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More gifts from Saint Reznor
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Soma Records revealed that Dave Clarke, DJ Sneak, Anja Schneider, The Black Dog, Vector Lovers and Marco Bernardi (aka Octogen) will be participating at their annual music industry teach-in Soma Skool, which takes place on April 25 at the Arches in Glasgow. The producers will be demonstrating how to create a track from start to finish, as well as taking part in Q&A presentations throughout the afternoon event.
Martin Dust from Black Dog told Skrufff the key piece of advice he hopes to impart is ‘that you can still ‘Do It Yourself’; you don’t need to play the game’, and recalled his own school days as a ‘disruptive’ kid. “School was just learning enforced through repartition, I hated it,” said Martin. “When I left I started a job working with computers, which was well paid and came with a car. For three years I drove past my old history teacher waiting at the bus stop every morning, I’d pip the horn and give him the jacks every single day – he said I’d never amount to anything, he’s still catching buses and in the same job.”
Dave Clarke described himself as ‘a bored schoolboy that couldn’t settle in class due to an uncomfortable home life’ in his youth and said one of the key messages he hopes to pass on is to ‘follow your heart if it’s good and keep striving.’ “Basic ability can be learnt, but sadly talent can’t, no matter where you go you have to have the feel and more importantly the heart for it,” Dave added. “However, you can still be untalented and be lucky and hit the big time just as you can be incredibly unlucky and be extremely capable but end up nowhere, it’s a question of lots of things lining up, intellect, luck and most of all the big P; Perseverance,” he said.
Martin also emphasised the importance of perseverance, concurring ‘everything can be learned, it’s the unlearning of rules/laws and the creative process that’s important. But doing what you really want to do takes time – there are things in this world you can’t rush, music is one of them,” he suggested. The Sheffield electronica producer also warned against stepping on others’ toes (‘it’s a small world and the music world is more snide than a copy of Heat magazine’) and emphasised ‘don’t let anyone crush your dreams or desires with their crushing statements or advice’. “There’s a reason why these people work for ‘the man’ and you don’t want to,” he added, “This is the difference that makes a difference. Keep kicking against the pricks and don’t follow fashion, if it’s fashionable it’s already too late,” Dave added, “Just follow your heart and stay a romantic with a hard nose,” he stressed.
