Ceephax has a new album on Planet Mu. So we decided to talk to him about some stuff…

Who did the artwork for “United Acid Emirates” and describe the thinking behind it?
I did the artwork. It was inspired a bit by Arabic music cassette tape covers that are often quite garish and colourful. The background carpet and picture were photographed in amusement arcades which are one of the main places that have shaped me and my music. The TB-303 flying carpet ties in the arabic theme with the acid tunes! Basically a collage of some of my influences done in an eye-catching and appealing mess.

What is your studio set-up and what process do you normally go through to make a song?
Here’s a pic of my studio, mainly analogue synths and drum machines (pictured below). Normally I make a tune in a minute or two, have the bassline, chords and stuff ready in less than an hour, but if I want it to be a more developed and sound good then I spend a few days or sometimes a week or more fiddling about and turning it from a good idea into something that is a piece of music and not just a quick jam, whilst trying to retain the magic of those first few creative minutes which at the end remain the most important thing no matter what you add to it. Sometimes this works, and sometimes you lose the magic which is sad. This album is a mix between tracks that I put loads of work into and some spontaneous stuff that was made in minutes.

Tell us the most surreal / crazy gig you have had?
I think one of the strangest gigs was in Bern in Switzerland where I was on tour with 3 of my mate musicians. It was in a sort of tiny underground library squat (?) with books lining the walls and a balcony that ran all around and the stage underneath, so that most of the audience were looking down on you. Anyway we managed to get so drunk on gin and whatever else that we were flailing and falling about the stage and tiny dancefloor and playing absolutely terribly whilst the rather serious crowd looked down on us from the balcony as if we were some kind of curious new exhibit at a victorian zoo freshly imported from the Congo…well that’s what it felt like at the time. It was great fun though, possibly at the audience and organizer’s expense !

What is the best video game ever and why?
Asteroids is probably the best arcade game for me, as it’s non completable and random in such a nice way..It looks amazing too because of the Vector graphics that you can’t recreate on a cathode or LCD screen. I don’t agree with lurking though. Best home computer game..Turrican on the c64. So massive at the time, so deep, I consider it a work of art as incredible as any famous symphony or painting.

What’s next for Ceephax?
At the moment I’m concentrating on videos for my music as film/video has been something I have wanted to get into for years. It completes the Ceephax experience…

Tags: Ceephax Acid Crew, planet mu

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