[Introspective] chris zippel interview

[let's break the law]

I didn't realise Chris Zippel looked so dishy!

Just found this interview with him on www.petshopboys.co.uk

1. Chris, you co-wrote 'London' as well as co-producing 'Positive role
model' & 'Somebody else's business' with the Pet Shop Boys. You also
completed remixes of E-mail' and 'Home and dry' which were never released.
How would you describe working with the Pet Shop Boys on these songs?

As they are my all-time heroes, it was a great experience for me, and I have
always dreamt of working with them. All in all we have known each other for
about three years now, and I cherish them not only because of their great
music but also as people. In fact, I think we had a great time working
together!

Although they knew exactly what they did and didn't want, I still felt
pretty free with my work , my sounds and the production. This was especially
the case with the song 'London', as the boys simply trusted me to do the
right thing, and I produced this one nearly all by myself. Also, when it
comes down to little Hihat things or chopping and changing the vocals, it
never feels like I'm being supervised. I know of other artists who always
want to control everything. I thought the freedom was pretty cool. It's the
right attitude to take; trusting each other to work together.


2. How did the co-write on "London" come about?

It was the last day of the Boys production trip to Berlin. We met as usual
in my studio, and after a while Neil had this idea of doing a remix of an
old disco classic. I wasn't really convinced about working on this track, as
I thought it would be cooler to create something new. So, I played them a
very atmospheric and groovy track which I had written a while ago. I already
had a vocal melody in my head, so I sang along with the playback. They both
liked it, although Neil thought it wouldn't fit his voice or style.

I persisted singing and playing the instrumental version in different keys,
hoping that it would be easier to sing to. Perhaps I was a bit persuasive,
but I was convinced that it would work out! (Anyways, how often do you get
the PSB in your studio wanting to create a new tune?!?!)

After messing around with the instrumentals for a while, there was this
magic moment when Neil remembered an old song that had never been finished.
He began to change his melody a bit, humming along, trying things out and
slowly starting to sing…that's how it always starts. Chris didn't like the
whole thing much and went to the cinema I think. Neil and I ploughed on
though. Later on, we combined our ideas - my melody became the verse and his
became the chorus. As it was the Boys' last day in Berlin, they left me with
just a sketchy idea and a poorly recorded vocal guide track. Although
because of the 'magic first take feeling', that we had all had, it ended up
becoming the lead vocal in the final cut. I had plenty of time to work on
this one, so I recorded both real bass and acoustic guitars. It is a nice
crossover mix with electronic beats on one hand, and this acoustic guitar
feelin' on the other.

About 3 or 4 month later the boys came back to visit. They hadn't heard the
song since the last trip to Berlin. Hesitantly at first, I began to play my
final version of 'London'. I think they where both surprised! I remember
Chris, after a little pause, said what every producer loves to hear when
they've spent so much time on a new track, 'Hey Chris, It's Great! Don't
change anything!'.


3. What do you think of the original PSB demos of 'Positive role model' &
'Somebody else's business' before you got involved in production?

I love demos. They're always blank sheets to the creative mind; everything
is still possible and so many avenues are yet to be explored. In your mind
you can change it as often as a chameleon changes colour, turning it into
pop, rock, dance, clickhop, punk, whatever you're into. With the original
PSB demos there was no difference. I enjoyed listening to them, especially
knowing that I'd soon be able to mess around with them.

Both were recorded, together with the Boys, by Pete Gleadall. I always get
excellent, clean cuts from Pete. Naturally the demos focussed on the lyrics
and not the production, but still, there were some good ideas for grooves &
pads and even arrangements. It was ace that the Barry White sample was
already there. I liked it, but I had to reproduce the sample for copyright
reasons. Just as I had finished reconstructing the sample, the boys told me
that they had got a copyright agreement with Barry White for the original!
grrrrr!


4. Which was your favourite song to work on and why?

I think it was 'Somebody else's business', because it's the most
atmospheric, as well as the most electronic sounding song that I produced
with the boys. I love the verse sung by Neil, as it has such a strange yet
cool melody, as well as the string theme coming from my beloved 80s Synth:
Roland D50, As I'm producing a lot of chillout tracks for my 'genuine- nu
ambient grooves'project, this was really up my street. During the
developement of the song, i think we all thought it was something special.
If I ever have this WOW! feeling during a production, I know that I must be
on the right track.

I guess 'E-mail' would be my second favourite song, I made an alternative
single mix which sounds a bit more electronic, although it hasn't been
released yet. I really liked working on this one as I found the melody and
string accords really good. It's one of those rare mixes were Neil is
speaking over the playback, although I don't think he liked it too much!
Anyway, I love it but i also have a mix without the speach.


5. What was the biggest challenge of working with the Pet Shop Boys?

Their reputation by far! The Pet Shop Boys have been working all throughout
their career with many brilliant and talented producers together such as
Craig Armstrong, Harold Faltermeyer, Rollo and David Morales amongst others.
So naturally I was curious as to how I'd fit into the picture. If we'd had
wildly different ideas, or came from opposing musical perspectives then it
would have been difficult. Of course we come from different musical
backgrounds and as with everything it was a bit of an experiment, especially
as the boys had only heard a short showreel of mine upfront. Sometimes when
you work for people with the status of the Pet Shop Boys, the normal
creative process of exchanging ideas with the artist doesn't really happen,
and you can end up just being a remote control for their wishes. I was lucky
though, they were always keen to hear my ideas and asked my opinion often.
It really felt as it should; that we producing stuff together.


6. Can you describe how you go about co-producing "Positive role model" &
"Somebody else's business" from recording studio to final copy?

I started out with some demo recordings sent by Pete Glaedall in London. The
Boys work with him quite a lot to develope new songs. Normally Pete has
already inserted some demo vocals and ideas in a recording. As we both use
Logic Audio & Pro Tools systems it is quite easy to transfer his work to my
studio and then adapt his work. The next step is to create differing layouts
and play around with ideas, which normally takes a few days. When the Boys
arrived in Berlin I already had enough differing approaches to the songs,
for us to have enough material to work from, and try and develop them
further.

The work was well relaxed! We shared our ideas, had a cup of tea, I offered
some sounds for the lead melody, and then we watched a bit of TV. We swapped
the bridge with the chorus and had another piece of cake while reading the
newspapers; normal studio work, you know! Of course in reality the work load
was heavier than that, quite often when I worked alone at night on the
tracks. I often wanted to surprise the boys with some new arrangements in
the morning so would put in quite a bit of work overnight.

Once we were satisfied with the track, and had recorded all the missing
vocals I began to lay down each track as an AudioFile. Each little Hihat,
pad, shaker etc. became a seperate AudioFile as long as the song. It was not
uncommon to have more than 50 AudioFiles in one track.

I transferred all the data to my friends Kai Diener & Florian Richter's
studio so that they could begin to build a proper mix, while we used the
time to work on another track. That was because at this time I didn't have a
'total recall system' like I do now. This system makes it easier to jump
from one song into another, as all the effects and equalisers are configured
automatically.

After Kai and Florian had built up the mix, we all went round to
"superdupervise" the final setups until everyone was satisfied with the end
product.

We mixed a lot of versions and outtakes from the instruments alone. In my
studio I did the final digital editing, cutting a shorter version, 12 "
mixes, adding a Hihat or changing a vocal sample. 'London' was alternatively
mixed this way from Michael Brauer in England. For the release of the
'London' single we decided to use the original mix, which we worked on
ourselves in Berlin.


7. Are there any funny memories from working with the Boys?

Yes, we had something like a running gag: I remember being fascinated by
Neil as a singer, and also by the unique sound of his voice. His singing
talents aside however, I loved it when he spoke. As a German, hearing the
English language spoken is always quite exotic to me. Because of this I ask
the Boys every time they come over to do a little speaking part, or even to
rap part of the song. They always said it would sound corny, and so far I
haven't convinced them to grant my wish, but we always have a good laugh
about it.


8. What equipment was used to co-produce 'Positive role model' & 'Somebody
else's business'?

I used Logic Audio as a sequencer with a ProTools Audio System. The Mixing
desk at the beginning was an analoge Mackie 32/ 8 Bus Console. Inbetween the
production i did an upgrade to a Total Recall System. All synths could now
be digitally configured, and an mixing desk was no longer needed. Drumloops
and special effects where programmed in through the great arranging and
editing software'LIVE' from the company Ableton in Berlin, which makes it
very easy to create different versions of one loop. I used a lot of Roland
Gear for the sounds and drums. For example on all the tracks I've used the
Roland D50 or Virus TDM for pads. The Roland Tb 303 is actually quite
audible in 'Positive role model' as a main bass sequence. In 'Somebodys' I
used Tb303 fragments which I had cut out of a whole loop. In every
production there is a Hihat running in Midi-Sync from an Roland TR 808
Drumcomputer or Drumtracks/ Sequential Circuits in the background. This is
much tighter than a midi-generated note. Many Effects are from Native
Intruments Synthesizer Absynth, which is fabulous for mysterious
athmospheres, too.

For the various Vocoder Effects I used an SVC 350 Vocoder from Roland, and
an Electro Harmonix Smallstone Phaser is present here and there. For effects
we had a Lexicon PCM 90, Yamaha & Wasp Reverberators. I also used a lot of
Waves and Mc Dsp TDM Plug Ins for Equalisation and more effects.

The special bit was the 'Genuine Piano Remix' which I produced for 'London'.
We got Robert Matt to play a Steinway Grand Piano which we miked up with a
homemade wooden construction, which allowed the mikes to hover directly over
the open grand piano. In the final mix you can hear two piano takes playing
at the same time , panned a little left and right. As well as the normal mix
there is also a mix with jazzy drums, although it isn't released yet.

9. Have you been able to use anything, that you either learnt or
experimented with, while producing for the Pet Shop Boys, in other songs for
other Artists? If so, who?

As a producer you often find yourself tweaking knobs to adjust a sound or an
equaliser. You can spend hours trying to find the right snare and other bits
n' bobs. So much so, that you can sometimes lose track of where the song or
composition is heading.

What I found with the Boys, is that it is SO much easier when the song is
right to start with, and when the artist behind the mike is confident and
knows what they're doing. It's like I can have a better understanding of the
major components of a piece, without having to forget all the little
important details that go alongside them.

Right now I am so spoiled with Neil's superb voice, that I am choosing
carefully which projects I get involved with. These days I have become more
confident as a Composer, so that's what I do - compose. Naturally this all
influences my new projects. I just finished a great remix for the renowned
'Snap' project( I've got the power). It's a cool down tempo mix, and maybe
it will become a single. For DJ Paul van Dyks's 'Vandit' label, I have
recorded the second single by my artist, 'Tayfun'. This is my German Techno
Project were no holes are barred! It'll be released in Spring; so be warned!
A third 'Genuine' album is in the pipeline. It's already recorded, though
still needs a lot of finalising.

More to the point, the next Pet Shop Boys sesh is hopefully up and coming.
Maybe this time, if I click my heels together three times, my wishes will
all come true - here's hoping for a Pet Shop Boys rap!






For more information about Chris Zippel, please visit his web site at
http://www.chriszippel.de


Minge

xxx