Music
William Orbit interview
Famous for producing music for the likes of Madonna, Blur, All Saints and U2, William Orbit returns with his first solo album in six years - Hello Waveforms...
VM: Hi William, how are you doing today?
William Orbit: Good thanks. I actually lived in this particular hotel in London for two and a half years, and I now live down the road, I'm going through a bit of a nostalgia trip!
VM: What on earth were you doing living there for two and a half years?!
William Orbit: I was living in L.A. and would come back more and more, and I realised I wanted to spend all my time in London really. I checked in here and just stayed because it was so convenient - I had a whole recording studio in here and everything.
VM: Sounds like quite a playboy lifestyle...
William Orbit: Actually I was too busy producing - everyone else was maybe playing around but I was getting down to work in the studio. It's great, you get crisp linen and room service every day but it's like a home, it's got a kitchen and a studio and all the rooms. I did Bono's vocal here, for the song I did for U2 - the staff enjoyed that.
VM: Do you have a mobile studio at the moment?
William Orbit: No I'm fixed now, although what's the difference? I do have a fixed studio but at the same time one can so easily just up and go anywhere. The whole concept of studios has changed in the last year or so.
VM: Hello Waveforms is your first solo release in six years - have you been working on material whilst producing for other people or was solo work put on the back-burner?
William Orbit: I really just concentrated on putting out solo stuff on my website, just trying things, but this time we thought it was time to do a proper record, where you make a bit of a fanfare about it. Something that says "listen everybody, I'm here". It's not as if I haven't been working on material all this time, it's just now it's all coalesced into a new album - in fact two new albums, because there's a follow-up coming out in May.
VM: Are you happiest to be in the limelight as a solo musician rather than to stand in the shadow of the artist you're producing?
William Orbit: Well "fanfare" is the wrong word, it's quite low-key, but if I didn't have it out there I'd be quite frustrated. There's nothing worse than a frustrated producer. I love to produce on the basis that I've made my statement: "this is what I do when I'm left to my own devices". When a producer has their own agenda and they're trying to use it as a sly way to get their own thing across, that's not good production - you need to be there for your artist. There's nothing more exciting than working with people who inspire you.
VM: This is a solo album but of course still features collaborations - is collaborating something you can't escape from?
William Orbit: I can't really escape from it, no. For starters, I can't sing, and that's an impediment because I love to work with vocals. It's just so stimulating to work with other people, that's how you grow and it prevents you from making the same statement every time.
VM: You've got Sugababes and Finley Quaye on there - how did that come about, did they approach you or vice versa?
William Orbit: Finley I approached - I was actually on holiday listening to Maverick A Strike which my then girlfriend introduced me to, and I remember saying to somebody "I'd really like to work with Finley Quaye". And then it got put into motion! Sugababes was different, and this is where production crosses over with your own stuff, because it was meant to be on their own album. Somehow it slipped through the net because it's such a gentle track. Personally I think they missed a good'un there... but I would say that.
