Anodyne Industries is a Bay Area electronic music producer of heavy bass, dubstep, breaks, IDM and drum & bass.
Who is Anodyne Industries... I’d been making electronic music namelessly for my own enjoyment since 1996 and in 2009 started producing as Anodyne Industries. I’d always had this thing about not wanting to write ‘dance’ music because there was already so much of it out there and so many producers who were doing it so much better than I ever could. I respected that and didn’t want to muddy the waters. So for a long time I settled into writing IDM and soundtracks because at least there I never felt like I had to put any kind of pressure on myself or my music to be anything other than what it ‘wanted’ to be. In ’09, at the suggestion of a friend, I submitted a track called ‘Passion Drummer’ to the IDMf Netlabel, who picked it up for a compilation. The track got a lot of praise and I figured I’d see where this new, more danceable, sound would take me. Five years later and I’m playing clubs and festivals on the other side of the planet and getting tracks signed to some of the big, bass music labels I’ve always been a fan of!
I sound like... Broken beats, soaring pads and melodies, thundering subs and aggressive mid-range basslines. Think futuristic, dystopian, cyberpunk bass music and you’re getting warmer.
My first gig was... I’m pretty sure my first gig was at a dive bar in San Francisco in ‘09. I was invited out by a member of the IDMf Forums that was interested in starting a regular night for IDM artists. It wasn’t exactly a terrible show, but listening to the recording I made (yes, it exists. No you’ll never hear it) it was clear I had no idea what I was doing on stage or in the studio.
When did you settle on your name... Anodyne means ‘serving to alleviate pain’. I liked the sound of that and liked the way the word rolled off my tongue. I wanted my music to be a source of that pain reliever. Industries had a nice ring to it.
In the studio I usually... I drink tea, don’t smoke and make beep-bloop noises on my computer until they sound good.
Social media is... Honestly? Social media is a chore. I’m not very good at it. I don’t like spamming people with promotional material. I enjoy having a deeper connection with listeners/ fans than that. I’m too busy making music to turn Anodyne Industries into a hype machine.
My favourite app at the moment is... I try not to have an ‘app of the moment’. It’s too easy to bury myself in a million different plug-ins and instruments while never actually learning how to use them effectively. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping a pretty minimalist setup. Except for my guitar-pedal addiction.
To date, my most embarrassing moment was the time... Someone accidentally unplugged my laptop before my set and it died. When I went on stage to play I had to boot my laptop up, forgot it was already plugged into the mixer and the Windows XP startup sound played full blast over the mains. That was awesome.
Life on the road can be... Anything. It can be boring, aggravating and exhausting. But it can also be an incredible life-changing experience. It’s whatever you want it to be.
If you’ll have me on your bill, all I ask is that my rider contains... A beer and a bottle of water. I’m a simple man.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? I make world-famous vegan nachos.
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... Yesterday. If I’m not making music I’m probably either riding a bike, indoor rock climbing or asleep.
What’s the one chore you dislike the most? Mixdowns. No question about it. I’ve already spent ages listening to the track while I’ve been making it. Now I have to listen to it countless more times while making tiny adjustments to get it to sound perfect knowing full well it won’t ever?! No thank you. I hate it.
Do you have any phobias? Failure. I’m hard on myself and the thought of failing to reach my potential is one thing that will keep me up at night.
Anodyne Industries is part of the Earth Frequency Festival line-up, which takes place on 13-16 February.
