Kid 606 Myspace
Tigerbeat6 Website

Interview with Kid 606

When was the moment in life when you knew that you would become a famous musician?

Seriously never was, or that moment arrived and passed without me realizing it, theres been many moments where I got a lot of money or played to tons of people and have been like "holy crap, what on earth did i do to deserve this wonderfulness?" but as a whole I´ve always been a pretty manic and insecure person who hoped for the best but didnt really expect it.

What means "groove" for you?

I think a groove for me is repetition that doesnt bore you. The best
dance music you can listen to again and again in a row because its exciting and interesting.

What was your first equipment and what is your favorite equipment now?

The first thing I got was a Ensoniq Mirage Sampler, lately I´ve been
really into Artillery2, my Xoxbox (to sequence other things)
Sherman Filterbank 2 and this crazy Fuzz Pedal Nels Cline uses that
sounds like nothing else and I run everything through.

What was the first computer that you used for music production?

Macintosh SE running Mastertracks pro, the cheapest sequencer you could buy! I really wish I got into it more, I just used it to lay out loops on my sampler at the time. But I usually got so frustrated with the midi not working right that I would use the internal sequencer in my
Ensoniq eps 16+ instead. When affordable powerbooks came out I could play live with them that I really got productive.

What do you think is the worst limitation in working with a virtual studio?

It's hard to involve other musicians in real time. Even if your doing
a simple mix with someone, that moment when both hands reach for the mouse at the same time is always frustrating! Also, having internet access is a real double edged sword while your working! It can help so much sometimes but then when your checking websites while rendering audio or editing samples it can be such an awful distraction!

When composing a track, do you rather follow music theory or your ears?

A little of both, im not trying to make music thats so traditional
most of the time but if I only follow my ears and something goes wrong then I start having to analyze things, but I definitely have to break out pen and paper to figure out things on occasion.

When you were a kid, there must have been some rockstar that you wanted to be like, who is it and why?

When I was really young like 11 or 12 I was really into things like
Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Godflesh, Whitehouse, Nine Inch Nails,
Throbbing Gristle but when I read interviews with them they all seemed so miserable or at odds with there success I can't say that I actually wanted to be like them. I think I really wanted to be in a really beautiful out type shoegazer group like My Bloody Valentine or Seefeel but I know that wasnt me since I was real angry and crazy, so probably Mark van Hoen from Locust because he was real dark and wrote amazing songs but also did sick danceable jungle and idm techno stuff on cool labels like R & S.

What would your dream plugin do?

I think the Sugar Bytes plugins are pretty dreamlike and I´m not to greedy for more! What I´d rather dream about is a perfect combination between Logic and Ableton as its annoying having to go between them or run them at the same time. And as far as interfaces we need to ditch the mouse and keyboard and just have massive touchscreens to work with.

Are you a preset user or do you rather create all sounds on your own?

It depends on the instruments. I definitely dont think I ever use a
preset without changing it somewhat. I use lots of analog synths with
no preset capabilitites, and make samples from them (especially for
basses). I hate soft synth and virus presets since they always seem to be drenched in delays and reverbs or overused arpeggios.

How did you stumble upon Sugar Bytes?

I think I first heard about it from various berlin musicians and then
some friends were using artillery live and I just wondered why this product has never been made before, its so smart and intuitive to control effects with the keyboard in such an easy way!

Do you believe in virtual tube sound?

Of course, now I just wait for virtual Tascam 4 track tape hiss sound,
that would make me very happy. I really miss the sound of cassetes that have been played a bunch.

How do you perform your music on stage?

It depends heavily on the kind of show, but lately it's all going into
the crazier side of dance music where im trying to present new stuff of mine in the most funky club friendly formatting as possible, but then letting things all fall apart when it seems to be getting to complacent or obvious. I think its ironic that some of the best times you can have at a club is to music you wouldnt listen to or appreciate outside, but then so much amazing music that you love just fails miserably when you hear it played live or by a DJ at a club.

Did you learn an instrument? Which one?

A little bit of guitar, bass and keyboard, but I never got into it enough to play them consistently, it's really hard to practice instruments with very specific tonal qualities when you get involved in sampling, synthesis and sequencing so early on! It's definitely annoying to me, and if I had children today I´d definitely want them to master a conventional instrument before letting them loose with fruity loops or whatnot.

Is your family ok with the fact that you spend so much time in the studio?

I think its ok when it is during the day, but I probably am asking for
trouble when staying till midnight, and definitely bad when I spend
the night!