Tuesday 21 July 2009

i stole your boyfriend

Tuesday 21 July 2009


Here's a transcript from an interview i did with Sydney electronica producer Stolen Boyfriend. He sounds dubsteppy, a bit loungey, a little snuggley, with tribal percussion and heartstring tearing vocal samples that are like metaphorical theft of Luther Vandross's KFC snack box.

Omar: Hi Stolen Boyfriend.

Stolen Boyfriend: Hi Omar. You’re taller than I expected.

O: Tall genes, what can I say.

SB: Cool. Got a lighter?

O: Sure, here you go (passes lighter). Can I call you SB for short?

SB: Why not.

O: You know, SB could be an abbreviation for the Sultan of Brunei, or sausage and bacon or skunk bitch.

SB: I’m aware of that. But it stands for Stolen Boyfriend, you retard.

O: I guess so. So tell me how you started making music.

SB: Originally I was a singer-songwriter and used to play really guitar-centric music. I taught myself how to play synths and over time, electronic elements worked their way into my music. Between 2004-06 I mainly produced indie pop-rock and recorded a lot of stuff in a home studio I set up.

O: So now you do synth-based electronica?

SB: Yes. In high school I recorded over 200 tracks, which included four albums and lots of EPs I'd hand out to friends and family. I did all this under the alias ‘Sequence’.

O: So you like picking unusual-slash-confusing-slash-fucked up stage names then?

SB: No, but I started playing with some senior high friends in a band called ‘The Civilians’ and we made garagey indie-rock that was really popular at the time. We played at parties and entered in Triple J unearthed and did all that stuff.

O: Interesting, but why did you eventually decide to go solo? A larger proportion of groupies?

SB: When high school finished I really thrived on producing music alone, because it was instant and I could do it myself, without other people telling me what they didn't like and wanted to change. I could no longer write anything that I thought sounded original on a guitar.

O: Would you agree the moody samples you dress in reverb sound like Negroes crying under lonely streetlights?

SB: Um, not really.

O: What software do you produce on?

SB: I use FL Studio and Ableton Live. I also use this old multi-track recording software called Cool Edit Pro 2. As I was getting more into electronic music I started mixing tracks for friend’s bands and recording EPs for them in my home studio. I did a few remixes for Ghosts of Television and recorded an EP for acoustic artist Matthew Robert.

O: Back to your stage name. Why did you pick Stolen Boyfriend?

SB: After high school there was a lot of infidelity and your average adolescent craziness going on around me, but it didn't affect me personally. I felt like an observer. There were lots of boyfriends and girlfriends being ‘stolen’. I found myself clicking my way through a random band name generator that I discovered after a quick Google search. I sifted through hundreds of different names until I saw ‘Stolen Boyfriend’ and it struck a chord, due to what I was seeing happen every weekend I'd spend at some sordid party.

O: Ooh, that’s kinky. So you’re a voyeur? Are you into BDSM too?

SB: Sorry, not tonight.

O: So why did you keep the name?

SB: Earlier this year I chose to keep the Stolen Boyfriend name because, in a way, recording and dedicating myself to music kind of steals me away from my girlfriend a little bit.

O: I get that - I spooned some decks when I was wasted one time. So tell me about what you’ve released under the current moniker.

SB: I recorded the first EP very slowly, between 2006-07. The second EP was done at the end of 2008-start of 2009. As I moved farther away from my earlier influences my music became more electronic and influenced by dubstep, which I was getting into.

O: Who are you main influences?

SB: Three albums that influence what I do the most would be Souvlaki (Slowdive), Knifeplay (Xiu Xiu) and Untrue (Burial) – that’s the best dubstep you'll ever hear.

O: So you want to go for a beer? We’re not far from Steve and Rachel, they’re watching a DCup DJ set at a ‘Bruno’ dress-up party in Kings Cross.

SB: Sorry, I’m meeting my girlfriend tonight.

O: She won’t mind if I steal you away for a little while.

SB: Well, um, can I borrow a costume?

O: Sure.



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol, great interview! : )

Steve said...

wow this music is amazing omar - will picked up brother

Acid Midget said...

Thanks Sofie :)

Love your work babe.

Acid Midget said...

Glad you like Steve!

Anonymous said...

sounds like spiritcatcher. good