Plant43, aka Emile Facey, is one of electro’s most introspective voices. His music, which has been released on labels such as Frustrated Funk, Semantica, CPU and most recently on his own eponymous imprint, plunges into the depths of the genre and emerges cloaked in emotion, intrigue and physical expression. Music that is both deep and danceable you say? This year he produced an ambient album ‘Silver Streams’. Preceding that was ‘Sublunar Tides’, at the end of 2021. Right now he’s in the process of releasing his ‘Reflection/Reaction’ trilogy, the first part has just come out, the final part sees daylight in August. Having been releasing music for almost 20 years, Facey is in a rich vein of form right now, his live sets are in demand, and he is also starting to DJ. I recently sent him a few questions to peruse that he was kind enough to answer. So, read on . . .
Which of your releases are you proudest of and why?
I don’t have a favourite. Most of my tracks are written in the run up to live shows and so I’m writing very much in the moment for that particular gig. Once the live show is done I’ll go through and finish off the new tracks. Then they go into a playlist and I listen back to them a lot before deciding what to release and which tracks go together. That workflow allows me to test, hone and listen to tracks a lot before I commit to releasing them.
Why has electro endured?
I got the bug for it at a very early age – around 1984 – so I’ve seen it change and evolve over time. At this point it’s become the soundtrack to our lives, as producers, DJs or listeners, or all the above. It’s really heartwarming to see new people discovering electro and helping the scene to thrive. Tresor in Berlin have just launched a regular electro night and it’s been great to be a part of that.
How would you define your specific take on electro?
I have always listened to a really wide range of different music and I think it all influences what I make in some way. As humans we all experience a wide range of emotions and music can help us understand them and share them with others. When I’m making music I very seldom set out to make a particular thing, I just switch on my machines and see what comes out.
Where are the current electro hotbeds, and why do you think this is?
I like to follow artists whose music I like on social media and Bandcamp and generally find out about new music that way too. Listening to podcasts and mixes is also a great way to hear new music. The internet has connected everyone in the scene together to such an extent that I now talk to other producers who I’ve never met in person on a daily basis, exchanging tracks, mixes and ideas. Some of them have become good friends.
What inspires you to make your music, and do other interests influence your creative process?
My inspiration seems to come from all sorts of places and other interests definitely influence my music making. I trained in art and design and have a background in turning my ideas and inspirations into real things which I think is quite useful in the world of music making. I get a lot of inspiration from experiencing music, art, movies and books by other people too. With gigs coming back I’m spending more time in cities again and I find that inspiring too. I visited Berlin in April and it rained the whole time I was there. The city had a very particular atmosphere that I felt compelled to soundtrack.
How has your sound evolved?
I try to keep learning new things and incorporating them into my music and visual art. I like trying new studio techniques and I enjoy learning from other producers. I got a new synth at the end of last year and it’s given me a real burst of energy. I am always striving to evolve but want to keep the spirit of my music intact too.
What is there left to discover in electro?
I think as long as people keep making music there will always be more to explore, because every producer has a different take on how they make electro, what they use to make it, their influences. Someone like Sansibar is a great example of that, his productions are just incredible and they take an established sound and take a totally fresh approach to it. Also there are artists who keep pushing boundaries with every new release even though they’ve been going for many years. I find that very inspiring. I still hear new and exciting things happening in many genres and the advances in audio and technology in general have made it easier for people to make really professional recordings without the need for expensive studio time. We’re seeing a blurring of the lines between genres, people are just making the music they want to make and I think that’s really exciting.
Is life as an artist more difficult now, post-pandemic and within the realms of Brexit?
I never wanted the UK to leave the EU and at first it was really hard. As time has gone by and with the help of Bandcamp, my distributor Juno and other label owners things are getting back to normal. There’s still an enormous amount of admin and paperwork involved with sending a record to the EU compared to before we left but the alternative was to stop sending to those countries and that just wasn’t an option. I’ve always been very grateful for all the people in the EU who’ve supported my music and they’ve played a vital role in getting me to where I am now. I am really thankful to them for taking the risk of continuing to support me through that period.
I’ve read that you trained as an illustrator and graphic designer. How has this influenced your music?
I think the training you receive at art collage and through studying design has been really helpful for me as a musician. I was trained in how to apply my creativity to a brief and that translated into music quite naturally. Both of my parents are very creative too, my mum is a portrait artist and photographer and my dad is a cabinet maker. They’re both still at it long past retirement age because it’s a passion for them and that’s really inspirational to me too.
Do you have any particular approach to playing live, and do you ever DJ?
I started out as a DJ well before I had a proper studio. When I was in my late teens I got a small inheritance from my grandparent’s estate and I used that to buy my first studio gear. At that point I immersed myself in making music rather than playing records although I still love collecting vinyl and listening to other people playing it. Recently I learned how to DJ with Ableton Live and now I’m back to making mixes again regularly. It’s a great way to show your appreciation of other producers' work and a fun way to test out my own tracks for DJing too. Last year I played my first proper DJ set in a club (Natural Selection at FOLD in London) and I really enjoyed it.
Your recent album ‘Silver Streams’ was an excursion in to ambience. How, if at all, did your approach to putting it together differ from what you are more used to assembling?
There’s very little difference honestly. I suppose I am not so concerned with creating ‘on the grid’ which is quite a nice feeling sometimes. I am still essentially doing the same thing which is expressing myself through music, it just happens to be without drums.
What are your top 5 all-time electro tracks?
That’s impossible for me, sorry. There’s Just too many to try to narrow it down to five.
Plant43’s Reflection|Reaction trilogy of EP’s is released on Plant43 Recordings this summer. Follow Plant43 on Bandcamp https://plant43.bandcamp.com/follow_me.
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