- Hi Vince, thanks for answering our paradoxical questions! With over a quarter of century in the scene, what could you say have changed in electronics in this period of time?
Thanks for having me. Almost everything lol, except the ethos behind the music I’m making as Amorphic. Its never gonna change. A lot of artists have popped in and out of this techno scene or evolved into monsters in their own ways and created industries around them, but it’s in the blood. The scene has changed so significantly its hard to recognise at times. Even the most underground of techno artists have to use Instagram to get attention…its just the way it is now. You have to evolve or be left behind.
- I guess you also experienced a change in generations of Techno fans. Do you feel the crowd interacting with electronic music the same way as back in the days ?
I think it’s deeper than that. I think I’ve experienced full cycles more than changes. Now we’re creeping back up in tempo to satisfy the younger crew who post-covid have so much stored energy. There is no doubt it’s a different world, but in many ways for underground artists we are even closer to the fans than we have ever been. Instant access to artists through messaging on platforms, mentioning, tagging, artist using fan made videos from shows etc, there is so many great parts about the evolutions in the scene. We focus too often on the negative impacts.
- Amsterdam is for sure a must visit spot in the Techno circuit. Any special venue you would recommend there?
We are blessed with having so many venue’s and great promotors in this city, its insane. Shelter, Lo-Fi, Bret, Thuishaven, Radion and even De School opened back up again this weekend. So many to name…
- You’ve started producing music with Amorphic moniker in 2022. Can you tell us what have motivated this new artistic story and what’s the difference with Vince Watson’s own universe?
Well…I’ve actually been trying to get the time to launch this for years and years. I’ve always been into this scene in the background, even had a mix series since 2000 which is still private, but I’m gonna release them all next year :). It’s the flip side of VW. I need an output for this music and never ever wanted to use my VW name for it. Amorphic essentially means being able to morph from one thing to another or having no static shape, which means I can explore many sub genres of proper techno with it…and you can see that I’m doing this with the releases on Symbolism and Modularz being quite different. There is some more deeper spacey tracks also coming out soon so you’ll get the full flavour of Amorphic over the next 3-4 releases.
- You released your new EP few weeks ago on Ben Sims’ imprint Symbolism and we really like the result! What made you feel it was the right time for this new EP?
Im a man on a mission. Covid allowed me the time to finally make a plan for Amorphic (and another IDM project which isnt launched yet). After 18months or so, I had over 30 tracks completed, so you have only heard the first 9 so far (out of 3 releases so far). Many more to come. I’m taking my time to do it over 1-2 years instead of flooding the market with tracks. When your releasing on other labels you have to plan your own labels releases around theirs and the Symbolism was just the next in line.
- By the way, we are curious to know what kind of setup did you use for this EP ?
Hardware I’m using the SE02, Novation Peak, Akai Force and drum machines mostly and on my Mac with Omnisphere, Hive and Pigments 3 etc. I built a studio in my garden 2 years ago and it was perfect timing for those subs 🙂
- As a DJ, you must come across loads of promos. What do you think about the current production in the techno circuits? Is there enough sense of creativity or innovation according to you?
It depends which promos you are talking about! I get around 4-500 a month. It’s impossible to listen to them all, but I do listen to at least half of them, and on top of this the labels and artists that I know already. Were in the rave stab cycle so every track is sampling Outlander Vamp or Big Fun and looping it with a huge kick and sub. It’s effective in the same way as using toilet roll is, it works but was it actually good? My point being is that ‘good’ isn’t always the most important thing in a track now, which is one of the negatives of the scene. A big artist on a big label can use a stab from a rave record and do almost nothing with it, but as long as it got a huge kick and sub, it’s a killer track in the eyes of the fans. Is it any different from previous generations? Not really. It’s boring as well to older generations because we already did it, so why should we deny the new generation their rave moments? They should enjoy it. When we are talking about creativity then yes and no. I hear so many copycat tracks with polyrhythmic bleeps that actually dont really do that much, but they are effective as tools for sure. There are a few artists out there who are trying to push boundaries and I really respect that. Amorphic has its own sound already but im sure it will get more adventurous as time goes on also, it will evolve.
- What would be your advice to a young artist that is emerging on this scene ? Be focused on what is being released and go with the flow or always keep in mind what was done before?
Music should be timeless, unless it serves a different purpose i.e big rave stab track on big label X. Focus on your sound, try and find something unique and tell stories. Develop your idea’s into detailed tracks that have depth in terms of production qualities, and don’t use too many instruments or plugins at a time. Focus Focus Focus. Finally, never let anyone tell you that you wont make it.
- How did you built the mix for Paradox?
It’s all about storytelling, it always is with me whether its VW or Amorphic or any future projects. Give the listener something to absorb and want to go back to. Anyone can put a mix together after some practice…but it’s how you tell the story and how you evolve a mix that makes it special.
- The world of electronic music is based on debates nowadays, is it better on vinyl or mp3 in terms of mixing, can a dj be only someone that creates a set based on other’s productions or does he have to produce too… Does this mean that electronic music has become something to gossip about ? Do we care too much about what’s around and not only about the music ?
- Many techno artists say they’re not very comfortable when it comes to the technical aspects of producing. How far do you think mastering this subject is important for a producer in the nowadays techno industry?
Some of them are using ghost producers that’s why :). At the end of the day, if your just churning out rave stabs, what can you possibly say about it that’s interesting for a tech magazine for example? However if you’re a true artist with some kind of pedigree and stories to tell with a discography that proves you know what you’re doing, it’s shame if you don’t open up your production process to fans. We would not have a career without fans. Remember the golden era of listening to an album and reading the liner notes and what equipment the artist used to make the album?…we lost that which is areal shame, so what better way to being it back than to open up your processes and thoughts to fans.
- Can you give us a glimpse about your future projects?
As Amorphic we have 02 on the Amorphic label coming out on digital in November, alongside the first vinyl Amorphic release in January which is the 4 tracks from 01 and 02. I also have a track coming on Token in February. Some more news after that that I cannot make public yet…but big news. I will be launching the 4th and final new artist project sometime in 2023, which is an IDM/Electronica project and might be my most accomplished album yet to date. As VW I have 2 albums coming in 2023! Firstly the follow up album ‘Another Moment In Time’ and secondly an LP for Carl Cox’s Awesome Soundwave label. I then have remixes for John Beltran, Souldynamic and Joe Claussell coming up. Early 2024 will see the release of DNA2.