Interview: rude_NHS
Published on May 28th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
Rocksucker has been enjoying the delightfully squiggly electro of rude_NHS, so we fire him over some questions in the hope of finding out a bit more about how he operates. First, though, get an earful of his colourful sound…
Who or what is rude_NHS?
It’s just me, my computers, the internet, my record collection and occasionally my actual real instruments/noise devices.
How would you describe your music, if pushed?
I’ve never described it to anyone but my friend once said it sounded like a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs.
Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?
I am based in my bedroom where I bring people at weekends and force them to watch all six Star Wars films then record their pleas for release then make electro out of it.
Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?
I have releases on Sotones and I have a Bandcamp page. I can’t remember how I got on Sotones, it seems so long ago.
Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it? (Feel free to be as abstract as you like!)
I have a full album out already, and I released full albums amongst friends some time ago, but I have two albums in the pipeline: one where I shall play all the instruments for some jazz compositions I’ve been working on for 16 years, and the other will be a short album of pure electronic music made with self-made, custom-built, bespoke software, that I will release with the album for people to use to make their own music with.
Where can we hear your music online?
My music is only available to the cat that comes in my room sometimes, and of course iTunes, SoundCloud and Bandcamp.
Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?
Most of my gigs are a disaster with people coming up to the booth and asking me to play dubstep when i’m playing a track I’ve been working on for six months. But I have done a few online streams where i played generative algorithm music whilst chatting to the viewers in the chat room. Those were quite fun. It’s a little hard for me to get the right kind of gigs – when you’re not a band and you’re not a dj, you’re somewhere in between just playing tracks for people to dance to and using things to make noises for people to scratch themselves to.
Generally in the past when I’ve been billed as a DJ people dont really want to hear my music, they more want to hear stuff they can just dance to, and then on occassions when I’ve played as a live act, people dont dance, they just stand there and watch then criticise me for not doing much on stage, despite the fact that I’m working really hard on stage to try and make them dance using sophisticated technology.
Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)
Not right now apart from a tenth anniversary party celebrating the tenth year of a disco night that we started ten years ago that I’ve been doing with some friends for ten years.
Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?
JayEtAl. Catnip and Claws. rude_NHS. Spod.
Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?
The entire works for five people? Wow. Probably John Williams, John Barry, Bach, Squarepusher and Jimi Hendrix. Those guys probably have enough catalogue to keep me interested but they have to be all on vinyl so if I ever got bored I could at least play them backwards and at different speeds.
rude_NHS, thank you.
For more information, please visit facebook.com/rudeNHS
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
