Alphabet Pony
Oxford, UK
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Alphabet Pony was the first guy I asked to do an interview with, after hearing ‘Atoms’ for the first time I was hooked, it’s incredible. Just listen for yourself if you don’t believe me. He also uses by far, the best samples.
His music career has gone from strength to strength associating himself with the likes of the worlds biggest DJs/producers; from Zeds Dead to Skream (woah!).
Hey Alphabet Pony! How is it?
Yeah all good thanks man!
Now for anyone who hasn’t heard your sound before, how would you describe it?
It definitely focuses on the more melodic side of things. I’m also a sucker for cut up female vocals, so I guess you’ll find a lot of that across my tracks.
Now where did the name come from? What is an ‘Alphabet Pony? Haha
Ha yeah I always get asked this one. After finishing my first track I didn’t have a name, so I put my iTunes on shuffle and agreed I would name myself after whichever track come on first. ‘Alphabet Pony’ is a track by the Kills from their album ‘Midnight Boom’. I was never hugely fussed what my alias was gonna be, I just wanted something memorable, but yeah now I’m stuck with it and have absolutely no idea what it means!
What sort of music do you listen to? Your tracks span so many genres; who do you take inspiration from?
I know it’s a cliché but I listen to pretty much anything. I used to play in bands when I was at school, so I still have a huge love for guitar-based music, especially bands such as Brand New and At The Drive In. I write electronic music now the same way as i did with a guitar a few years ago – I’ll come up with a chord sequence and a melody, and work around the two. I take a big inspiration from film also. Sometimes when I start producing a track I like to bounce down a rough mix and listen to it behind some muted YouTube videos. Things like time-lapses of cityscapes can really help inspire the more down-tempo tunes. I watched a lot of those whilst making ‘Silver’.
Signals by Alphabet Pony
Who’s smashing it at the moment, in your eyes?
So many people from so many different scenes, it’s hard to pick a few! But I’d have to say Camo & Krooked have done particularly well recently. I’ve been a huge fan of theirs since the beginning, and it’s great to see them absolutely dominating. I have to admit I prefer their earlier productions; they are what got me into Drum & Bass, however, it is great to see them doing so well.
You started up your own label ‘Sharks & Tigers’ not long ago, are there any developments?
Ah yeah, Sharks & Tigers is on it’s way! It’s something I’m doing with a couple of mates. We’re currently in the process of scouring talent for our debut EP which is gonna focus on the deeper side of bass music. We’ve found some pretty interesting guys we want to work with….so keep your eyes peeled!
You’ve got a couple upcoming gigs; tell us some more about them. Anything planned for 2012?
Yea I’ve got some massive gigs lined up for 2012, which I’m really excited about. I try to incorporate as many different styles into my sets as possible, which was much easier when I was using Ableton Live to DJ, as you can manipulate tracks in a way that is physically impossible to do on decks. However, now that I’ve moved to CDJs, I’ve started playing out predominately Drum & Bass sets, with a bit of House and other stuff thrown in for good measure. Tunes that change BPM are like gold dust (another reason I love Camo & Krooked – ‘History of the Future’ allows you to mix from House to Drum & Bass tempos flawlessly).
What are you up to at the moment? Is producing music still a hobby or are you hoping to make a living out of it?
I’m currently studying at Oxford Brookes. Producing is definitely still more of a hobby but it would be a dream to make it into a career. I’d love to keep playing out and writing music for as long as possible, so I guess we’ll just see what happens….
Can you give us any hints towards any future releases? Are you currently working on anything?
I got robbed about a month ago and lost my laptop that contained a heap of unfinished tracks that I was really excited about getting out. Following a pretty lame effort of begging the thief through my facebook page to kindly return the laptop (I of course heard nothing), I am now trying to re-create what I lost! I have, however, almost finished one new track that I’m really happy with and cannot wait to get out there. I’ve been speaking to a couple of labels so you should hopefully see new music from me very shortly.
Cheers for taking the time to answer these questions! Massive support from MFM!
All the tracks above are free to download from his Soundcloud!
