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10 questions with Phonat
Standing almost seven foot tall, Italian ex-pat Michelle Balduzzi - aka Phonat - has had a sterling year. His remixes of Dizzee Rascal, The Young Punx and Sharooz have won the admiration of industry stalwarts from Norman Cook to Rob Da Bank. His debut album 'Phonat' has been championed by Annie Mac, Tiesto and Pete Tong. We catch up with him at Stock, Aitken and Waterman's old studio, a stone's throw from London Bridge, to hear why he hates over-loud mixes, why he loves his monitors and why lots of OK ideas are as good as one great one.
How do you see the dance music industry developing over the next three years?
Genres will converge even more than they already have, with different sounds getting mixed and mashed. At least that's what I hope!
What is the key ingredient in a track? Breakdown? Style of production? Bassline?
It depends on the track. Some are groove driven so the key ingredients are the beat and bassline. Others are more melody driven, with the key ingredient the composition. When the two combine you get timeless masterpieces. Easy to say... Very hard to do...
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the drums and build from that?
I usually start by messing around with random sounds. When I find something I like I start to lay down a 4-8 bar section. Then at some point I realise the original idea wasn't that good in the first place so I restart the process. Then I realise this second idea is not the best thing in the world either, so I restart from scratch again and swear and smoke a lot. Around the fourth/fifth attempt I decide to stick with what I have because the deadline is close and I don't have time to start again.
Do you mainly use analogue or digital soft synth sources? Do you think analogue makes a difference?
I only use soft synths. They're so much easier to use, which means your workflow is faster. Analogue sources are still slightly better for specific sounds, but you need to know what you're doing to keep their extra warmth or bottom end when recording and mixing otherwise you lose the elusive extra 5%. For example, if your A/D converters and pre-amps aren't great then the added warmth from a nice Moog will be lost to dodgy wires.
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? Loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors?
When I'm mixing I keep the volume down. If you mix too loud your ears start to compress the sound and you end up hearing a coloured mix. During the more creative part of the process - when I'm laying ideas down - I monitor fairly loudly on a pair of phat, nice sounding monitors. I'm fond of my Event PRS8: I've always had them and I've always loved them. In order to be creative you need to enjoy what you're doing and given that you're making music I think you should enjoy the sound that's coming out of your speakers.
Loops or programming your own beats from single hits and why?
I program my own beats from single hits because it's way more flexible. The only exception is when I need something that's almost impossible to recreate - like a funky shaker or conga line.
Any arrangement secrets you wish to share with us?
You know when people say that for a great track all you need is a 'great idea and then keep it simple'? It's true. The problem is that 99.9% of ideas are average. When I get average ideas I turn the old maxim on its head and instead of concentrating on a single great idea I throw in loads of average ideas and a lot of variation. That usually does the job.
What's your opinion on processing the mix bus? Leave it clean or drive it to the extreme?
Today the industry standard is to over-compress and squash the life out of mixes. We're living through an era of volume wars and it all seems crazy to me. I don't understand why clubs don't just upgrade their sound systems or increase the volume of their rigs rather than letting producers drive music ever louder at the mastering stage.
What do you believe is the secret to your success as a producer?
Hard work and keeping true to myself. You will always be better at creating your own sound than trying to emulate someone else's.
Anything else we should be told?
I make nice pasta and risotto.
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More from Phonat: www.myspace.com/phonat
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