Tim Green “Empire”

In a time when biting off the sound du jour has become the norm, Tim Green is separating himself as someone who refuses to take cues from the current trends. Consistently touching on new shades of house and techno, the Londoner has illustrated a forward-facing philosophy with polished releases on renowned labels ranging from Cocoon to dirtybird.

Returning to My Favorite Robot after last year’s experimental Helpless Sun EP, Green is giving the Canadian imprint another go, this time with more club-centered charisma. The titular tune “Empire” is a frisky mix of heady textures, in which he employs roguish basslines, strong-arming stabs and pounding percs to underline his ability to shake up the standard.

Available October 19 via My Favorite Robot.
Did you discuss or exchange ideas with other producers while creating this track?
Actually, the title track “Empire” started as a remix for Jozif on Culprit. I loved Jozif’s original track and have always wanted to do something for both him and Culprit (the Droog guys). But I was completely unhappy with my original remix for Jozif—I thought it was quite flat, and I just couldn’t get it sounding how I originally thought in my head. So, I hit a brick wall with it and did not take it any further and said to the guys, I don’t want to release it. It wasn’t until later, I spoke to Jozif and found out he actually really liked it. Eventually, time passed; his original came out, but I had enough distance to revisit the track and add several synths, do a better mix, and the track was finally finished.

Was there one particular moment in the recording or mixing process of this track that made you feel as though you were creating something pretty damn special?
It’s always hard for me to know if it’s really something special. I’m quite skeptical, even of my own music. It’s something special to me when I have been playing it out over and over and am still really happy with it—something that stands the test of time. Not an easy thing to achieve, in my mind.

Do you think advances in computer technology and gear have affected your creativity?
Definitely has affected me; in some ways it has made it harder for me, I think. Coming from live music, playing in bands, I always used to be fully hands-on when recording. Like, using reel-to-reel tape machines is obviously much less flexible and forgiving than computers. Plus, using hardware synths, not even MIDI onboard, means you have to play the take right and commit. So with computers and sequencers, I felt that for a while I was getting lazy and relying on programming my music more than doing what I am better at: playing things live and having more hands on. Now, I’m definitely more aware of this and enjoying the balance of both worlds to produce music I’m more happy with.

Have you played this one out in any of your sets?
Yeah, a lot. The first time I played a rough version of “Overstance” was in Istanbul at a lovely gig at Wake Up Call! The track is much bigger sounding than I realized, so I was in shock when I dropped it. But it worked really great, thankfully, and people reacted in a great way!

Choose one feeling that sums up this release, and describe it to us.
Wobbly, haha. Especially with the “Overstance” track, I really like the full-on bassline melody that’s slightly phasing and wavering in pitch throughout. I tried to give it that wobbly feeling, to play into the obvious optimum setting on the dancefloors in clubs.

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