Producer and DJ Minor Science has come a long way in the last couple of years, creating a new blend of experimental, eclectic techno.
Born and raised in London, Angus Finlayson was early on introduced to and inspired by the post-dubstep techno sound emanating from the capital. Gradually he was drawn towards a more electronic production, experimenting with his own style and sound. His weirdness and unusual approach to his projects has rewarded him with releases on revered labels such as Will Bankhead’s The Trilogy Tapes or Nic Tasker’s Whities.
Ahead of his appearance at elliptiq this Sunday, we wanted to know what his sources of inspiration are, on Background Noise.
Timedance
I came of age worshipping the Hessle Audio label. Ten years on, Timedance is the closest thing there is to a pretender to that throne. It’s got the playful tone, the tight crew of producers, and the ingenious twisting of styles into a crumpled UK shape. Lurka’s “Beater”, Bruce’s “I’m Alright Mate” and “Post-Rave Wrestle”, and Batu’s Murmur EP have all been on repeat around here.
Aalto
Aalto is a software synthesiser recommended to me by my friend Ed. It’s basically a bunch of weird components, including a Buchla-style oscillator, connected by a semi-patchable interface. I’ve had it for a couple of years and it still manages to produce an endless stream of weird and surprising sounds. If I recall correctly the manual is full of stuff about it being a ‘tool for exploration’, and that intent comes through. In the age of, on the one hand, the monolithic DAW industry, and on the other a boring obsession with ‘authentic’ machines and sounds, tools like this suggest a different and more inspiring relationship between musician and instrument. I guess the modular craze reflects an appetite for just that.
Laurel Halo – Dust
Seven years and three albums into a career, you’d expect a musician’s brain to be bursting with influences, insights, scraps of ideas, discarded sounds and conflicting moods. On Laurel Halo’s new album it sounds like she’s committed that potpourri to disc. It’s extremely dense and strange and I love it.
Objekt’s DJing
The best word I’ve heard to describe Objekt’s recent DJing style is ‘floating’. His mixes don’t go forwards, or even sideways, so much as pursue multiple directions in a three-dimensional space. Another genre — and probably tempo — is always round the corner, accessed via some clever polyrhythmic blend. Aside from being a testament to Objekt’s talents, to me this style is very much of our time. We have CDJs with the power of laptops and obsessively playlisted music collections stored on finger-sized USB sticks — why not use them to the full.
Getting off social media
I suppose this one is more about muting the background noise. I’m aware of coming across like someone’s boring dad, and I’m not saying social media is in itself bad — many people find it a priceless source of information, support, different perspectives etc. But I’ve started questioning its value in my own life lately. About a year ago I realised that posting things I thought were witty was just a sop for my ego. I’m now also wondering whether my subsequent passive use of Twitter — i.e. scrolling down the timeline whenever my fingers and eyeballs aren’t otherwise occupied — isn’t also a bad indulgence. There can actually be quite a lot of space in a day, but you don’t notice it when you’re sniggering at Jeremy Corbyn memes.
Minor Science will play a 2hour set this Sunday at The Yard in Hackney, together with Via Maris, Tapefeed and Astral Industries. Check out the event here.
