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interview by Andrez
Bergen originally
published in Zebra mag,
Melbourne, in 2001.
Ken Ishii rates him as one of the world's
best producers, he's best mates with Cristian Vogel, and he frequently labels music as "stupid". He's got the stickers
to prove it.
He's got an upcoming release through NovaMute
as SI Futures, and a new collaboration with Neil Landstrumm about to be pressed up on Mosquito. He's already released stuff
on labels including Tresor, Ninja Tune and Caipirinha, and you may know him better as Buckfunk 3000 or Cabbageboy.
But it's for his dual record labels Noodles and Noodles
Discotheque that Si Begg's name is now being seriously touted, with two fresh compilations, The Complete Death Of Cool
and Noodles Discotheque Volumes 1 and 2 recently pressed-up.
ANDREZ: How did you first become interested in electronic music?
SI: I was in various bands, playing guitars, drums, keyboards, etc, and I've always liked the weirdest music I
could find.
It seemed that the most experimental stuff at the time
was in electronic music and you could do it on your own. My uncle used to be into Jean Michel Jarre and used to play it in
the car while my brother's mate's dad also had [Mike Oldfield's] Tubular Bells and stuff like that. I remember being
really into all the sounds and noises, the total futurism. And I was right into Star Wars and Tron, and
all those kind of kids' sci-fi things.
ANDREZ:
You recently described your own album, Death Of Cool, as "cluttered, unfinished, half-arsed songs with no
direction"... do some producers take themselves too seriously?
SI: "Definitely - I think
people confuse seriousness with integrity or meaningfulness. Just because you take yourself really seriously doesn't mean
what your doing is valid - and vice versa...
ANDREZ: Where do you stand
on politics and music?
SI: Politics... you can't escape it. It's all around us, you can bury your head
in the sand, but it's probably better to get in there and try and kick some ass... as Frank Zappa said: Would you rather be
a hippy with no power, or a bank manager with some power...?
If you really want to change things I think you have, to some extent, to get within the frameworks
available and twist the fuck out of them - otherwise we're all just playing into the hands of the corporations and governments
that rely on the lethargy that enables them to keep on doing their shit, whilst we just sit at home watching TV and whinging
about all that's wrong with the world...
other de-VICE links:
SI BEGG INTERVIEW (1999)
SI BEGG (2006)
NEIL LANDSTRUMM (2006)
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