Tim Xavier unveils Viperfish

When and where was the album produced? Bits and pieces of the samples used in the tracks were actually recorded and conceived in my small bedroom studio in Chicago 2003, ultimately all the mixing and sequencing were done in my (mastering) studio here in Berlin in the past seven months. How did you come up with the name Viperfish? I wanted an edgy concept to describe the caliber of the tracks on the album, and I thought about the image of a Viperfish. It lives at super dark, deep depths in the ocean, and lures in its prey by way of a bio-light located on its dorsal fin. To me the tracks feel aquatic, mysterious and dark so the concept was a perfect fit. What made you want to try out a full album? In the beginning the Viperfish tracks were a collection of tunes that I recorded live as "one-takes" on my mixing desk. The real time "muting" and "un-muting" gave them a very nice spontaneous feel, and the final sound was great and exceeded my expectations. At first they were meant to be personal tools for my own sets, not necessarily for releasing. I shared the tunes with some close friends in the industry and the response was overwhelming, so I decided to piece together newer track concepts with traditional automation to tie everything together. In the end, the body of work simply made sense! I had created a full on trippy collection of music that best describes my current style and vision. What are some of the biggest challenges you faced while working on the record? When I work on music I like to just "go for it." The tracks I finish the fastest and with ease are usually my best pieces of work, and if I don’t like the results I just move on to the next idea. My album project got a little tedious when I found concepts I liked, but had to return to sequencing several times until they met my satisfaction. That process is not usually my style and it can be difficult to maintain inspired energy when you are reworking things a lot, but in the end all of the tedious work paid off. I’m a student of my own craft and this has been a huge lesson on new methods of exploring concepts and ways of producing for the future. How do the tracks differ from something you'd release on a 12-inch? The way I see it, 12-inches come and go; it’s another brick in the wall. My EP work is usually geared to the dance floor. The Viperfish project challenged me as a producer to make tracks both for the listener and mixable to be played out. The last thing I wanted to do is to take a sharp turn and make something like an "electronica album" which only confuses my audience, but I still wanted to show another side of myself. What are you up to next? At the moment I am finishing various remixes for Dubfire's Sci-Tec label, Timefog and Sleaze UK. I’m an animal, I can’t stop making music and feel naked if I don’t. After Viperfish I am finishing up a CD project for Clink as an extension of the album, and am also focusing my solo imprint, LTD400.