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Pretty Lights is one of the most respected global electronic music acts. Derek Vincent Smith, who performs under the name Pretty Lights, is also the proprietor of the popular label, Pretty Lights Music. The man who co-produced Derek’s first album, Taking Up Your Precious Time (2006), is another legendary artiste –– Michal Menert. And Michal will be in Calcutta to rock the Eristoff Wolves Den stage (which is one of the five stages) at Bacardi NH7 Weekender (December 14-15). An email chat with the Colorado-based musician…
You are returning to India (he performed in New Delhi, Pune and Goa last year). Your thoughts on the electronic music scene here?
The artistes I met last year, such as Dualist Inquiry and Frame/Frame, are pushing the scene in a beautiful direction. The sound is mature but still digestible to the younger fans, giving it longevity, especially considering the short lifespan much of the EDM trends have. The Indian scene is also based more heavily around expression and enjoyment rather than escapism and excess.
What do you think is the biggest fallacy people have about electronic musicians?
I think people write off all electronic musicians as DJs first and foremost, rather than producers or innovators. Most people see a guy with a laptop or CDs and assume that it’s just creating an atmosphere to party or dance. People assume we can’t play instruments and that we can’t compose ‘real’ music. Most producers I know are incredibly competent with music theory, sound design, instrumentation, audio engineering and arrangement. But because the general population doesn’t see that process on stage the way they would see a live band and understand what’s going on, we get written off by a lot of people.
Skrillex has won a number of Grammys. Do you think electronic music is becoming mainstream?
I think there’s a branch of the electronic scene (as with any genre) that is focused on mass appeal more than self-expression. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. The more familiar the world becomes with electronic production, the more of a chance people like myself have of someone discovering their music.
Who were some of your early influences and when did you realise that music was your calling?
Early on a lot of East Coast hip hop groups inspired me. I liked the structure and approach that hip hop producers in the ’90s took. Groups like Digable Planets and Beastie Boys, and crews like Native Tongues and Wu-Tang Clan. I also grew up with a heavy influence from my father’s musical collection. He listened to (Frank) Zappa, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, King Crimson, etc., but also turned me on to experimental projects like The Residents, Holy Toy and Klaus Schulze. Then discovering the source albums sampled in hip hop led to collecting jazz, funk, soul, and obscure records.
I think early on I discovered the release you feel when writing or playing your own music. Playing piano for fun as a kid gave me the ability to make up melodies and chord progressions, and I think by the time I was 12, music was the only thing that made sense and gave me feelings nothing else in life had.
This year David Bowie has put out a solid record (The Next Day). When you look at these ageless musicians, like Bowie or Elton John, what do you feel?
I feel like there’s a future, like there isn’t an expiration date on a good song, and as long as you keep making music that is guided by emotion and expression rather than the current musical trends and production/ recording techniques, there’s an opportunity to make something that will transcend genres and generations. That’s my dream –– writing music that isn’t aligned with a scene or genre, but rather the ups and downs of human experience.
What is your professional relationship with Derek Vincent (Pretty Lights)?
He and I are life-long collaborators. We’ve played and written music together since our early teens and will always have a bond musically that no one else has.
How would you define your sound?
I would define it as space-age-analogue-vinyl-collage-electro-soul from a parallel dimension of hip hop.
In what ways does your environment or road journey shape your sound?
In every way possible. Being on the road is a beautiful struggle, because you’re away from familiar things and many creature comforts, but you’re stimulated by the people and place you see. It fuels me. It gives me inspiration and a better perspective on life, which in turn gives my music more dimension.
And what can we expect from your Bacardi NH7 Weekender set in Calcutta?
You can expect me to pour my heart and soul out and probably cry tears of joy. You can expect me to hold on to every moment, hoping it never ends.
