INTERVIEW: LISENE

"I find a lot of inspiration in producers from the late 90s-early 2000s, the era where computers and classic recording techniques were used side by side to their fullest effect imo"

Lisene creates music that works in all settings and transcends genres. His openness to a wide range of sound is what has both made him a widely loved favourite, but also someone who operates in his own parallel musical world. We had a chance to talk to him, so enjoy your reading and check out his latest releases.

Hey Where can we find you right now? How did you start off your day?

Hey! I’m based in beautiful Leeds (the best place in the UK) where I’ve lived since 2015. Today started the same as most days have recently, with too much coffee and some good hanging out in the kitchen with my housemates.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background? Where are you from / how did you get into music?

I’m originally from London and grew up in a very musical household – both my parents were heavily involved in the music scene of the 80s/90s and my dad still works as a professor in a university teaching jazz. I also grew up in an area famous for its multiculturalism and music scene (Brixton) and seeing thousands of people at street parties with huge dub sound systems most weekends was a very normal thing for me. I had always been playing various instruments and messing around with DAW software like Cubase and FL studio while growing up as my dad had a recording setup at home.

As a teenager I was listening to basically anything new I could find - hardcore death metal, old jazz/funk and the worst Skrillex-style EDM you can think of but also digging really deep for jungle, IDM, goa/psy and stuff like that. I never really thought of those tracks in the context of dancing to them in a club (which is why I never really got into house/techno at that age), but absolutely loved the sonic palette and rhythms which I think have stuck with me ever since. I read a study recently that says something like at that age, you get the same dopamine hit from hearing new music as you do from taking coke as an adult but it declines as you mature. Judging by the 5+ hours I spent most nights on discogs during uni, I’m not sure that it ever faded away for me to be honest…

How was your first foray into dance music. What was it that got you going?

I was lucky enough to go to a school that seems to breed a lot of wonderful creative individuals (Steiner), and ended up in Leeds as a lot of people from my school went there for uni. My friend’s older brother Liam (aka Desert Sound Colony) ran a party called Flux which was the basis of a lot of my early explorations of electronic music along with other Leeds staples such as Wire and Cosmic Slop. I firmly believe that if you’re a music head, Leeds offers the best uni experience you can possibly have and would recommend living here to anyone 😊

What does your studio look like right now? What type of hardware / software do you like to work with?

I’m currently working on a very stripped back setup due to space constraints in my current living situation but will upgrade next year when I move. I do almost everything in the box on Ableton – you definitely don’t need hardware to make good sounds, the main draw of hardware for me is the physical aspect of handling the machines and the workflow which that enables. I have a very long shopping list so expect a very different answer to this question once I get a bigger space!

The pieces of hardware I do have at the moment are my NS-10M studio monitors which I adore, a SSL2+ interface, MOTU Midi Xpress 128, E-MU Proteus 2000 and a Roland JV1080 rack unit as well as a fair few bits and pieces lent out to friends. I also have a cheap midi keyboard and some old Roland grooveboxes but don’t use them too much - like I said, I’m mainly doing programming and sound design in the box for the moment just to see how far I can take it. Some of my go-to synth plugins are Repro 1/5, Diva, Monark, Zebra2 and Serum. For most type of effects I just use stock ableton plugins as they fit my workflow best and sound great. For specific things I can’t get anywhere else I use the Polyverse suite on very track as well as Waves and Soundtoys but I encourage experimentation with default plugins as they really can surprise you once you learn them properly. Don’t fall into the trap I did where you can’t get inspired so you buy loads of plugins instead of learning one or two really well!

Who have been your main inspirations (Both musical and in ‘life’)? And how have they effected your sound?

Aside from my parents and people I grew up with, I find a lot of inspiration in producers from the late 90s-early 2000s, the era where computers and classic recording techniques were used side by side to their fullest effect imo. Think of guys like Eat Static, Bedrock, Koxbox, Deep Space Organisms (my fave!), Digitalis, Moksha, and even Underworld/Orbital etc. and you’ll know what I mean – they perfected the formula 20+ years ago and it’s rarely been equalled since. That being said, I’m lucky enough to call some of my favourite producers and DJs friends as well – shouts outs to Rudolf C, Roza Terenzi, DJ Life, No Moon, Solar Suite, Priori, Liquid Earth and the rest that I’d run out of space trying to list 😊

Tell us how Space Cadets was born with Adam Pits? What did you want to transmit?

So Adam has been my mate for nearly 15 years, we went to the same school and both decided to study in Leeds without telling each other, so realising we were both here was a very pleasant surprise. We’d always enjoyed music more than most people and in our uni days that enjoyment would involve standing in clubs over-analysing tunes with each other then going home and trying to recreate what we’d just heard. During every afters it would get to a point where we’d look at each other and leave our friends to go make tunes lol. I’m proud to say that every single Space Cadets track was started straight after coming home from a party with the vibes still going strong, and this is a creative process we intend to continue as soon as events come back properly!

What roles do you each take in the production process?

I’m the ‘driver’ doing the mouse clicking, adding plugins and mixing the track as we go, while Adam has more of a creative role playing stuff in and making suggestions. This works great for us as I’m faster with the more technical side of production, e.g. making quick EQ/compression changes, adding plugin chains, dialing in particular sounds, and so on while Adam works best directing melodic, rhythmic and structural changes, suggesting harmonies and applying his ear to reference tracks. Honestly though it’s all very fluid and we both take on all of these roles over the course of a track.

How would you define this sound? What would you like to transmit on the dance floor? And in the listener who listens to you at home?

In terms of the music, we never really set out to do something in a particular style, we just start the project and see where the journey takes us. Sometimes we use a reference track or a particular sound we want to use, but it’s always been about combining different styles we like while trying to add our own flavour. We have a similar taste and have been friends long enough to the point where we’re usually on the same page subconsciously, so communication is very easy and natural. I think our sound is a hybrid of all the aspects we like from styles such as techno, tech house, jungle/dnb/footwork and electro, seen through the lens of more psychedelic genres. It’s a nice middle ground of my more complex and trippy solo stuff and Adam’s euphoric melodic UK flavours – don’t expect us to keep making the same sounds forever though, we have very wide tastes and the project will evolve, no doubt!

The sound of Melbourne is spreading to more communities and places in Spain. Have you been influenced by this sound? What do you value most about this sound? How are you different from this sound made in Melbourne?

It’s crazy how a city can have such a insanely high quality output of music relative to it’s size – in the last year alone I’ve connected with SO many amazing producers and DJs from there, all making and playing music I love. Their sound is amazing and I think a lot of it comes from the culture over there – not only are psytrance and ‘bush doofs’ a huge thing (even their commercial ‘Melbourne bounce’ has a lot of psy influence), but they also have a strong awareness of the indigenous cultures whose land they inhabit. In any indigenous culture, music plays a huge part in tradition and ritual (often with psychedelics involved). It’s a bit of a stereotype but if I say think of an Australian instrument, you probably think of a didgeridoo – compare that to European countries where you would be hard-pressed to think of anything except orchestral/classical instruments and you can see that these resonant, hypnotic sounds are much more ingrained in their national consciousness.

In terms of my own sound, I only really became aware of what was going on over there a year or two ago but it has influenced me ever since. I think I have a bit more of a UK/ravey Eat Static style aspect to my music going on while their sound is meticulously produced and draws from more precise electro sounds, but honestly it all sounds great in tha klub and I feel lucky to be connected with such a sick bunch of people 😊

Tell us about your latest productions on Planet Euphorique or Banoffee. How were they born? What do you most admire about each label? What did you want to convey on each track?

I’ve been mates with D.Tiffany ever since we booked her for the party I do (On Rotation) last year, and when she asked me to send something through for that compilation I quickly put together the tune “Resonance Advisor” over the course of a couple days. I’m such a big fan of her as well as the label so getting to do something for them was a dream come true. Hopefully we can work together more in the future 😉

Funny story, I made “Class of ‘92” as a wind up… Adam had been trying to make a jungle track one day but wasn’t really getting anywhere with it so I decided to try and one-up him! My track didn’t end up as jungle either, but I thought it would go nicely with an amazing tune “Common Ground” my good friend Freddie (aka Sourpuss) had recently made. I messaged Ell who runs BP and next thing you know, we got a record going! Weird how these things work sometimes…

Would you like to share a set? And if so, how was it born? What was your composition criteria?

This was the first mix I’ve recorded in a few months, and shows what I’ve been listening to a lot lately. As the days get colder my tastes always seem to get darker, so expect something a little different to the other mixes I’ve put out this year – more driving, abrasive techno than mellow and housey this time round but with a generous pinch of my special psychedelic sprinkles on top as usual!

How would you describe your own sound in 2020, and how do you see it developing in the future?

I think the mix I’ve done shows the main influences I’ve been drawing from and incorporating into my own productions this year. A lot of slower trancey stuff, UK sounds, psychedelic techno and PARTY BANGERS M8. Who knows where it’ll go in the future – I’m just here to enjoy the ride!

It’s difficult for everyone in our industry during the crisis - what have you been doing to keep things going, both on the music and personal fronts?

2020 has been a good year for music and shit for everything else. I’ve had a LOT of time stuck at home to work on my productions, dig for tunes and develop my sound. These days I mainly keep myself busy by playing videogames, reading and spending hours cooking, although ironically I’ve done the exact thing that government ad that caught loads of flak online said to do and retrained in cyber lol – hopefully a new job will keep me busy until parties are back 😊

What projects are you working on at the moment? Do you have any final words of wisdom?

Just ticking along finishing tracks – slowly clearing the huge backlog of stuff I’ve said yes to then not done – I’m sure any creatives can relate to that 😊

I’ve got a fair few releases lined but with a lot of industry delays atm, it’s unlikely we’ll see them until next year. I’m also putting a lot of time into On Rotation – expect some very exciting news on that front soon!

As for words of wisdom – find something you love and practice it every day. If you look at someone’s elbow while you hi-five them it always connects. Hang a warm tinnie from the guy ropes of your tent in a wet sock to cool it down at a festival. Be nice to your friends and don’t be afraid to reach out to people you respect. If you put a wooden spoon across the top of a boiling pot it stops it from spilling over the sides. Ask for help when you need it and don’t be afraid to abandon a creative project and start fresh – learn from mistakes. You can rub a walnut on wood to repair dents and scratches. Speak to your parents more and ask them for their stories. You can get rid of marketing emails by searching your inbox for “unsubscribe”. Don’t eat the brown acid maaaan!

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