Hey There!
Hi.
What is your name and give us a little bio about you.
I’m Michael. I work under the name Conformist. I grew up in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and now live in Cardiff. I have released two full albums. I’m about to release my third record which is a bit of a spin-off remix project, based on tracks from the second. I make what would be loosely deemed as Electronica. I’m influenced by cut and paste sample artists like Steinski, Public Enemy and Coldcut.
You latest released ‘Trust Exercises’ (Man Without Country Remix)’, tell us more about it.
It’s a remix of the first track from my previous record. I had a list of artists i wanted to remix myself and Man Without Country was one of them. I contacted Ryan from MWC and he was all up for doing it. The mix is great, really pleased with the final cut. I created the original version of Trust Exercises by initially trying to make something that sounded like Portishead. I failed wildly….
What was the recording process like?
Editing WAV audio on a grid until nausea. Sourcing sounds to sample from TV, radio, all media. Chop and edit and rearrange. Playing bits of bass, guitar, keys, vocal noises, primitive beatboxing.
What was the writing process like?
It’s not a band so songs aren’t really created in the conventional format of throwing together an entire song structure in a few hours in a rehearsal space drums/bass/guitar/vocals – verse/chorus/verse etc. Its more of case of fragments of ideas are pieced and pasted together over the course of years and months. Listening to the same loop for 2 hours subtly editing a midi hi-hat is not conducive to fun…Copy/Paste/Copy/Paste.
You are also set to drop new album ‘Lifestyle Revised’, tell us more about it.
When the second record came out there were so many different directions the tracks could’ve gone in compared with what was released; i knew i wanted to revisit a few of them. But i thought it would be more interesting if i asked a few artists that i admire to help me out with their versions. I’m really pleased with the final record. Diverse and drags the tracks to new places.
Describe each track in two words.
Trust Exercises = Trust exorcised
Rock N Roll Dead Man – Chewed music
Komputer Jenerated – Daft horseplay
Harm Hides at Home – Public domain
Life! Death! Prizes! – Audio junk
A Snake Eating its Own Tail – Heavy petting
Art Colony – Plague victims
Nothing Important Happened Today – Power ballad
How is this different than your last release?
80% less input from myself so more time to watch reruns of On The Buses on TV.
Who did you work with on the album?
With Conformist its all 100% myself. With the remixes record i left it entirely up to the artists involved. I prefer to work alone.
What else can we expect from you this year?
Hopefully a new EP of Conformist material by the end of the year.
You work with Beast PR,how did that come about?
I’ve known Aled for awhile, he put a show on for myself awhile back, we’ve been mates since. I felt he was the person best placed currently to represent myself and my music.
What is your go to quote this year?
Excelsior!
Do you have any social media for new fans to follow you?
Website – Twitter and Facebook
