1

I figured it could be interesting if we shared our stories about our origins and the way up until now, as musicians. There’s been threads on age, where you’re from, your rigs and so on, and even one about if you’re a musician or not, but I can’t find anything on why you’re doing what you’re doing and how that came to be.

So I’ll start:
I’m a classically trained pianist, growing up in a family of musicians. I started playing when I was seven. I still play today.

My parents had the gift but not the ambition, my sister shared these traits, my older brother however became a professional organist and I myself moved from Mozart sonatas to electronic music when I was around 16. A friend of mine had a few records with Jean-Michel Jarre, he played them to me and that was it.

I dropped out of university, got a job, earned some money, bought some gear (a Yamaha SY55 - sold it - an SY85 - sold it - then a Yamaha W5, an AkaiS1000 and a DR550 with a Yamaha MT8X - kept those for a couple of years), and built a small micro studio in my parents’ house.

At the age of 20, I almost got a record deal with a sub label to Warner called Atrium, but I got lost in the producer’s ideas and my wants - my bad, I wanted to please too much and stopped doing my own thing - and I didn’t quite recover when they eventually said they’re no longer interested. My passion for making music faded, work and career took over, and I kept it lukewarm for many years, keeping a piano to maintain my skills and enjoy just playing music.

For some reason, since about a year and a half back, I’m back at it again. I’ve got kids now, responsibilities at work and just general engagements that you might have when you’re turning 40 in a month. But now, I’m making music again, I’ve got a small setup at home and I’m making songs that’s earned me a few preliminary bookings for club gigs in the fall. I’ve never had so little time to spare as now, and so much to lose by spending a lot of time on something that very likely won’t amount to more than a few clicks on Soundcloud and the before mentioned gigs. Yet, I’m enjoying it more than ever.

So that’s my story.

What’s yours?

2

Will possibly get back to you on the story bit, but one thing I felt I should comment on:

I don’t think you have anything to lose. The part about you enjoying yourself is what matters! Maybe your mindset is a bit similar to those of former pro athletes – it’s hard to practice ‘casually’ after being close to the top, in your case, a record deal. But enjoyment is the best thing that can be gained from, well, just about anything, but especially hobbies :slight_smile:

I’m sure you know all of this, but I’ve been wrestling with the issue myself lately - not that I was ever anything when it comes to music.

3

Classically trained, brass player originally. Packed it in to pursue the guitar, eventually did loads of gigs, taught & did sessions, played on a couple of singles. Always tinkered with sequencers & drum machines.

Built a studio & got my head around engineering, ran that for a while & ended up on tour with a band that had done a session there.
Worked in a venue for a few years, learnt a lot, met some amazing Artists/Engineers & a few assholes :slight_smile:

Set up a rental company providing Concert Systems.

Toured like crazy from 2007-2014, alot of Club gigs, Arena tours & some biggies, V, Download, Benicassim, Oxygen, Mera Luna etc.

Did 128 flights last year, Scandanavia, Russia, Germany, India, South Africa, Israel, Namibia, Romania, Estonia, Tazmania, Australia, Ireland etc.

At this point I never ever want to see an airport again!!!

Still running the rental side of things, calmed down the touring, enjoying producing my own stuff again & pursuing other interests like climbing/snowboarding.

BTW Josker is right, pursue what makes you happy!

4

My story really isnt relevent to how I cam to be here other than Ive always enjoyed different stuff and had a special fondness for the older industrial groups like NON, SPK and TG etc etc.

Im kind of a hack, and sometimes i get lucky and churn out something remotely listenable. I really enjoy it though, as its something I can work towards even if I dont have a desired end result.

5

Kind of a hack as well,

I’ve always loved music. In 1993 I went to my first electronic music night.
It was an underground techno music event (that’s what we called all electronic music back then) with New York Hardcore artist Lenny Dee

I fell in love with the group of people that were at the venue as well as the people that put on the party.

Fast forward some years and I am a DJ myself playing a gig a week. I was mostly interested in jungle music at the time and I had a great time rocking rooms all over my state and the states surrounding it.

In 1999 I bought my first MPC but didn’t know exactly what to do with it. I didn’t understand that what I was hearing was sampled loops and such.
I thought the drums were actually played so I was trying to make loops with one shots. My music kind of sucked.

I started to buy other gear and let the MPC go for drum machines and synthesizers.
I did buy a Roland V Drums and tried to teach myself to play the beats. This is not a very easy feat for drum and bass so my music had very little soul.

I didn’t know what swing was and well, dnb is hard and fast.

I still didn’t get that my favorite artists were sampling loops. Or at least I wouldn’t let myself believe that it was “that easy” not that sampling is easy but…

Since my music was not awesome and I was able to play records and get gigs the making of the music took a back seat to playing shows and having fun.

I got busy with school and career and such, I still played gigs as a DJ but not as much any more.
I sold all of my gear and built a really fast car.

Fast forward to four years ago:
I bought a Maschine and fell back in love with trying to make music.

Since then I have built a home studio that I plan on keeping forever and when I have the time I make music. (techno for the most part)
I don’t put many pressures on finishing stuff and most of the time I simply just “jam.”

This year I am hoping to actually finish some stuff and get it mastered if only to give to the DJ friends that still have.

I just made this yesterday, it is recorded with the camera’s mic though. I am working on a solution:

Soundcloud link if any one in interested in mixsets:

6

Played in punk and hardcore bands in the 90’s. Quit my last band in early 2000’s and really didn’t do anything musically for almost a decade. Was over at a buddie’s house one day and he had an MPC - showed me how to use it quickly. Went out the next day and bought one, and so began my journey into ‘electronic music’. Started off making mostly dark hip hop stuff, realized I was more into the music I was sampling and got more into synths. Bought and sold a ton of stuff to try and see what I liked, finally have it where I am now where I have more than enough options while not being surrounded by an overwhelming wall of gear.

Mostly just make music for my own amusement at this point, releasing or building a following isn’t really a consideration or motivating factor anymore. I release stuff occasionally, but mostly can’t be bothered.

I think what drew me in the most about making music electronically rather than playing in bands is the complete control over everything I do, without having to deal with other people or their opinions. Selfish perhaps, but works for me.

7

This is quite a lot, I ingested a lively dose of Ginseng earlier and my fingers are going clackity-clack.

So, stories, don’t you just love em;

1988/89 - Heard my first Acid House music on UK radio at the tender age of 11, was immediately captivated by its other-worldly quality.

1990-1993 - Was introduced to Rave, Hardcore and Jungle, mainly as a result of listening to a pirate station in Bradford called PCR. The rough n ready immediacy of the sound had me in its clutches and I taped every show I could. Towards 1993 they started playing early Trance music and I continued to be enthralled by the evolving mutating nature of the scene.

1993 - Bought my first mixer so I could be like the guys on pirate radio. Spent 2 years mixing on a couple of portable CD players and a cheap Akai record deck (no pitch control).
I went to my first gig at this time too, The Prodigy, when they were still ravers. My mate’s Dad came to pick us up from the gig at midnight and the Prodge had only just come on, but we had school in the morning, so there you go.

1993-1995 - Built up a wider appreciation of people making electronic music, such as Orbital, The Orb, Aphex Twin. Also starting experimenting with making music using a double tape deck and some nifty pause button edits.

1995 - Got some CD decks with pitch control. Went to University and landed a weekly slot at a local coffee house playing Trip-Hop and related laid-backness. At some point I bought some record decks and started playing vinyl, mostly Techno. Oh, I also bought a Juno 6 and an MC303 during this time.

1999 - 2007 - Moved back to my home town (Leeds) and hooked up with old mates, putting on various nights and gigs as well as free parties. By this time I had really got into Techno (Jeff Mills, Surgeon, lots of heavy stuff). Started playing around with making stuff on ‘Reason’. I was also very active on a music forum called Overloadmedia, and would regularly meet up with people on there to go to club nights around the country, mostly Techno gigs. Life started becoming a bit more settled, thanks in part to getting involved with the local Buddhist scene in Leeds and going on lots of retreats.

2007 - I got bored of playing other people’s music and bought an EMX1 and ESX1 specifically for the purpose of putting a live set together, which I did, to pleasing effect. Played quite a few live shows around Leeds under the name of Sofaboy. Some mates who ran a net-label (Dead-Channel) released a collection of Sofaboy tunes that I had made over the course of 7 years.

2008 - Sold my Electribes and went to live in New Zealand for the best part of a year, back to making music on ‘Reason’.
Started a love affair with Ambient/Experimental music.

2009 - 2010 - Came back to the UK (Leeds) and bought a MDUW and MnM with the specific intention of procuring another live set as Sofaboy, which I did. I didn’t end up playing many gigs but recorded an album which sounded more consistent than the first - which another mate released on his net label (Jehm Records).

2011-2013 - Sold my MDUW and MnM, downsized my life in general and went to live and work in a Buddhist Retreat centre. Didn’t make loads of music during this time as there were some quite hefty “shifts” going on with life in general. During this time I met and fell head over heels in love with my (now) wife. I also embarked on a 4 month retreat in the Spanish mountains in near isolation from the outside world. Here I was ordained with 12 other men in a non-monastic context.
I returned back to life in the retreat centre for a year, then married my (now) wife and we moved to China to get to know each other. At some point during this time, a major perceptual shift began to occur, as a result of some intense guided inquiry into the nature of “self”. Nothing has been quite the same since. I mention this because it appears to have had a significant effect on me making music and my identity as a musician, insofar as I can no longer find the musician identity, and playing music has become a more playful affair. This largely goes for the rest of life in general, as the various accretions of self-identity seem to be dissolving wholesale, leaving a great sense of wonder and freedom in their wake.

2014-Now - Moved back to the UK to the city of Norwich. Bought some more Elektrons and resumed the tweaking.

I’m moving back to China in August and will take my Monomachine and OP-1 with me.

8

All ways lead to Elektron :slight_smile:

I´m a professional Jazz Piano Player in Austria, also do some Reggae, HipHop and Funk Gigs.
A always played Piano and Rhodes, and by listening to Herbie Hancocks 70´s stuff got into Synths.
Bought a vintage Synth (Octave The Kitten), then some more synths, trying to be Herbie, mainly Live, no producing.
Then founded an improvised live electronic Duo, a drummer and me on OT, Nord Stage and Prophet, to reconquer the clubs for Live Music!!!

Also founded a Noise/FreeJazz/Hardcore Band (with semimodular MFB stuff).

The OT as Mixer, FX Box, Sampler and Live Looper changed my Life and got me into sequenced music.

2 small kids now, so I started teaching Jazz Piano on a Music University, the Mozarteum Salzburg. Great Job.

Happy now teaching Jazz Piano, playing some Jazz Concert Gigs, some Club impro Session, and helping out in some big acts now and then.

If I had to choose one sound, I´d choose Rhodes with Tremolo!

andajazz

9

Not much of a story since I’m only 22.

But I’ve been playing guitar and bass since like 13 and I was in a few shitty high school bands. When my last high school band broke up my dad suggested I get into synthesizers so I can keep making music on my own and he bought me a Maschine.

In college I was introduced to a bunch of music I hadn’t heard like noise/techno/experimental electronics and I got into that stuff and then discovered my love for ambient music and even got back into metal for the more atmospheric stuff. Today, I listen to anything I can get my hands on and I try to work that into my own music. Got an Octatrack when my Macbook caught fire (yea…) ; decided I actually enjoyed sampling on Ableton better and I sold it for an Analog Keys when they came out. Currently working on my first release, a few friends of mine are getting a label started in my city (Miami) so yeah hopefully some interesting things in my future.

Extremely happy with my gear decisions :smiley:

10

Geez, Few here have good musical pedigrees.

Myself, well I’m in the hack category. LOL

Played in garage bands in my youth. Could read sheet music, right songs.

Now 41, going through a mid life crisis. Chose music.

Love escaping from the wife and kids to my ever expanding studio / junk room. ( GGAAASS)

Always been a hobby guy and love tinkering with hardware.

No big musical ambitions. Just fun! Elektron makes it easy.