E383: Scalar field in quantum field theory?

"I started playing drums in school when I was about 14 or 15 years old," muses Glasgow-based techno musician, Thomas Mccluskey, better known more recently as E383.

We're releasing an E383 EP (Radion) through IF? this month, which will be up on Juno Download on the 15th, if you wanna test the choice Scottish waters here.

The charm of interviewing someone like Thomas is that not only is he a nice guy with a penchant for late nights and a shit-load of coffee (like me), but he has a lot of interesting stuff to say--and he also engineers devastatingly cool tunes.

"I used to skip classes and my music teacher would just hand me the keys to the music room. Drumming comes naturally to me, and I'm fascinated with rhythm; always have been. Maybe because my dad played percussion in a military band when he was in the army. I actually followed in his footsteps and joined the army when I left school. But I hated it and had to get out. I had just left the army at the age of 18, and found all my old friends were listening to this crazy breakbeat hardcore music. Around the same time I happened to buy a magazine for my Amiga computer which had a floppy disc attached. This disc had a trial version of OctaMED, a sample-based sequencer, and I was instantly hooked and started making my own hardcore tracks... then I discovered techno and never looked back.

"I've been producing electronic music for around 18 years now, although most of that time it was just as a hobby. It's only been in the last seven years that I realized that people were taking an interest in what I was doing.

"I started out using my own name, Thomas Mccluskey, and my very first release was in 2003, Illegal Beats on Sifted Recordings in New York. The track was produced on my old Commodore Amiga, and the sound quality was terrible, but they released it on vinyl anyway! The remixes by Ramie Burns and DJ Donovan were OK, though.

"I had to take a long break from music due to ill health--cancer. Thankfully, I made a full recovery. So it's only been the past two years that I've really got back into producing, and I'm glad to say that the future is looking good and I'm sure I will be working with more artists soon.

"If you check me out on MySpace, you'll notice I've used the term 'minimal' to describe my music, as I feel a lot of my work is minimal... although people tend to have a strange idea of what that means these days. Let's just call my stuff techno.

"You can check out my remix of Martin Mueller's 'Alien Key' on his Connected EP through Home Records; Mike Dearborn also did remixes for this EP. And then there's my Northern Lights track coming out soon on the Hypnotic Room label, with a remix by Woody McBride. It looks likely I'll have something coming out through their sister label, Elektrax, maybe soon. I've just been talking to a free netlabel based in Italy who are interested in releasing some of my older material, which I'm thinking of releasing these under my own name as I feel they don't fit with what I'm currently doing, and I'm also in negotiations with a couple of other labels--although nothing is definite with them... yet."

THE DIGITAL ANOMALY

"I'm loving this digital explosion; so much great music is now instantly available, we're spoiled for choice! Although I must say I'm not impressed with what is being called 'minimal' these days--a lot of it sounds the same, almost as if it were all being produced by the same artist... but each to their own, I suppose.

"It's hard for a lot of labels to keep their heads above water. They have to do whatever it takes to get the music out there, that's what's important. To me, it doesn't really matter what format it's on. I hear a lot of people complaining about the death of vinyl, and I used to care, back when I was buying vinyl. These days all I ever buy is digital. I'm happy with that to be honest--and I was never into CDs.

"Although I find the prospect of a DJ mixing without vinyl and CDs to be very interesting indeed, there is nothing quite like a DJ who can mix vinyl and do a fantastic job of it; it gives you something to watch as well as to listen to."

STUDIO SET-UP

"My set-up these days is minimal. I still use OctaMED, and I was very pleased to see it released on PC a few years ago. I got my name, 'E383', from my analogue bass synth: it's a FAT Freebass 383 303 clone, although it doesn't really sound like a 303... which I'm actually pleased about, since it has its own sound.

"I never really eat much in the studio--I'm on the caffeine and nicotine diet."

PREFERRED ARTISTS

"My taste is pretty much old-skool, I love the sounds of UR, Jeff Mills, Joey Beltram, Dave Clarke, Robert Armani, etc... the usual guys. Also Martin Mueller, from Austria; he's just set up his own label, Home Records. I have a lot of time and respect for Martin and his music, as well as my good friend Rick RRKS from Chicago; I'm hoping he gets his tracks out there soon.

"Back when I was listening to John Peel on Radio 1 all those years ago, he used to play tracks by Tobias Schmidt and Neil Landstrumm, and for a long time I didn't realize they were Scottish. I have a lot of respect for all these guys. Also, Hologram Hookers from Glasgow; they have a very nice acid vibe, and are creating quite a buzz over here. I know a few unsigned artists from Scotland who I have a lot of time and respect for... but not because they are Scottish, just for the fact that they produce quality music."