin and Noisia since I can remember, they have definitely influenced me in a big way!
What producers/musicians do you admire?
Again, Squarepusher. The reasons are plain to see…The guy’s from Radiohead. They get an amazing balance of live and produced and blur the lines of it all so you don’t actually know what is happening.Koan Sound, Just because they’re actually brilliant at what they do and they’re absolute diamonds (also Bristol boys) Octane & DLR are absolute monsters as well! I find their music super original and funky, which is refreshing.
What advice would you give to up and coming producers?
Don’t monitor too loud and wear earplugs at raves!!!!
Who would you like to collaborate with?
I’d love to collaborate with Mefjus. DnB is a difficult one for me, it would be great to exchange ideas with him.
What was it like to work alongside Koan Sound, Asa and Reso on Inspected’s Movember track?
It was a lot of fun! Due to most of us being musicians we got things flowing quite quickly. It definitely beat sitting there looking at a screen the whole time 😉
If you had to listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be?
Pink Floyd.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard of you?
Anything they need..
What song of yours are you most proud of?
Most Definitely my track ‘Two’ from ‘Nightmares in reality’
Do you have any rituals before you go to the studio to help creativity?
Not really.. Tea helps I guess. There is one thing I do, but I’m not going to say 😉 Some people will be able to work it out….
Tell us about the idea behind releasing the new album?
It’s mostly to see how far my skills will stretch. It will be the absolute best of my ability in terms of creativity and sound quality. The Idea was to make something that people can just listen to, at home, on a train, bus or whatever, something that they can connect to and pass an hour without realising it. Most of all I wanted to convey real emotions instead of just hype.
What can we expect from your new Album?
There will be lots of real instruments. You might even call some of the tracks “songs” Also my signature sound design running through the whole thing.
Mainly, you should expect to feel something.
Are there any collaborations on your new album?
There is one track that will be limited to the physical releases. I made a tune with a Dutch producer called Zes. Though the whole thing is a collaboration really, every track will have at least 2 musicians playing on it.
Culprate’s new Experimental Album project is online now on indiegogo, you can check it out and show your support here:
HYPERLINK “http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/culprate-the-experimental-album/x/6025908” http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/culprate-the-experimental-album/x/6025908
Interview by David Heffernan, All Tempo
All Tempo 