61 - Paul Allard

Giannis Kampiotis
March 21, 2023

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Paul Allard

Coming from France, he has a strong passion for music, which started in his childhood. Through skate culture got exposed to different music genres, and then was inspired by the world of rave and freeparty to start creating his own sound universe.

Starting with Fruity Loops in the 90s he now makes music with a combination of modular synths and other hardware 🎶

Read Time: 10 minutes 📰

Studio

Gear List

Elektron - Digitakt
Eurorack - Synth (3x 84hp+2x60hp)
Soundcraft - EPM8
Focal - Solo 6 Be
many other small gear

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Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

I live in France, in the southwest, near Toulouse.

My relationship with music dates back to my childhood, I've always been a big music lover... I have to make a parenthesis about skateboarding, because I started skateboarding at 12/13 years old and I was seriously affected. Skateboarding took up a lot of space. And thanks to skate culture and skateboarding videos, I discovered a lot of different styles, from rap, to punk, soul, funk, rock, folk etc.

Then, after that time, the 90's, I discovered the world of rave and freeparty!!! and from that moment, I wanted to to be an actor, to play live..., the mix did not interest me at first, creating my sound universe was clearly my goal, but buying machines was excluded for me.

One day I tried fruity loops!!! We were in 97-98... and I loved it. I was able to buy myself a computer and some machines.

Since then I practice as much as possible... I don't make a living from music, but like most musicians I would like very much. At the moment, I am focused on composing. I have to move up a gear and produce more EPs and albums, be more present on the platforms, and then, for me the dream is just to be able to buy myself gear with it, and being able to grow my studio little by little...

Which piece of equipment in your studio is essential to your production process?

My finger skateboard close-up, and my eurorack setup.

What is the least expensive piece of gear that gave you the most results?

Teenage Engineering pocket operators (32/33) and the bastl kastl, monotron... Small gear are very fun!

Walk us through your process for creating and producing music.

It depends on the days... And I have different periods.

In the beginning, each session I started with something new. I explored a lot more, and I had no comfort zone. I focused on the exploration. Then, after a while and knowing the machines better, what they can give, and above all we taste and know-how are refined.

So from there, I entered phases where I can stay on the same patch and track for days until I'm happy with it. I learned to compose and work more slowly than before, I found a balance between being in your patch and composing, and moving into a listening phase. I made enormous progress thanks to this process, it is why the fingerskate is a perfect tool, after patching I sit well, I fingerkate on my studio, and suddenly I listen during this time. Purification, and what I've been doing is better since then, finally, I find finger-skating is very important haha!

Otherwise more technically, I always start by finding a musical scale that goes with my mood, and I often start with drone chords, and as soon as I find a beautiful rich and evolving atmosphere, I start to embroider beat, bassline, strings... The order depends on the feeling of the day... Afterwards, my process is extremely linked to my setup, I try to optimize as much as possible. For example, my Digitakt is the brain of the setup, with the 8 midi tracks of the Digitakt, I manage the eurorack setup with 4 tracks for the instruments, and 4 for the drums, all of this goes through a lot of effect modules. Delay, granular, reverb...etc... Which go into a conventional mixer, and the mixer returns to the Digitakt!!! The loop is complete. Thanks to this loop, everything is compressed by the Digitakt compressor for better homogeneity... the eurorack part is almost in all my patches and tracks made for do generative, glitch, controlled random to bring life, surprise!!! The main beat, the low-end are done with the Digitakt.

That's the the process I use the most. I change from time to time, for the pleasure of finding new things... I like to reduce the eurorack setup from time to time. I also like to spend the Digitakt, and do everything in modular, beat, bass, etc etc...

What is a production technique that you always come back to?

The generative technique, the controlled random... the glitch... and the sampling!!!

I sample a lot of things from my eurorack setup.

How would you explain your style?

I don't think I have my own style yet, I find it difficult... But I try to do house, micro-house... with a touch of glitch and trance...

It's a difficult question, because I have a lots of tastes and different desires... It depends on the period. I have ambient phases, where I work more on the "musical" and evolutionary side, and I have phases where I want to make the beat and the big bassline very groovy... To find crazy textures!!! But there's still a common thread in all that, it's that I have a style that's more hovering than aggressive...

Yes, I like hovering, regardless of the style.

What is a big challenge you have as an artist?

Keeping my pleasure intact and continuing to progress...

Afterwards, of course, I like to work with other artists, do lives, some EPs from time to time, personal or on other labels... release EPs, or albums on the platforms... but at the moment, I don't have a big challenge, nor a strategy. I remain focused on progressing, and making better music... haha. It's a big challenge after all...

Has building a hardware setup changed your perspective on music or life in general?

Oh yes totally!!! That's a good question!!!

My first real studio was hardware, and I knew absolutely nothing about modular... I learned to use hardware, I loved it, but I always was embarrassed by having to program to create, and I lacked a bit of spontaneity...

I grabbed the Moog M-32 with the DFAM... At first I didn't really get it... and then forced to play with, I understood that there was a way to compose, to develop my music, but in a more direct way, thanks to the cable. From there I sold 95% of my machines to get a eurorack setup... all that took time, a lot of thought, reviews... etc. And then, it completely changed the situation, no more embarrassment, an idea comes to you, hop we think for two minutes, we find the way to do what we want, we patch and boom, it evolves...

The material has a huge impact on what we are going to do. And the effect on life?! haha, well we go out more from the studio, we end up bear!

One tip on how to spark creativity?

Taking breaks!!!!!

It's hard, but you have to take time to listen and discover new things, and to avoid staying in the same patches, in the same creativity... That's the basis for me..