1. Hey Will, how are things? We hope you’re keeping positive in this crazy world of ours!?
Yes, very challenging times for everyone in our industry. As a team, we’ve really tried to focus on what we can control and we’ve used the time to develop and improve the Elevator Program platform. We just launched our new website, label and online magazine (Elevator Mag). I also spent a lot of time reviewing and updating some of our courses such as ‘How to Make Electronic Music’. I think working as a team has helped all of us navigate the current situation.
2. You just launched a new label and education platform, Elevator Program, tell us about the project?
Elevator Program is an online personal development platform for electronic music producers. We have been building it for 2 years now and we launched in January of this year. I developed Elevator as something that I would hand to my younger self. I wanted to create a platform that would help people reach their creative goals and find their voice as an artist. I have been developing learning programs for more than ten years and I have poured everything I’ve learned as an artist / sound engineer into the development of these courses. Through Elevator I am sharing my journey as an artist.
Launching the record label was an important step in helping our artists reach their creative potential. The label is a platform for graduates of our 6 month Artist Development Program and we also offer publishing to releasing artists who need help in that area. We felt it was important to offer our artists an outlet for their creativity and also to help guide them in the early stages of their careers. I remember how it was starting out, it can be hard to find the right label to work with. We want our artists to focus on the creative side, knowing their music is in the right hands and also to feel part of a creative community.
3. And will it cater exclusively to techno or cover a wider spectrum of sounds?
We will support anything that is good and underground. We encourage our artists to be unique, to stand out and steer clear of following what is deemed as popular at that time. It is important that artists be authentic and true to themselves. We’ve had some incredible House music producers in our program, who will be releasing with us in the new year, in addition to people like Duvz (Soma Records) who are creativing incredible Techno. It isn’t about sales or charts for us. Our goal is to build a community of underground artists who have something to say.
4. You’ve worked as an engineer at Temple Lane Studios, which also inspired the title of your new LP, how has working in a formal environment influenced you creatively when working on your own music?
It was hugely influential. While at Temple Lane I engineered Blues, World Music, Jazz, folk and prog rock. It was an amazing learning experience working with artists from all of these different backgrounds, it was a masterclass in songwriting and musicianship. I learned how to use Neve and SSL consoles as an instrumental part of the creative and mixing process. All of the tracks on ‘Temple Lane Tapes’ were written and mixed on those consoles. The lessons I learned working on those desks influenced how I produce and mix records.
5. And what’s one bit of advice you always try to pass on to Elevator students?
There will always be a new hot plugin, or a new synth or drum machine. The key to creativity is understanding how to get the best out of the tools at your disposal. If you can produce and mix music using just ableton plugins, you will become more technically advanced. You should be able to make music with any software or any machine. It’s not about what DAW or hardware you are using. This is why our courses are focused on working in the box in Ableton.
6. We noticed a few of the tracks on the release have weird and seemingly random names, like Dequarphanted for example, what’s the reason behind that?
It’s hard to say, sometimes a track name just comes to you while you are working on it. This has always been the case for me. For example, Dequarphanated was named by a friend of mine who was in the studio with me when I was writing the track. This is a question I get asked a lot. Usually for me, the name will pop into my head while I am writing it.
7. Under your Hybrasil alias, you’ve released music on labels like Break New Soil and Rekids, what’s the main selling points of a label when you’re considering them for a release?
I think as an artist it’s important to work closely with one or two labels and to have a good working relationship. In the case of Rekids, I had known Radio Slave for many years before I had my first release with them. After I moved to Berlin in 2018, I signed to Rekids. I debuted with Afra EP and followed that up with my debut album Embers. Rekids are super professional and they have been amazing to work with. This is the kind of experience I want Elevator artists to have with our label.