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Andy Page - Rewriting the Rule book page by page
While not a household name, Andy Page is the consummate quiet achiever of Australia’s dance music scene. A much sought after producer and co-writer since the mid 90’s, artists that have utilised his expertise include Sasha on the classic ‘Xpander EP’ and more recently on his album ‘Airdrawndagger’. Despite the flurry of mainstream artists, such as Madonna, eager to tap in to Page’s musical talent, his focus remains on his own productions and collaborations to which is attitude is uncompromising. However, perhaps the most exciting news currently is his first live performance, taking place this Friday at Broken Home.
“It’s not quite a full live show or DJ set,” describes Page when asked what attendees can expect. “It will be all of my own music, a lot of which is quite new. I’ll have some machines, Ableton Live on the laptop, plus some wooden things with strings on them. Musically it’s quite a challenge to present a whole set of my own stuff, and for the overall shape to work, particularly when my music covers a lot of different styles and sounds.”
Many dance music producers have found it a natural progression to add Djing to their repertoire after achieving even a small degree of success as a producer while others begin as DJs. Page, however, is part of a minority that has never shown interest in DJing. “I’ve thought about it, but my approach has always been, ‘If you do something, do it well,’ he muses. “I’m so focused on writing my own music and I don’t feel like I have the time to become a really good DJ and I’d hate to be a hack! I see the amount of effort people like Phil (K) put into staying ahead with new music, and it’s a full time thing for him, always on the search. But, perhaps in the future I’ll focus more on DJing.”
Before Broken Home, Page’s only DJing experience took place at England’s ‘Beautiful Day’ Festival at which Phil K was the only DJ in attendance. “It was mainly rock and reggae, and Phil was there to play in between a few of the bands,” explains Page. His first set was before Mad Professor, which needed to be very laid back, but Phil only had breaks and house music with him, so I plugged in my Ipod, played some Steve Reich and Miles Davis while Phil mixed in speeches of Bob Marley over the top. I don’t think everybody got into it though and some guy came up to us and asked if we had any Groove Armada”
If he does decide to become serious about DJing, the wheel will indeed have turned since the mid 90’s when young producer Page, a recent Victorian College of the Arts graduate, and Phil K, still establishing himself on the DJing circuit, collaborated to form first the Free Radicals with Ivan Gough, then just as a duo, the Hi-FI Bugs, soon after. Best known for their seminal track, Lydian and the Dinosaur in 1998, they set forward a blueprint for the Melbourne breaks scene that is currently at its peak and making waves on an international scale.
I make mention to Page of an interview Phil K took part in a couple of years ago, and when asked if he plans to work with Page again in the future Phil K replied , ‘He is very talented and is travelling the world exploring and learning. I would love to hook up with him at some point to work on music and to show him how far I have come with my programming as I am sure he would be pretty proud.’ Well, Phil K’s wish has come true.
“I have actually settled here in Melbourne, at least for now,” discloses Page. “After living out of a suitcase for the best part of six years I really needed to ground myself, and I’m glad I decided to come back to Melbourne. After travelling so much and living in different places, it’s really refreshing to come back here, mainly because the music scene is so good, not just for electronic music, but for Jazz, Rock and experimental music as well. There is a real community spirit amongst the people making music here and everybody is really supportive and encouraging of what others are doing, and everyone shares their knowledge.”
So, after plying his trade throughout the world, Tasmanian-born Page is back in Melbourne and not only working on new Hi-Fi Bugs material, but with the next generation of producers including Nubreed, Keltec and Mangan. “In some ways, working with Phil on new Hi-Fi Bugs material is exactly the same as we always have loads of fun in the studio, but a lot has also changed. Back then Phil wasn’t anywhere near as proficient on the machines and software compared to now. He has developed his own approach to programming. For example, what he is doing with the Ableton Live software is the most creative stuff I’ve seen anyone do with that program. So now when we work we’ve got at least three computers going, USB flash drives flying all over the place swapping files and the whole process is way faster, better and more fun now as we are both are doing as much programming as each other.”
While working with Sasha in ‘98 may have been instrumental in the formative years of Page’s international career, it was merely the beginning. Working with BT on the Go soundtrack, followed by BT’s album “Movement in still Life’ and Adam Freeland’s debut album ‘Now & Them’ cemented Page’s reputation among the best dance music producers and programmers. While his international commitments included extensive time spent both in Los Angeles and London, Australian artists and labels are just as keen to hook up with arguably the best in the business. In recent years, Wicked Beat Sound System have employed his production talent as well as on guitar and keyboards during their gigs and GT (aka Groove Terminator) assigned Page to co-write, co-produce and program the album ‘Electrifying Mojo’. To prevent me turning this into little more than a press release, you’ll just have to take my word that that the previous sentences are merely tip of the iceburg when it comes to Page’s little known accomplishments. Abi Tucker, Hamish, Tyrant’s Lee Burridge and Craig Richards, Skunk Anansie frontwoman, ‘Skin’, the score to recent movie Phone Booth and the soundtrack to the playstation game “Die Hard Trilogy” are all ventures in which he played a huge role yet always remained in the shadows.
Through this time he has formed lasting friendships, but when pushed to describe some of the most rewarding experiences the ever diplomatic Page grudgingly relents at the risk of leaving a few out. “When I was starting out, it was Phil (K) who taught me the most. There was a real sense of exploration, trying out weird ideas and techniques in a context that worked musically. Working with the film composer Harry Gregson-Williams on the score to ‘Phone Booth’ was really interesting and challenging as Harry is one of the A-list Hollywood composers, and is super talented. Working with GT on ‘Electrifyin’ Mojo" was also a great experience as Simon is a really talented producer in the traditional sense. He is very skilled in terms of arrangement and structure, and in his ability to coordinate everybody, getting the best performances out of the vocalists and out of myself. Often while I’m working I’ll have ideas, go off on tangents, and Simon always let me do this because he knew that most of the time I would come back with something decent. We had a real momentum going while we were doing that album and after pretty much every day in the studio I left feeling satisfied that we had achieved a lot.”
Similarly, due to his vast discography, Page has trouble picking a favourite production he has helped out on, but Sasha is definitely near the top of the list. I’m really proud of both Baja and Rabbitweed as they still stand up as great pieces of music, even though the production isn’t anywhere near what I can do now. .I’ve got some great memories associated with the Madonna break-beat remix of Ray of Light too. I was at the Miami music conference with Sasha, and we found out while were there that we were being flown out to LA to do the mix right after conference ended. We were buzzing! It was a great week working on it, working on a mixing console worth over a million bucks, William Orbit and BT came down to hang out, and just the fact that we were doing a Madonna record!”
Of late, the name ‘Andy Page’ is much more likely to be displayed proudly on the front of a record sleeve, rather than in the footnotes. In, what sometimes seems, a rare case of success going to those who truly deserve it, Page is slowly makes a name for himself not only among others in the industry but dance music fans themselves. While a collaboration with Babs titled Oblivia Newton Bomb was well received, as was his own production Mr Rush featured on Phil K and Dave Seaman’s ‘Renaissance Presents Therapy Sessions’ it is a track called ElementalElectroFunk by Marscruiser vs Andy Page with the unlikely inclusion of George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic frontman) that has been awarded the most attention and critical acclaim. “The US label ‘Barely There’ managed to hook up a vocal session with George in LA,” explains Page. “They flew me out to Wisconsin, which felt like being out in the middle of nowhere, to produce the track. I actually had a bit of performance anxiety. If my name was to go on a record alongside George Clinton, it had to be really good! I kept it pretty simple. I wanted it to be the sort of record you can pull out in a few years time and for it to still sound current.”
And what does the future hold for Andy Page? “I’ve been writing new music, as always,” he replies. “I’m always trying to develop and to keep pushing forward,” he excitedly states. “I really need to keep that momentum up as it’s still the biggest buzz for me when I’m writing and I discover something new. I hate standing still. I especially want to develop the live show more and my plan is to have a full rhythm section and other instrumentalists, still incorporating the programmed elements, but with a lot more improvisation. There’s a certain type of energy that’s created when you have a bunch of people playing together that you can’t get with just the machines.
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Published / Saturday, 30 October 2004
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