Reload Interview (1995)

Reload are Mark Ptitchard and Tom Middleton. They also record under other aliases such as: Global Communication, Link, etc. Here the Sentinel talks to Mark Pritchard and tries to find out what he is thinking
ø+ sentinel
π: Pritchard
Interview published in Alien Underground 0.1 (London, spring 1995)

ø: So, what are your thought about technological music today?
π: Pretty uninspiring on the whole, but many different thoughts on different areas really. I don’t dismiss any of it but there is a lot of rubbish being produced in techno but there’s so many different types of ‘techno’ because it’s such a big word now.
ø: So do you agree with the categorisation that’s going on?
π: Sometimes, but it does get a bit stupid. But telling someone you like techno to them could mean Harthouse or even 2 Unlimited now. The sort of techno I like is the early Detroit or Chicago stuff. That’s the sort of stuff I have always liked and still like. I do listen to a lot of other forms of stuff I have always liked and still like. I do listen to a lot of other forms of techno, but I don’t like the Trance stuff or a lot of the UK stuff. Not a lot really turns me on. The stuff to me that stands out the most recently is the Sähkö label , that’s really good.
ø Yeah experimental weirdness!… what influences you when you make music then?
π: Um, different people for different styles, because we do quite a few different styles. For instance for the Global Communications stuff we’re influenced by Herbie Hancock, David Sylvain and Asaka Atamoto. And for the Link and techno things it’s more P-Funk and Electro and early Detroit Techno. But I like so many different types of music that I have so many influences. Some of them cross over, especially the Jungle stuff because you get techno, hip hop and dub influences in Jungle. That’s one good thing about the Jungle scene, you see quite a lot of different styles, that’s why I think I have always liked it really.
ø: The term ~Jungle is overused as well though, isn’t it, because most people think of Jungle as General Levy and UK Apache, but that’s not really the stuff you’re into?
π: Yeah Jungle is branching off into different things nowI mean I think it just ends up having to, but some of the names people come up with now are a bit stupid, like Ambient Jungle which doesn’t really work. I mean, just because people start to put strings and ambient noises in it ! But I prefer the deeper jungle either the Good Looking Records sort of style or the mellow chilled out jungle and jass. And I like the noisier techno influenced jungle. Some of the ragga stuff I don’t mind but is has to be really well done.
ø: Are you putting out any jungle at the moment then?
π:I’ve got a few things coming out on Recoil this year, one from a friend in Bournemouth and a few tracks hopefully coming out on Good Looking Records. One has already been cut by LTJ Bukem and he’s doing an extra mix so we can put it out, if Warp lets us anyway.
ø: So how do you see the future then? Do you see anyone joining together say jungle and techno?
π: Well there are signs from people I know who make jungle and nothing else are getting into techno and experimental music. A few people are starting to do it. There will be some collaborations. People like Mo’Wax are getting in jungle artists to do remixes. People are coming out now saying they like jungle, mainly because the music press said they could, which is a bit sad really, that’s what people are like though, as though they need to be told what to like by Mix Mag or NME. Sad, really sad.
ø: Well um, on another level what do you think of` “intelligent” music?
π: Well, first of all I don’t like ‘trance’ at all. I only like old so called trance tracks like Lil’Louis and The Age of Love.
ø: But that was all before it became a commercial kind of image, ‘trance’ like with Eye Q now and the rest of them.
π: Yes, the new Eye Q and Harthouse style ‘trance’ I don’t like at all. Really it’s just bland rubbish. Doesn’t do anything for me. And neither does ‘ambient’ music.
ø:Well, a lot of the other music press think of your music as ‘intelligent ambient music’ as in the Global Communications stuff.
π: Yeah, I don’t really like that term. ~It’s a dodgy phrase … and makes it sound like you have to have a degree or go to univerity to like it. Total elitism, which is all a bit sad really. I’ve even heard the term ‘intelligent hardcore’!
ø: Most of these terms are created by the music press – what do you think of it as a whole? Do you think they know what they are talking about?
π: I don’t think many of them do. I think on the whole a lot of magazines don’t know what they are talking about and don’t really listen to the music. When they do the reviews, they don’t write about the record, they write about some bizarre interpretation. And also the music press move around and jump on to the next bandwagon, hype it, then dismiss it after a while instead of just listening to everything and checking it all out.
ø: On a last not, what can we expect from you in the near future?
π: Well the plans are to do some more stuff for Evolution, some techno and probably some new arists on Evolution. We have got a few more remixes to do, then we give up remixing because we’re fed up with doing it. We are doing a few jungle ep’s and some more house, then some more Reload ideas.
ø: Dark Techno!
π: Yeah, more and more Reload stuff and hopefully do another album. mid this year, and maybe more Global Communication but we really want to give it a back seat this year. We want to do a few things for ourselves really.
ø: Any last words?
π: Um, not really apart from stick to your guns, do what you want and try and stay with one ear to the floor, oh, and ignore the majors.

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