Simon Posford of the musical genius known as Shpongle, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting men in music. If you’ve yet to listen to Shpongle, it’s surely unlike anything thats entered your ear drums yet; the sounds of Shpongle are a beautiful yet nightmarish blend of electronic production, live instruments, and discordant sampling all overlayed with an atmosphere of psychedelia and emotion. With the recent release of Shpongle’s album “Museum of Consciousness”, Simon recently sat down to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Reddit.com and users were able to learn a little bit more about the brain-child behind Shpongle.
1. The possibility of a US live band tour is null – to our dismay.
The Shpongle Live experience is unlike any other show you could ever see- however, with the amount of effort and production used to conduct the live show, the thought of a tour is just not possible. Simon stated that, “We will never tour with the band – it’s too many people, too expensive, and too complicated. But we all would love to do a couple of one-off shows in the US…. Red Rocks being one of them. If we can find anything exciting, fun and different that will persuade the 13 musicians we employ in the band to all give up their day jobs for a moment (which range from touring with Further, Bjørk, playing West End shows, to writing scores for 300 musicians in Dubai) then it becomes feasible… but most of the time it’s just not practical, I’m sorry.”
2. Many song titles and ideas for Shpongle tracks are a product of random banter while working.
Upon listening to Shpongle, you can imagine the amount of work and time that goes into creating a single track; they are long, all differ in style and are layered and layered with sounds. During many boring hours of work, Raja Ram and Posford will talk to ease the boredom. Many song titles, and ideas for songs become products of this babbling while working. Even “The Epiphany of Mrs Kugla” off “Museum of Consciousness” is based off a story of a housekeeper who lived with Ram whilst he was a child.
3. His favorite Shpongle track ever produced is “And Day Turned To Night”.
When asked what was he favorite Shpongle track ever produced, he answered with this. For his side projects, his favorite Younger Brother song is “Your Friends Are Scary” and his favorite Hallucinogen song is “Shamanix”.
4. Simon does not produce under the influence of drugs.
One of the defining features of Shpongle’s music is its psychedelic vibes; quite frankly, many aspects of his music are inspired from drug use. However, Simon points out that, “I think that one is able to draw from the experiences of the past, which is enough to help inspire creativity in the present…. But to work a computer whilst under the influence is too much of a Brain Bocca… so i stay off them whilst actually working.,…”
5. However, fellow contributor Raja Ram will sometimes use drugs to “test” the music.
While he does not use drugs to produce, Simon is not opposed to using drugs to listen to his music, and actually encourages it. He states that “Raj will usually give each tune “The Acid Test” when i am close to mixing it…”
Simon Posford and Raja Ram of Shpongle
6. Posford has a portable microphone which he uses to take sound recordings while traveling.
Many samples used in Shpongle tracks can be described as “random” and “unusual” yet have a very organic feeling to them. This is because Posford can take recordings from places he travels, gathering all sorts of various samples as he visits. He explains: “I have a handheld recorder made by zoom which i take with me when i go somewhere that i suspect might contain a rich seam of sonic ore – India, Bali, Japan etc. … And i take as many recordings as possible. With some (like in India my ex-girlfriend and i recorded the singer and various samples that made it onto Ineffable Mysteries) it works very well…. other times i will get the recordings ‘home’ and find that it is all wind noise… and i already make plenty of that myself!”
7. He met Raja Ram at Butterfly Studios, and the rest is history.
Posford and Raja Ram are the original two behind the genius of Shpongle; without either, Shpongle would not be what it is today. Posford explains how the two met: “We met at Butterfly studios, enjoying some home-cooked Indian food with the other artists that were recording there. We became instant friends and went to many parties and festivals together, making music under a variety of names. Raj provides the inspiration and running commentary, while i compose all the parts on the computer. It’s a winning combination! If i can get him to stop talking for a moment :P”
8. He will soon have a Spotify playlist which contains many of his influences and favorite artists.
When asked to list some of his most important influences, he countered with creating a Spotify playlist so that fans could listen instead. That Spotify playlist should be up soon; we’ll link you when it does.
9. On average, Shpongle uses between 130-250 audio tracks for any given song before completing it.
As you could imagine, producing a Shpongle song is more than a simple trip to the studio. Posford said they use between 130-250 tracks for each song “before either the computer or my head caves in”. He even recalled one song where they used 75 guitar recordings before narrowing it down to 13. That’s dedication.
10. He became jaded with ’90s trance music and thus hasn’t been listening since.
Posford explained that in the early and mid ’90s, trance music was becoming stale and little innovation was occuring. He became “jaded” as he put it and lost interest in the scene. He hasn’t listened since.
11. While a new Hallucinogen album may not happen, Posford plans on releasing under different aliases.
Posford explains that, “I notice with Shpongle that some people’s reaction to a new album is “I’m disappointed – it doesn’t sound like my favourite earlier album” or “I’m disappointed it sounds too much like earlier albums”… in any case there is so much baggage associated with previous albums that it can weigh you down, so i’m more likely to release under another name…”. Posford basically is stating here that he doesn’t want to produce under the alias “Hallucinogen” again because he doesn’t want to have to fulfill any expectations. However, he does state that he may possibly just produce as “Simon Posford” in the future.
12. Much of their sampling now is original, versus commercial sampling.
When artists sample work, there are two ways to do it: either pull the sample from someone else’s previous work, or record the sample yourself and then put it into your track (such as Pretty Lights entire new album.) While Shpongle used to use some sampling pulled from other works, most “sampling” you hear now is composed by Shpongle themselves. Posford stated that, “eventually we realised, “Wow – everybody is using samples! Let’s never use them again…. and only record our own stuff from now on.”
13. Israel has given Posford the biggest reception to Shpongle music.
Posford stated in response to a question of the biggest reception and biggest concerts, that Israel won. However, he said that there are hardcore pockets of Shpongle-lites in Russia, Japan, Colorado, and Hungary, among others.
14. The gap in age between Posford and Raja Ram causes minor problems, but the two easily work them out.
Posford answered this beautifully, only he can explain, “Good question! I was flicking through Raj’s book of drawings after one session and noticed he’d written: “Sometimes it feels like Simon is my father… sometimes it feels like he’s my son.” Mentally i’d say we both old souls that are young at heart… on a mental/emotional level, age has very little to do with it…. But physically the cracks appear occasionally: at 72 years old, Raj’s hearing is undoubtedly starting to go… This can be frustrating in the studio when i want to play him something i have worked on, particularly if there’s a lot of high frequency content that he can’t make out…. We had a fight during this album, where Raj thought my frustration about his hearing was in fact some kind of condemnation…. He said “You wouldn’t make fun of me if i was in a wheelchair!” I replied, “Of course i wouldn’t….. but if we were about to run the 1500meter hurdles and you turned up in a wheelchair i might be slightly worried” We solve it by having Raj listen on headphones extremely loud, while i work quietly at the speakers…”
15. His favorite pie…
“3.14159265359 …. What’s the reg?”
Read the entire Reddit AMA here.
We love you Simon. Keep doing what your doing. You inspire me and many others every day.
Follow @la1ch3
More on WRR:
- (WRR Premiere) Nunca Duerma & Ewokie Talkie – Aura Blast
- Deadmau5 Building a New Mau5cube, Confirms 2014 Tour
- Tomorrowland 2013 Live Sets (Stream & Download)
Share On
