Bloc File: Ital Tek

So here's the first Boc interview. Ital Tek, whose real name is Alan Myson, was responsible for one of last year's best debut albums, the intricate break beats, lurching bass and crystalline melodies of 'Cyclical' on the super on-form Planet Mu label. I caught up with him recently and got a chance to discuss Brighton, dubstep and being the only intelligent techno fan in school...

When and why did you start producing -  I'm guessing from your photo (on Discogs) that you're still quite young…

I'm 22. I started producing on a computer about four years ago and before that I had been in a band for a few years. I'd been listening to jungle/electronic music since I was younger but only really wrote guitar music for years. I guess getting into producing was just my way of having control over every aspect of the music. I like just being on my own for hours messing around with sounds.

How did you hook up with Planet Mu? Did you send in a demo or did you know someone in the label?

I got signed to Planet Mu about two years ago. Mike who runs the label heard my stuff through MySpace and gave me a call asking me if I wanted to put out an EP. So I sent him over a load of tunes and we picked the ones that are on the Blood Line 12".

You're based in Brighton – were you influenced by Brighton's techno scene from the 90s, eg the No Future people like Cristian Vogel?

I've lived in Brighton for about four years, so I wasn't aware of any of that going on. I grew up in London and then near Oxford where there was a wicked music scene for bands and live music, but not really any electronic music. I found Brighton to be a really inspiring place when I moved here because there was so much weird experimental  electronic stuff going on in the back rooms of pubs and also a lot of clubs were pushing it. Just the different approach to music the people I met down here had a massive influence on me. It's a shame as a lot of the smaller nights that were up for you just going down with some synths and drum machines and fucking around all night have all disbanded now.

Is Brighton a good place to make music -  removed from London and cheaper to live, easier to get work done?

I really enjoy living here, it's pretty chilled out and it's nice being by the sea, especially in summer. I spend every day messing around with tunes so it's cool not having the bustle of London right outside my door. There's also a good number of nights putting on interesting music. I don't know if it's that much cheaper to live here though, there are certainly cheaper places you could choose to be!

What are the influences on your music - I'd imagine they are quite diverse, given the range of moods on the album? I hear elements of techno, minimal (especially on the glitchy 'White
 Mark') dubstep and even more unusual influences...

I was the only person I knew growing up who listened to stuff like Autechre, µ-Ziq etc. Just on my Walkman walking to and from school listening to Rephlex and Warp stuff mainly and then a bit later Planet Mu artists like (Venetian) Snares. I got so excited about it all and had no idea what it was really or how it was made which was really cool. It's kind of nice listening to music with just complete objectivity like that, absolutely no preconceptions about who the musicians are or what the hell they're doing. It was a bit naive maybe but it's just cos' none of my mates liked it and I only ever wrote music on my guitar at the time.
It made me want to try to write stuff like that and for the first year or so of getting a computer and a sequencer I was probably just copying that style. Just loads of sitting on my fiddling with sounds, trial and error until it started to click and I found that I was making music that I would want to hear myself.  A lot of jungle, garage, techno etc has inspired me aswell over the years and also the textures that people like Trent Reznor and Bjork create.

Your debut album 'Cyclical' veers from the beautiful melodies on tracks like 'Deep Pools' and the title track to the dark, distorted bass of 'Bloodline': was it intentional to represent a range of moods -  is this the kind of person you are, one who has big moodswings?

I don't think it's from having moodswings, more just from being into loads of music and wanting to mash it altogether into what I'm writing. I definitely wanted it to be a varied album, I get really bored listening to just dubstep or any genre of tunes after each other so I imagine everyone else would. I wanted it to be an album that you could listen to on your own at home but could also work in a club.

There is also an Eastern sound on 'Red Sky'; do you like music from other cultures  - does it inspire you?

I think of it more as just different sounds being used to make a piece of music, I havn't specifically gone after any kind of eastern  vibe or whatever, just what I thought was appropriate to make the track the way it is.

Listening to what sound like strings  on 'Still Shores'- was/is Detroit techno a big influence?

It's funny a lot of what sounds like strings on the album isn't. I use a lot of piano and mess it up to make it sound like big layers of strings. In fact I don't think there's any actual strings at all on any of my released tunes! I love techno so it probably has creeped in somewhere. I'm not really very aware of my influences when I write maybe they come through more to the listener.

What do you make of the current state of this music -  is it healthy and who is making the best music?

Without sounding like a kiss-arse I think the last few things that have come out on Planet Mu have been some of the most interesting stuff i've heard in years. The new Neil Landstrumm and Starkey albums are amazing. The new Jamie Vex'd tunes are on another level too.

What do you make of the criticism that dubstep is really  hard to dance to – do you agree with this or do you think it's not true?

I've seen loads of people dancing to it on my travels and going out to clubs. The people who say that probably just listened to it on their computer speakers. I'm not one for the whole "you got to hear it in a club to understand it" thing cos' good music should be good wherever you listen to it. But for the sheer bass weight that you experience on some systems, it's a powerful thing, can't help but make people move.

What are you doing next -  have you more releases lined up? Will you keep releasing on Planet Mu?

I've just finished a new EP that will be out on Planet Mu in the next few months (maybe even by the time this has gone to print) I'm currently working on the follow up album to 'Cyclical'. I'm really pleased with it -  I think it's the best stuff i've done.

Are you playing live at Bloc? If so, what is your live set up like?

Yeah for my live sets it's normally a mash up of loads of my tracks using Ableton, I've got a lot of new stuff that I'm going to be playing. I'm looking forward to testing it out on a festival crowd.