Premier: Alex Smoke Presents WRAETLIC Bonus EP Download and Interview

Those familiar with the work of Alex Menzies - better known as Alex Smoke, will know he is a producer with a tendancy to push boundaries and challenge preconceptions. Although his productions as Smoke are usually bannered under the minimal house tag, his use of gritter textures, and the inclusion of strings and keys have set him apart from the sometimes restricted minimal of the early 2000's. Menzies compulsion not to conform to the restrictions of dance music have also led to the development of a new project, entitled 'Wraetlic', which sees him bringing his own melancholic vocal work to the fore, alongside organic, clattering percussion and introspective melodies. With a live performance Wraetlic scheduled at fabric for the 3rd of August, we spent some time with Alex, to discuss his musical upbringing, the role of visuals in his live shows, and his forthcoming release for R&S Records. You're maybe best known for the minimal you have produced as Alex Smoke, but the Wraetlic project seems to be an outlet for more diverse sounds. How did it first come about? As an artist, you do tend to be put in a box in terms of style, so it's nice to just make the music you want and hope that people stick with you. Wraetlic is simply what I felt like making at the time, involving short songs, visuals, different beats. I'd done the Faust project and needed to get back to electronic music for a bit. You've kindly offered up a selection of tracks that didn't make your album for Convex Industries - can you tell us a little bit more about them, and why you've decided to make them available? I still haven't decided which tracks to include, but they will either be alternate versions of tracks on the album or simply tracks not included; mainly instrumentals. Originally there was talk of releasing a 2nd Wraetlic album of versions shortly after the 1st one, but since I've been working on so much new material already for the next album, it won't be worthwhile to squeeze out a versions album as well. I'd rather they saw the light of day than sat around on my hard drive unheard, so this is a good chance to do it. The Wraetlic project features you singing and playing synth live, do you have a history of more live based music, ie. Playing with bands? My background is more singing in a choir and playing cello, although I did play drums in a band at school……but these things are fairly abstract in relation to what i do now really. I guess I always liked to sing so that is a direct continuation of my time in a choir, but in terms of everything else it is simply a development of my electronic side…..a natural continuation of pushing on and seeing what works. In this case, doing a show with a more dedicated singing aspect was frankly terrifying, but I find the best way to move forward is to simply put yourself in uncomfortable situations and get on with it. How have the live shows developed since you first started work on them? If you mean with Wraetlic, then the idea was fully formed pretty much, as it had to be accurately outlined and planned to get all the bits working together. The vocals mean that I can do less live triggering than with an Alex Smoke set, so some of the loops are longer, allowing me time to sing and remember the words (if there are any), and also to effect the vocals as I go….recently I've had a few bookings that required a slightly more dance floor edge, so I'll be incorporating that at fabric too. The visual element to Wraetlic live seems to be a large part of the performance, can you tell us a little bit about the visuals you use and the thinking behind them? I was playing a festival in Japan called TaicoClub, and after I finished playing a lot of people congratulated me on my visuals. I had to tell them these were actually just provided by the festival, but when I checked back the video online I realised they were perfect for Wraetlic. So the next time I went back to Japan I arranged to meet with Vokoi, who is affiliated with a collective called Arch Project, and we discussed him doing the visuals for me. He exceeded all expectations and provided me with a huge range of self-written visual programs in Jitter and Max, and a live framework to play them in time with my show, triggered by events in the music. I still have limited control over them live, and can re-program them for different shows too. Do you see the visuals as playing a supporting role for the music or do you want your live shows to be considered as an Audiovisual experience? In answer also to the previous question too, I really don't have much time for visuals in a supporting role so they really have to add something to the experience, to make it something special. When I'm playing it makes much more sense to watch the visuals and get lost in them, than it does watching me and wondering what I'm doing technically. I wanted it to be a collaboration between me and Vokoi and I am just very lucky to have found someone so gifted. R&S have recently announced a forthcoming Alex Smoke 12” – how did this come about? And bloody delighted I am too! R&S are one of those seminal labels that I've been following and buying since before I even knew what a genre was…Aphex Twin, CJ Bolland, Joey Beltram…. I've been working flat-out since my health improved, and in some ways re-learning what it is I'm doing, incorporating new ideas and improving my processes, and this is the first EP to come out of that. I had simply sent finished work to them and kept my fingers crossed. From the description on Juno, the record at least in part takes influence from the Wraetlic project, how separate do you think the two projects are, and to what extent do they inform each other? In my mind they are separated by intent, in that Wraetlic is not really dance floor focussed whereas 'Dust' is more so, although they are both vocally oriented so there is clearly some crossover. I don't have these things strictly compartmentalised but it is clear to me once I've finished, where a track belongs. Finally, what are your plans for the rest of the year? I leave Berlin in August and head back to Glasgow, by which time I will have pretty much finished material for the next albums for Wraetlic and AS, so I shall then be focussing again on some larger-scale installation project ideas and more composition, classical and otherwise. Variety is the spice of life.