WMC Interview: Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott: Tag Team

WMC Interview: Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott: Tag Team

28 March, 2008 | 7.12PM

• Written by: lizwarner
• Filed under: Music News: audion, ghostly, matthew dear, ryan elliott, spectral, wmc 2008

Since Spectral label mates Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott are doing a tag-team DJ set for the Beatport Pool Party this Saturday, we decided, for the fun of it, to ask them to do a tag-team interview.

They’ve been long-time friends and in typical fashion, managed to make the whole thing a bit of a party, talking about Miami, DJing together, upcoming projects, flying around the world and back in a weekend and a lot more.

Taking only a few ridiculous cues from Beatportal beforehand, the two had at it over a crackly yet inventive recording set-up.

Matthew Dear [MD]: So Ryan, how do you suppose you’re going to answer when I play the advanced white label of — never mind — “insert white label here”…

They both laugh — a lot.

MD: I probably should have read that one first.

Ryan Elliott [RE]: Yeah, you probably should have.

MD: What are you going to feel like when I play a new song that I just made that is pretty slammin’ and I haven’t given it to you yet because I just made it and it’s just fresh on my computer because I made it on the plane on the way down?

RE: I don’t know. I’m going to have to dig up something deep and try to combat it. You’ve surprised me before with some big hitters that I hadn’t yet heard.

MD: And you tend to pull out a lot of classics that I totally forgot about and then halfway through, I wonder what it is, and you say, “Oh yeah, it’s from six years ago… And you sent it to me.” But I forget about it.

RE: And what are you going to do when we’re playing and I’m really throwing down and you don’t know what to play next?

MD: Well, I can only be inspired by you. That’s the fun thing about playing together —the friendly competition. When you play with somebody that’s good, you’re both in the same zone and the same feeling, so it’s good to go back and forth, and to see what you’ve got.

RE: I agree. We both play techno and house, but we also each play different things. It’s cool to mix those two styles together. I’ve always said that I play better when I play with you. I have more fun in general, and I think that comes out in the speakers. It’s always really fun to feed off of that. I don’t ever take it as a competition of me verses you.

MD: What’s your favorite thing to do at WMC?

RE: Well, living in a cold climate, my favorite thing to do is to get a little bit of sun, but I’m not going to kid anyone and say that we’re at the beach a lot. The conference is always the official kick-off to the year, and there are a lot of friends, DJs and artists that you haven’t seen since maybe Ibiza or New Years. Catching up and seeing everyone again is probably my favorite part.

MD: That is true. You get to see everyone fresh-faced and it’s almost like the beginning of everything again.

RE: What’s one of the first things you like to do at WMC?

MD: I’m always really hesitant to go, and then last minute, I end up going. The flight is long, and then you get off the plane and it’s hot. But then right when you get down to the area in South Beach and you start seeing all different kinds of people into electronic music. It’s really cool to see that many people down there just to dance and have a crazy time.

RE: Being excited about techno and house.

MD: Totally. Even if 90% of it is the kind of techno and house that we don’t play, it’s still cool to see that electronic music is affecting that many people. So the first thing I like to do is check in, get my bags unpacked, go down to the hotel bar and have a beer or margarita and watch everything and take it all in. To know that for the next 3 days, you’re going to have a blast with your friends. That first hour of just soaking it in is really special.

RE: I agree. The excitement. You feel like a kid at Christmas.

MD: What do you think the sound is going to be this season?

RE: I definitely think house is coming back – not that it was ever gone. With the groups that we run with, it’s definitely been a techno and minimal thing. That’s very true still, but there’s definitely a housier sound creeping back, and I think that started all last summer. The other thing that’s kind of cool is that people are starting to play some older tracks again. Some people always do and some people always don’t, but instead of just new releases, people are digging out some old stuff again, which is nice to see. People aren’t as afraid of vocals and house as they were two years ago.

MD: Totally, and I think that will make maybe a better year for Miami. Miami has always been into house, but now a lot of these DJs from the techno scene that have been trying to edge their way into Miami the last few years and are now a bit more established, like Loco Dice, Luciano, Richie and that whole techno camp are all playing a bit more on the house side. So if you put those two together, you hopefully will have a really good time and build more fan base out there.

RE: House music all night long! Let’s see, you’ve spent quite a bit of the latter half of last year and a bit of early this year with the band. What’s up? Tell about what your projects are and what you’re going to be doing moving forward?

MD: To be honest with you, I’m still trying to figure it out. It was a bit busy. I like doing it all, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Lately I’ve been piecing together a lot of stuff in the studio. You haven’t seen my studio recently, but I’ve been getting a lot of guitars and guitar amps and a couple of old compressors and a lot of stuff for the more “Matthew Dear” side of things, as opposed to Audion. I just did a tour with Hot Chip and they had a lot of outboard synthesizers, so I’d like to get a couple more synths in the studio to help me turn back around and make some more Audion stuff. Right now, it’s all over the place.

RE: I thought the band sounded great at Fabric on that sound system. I always knew that a DJ set-up sounded great in there, because it’s probably one of the best rooms in the world, but I didn’t know that a band could sound like that in a room like that! Man, it sounded great.

MD: Neither did I. We had gone there to see a band on a Friday for Fabric Live, and it didn’t sound very good, so I really think something was special that night and it sounded really good. But you, sir, are the Mix Master, and ever since I’ve known you, you’ve always been working on a mix of some sort. You usually put out 2 a year, and you always go above and beyond, from way before even super computer editing was in. So what’s next? Do you have any new mix ideas in the works?

RE: I do. I just started to dabble in the mix in Ableton. Tracking the songs out and loops and effects. I love doing live mixes and going back and doing multiple takes and splicing it all together, but you should always try different things, so I’ve started to experiment with that a bit. My theory on that is that you don’t want huge songs in the mix because then people who know the songs already and disregard the mix. You want tracks that are good and really groovy, but maybe are a little bit unknown and will stick will people. They get more associated with your mix than your mix associated with, say, some big hit.

MD: One of the best mixes of all time is the ‘Closer to the Edit’ mix that Richie Hawtin did, because it’s good and it’s constantly moving. It’s more about rhythm than it is about hits. You’re hitting it on the head when you say that’s important. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an Ableton mix.

RE: The reality is that they’re probably listening to it at home on in the car – not in a club environment – so they’re going to hear every little thing. In a club, it’s different; they’re out drinking and partying and around their friends. You don’t get to see that side of it if you’re in the car, listening to the mix. Which do you like better? DJing or playing live in a band?

MD: I hate that question [that Beatportal asked]. I always get it. But there’s just no difference to me. I mean, there is a difference, but it’s all fun. Either I’m being too lazy with my answer or I think that’s the truth. There’s something totally different with standing onstage with a microphone.

RE: Are you enjoying that more now?

MD: I’m enjoying it more than I used to enjoy it, but I enjoy doing it all, whether it’s painful or it’s easy, it’s still important that I do it. I like being embarrassed, and I like having to push myself. Playing live as Audion, the energy and the mix and all the tracks are locked into the computer, so I don’t need to worry about anything messing up. With the band, there’s definitely a lot more stress going on. Each one has its own element, and each one takes me to a different place.

RE: I think you’re a multi-faceted musician, so you need all those.

MD: [In street talk] What did you call me? What’d you say?

RE: Ask me a question I hate now.

MD: OK, Mr. Ford Man.

RE: Oh great.

MD: When are you going to quit your job and DJ full time? If you made a lot of money DJing and it either overlapped or equaled what you made at Ford, would you work as a musician all your life?

RE: I would. Absolutely. Music and DJing and records and now a bit of production is now what I wake up in the morning and think about — I’m completely obsessed with it. I do like that my job triggers a different side of my brain. That’s what I went to school for and I do like it. But I’m totally and completely obsessed with music. I was working at my job before I DJed – I don’t think a lot of people know that.

MD: I didn’t even know that!

RE: I was at Ford before I ever touched a turntable, which is weird for me to even think about now. I haven’t thought about that for a long time, but it’s absolutely true.

MD: It’s tough to rely on music for a living, especially just DJing. There’s nothing wrong with keeping your job. You have a house, two cats and a wife.

They both start laughing.

RE: There are pluses to it. There’s security, and you know me, I love a schedule. But at the end of the day, I would love to DJ and be an electronic musician for a living. The shows have never slowed down, and that’s a good thing for me. They keep getting busier and busier, and this year looks to be the busiest yet. So we’ll see.

MD: What was the most intense weekend touring schedule you’ve had? Not in terms of partying, but the biggest trip you’ve made in the shortest amount of time?

RE: Oh, you know this one. I’m fairly proud of this one. I had to take one day off because it was Japan, so I took Friday off. I left for Japan on Friday morning with a direct flight out of Detroit. From here, you arrive in Japan just one day later. I arrived 2pm on Saturday and played Saturday night in Tokyo with Cassy. When you leave Japan, you arrive in Detroit at the same time with the time change. So I watched Cassy play until 8:30 am at an after party and then had to go straight to the airport. I got home on Sunday and went into work on Monday. That’s the biggest one yet. And that was actually one of the best shows of last year.

MD: I even tell that story to people.

RE: Even you like that one! And it’s hard to get you on the travel stories.

MD: Do you have any last remarks?

RE: All jokes aside, I’m really excited for the Beatport pool party. I think it’ll be fun. There was a great vibe last year, and it’ll be good to play this year. It’ll be good to play with you, buddy.

MD: That’s one hell of a line-up. We look forward to seeing everyone there. And come to the Spectral yacht party afterwards.

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Check out Ryan Elliott on Beatport

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