Tim Exile - Drum and Bass Producer Interview

September 2003

Interview with Tim Exile, drum and bass producer and manager of the Sensible Footwear Productions company.

How old are you?

24

How did you get into the drum and bass scene?

Er, don't know really, listening to old rave tapes, going along to a few nights. But mostly got into the sounds first not the culture if you see what I mean… I used to lie awake at night for hours listening to rave tapes when I was 13. I had this really twisted idea of what raves were like. I think it was a cross between a mock-up rave I'd seen on an Inspector Morse episode and some weird cult-style DJ worship thing. He-he-he

How long have you been producing music?

Since I was 16, so about 8 years

What did you do before you started djing/producing music?

Well I only really DJ'ed for about a year and a half from when I'd just turned 15 then I modified my decks and they weren't really the same after that. All my mates thought I was a freak for DJing, they didn't really get it… but, er, anyway before that… I listened a lot to a very small amount of music (a habit which has stuck with me), played my violin - mostly reluctantly but sometimes I stroked it lovingly and made good noises. Hmmmm, played in bands - actually played guitar, bass, drums and vocals… not all at the same time though. I used to mess around with old tape players and the like. Me and my sister used to make silly stories by recording bits of dialogue then bouncing them between 2 tape players at the wrong speed. Other than that the same old teenage stuff like learning to masturbate etc

Since you've been producing you've managed to clock up releases on Moving Shadow, Beta and Renegade Hardware to name but a few. Any stories as to how you became linked with any of these labels?

Yeah, I just sent them demos, simple as that! I'm afraid I don't have any secret tales of being Rob Playford's illegitimate son or something. Well actually I did meet John B when he was running this night up in Durham, where he and I went to university (but not contemporaneously) and I thought "Yeah drum & bass… I quite like some of that stuff, why don't I make some of that and give him a tape?" (by that time you see my taste had become a bit more eclectic and I'd actually mostly been making experimental and downbeat before then). And he signed it. Whe-hey. Since then obviously my allegiance to drum & bass has grown quite a lot… in fits and starts. But apart from that all the labels I've done stuff for have been off the back of a cold-calling demo.

I believe you are setting up your own production company called "Sensible Footwear Productions"? Can you tell us a little about it?

Well, as anyone who's tried to make a living out of their own music will have noticed, there's no money in it whatsoever… unless you release recordings of the 'rinse it out good and proper' preset (available at all good toy stores) but I can't be arsed with that really and I didn't want to get a day job because I wanted to work my own hours, so I thought I'd get into production. Sensible Footwear Productions is my kind of business/music-for-other-people gimpmask which earns me enough money in a small enough amount of time so I can write the music I want to without feeling like I have to make money out of it, most of the worky work's really dull but occassionally it's fun… like doing music for TV.

What are your musical influences?

Deary me I don't know! Well I love the noises that Aphex Twins were making about 2 or 3 years ago and I love what Squarepusher is doing at the moment. Then there's the early 20th Century French Romantic sound, that's quite cool, so moody and wistful. I also really like the electroacoustic sound… the way those composers make connections between found sound, synthesis and gesture is ace.

When I was a kiddy it was, well, Dire Straits at first, then a bit of grunge/indie bizniz, then various housey styles from back in the day. Then I had a teenage musicrush on Future Sound Of London.

I'm finding that the gabba thing's been getting me of late. Not shit gabba of course: some of the Deathchant stuff is cool but I haven't exactly listened to their whole back catalogue so I'm in no position to make sweeping generalisations. But as I said my music listening habits tend towards listening to a small range of music a lot. It takes such a long time to really get a piece of music, even if it's simple. I suppose that's always gonna be a point of contention between me and the dance music thing… it can be far too throwaway for me sometimes.

I think the best way to make your music sound how you want it to is to make your own tools, software written by other people dictates the way you work so much.

Tim Exile

What software / equipment do you use to produce your music?

Just my Pro Tools computer and my laptop. I use a couple of bits of patch creation/programming software, so I make most of my synths/drum machines myself. I also make some more random things, like patches that take the sounds in the room and compose stochastic works themselves in realtime!

Recently I've spent quite a lot of time programming my live software patch.

I've just started programming my own modular sequencer actually, so eventually I might not use Pro-Tools any more.

I think the best way to make your music sound how you want it to is to make your own tools, software written by other people dictates the way you work so much. In future I hope tool making becomes just as much a part of the musical process as all the other bits, like it was with the Pythagoreans who basically invented the Western idea of tonal music. In fact right now I'd say I find the process of designing and programming instruments just as much of a spiritual process for me as making music, especially when they're automated and you can sit back and listen to them play with themselves.

How long do you spend in the studio a week (on average)?

Er, all week really, but quite a lot of that time will be spent doing mundane work.

I read that you recently got an MA in Electroacoustic Composition (congratulations!), how long did the course take you, what was it like and how has it affected your production?

Yeah it was good. I'm only beginning to realise how much it changed the way I think, although I'm not sure whether a lot of my development over that year would have happened anyway. It was really good to be able to spend days on end just working out how I actually understood and thought about sounds, what my natural compositional process was. I think the hardest task for musicians is working out their natural compositional process… most people have always seen composition as a tradition with rules, and it's hard to break away from that. In that way the course was very forward looking and I felt I was being encouraged to find this sort of personal stasis point.

Do you currently produce any other music except for drum and bass?

Well some of my music can be called drum & bass, if you like.

Which other producers / artists would you most like to work with?

If I meet someone who gets it I'm up for collaboration.

What recent releases on the drum and bass scene are you rating at the moment?

In all honesty, given that I've probably heard less than maybe 20% of all releases recently I think it would be unfair to pronounce. Occassionally I'll check out an audio clip and be like 'oh… I didn't expect to get carried by that'. I had that with Paul B's "Massacre" the other day. I also remember a similar experience with a track by Resound. I think if there wasn't so much hyping of Paradox's sound and I heard it with fresh ears I'd probably be quite into it. As it is I think it's good, but I don't feel like I've discovered it in my own way yet. But in general I think musical naivety's a good thing if you write yourself.

I think it's a shame that people feel like they must fill their heads with drum and bass and know everything that gets released. It can go too far either way I think: you can either end up writing completely irrelevant music, or conversely knowing the parameters of the current fads so well that you can't think outside them. But, you know, I'm sitting here writing this, feeling like I'm having to excuse myself for not knowing as much about other people's music as the folk who buy my records do. Is that how it should be? I honestly don't know.

What was the last record you bought?

Well if it's vinyl you're looking about 2 years ago I think, and I can't remember what it was! CD's… er… Mu-Ziq's new album, Bilious Paths was one of them.

Do you have a favourite tune of all time?

No not really. I have many many favourite tunes of course, but I couldn't really name one particular one.

Is there any one tune you would really like to remix?

Hmmmm. Not really. I'm up for remixing anything. It's a good way to understand someone else's music.

How often do you get out clubbing?

Depends how busy I am and also whether the students are in term time or not (cos Leeds tends to die out of term time) but usually once or twice a month, sometimes more.

Do you have a favourite event or club night?

Not really, no

Do you have any other interests or pastimes outside the music scene?

Cycling, especially now I don't have a car any more.

What are your plans for the future and what do you have in the pipeline at the moment?

Well I've got a release coming out on Doc Scott's 31 Records label called "The Devil's Chimney", that should be out late this year with a bit of luck. I've also got something else coming out on Nu Electro, which is one of John B's Beta uber-group (Cut By Plastic/Default Loser). I've got my live show which I'm currently looking for bookings for.

On the production front, hopefully some more tracks for production music compilations, and maybe some bespoke composition for TV/film or Mcadverts. Oh yeah, I'm gonna be doing a short film with an up and coming director mate of mine. That should be fun, we're trying to do it in a very different way… if we can borrow the kit for long enough we're gonna set it all up in my studio and we'll do the edit and composition all at the same time, so the sound can lead the visuals at one point, while the visuals lead the sound at another. Should be ace. Anyone got an Avid setup they want to lend us for a month?? He-he-he. I also want to get back to working on a sound art installation which I started ages ago but haven't had time to finish. I need funding for that though, cos there's lots of materials I need if I'm going to do it properly.

For further information about Tim Exile please visit:

Tim Exile Profile

Tim Exile Website

Tim Exile MySpace Page

Tim Exile YouTube Channel

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