System 7

Steve Hillage Interview

- As you were one of the pioneers in the electronic dance music movement, where did you draw some of your influences from?

S: It goes right back to the 70’s with mostly German bands like Kraftwerk. I also produced a group called Simple Minds who were quite Trance sounding before they became more known for their stadium rock sound. During the 80’s there was this sudden explosion of dance music and we were carried along in that first wave.

- When you are producing System 7 tracks, how do you go about creating your music?

S: We have our own studio and we get our inspirations in a variety of ways; sometimes it can be from a rhythm part or a guitar part or a keyboard chord.

We then try to find a good way to work with our collaborators and eventually something good comes out of it. In terms of the software and hardware, we use Pro Tools and Logic audio running together but on separate computers that are synched together using a midi timecode.

- You are well known for using a guitar in your performance. Why this choice of musical instrument?

S: Originally I was a guitarist and I think we have created a unique way to include guitar sounds into our sets. People seem to enjoy it but at the same time, I don’t want to over-do it and use the guitar too much. Some Israeli Psy-Trance uses a lot of Indie-Rock guitar riffs and I don’t want to be pigeonholed into this type of genre. I want to include guitar in our music but not make it the main feature.

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- You have played live so many times all over the world and you also produce a lot of tracks each year. Which takes more precedence for you?

S: We like a balance between the two as it’s not healthy to tour too much and not spend enough time in the studio. You have to try and find some sort of balance where you can do both things equally.

- What are your feelings on the current UK music scene?

S: I think the scene here is very diverse, it always has been and that’s what makes it so interesting and popular. The Trance and Techno scene is very healthy and nowadays, I feel that our listeners have very diverse tastes.

Youtube : System 7 - Hino-Tori (OSAMU TEZUKA)

Festival-goers will move from stage to stage and listen to all kinds of music, which is something I think is a very UK quality. If you go to many festivals in Europe, the events are geared to one genre of music. If you like Techno, then all the music you will hear will be Techno.

- Have you played in any other continents apart from Europe?

S: We have played a lot in Japan. Outside of UK, our strongest market is in Japan. We have also played live in numerous festivals all over the world, from Australia, America to Mexico and many other countries. Actually, speaking of Japan, our new album “Phoenix” has very strong Japanese influences. We are very good friends with the daughter of a very famous manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Her name is Rumiko Tezuka (Music Robita).

Youtube : System 7 - Freedom Fighters (1991)

She has influenced us to try and develop some tracks based around her father’s manga entitled “Phoenix”. We have tracks named after different books in the series like Hino-tori, Wolf-Head and Scramble.

- UKAdapta originally contacted you through Myspace for this interview. How do you feel the internet has changed the way the music industry is run?

S: I think that we were one of the first Techno groups to have a website back in 1994. The internet has become part of our world and we have to use it a lot, especially community sites like Myspace. Digital distribution is another great way to sell music and applications like iTunes has been very good for us. Websites like Beatport, that sell music digitally have overtaken vinyl sales for DJ’s in the past couple years.

Youtube : System 7 Live @Glastonbury 2007

I think that record companies in the past were used to people having to buy albums, even if they only liked one or two tracks on it. Nowadays, people can just buy the tracks that they like and even download it as a .WAV file as the sound quality is superior to the MP3.

SYoutube : ystem 7 - Song for the Phoenix

System 7 : myspace.com/systm7

Music Robita : http://www.musicrobita.com

Written by Selph