Contirbutor
Having just dropped his latest EP ‘Transmission’ we spoke with Francis Xavier about the affects of Covid-19 on creativity, supporting the scene and his dream collaboration!
Tell us about your latest EP ‘Transmission’. Where and when did you make the tracks and what did you set out to achieve with them?
I worked on the Transmission E.P in my studio in Darlinghurst Sydney around mid 2019, I generally pick a piece of kit in my studio, jam on that for a while to create a groove and then a theme for example with Radiowaves I was jamming on the Roland SV350 Vocoder, it kind of sounded 80s electro so I guess I tried to achieve an electro funky feel but still trying to keep it tough. Keeping with the theme of the propagation of sound waves, I found a vocal sample and played around with a Morodor 70’s style arpeggio on my juno 6 through a phaser pedal to make you feel like you are being sucked into a drain.
What is it that pulled you towards Unknown Records to release the collection?
Keep it the family to be honest, I release all my E.Ps locally and work with fellow Unknown artists. I think Unknown Records have a very unique sound with consistently strong releases. I’m biased but hey.
Did you get a chance to test the release on the road before Covid-19 hit, which of the two brought the best reaction?
I usually rely on my mates to play them to be honest hahaha, I always feel weird playing my own tracks. I have heard mixed responses but I think modulation bangs a little more as intended.
What is the best way for fans to support their artists in these tough times?
Just don’t forget about your artists, hopefully they’ll come back with new great material for you to enjoy and definitely go see them when they are performing near you after all this is over.
Surely the isolation must be great for producing new music, what else do you have in the works?
I was just thinking that and hopefully people are using this free time well. I hear a lot of people talking about producing music and now is the time. I unfortunately have not used this time well as I have still been working the day job but every spare minute I have i spend working with a few artists and working on ideas for my own album.
Once life returns to normal, which festival would be top of your list for you to play at?
I don’t really know, I guess I’m going to be pretty happy just being able to play to anyone and preferably in a small dark sweaty sticky club and then maybe I’ll think about a festival.
And finally who would be your dream artist to collaborate with and why?
I guess I haven’t really thought about collaboration with a dream artist, I wish I could go back in time to the 80s and work with those artists, it was a great time for experimentation, realistically I would collaborate with anyone if they would have me.
Transmission is out now and available here.