The Scottish producer is unrepentantly old school in his music and views. RA's Nick Connellan chats with him around the release of his new album.

amen to hitting that saturation point...sooner the better please.

There is plenty of (to me) interesting unmusical electronic "music"....lot's of, say, monolake or deepchord or mike parker or .... is more like static sound sculpture than music (traditionally understood)...and there are many more examples of this. I don't identify with the "nobody wants to go out and just listen to endless loops" thought...a night made up (largely or entirely) of this kind of non-music is actually what I prefer. If done well, it is hypnotizing. That's not to say it is all done well (it isn't....but neither is a high percentage of electronic "real" music done well). I'm fine w/ people not liking the less musical evolving loop (or whatever) style but to refer to it as if it's a problem or of lower quality...I don't buy it.

One of my favorite producers by far and a true hero in the techno scene

There's a lot to be taken away musically from this feature on a composition and analogic musical sequencing level.

I concur, I myself have been leaving clubs really early because of some dj who's got his lapjay and unknowingly because they are not musicians are playing bland daw loop tracks and let's not get into the beatport top 10 painful dirge, but one has to face it, at the commercial clubs is were a lot of the hot women are.

I like loopy soundscapey techno and musical shit, but I really don't think there's any way you can deny that the non-musical tracks are out numbering the musical ones by a huge ratio, maybe 10 to 1 or more! And the turnover time for those non-musical tracks is very fast, they tend to not be true anthem type songs. It's fine to have some of that going on, but there needs to be more music happening for sure. I play lots of house and disco, there tends to be more music happening there. Techno is a whole other sad story though.

Vince Watson one of the favs

really looking forward to releasing his album later this year. It's very special.

Well said Vince! Keep it true

Vince continue to SHine your Light Brother.

Vince is inspirational!

Vince keeping it real.

The thing that I have always like about electronic music was that there was an emphasis on the non musical aspects such as rhythm, timbre and atmosphere. If Vince is concerned with making sure people know he can play the keyboard, that's fine, but to say 5/6 of everything is junk because it isn't focused on traditional western music theory seems pretty elitist.

Ironically enough, the problem I have with Watson's music is that he over does it. He's technically really good, but his music needs to be more stripped back. Also a problem I'd have with his fellow country man, Arne Weinberg. The whole emphasis on the "musical" side of things is often over cooked and ultimately detrimental to the finished tracks.

Music theory isn't some text handed down from God dictating how things must be. It's a study of why things sound the way they do, and the mathematical explanation of why that is. Music theory is no more limited than texture, melody, harmony, energy, etc. It is not elitist to recognize that things sound good for a reason. Even if they're not formally trained, there's a knowledge that people who know how to manipulate sound into music that touches people that is not luck or a guess or anything else.

Now that I cannot disagree with. Dance music doesn't really need over the top musicality either. But it should have something interesting going on aside from a rhythmic noise. That shit getting boring just as quickly as over orchestrated music gets tedious. There's a line that most people are on the wrong side of

Ditto! I have always loved Vince Watson's productions and I am very looking forward to hearing play at Tresor and Berghain

great interview... def hits the head.. way way too much crap is being put out these days, even the stuff that's supposedly 'good' such as all this new techno, most of them super polished, emotionless using that same hi hat and that same 'berghain' kick and a lot of them have really bad arrangement. I just can't get down with it.

I'm a fan of Vince Watson's music and I do agree with some of his points, but he seems to have a pretty narrow definition of "musicality" and what makes for "beautiful" music. Still, it's nice to read an interview with someone who feels strongly about what he does and the scene he's involved in even if I disagree with him. Also, good job by the interviewer challenging him on some of his assertions - usually don't see that happen here.

Can't believe he grew up in Glasgow and didn't mention club69 or rubadub records once in that interview.

Very interesting...