Cubase, Electropunk and James Rushent of Does It Offend You, Yeah?
With You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into, the four members of Does It Offend You, Yeah?, James Rushent being the lead singer and producer, celebrated the release of their successful debut album on March 24, 2008. By playing a blend of electro, dance and rock, the band from Reading, England, not only manage to impress the fans at their outrageous live shows.
Frontman James Rushent speaks with Steinberg about co-producing The Prodigy’s recent album Invaders Must Die, the future of DIOYY? and the advantages that Cubase offers in day-to-day recording.
The songs on your album You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into combine various music styles such as electro, dance and rock. How do you start writing songs and what influences you the most?
Well, we are into so many styles of music. It’s funny, some people don't like the fact that we jump from one style to another. But it’s very much what we are like as people. If we were to stay on, say, electro, for us it would get very boring very quickly. So we are always trying to move. Art is unpredictable, just like people. We won’t sit there and try to do ten songs that sound the same just to give us continuity, so the label or mags can put us in a box. We don’t work like that. Lots of bands do two good songs, then eight others that are crap, but sound a bit like the other two good ones. We don’t. Every song, no matter how much of a departure must have its own fell. It’s a dangerous way of working, but hey, someone has to do it. We start tracks in any number of ways, there is no one way. Some start on the computer, some from jamming, some from words, whatever feels right at the time.
While we’re on the subject of musical influences — who had a major influence on you?
Again, so many people. There’s not a lot of music out there that I don’t like. I'm lucky that I can see the good in almost everything and take what I want. Some people only like dark drum and bass or happy hardcore or Radiohead. I like all of them.
When did you start making music and when did you hear about Cubase for the first time?
I started at a very early age. My dad (Martin Rushent) was a record producer. So I was lucky, I never had the parents saying, "Get a real job!" or anything like that. I remember I could work an SSL by the age of 12. I was more into the production when I was younger. It was only when you could start making music at home that I really starting doing tunes myself. I remember Cubase on the Atari my mate had. We did a few bits on that. Man, I would love to hear those tunes now. But yeah, that was the first time I had a go on Cubase, perhaps 1992? Somewhere round there.
The Prodigy recently released their new album Invaders Must Die and you took part in the producing process. What was it like to work with them? Did you use any Steinberg products?
Well I never got into the studio with Liam, which was a shame. I was on tour in the US, so it was all done over the internet. He would send me some parts, a vocal, a riff and so on. Then I would do my thing on it, add sounds, beats, bits here and there. Then send him that, then he would do his bit on it and so on. Just back and forth. It didn’t really feel real to be honest. I mean I’m a big Prodigy fan. There I was sitting in a crappy motel somewhere in the middle of the US working on Prodigy tracks at 5 am in the morning. Very, very odd. But yeah, Cubase is also on my laptop — it’s all over the tracks I worked on.
Which Steinberg products do you usually work with and why? From a producer’s point of view: what are the advantages of the Steinberg products you use?
Some people can get confused sometimes. They think that ease of use = not very good. So they run off to some program that’s complicated to use. I’m not sure why they do this. I’ve always looked at it like this: you run the program, not the other way round. It’s there to serve you. The reason I love Cubase so much is you can use it so many ways. You can use it as a quick "get down the idea" program, or as a mastering program, or as whatever you need it to be. It sounds great. Everything works. Yes, I’ve had the odd "lost weekend" with other programs. But I’ve always found my way back to Cubase. Back home. I love it to bits.
Do you have any favorite virtual effects and instruments you use for your recordings?
Emm, well yes, lots. We really like the Polyvoks — it's a great synth — and all the EMS synths out there on the net. I think we have about 5 or 6. We also like Blockfish a lot. It has a good sound. And we love Altiverb and Speakerphone. But we find most of the great crazy plug-ins are made by some kid in his bedroom. Most of our plug-ins are freeware. We do use hi-end stuff for EQ and stuff like that. But it's some bit of freeware when messing with a sound.
What do you think about music on the internet and the internet as a medium for publishing music? What do you think about websites such as MySpace?
I did a blog on this a few days ago on our MySpace page. I think that it’s time the music biz got some balls and faced up to the fact that it’s not all coke and holidays anymore. The internet has made it harder for bands to make a living with all the downloading. I’m sure you guys feel it also. But at the same time I think it’s opened up a whole new side of things. Bands can now talk to the fans directly, not though some mag that may color what they say. It’s really opened it up. I think it’s great. I talk to a lot of our fans over the net about things. A lot of what we are saying on our new album will make the "music biz heads" get itchy feet, I think. But hey, we are not making music to get someone a promotion. We are doing it for us. So we will say what we want to say.
What are the future plans of Does It Offend You, Yeah? Can we expect a new album in the near future?
Yes. New album very soon. We are into the last week of tracking, then we start to mix. When that’s done, then it’s back on the road. So, we’ll see you soon I hope.
James, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us!
Does It Offend You, Yeah? on MySpace: www.myspace.com/doesitoffendyou
