How many times have we seen a great EP or single released, only for the album to hit the shelves and offer little in the way of diversity or imagination? The ‘one-hit-wonder’ is still all too common, with artists often under pressure to rush album production just to appease the money men.
Mercifully this isn’t the case with Secret Operations supremo Seba. He’s just released his first album in five years. With two decades of industry experience under his belt, he knows a thing or two about how an album can make or break an artist. The label-owner, producer, DJ and family man took time out of his busy schedule to chat to us about the art of the album…
“I’ve seen people put out a couple of 12”s then they say that they’re working on their album,” he says. “You think ‘why’? Increase your profile for a start! Far too many people think that an album is just ten tracks that are put together. I guess it could be if you wanted it to be that way. I’d rather have an album which has a lot more thought go into it so that the listener can feel that there’s something behind it. It’s rare to find in albums, and not just in drum & bass, but in any genre.”
Agreed. And the latest album, ‘Identity’, takes you on a real musical journey… so has it just been a case that the album has been five years in the making or have you been working on other projects?
“Actually a lot has happened in five years! I’ve been in the studio and recorded a 12’’ on Metalheadz, I did something for Doc Scott’s 31 records, a couple of tracks for Spearhead Records, and so I’ve been pretty busy. For the latest album we actually had most of the tracks finished at the beginning of last year, but what took so long was the mix downs to make all the tracks sound the same. I wanted the sound to be consistent and for you to be able to listen to the whole album without getting tired of it. I actually wrote a dub step track which probably took the most time, but I decided against putting it on the album. I just thought that there are so many excellent dubstep producers out there so what’s the point!”
Any album that’s released tells you a lot about the artist behind it. What were the influences behind your own creative process?
“Everything! All of the tracks are based on music that inspires me. I’ve been going out a lot and Sweden is a real techno-nation. I know a lot of really respected Swedish producers such as Adam Beyer, Joel Mull and Jesper Dahlback so I’ve been going out to clubs and listening to what they’ve been doing and it really inspires me. This was the reason that I wanted to make a techno track on the album because this is what I’ve been listening to for the past 2 or 3 years.”
Are there any albums or music compositions that have really stood out for you over recent years?
“I guess the thing that’s had the biggest impact on me musically was Steve Reich’s ‘Music for 18 Musicians’. I saw it performed at the Royal Concert Hall recently and I honestly felt like I should stop making music, there’s no point any more, that he won! And that’s what inspiration is all about, I felt insignificant compared to what I was listening to. I seem to get drawn to music that doesn’t fit into a category – Apparat and then Moderat for example, and I’m a massive fan of Ulrich Schnauss. I don’t actually listen to much drum & bass at all!”
Seba’s Three Essential Albums…
He wasn’t lying about the lack of drum & bass – he went on to list three of his all-time favourite albums, each exhibiting what a diverse spectrum of sound goes into his own creations:
Kraftwerk – Electric Café
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdZE_Ta96zs
“This was the first album I can remember listening to that really blew my mind. It was THE album that got me into electronic music and really convinced me that that was the direction I wanted to go in. It’s basically the reason I’m producing electronic music today.”
Depeche Mode – Black Celebration
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pJQKW6Z7TU
“The first album I ever bought! I still have a copy of it and listen to it quite a lot. I think it’s their best album personally. It’s one of those albums that you just don’t get bored of and can listen to the whole thing as one piece.”
Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPdPK_rIseY
“I could have said any album by Herbie Hancock, his sound is unbelievable. I’m a massive fan of jazz which is something that a lot of people don’t know about me. Jazz was the only style that I couldn’t really fit on to the new album, but maybe next time we can go in all directions!”
Written by Adam K and Chris D
Seba – Identity is out now. Listen and download.