10 Questions with Giles Reaves!

Giles Reaves, aka "Selig" on the PUF, recorded and produced his first solo project, Wunjo, for MCA back in 1986. Tracks from the album were picked by the national Hearts of Space public radio program and played heavily. From there Electronic Musician Magazine went on to call Wunjo one of the top electronic albums of all time! It is with great pleasure and honor I bring to you this edition of 10 Questions with Giles Reaves:

- You work out of Nashville, a town famous for lapsteels, acoustic guitars, and cowboy boots - how did you get into synthesizers and what is your background in music?

I first heard about synths as a young boy when I lived in Gainsville, FL (my original hometown). My older brother is a radio engineer who got his 3rd Class Radio License when he was something like 13 years old - I would have been 7 at that time, and he was already building electronic circuits in his bedroom which was next to mine. I think the smell of solder went to my head! He knew about synthesizers and talked about them, pointing them out on records like Abbey Road (The Beatles) when that first came out.

Fast Forward to Jr. High and High School in Huntsville, AL. A teacher’s husband had a Paia synth he let me borrow for a few months around grade 10, and that really lit a fire. I have notebooks from that time where I’m designing my own synth, and some proto circuit boards my brother helped me with at one point. But it never went further, with music (drums/piano) competing for my time and creative interests. On growing interest around that time was in the recording studio, but there were only a few small ones in the Huntsville, AL area. But when my best friend’s older brother moved to Nashville to build a studio, the stage was set for my eventual arrival. But first, it was off to U of U in Salt Lake City for my freshman year of college (on a percussion scholarship, so I couldn’t pass it up). After only one year the Recording Studio call was getting louder than the percussionist call, and I transfered to Belmont College in Nashville. My original goal was to learn all about recording in Nashville, and then move to LA or NYC from there. During the 80’s my brother lived in NYC and my folks lived in the LA area, and in multiple visits to both coasts, I soon realized that I didn’t see myself living in either city. Back in Nashville, not being a country music fan, I had managed to find all the ‘cool/misfit’ bands that were doing punk, reggae, space music, goth, techno, industrial, electronic, jazz, roots, you name it. It was a real ‘music city’ right under the surface just waiting to live up to it’s name. So after a few years I gave in and choose Nashville as my ‘home’, with a personal mission to make folks more aware of the OTHER music that was everywhere, and help the city live up to the name “Music City”.

My musical background is that I’ve played piano all my life (don’t remember NOT playing piano), and studied drums beginning in the 7th grade officially, continuing my percussion education up through my freshman year of college. So I’m basically self taught (plus a few years of music theory) on keyboards, and ‘school taught’ on percussion. I got my first drum kit in the 8th grade, but never actually officially studied ‘drum set’ as an instrument. I started programming drum machines in the early 80s (Linn Drum!), and got more into drum programming since I was a keyboard player AND a drummer (and keyboard players were the first ones with drum machines, not drummers!). My first full time studio gig saw me running a production room with a 24 track Studer tape machine, access to the main studio’s mics and Bosendofer piano/B3/Rhodes/Clavinet, plus the production room’s Fairlight CMI, DX7 AND DX1, Jupiter 8, Oberhiem Pro One and DMX drum machine, Simmons SDS5 and (rare) sequencer, and probably a few instruments I’ve probably forgotten about! That room is where I began to ‘put it all together’ for my musical direction, even ‘prototyping’ the music for my first solo project (“Wunjo”, MCA/Master Series 1986).

My entry into the world of Reason (and working totally in the box with synths) was when I had a gig building backing tracks for an Aaron Carter tour (2003). I no longer had my Sample Cell because I had upgraded my computer, so to build these tracks I needed a sampler for starters. Reason was at v2.5, and after a short demo I realized that it had more than enough power for what I was looking for. I used Reason for all the instruments (drum loops, samples, horns/strings, etc) on the backing tracks for his “Aaron’s Juke Box” tour, my first ever use of Reason (showing me just how easy it was to grasp). 

- You've worked as an engineer and producer on a wide range of music.  From Industrial (Dessau) to Country (Chet Atkins) to Southern Blues (Derek Trucks Band), is it difficult for an engineer to work in so many different styles/genres and how did you get your start in engineering?

The first engineering job I got was when the singer of a band I was playing drums in started dating a local studio engineer in Nashville named Marshal Morgan. I got up the nerve to ask him if I could sit in at the studio and learn, and he said yes and apologized that he could only pay me $5/hr (I was making $2.75/hr dipping ice cream before that!!!). The music was all ‘mainstream country’ (Mickey Gilley, Anne Murray, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Osmond Brothers, etc), but it was RECORDS being made. I only had this job for a few years before moving up to a full time studio job at Castle Recording outside of Nashville. That studio was owned by a European family who was into all sorts of music, from their own family bluegrass band, to dance music and synth pop - I had found my ‘home’ for the next few years. From there I slowly went ‘independent’ as it’s called, and began my musical career as well...


- Having worked on both the production and engineering side of music creation which do you prefer and how are they alike/different?

I have only recently realized how unique my musical experience was, mainly by having had a small home studio from 1986 onward (before they were even that common), while simultaneously working in major studios around Nashville (which was during a time when the technology was really moving fast, and Nashville studios actually moved ahead of NYC and LA by embracing the digital revolution more fully in the early days). 

At home I had to work within pretty strict limits, while at work I had an almost unlimited playground! So I begin cross-pollinating between those two worlds by sometimes enforcing artificial limits in the big studio (to ‘force’ creativity), and sometimes bringing in expensive gear to my home studio (to enhance the audio ‘quality’). Constantly moving between these two worlds has given me some unique insight on how to combine the best of both, which has served me well as big studio use has diminished while home studio use has grown. The natural progression has been that I’ve done more traditional engineering jobs at big studios, and more production work at smaller studios. But I’ve also been a studio musician during this same period, which is yet another role I play in the studio (big and small). 

But I would have to say that my FAVORITE studio experience is when I can bounce between all three roles on a single project, which actually happens fairly often especially out here in Utah where projects tend to be more self-contained (read: small budgets). For the small budgets, it helps to be able to hire one person who can produce, engineer, arrange, and play half of the instruments! This is more common with singer/songwriters than with bands, where I tend to produce/engineer more than arrange or perform.



- Recently you wrapped up a tour with Emmylou Harris in which you performed on Letterman!  On the tour you play both keyboards and drums at the same time!  Tell us about the set-up you used for this?

I’ve played piano all my life and drums staring around age 13. I’ve often wondered how I could combine them, but never found the right approach. When Emmylou asked us (myself and producer/guitarist Jay Joyce) to join her for a few promotional shows (because we were the ones that played on the latest record), we both had to step up and do things we had never done before. Jay added Moog bass pedals to his guitar rig (playing on almost half of the songs), and I combined drums with keys and/or key bass. I had originally considered using all real instruments (like in a promo video we shot after recording the CD), but I soon realized I would need to go ‘electronic’ for this approach to work as a ‘touring’ setup. 

So I combined parts of my V-Drum setup with a USB keyboard, and moved things around until I found a fairly comfortable setup. From there I had to program the drums and keys to be flexible enough to cover the 13 songs from the CD. On the recordings  I played moog bass, drums, various percussion, piano, ‘plucked’ piano, rhodes, wurly, vibes, pump organ, marimbula (bass kalimba), B3 - obviously we couldn’t bring all of those on tour! So I quickly realized that Reason/Record was going to be the software ‘heart’ of my setup. I’ll be covering this setup on my webcast as a part of the Propellerheads Music Making Month this May 2011.


- Your own music has been quite successful, including the album "Sea of Glass" which reached #11 on the New Age charts shortly after it's release in 1992.  I've heard your sound described as "space music", which is a genre I have to admit I'd never heard of before, where did that description come from and do you feel it adequately describes your sound?

Back in the 70s it was also called Ambient Music, but that name was later used for a different genre causing confusion. Space music was coined by (IIRC) Steven Hill (Hearts of Space Record, who released “Sea of Glass”) to try to re-define the genre. In 1986 I did my first solo release for MCA/Master Series titled “Wunjo”, which was my reaction to the more aggressive music I worked on during the day. The original songs for Wunjo came from late night sessions after my day job. Everyone would leave the studio after the session, but I was still a bit wired (and all the gear was still on), so I’d put in a blank cassette tape (remember those?) and hit record and just jam out. But the thing is, although I was wired I was also tired, so the music I ended up recording on those evenings was mostly slower stuff with no drums or drum machines. I even had a DMX, a Fairlight and Simmons drums (as well as acoustic kits!) all available, but the music that came out late at night was more subdued and calming. It didn’t hurt to be all alone out in the country in a studio that looked like a castle! 

There wasn’t tons of overdubbing on the final release, keeping more to the ‘improvised’ spirit of the original cassette tapes (but I re-played all the parts rather than try to use the actual tapes). It was those very cassette tapes that I used to get the first record deal! BTW, Wunjo had an interesting distinction at the time in that it used no multi-track tape (it was entirely MIDI sequenced), and was mixed direct to digital (this is 1986, so it was a big deal at that time). That was a big thrill for me at the time (as an engineer!), to release an ‘all digital’ CD when most releases of the day still had an analog component of the production, which for quieter music really made a difference. If nothing else, the noise was almost non-existent on this project, which would have been a concern for a quiet and sparse production like this if we had mixed to analog. 

But as to the description “Space Music”, yea it seems to fit as well as anything. But I never think ‘genre’ when I’m writing and producing my music. It always seems weird to me to hear folks asking how to produce a certain genre, especially in the dance world where every artist IS practically their own genre. I tend to refer to artists rather than genres myself, and I tend to take one idea from one artist, one from another rather than try to recreate an artist’s or genre’s ‘sound’. But I also wouldn’t put all my music into the Space Music genre, not by a LONG shot! ;-)



- Having released albums on both major (MCA) and independent labels (Hearts of Space, Space for Music) what's your take on signing record contracts and in the age of the internet are record labels as necessary as they once were for distribution?

I’ve not been a fan of the big labels (for anyone but the big artists) for years. Having experienced both, I can say that in the end I’d rather deal with the mid-level ‘indy’ labels over the really big (or really small) labels. In my experience, I have always preferred dealing with the small to mid-sized operations where you can always get on the phone and talk directly with the ‘top dog’. My experience with larger labels was totally the opposite, where no one in charge was ever accessible, unless you are a ‘top’ artist. So that’s what I mean by big labels not being a good fit for anyone but a top artist. As for the future, I’ve all but given up on trying to guess where things are going next - I’m just hanging on for the ride!

- Are you currently working on any new solo material?

I have stuff laying around that really should be put into some form or another. At times I have felt somewhat restricted (my own doing) by the ‘ambient’ label of my earlier work, and have tried to put more rhythm into some projects. But I guess I still get most of my drumming out of my system on other folk’s projects, but I never get to really ‘space out’ on those projects, so that’s what often comes out when I’m alone! But yes, I DO plan to finish a solo project within the next year. It’s weird how my own projects always take a back seat to anyone else’s, either a friends or a paying client’s. 

Maybe it’s not a problem that many other readers will be able to relate to, but working on music full time can actually make it more difficult to produce your own music, not less! Working on other projects also seems to lead me to more ambient pieces because I’m sonically-exhausted after listening to music all day. :-)

I also have a side project with Portland OR electronic musician and mad scientist Dave Fulton. We have one project out on Hypnos Records from a few years back, and are trying to finish some projects for release in the near future. In both cases there are individual songs that are pretty much finished, but I’m such an “album” guy that I put off releasing anything until there’s enough for an album. Speaking of ‘album’, Dave's suggestion is that our next project be released as a download and vinyl. Cool with me!


- Let's switch gear - you've done the last few Record U tutorials for Propellerheads, which I really enjoyed.  Did Propellerhead come to you with the topic initially and are you going to be doing any more in the Record U series?

Yes, the Propellerheads came to me asking to write one article and see how we both felt, and have since asked me to stay on and do a few more! I’ve been writing part time for Recording Magazine for many years now, so I’m no longer a stranger to technical writing. In fact, I seem to actually enjoy it, and the positive feedback I’ve received so far has really encouraged me to continue further down this path. I would one day like to host my own hybrid tutorial world (for lack of better words) that presents tutorials in a way that combines the best of blogging, webcasting, written and video tutorials, and the online forum into a single concept. Film at eleven. :-)

- In addition to the Record U tutorials on May 30th you're doing a live video cast as part of Propellerhead's May Music Making Month event (this interview was done in mid-May). What can we look forward to in your presentation and is this going to be recorded at your home studio?

I’ll be ‘web-casting’ from the studio I run (with manager Rob Duffin) in Draper UT (South SLC county) called Annex Recording. This is where I do my larger projects and work with clients, when I’m not working in Nashville. 

I plan to cover my live setup from the Emmylou Harris gigs, and live setups in general. I also plan to cover the general topic of cross-pollination between the acoustic and electronic worlds, something I’ve come at from both directions! From there I have a handful of prepared directions I could go, and many more free-form directions that could be suggested by host Ryan Harlin or anyone in the chat room. So you never know, I could be showing SSL tricks, synth programming tricks, arrangement tricks, mixing tricks, who knows!


See Part 2 on PropellerheadSW Youtube page!


- And finally, speaking of home studios, what gear makes up your workplace?

Currently at home (my ‘personal’ studio), I run a Mac laptop with a Digi/Avid interface, and use a USB keyboard. I also have a Fender Strat on hand for what I like to call ‘playing’ guitar. Now here’s the funny part: my small monitors are in the shop and I’ve been using my Roland “Cube Monitor” and headphones for most recent work. I also have a sub-woofer to help fill out the bottom end. The thing is, the cube is MONO (and dual concentric, so all sound really does come from one point!).  For composing and generating ideas, this is great because I don’t tend to get hung up on the mix aspects or worry about panning. I use phones when I need to deal with stuff like that, but as I don’t really mix here it doesn’t matter. In fact, I’m going to keep this setup even when the ‘stereo’ monitors are back!  There really is a difference between ‘creating a song’ and ‘producing a track’ - I guess I learned my craft when they were two different jobs done by two different people, so I tend to keep wanting to work with a similar mentality even when working alone. But I’m not saying ‘don’t mix at all’ before the actual mix - I actually do a bit of mixing while I’m working, I mean, you can’t really get into a song if the mix totally sucks, so it has to at least ‘be close’ so you can work out the parts!  But I have learned that you can easily get distracted with mix decisions before the song is even ‘a song’, and that can actually de-rail the creative process for me.  So (as always) my setup’s limitations are currently serving me well and there’s no need to change what’s working!

Thanks Giles for the great interview!


Video courtesy of campacavallo
Sea of Glass track courtesy of bp996959