Ambivalent: Artist of the Week

Ambivalent: Artist of the Week

23 August, 2007 | 8.24AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: ambivalent

With his wonky techno anthem ‘R U OK?’ having become one of the underground anthems of 2007, Beatportal saw it fitting to make Ambivalent our Artist of the Week, to coincide with the release of a new bunch of cool ‘R U OK?’ remixes on Minus [listen to them in the player below]. We caught up with Ambivalent aka Kevin McHugh to find out more about his thoughts on techno and overindulgence.

Ambivalence is a state of having emotions, thoughts or actions in contradiction with each other, eg: love and hatred for something or someone. What do you love and hate about techno?

“To steal a phrase from Erick Sermon, I love music so much I wish it could adopt me. I only hate that techno doesn’t have a pension plan.”

But it is a helluva lot of fun. And your track ‘R U Ok’ tells the story of a night out of overindulgence.

“The track wasn’t really based on a particular experience.

“It was inspired more by the thought ‘if this track were talking to the crowd, what would it say?’”

“Anyone’s interpretation of the track is as good as mine. To me, it’s more of a conversation between the DJ and the audience than it is a story.

“But that’s just my opinion.”

Is creating wonky weird techno one of your aims?

“Definitely not. When I try to create something wonky and weird, it comes out terribly boring.

“When I try to make something straightforward, it comes out wonky and weird.

“I guess being that warped means I’m on the right label.”

It must be cool being part of the Minus family.

“They’re all people I would hang out with regardless of whether any of us were on the label.

“I do get to see them more often though, now.”

Care to share any cool studio tips?

“When I make music, I drink a lot of tea.

“After about eight cups, cartoons start to come out of my speakers, and I record them.

“Also, my Bass Station is the bomb.”

What upcoming plans do you have for Ambivalent?

“I’m trying to get him to be more decisive, but he’s unsure of how he feels about that.

“Beyond that, there are probably a lot more sleepless nights and creepy smiles in my future.”

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• Get 'R U OK? Remixes' on Beatport