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Roger O'Donnell has manned synths for The Cure, Psychedelic Furs and more, while churning out ambient solo soundtracking, including his latest effort, *Songs From the Silver Box, *released last month. Along the way, he helped score the documentary Moog and championed the digital age and its light-speed democratization.
"I think it is incredibly positive," the 54-year-old digital virtuoso explained to Wired.com by e-mail from his home studio in London. "Music and creativity shouldn't depend on how much money you have."
So it's probably no surprise that he loves the living daylights out of his Macs and Moogs, although they sure cost a ton. Or that he's a remix favorite of beat-freakers like Dntel and Four Tet. O'Donnell has lately taken the remix dip himself, repurposing the underrated Juana Molina among others. He even wrote a theme song for popular music blog Stereogum. (So where's ours?)
O'Donnell talks about introducing The Cure to digital recording, explains why Songs From the Silver Box is his love letter to the Moog and makes a theme-song promise in the interview below.
Wired.com: Songs From the Silver Box sounds like a love song for the Moog.
Roger O'Donnell: I really wanted this record to be a progression from the last; that was the single most important thing for me. But I also felt I had found a comfortable place with the Moog, and had surrounded myself with a very rich palette of sounds. But I don't think of myself as an electronic artist. The Moog has such an organic, emotional quality that really sets it apart from the techno and electronica crowd. I would characterize my work by saying I look for the human in electronic music.
Wired.com: You're known for being the primary keyboardist in The Cure, but it is rumored that you introduced the band to digital recording. True?
O'Donnell: I was the first to arrive with demos on a digital audio tape (DAT). But The Cure was all about being reactionary and post-punk, so they turned their noses up at it. I think they found comfort in the tape hiss from cassettes! And during the '90s, when the digital recording revolution really got started, I would always be the first to bring in new gear. Eventually, it caught on. In The Cure's early digital days, we recorded on ADAT, which was truly awful. But by the time I left, everything was being recorded on Pro Tools or Logic.
Wired.com: What do you think of the evolution of digital music since those dark ages?
O'Donnell: It has been staggeringly quick. Most importantly, prices have fallen equally quick. That's the main thing, because it allows the bedroom studio to sound as good as a top studio. It takes the art of recording out of the hands of the few and democratizes it.
Wired.com: Now anyone with a laptop can make a brilliant album.
O'Donnell: I really love the way that technology has made creating music so much more accessible. I used to dream of owning a multitrack tape machine, and now I have unlimited digital recording tracks through my Mac and Logic Studio. I share files and work on songs and remixes with people all over the world, and everything is compatible and instant. I think it is incredibly positive. Music and creativity shouldn't depend on how much money you have. Technology has put music in everyone's hands. I even made the loops from my last album available as GarageBand projects.
Wired.com: What's your favorite gear these days?
O'Donnell: My favorite and most important instrument is actually my Mac. It's at the center of everything I do creatively. My favorite musical instruments are my Moog Voyagers. I was at NAMM last week talking to the people at Moog, and I explained that they have given me a voice without which I couldn't have made these two amazing records. I use Logic in the studio and Ableton Live on stage; both are the best at what they do.
Wired.com: Why do you love your Mac so much?
O'Donell: I've been using Macs since 1987, when I first started using Motu Performer software. To ask me why I am a Mac fan is like asking me why I breathe. It's probably easier to explain why I hate PCs and Microsoft. They represent everything that is wrong to me, the totally wrong way of doing things.
Wired.com: Ouch. How is your relationship with Apple, and Moog for that matter?
O'Donnell: I love the family at Moog. They are just amazing people who make beautiful instruments in the memory of Bob, but not tied by tradition. They're always going forward. I feel honored to be a part of the family. As for Apple, my relationship with them is also very good, although they're a huge company. I have very personal relationships with everyone I deal with, so it's special to me to be able to interact with these guys.
Wired.com: What did you use to animate the video for "Tiny Pieces of You"?
O'Donnell: I drew the video with an analog pencil.
Wired.com: Classic!
O'Donnell: Then I scanned it into Photoshop and compiled the frames one at a time, moving, scaling and animating them as I went. Then I pulled all the frames into iMovie and brought it to life there, before exporting it to QuickTime.
Wired.com: You've been remixed by Dntel, Four Tet and other big shots.
O'Donnell: When I finished my first record, I had a wish list of remixers and was lucky enough to have them all agree to do it. Coming from where I had come from, I was very unsure how I would be accepted into this new world, but they were so encouraging and welcoming. Jimmy Tamborello DJ'd my show in Los Angeles, and asked me to do a remix for him. I immediately thought I wasn't worthy. How could I make anything he does better? But I had a go and he loved it. That really was a special moment. I felt I belonged in this quirky, electronic world.
Wired.com: You've also remixed one of my favorites, Juana Molina. She seems to be a criminally underrated tech-folk genius.
O'Donnell: I saw Juana a couple of years ago with her loop pedals and weird synth sounds, and I loved it. I was actually thinking about asking her to sing on a song someday, when she asked me to remix one of her songs. I really struggled with that remix, as it's in 7/8. I had to get my head around something that comes so naturally to her. She liked it though!
Wired.com: Finally, you wrote a theme song for the music blog Stereogum? Why not us?
O'Donnell: I am on my way to my studio right now to write you guys a theme song. I love Wired.com and have your RSS feed in my browser!
Photos courtesy Great Society
See also:
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- Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis Lets It RiP on Copyfight, Tour Vlogging
- Sunday Soundtracking: Animal Collective, Goblin Cock, More
- Sunday Soundtracking: Heartless Bastards, Psychic Ills, More
