Charles Webster

Interview

Charles Webster is one of those names that your ear prick up at the mention of new music, and after incredible albums back in the day he’s been busy releasing and remixing under different guises but after two decades he’s back with a new album, ‘Decision Time’ – a rich personal journey amidst a turbulent backdrop and packed with collaborations with a stella line up and people. His music is as deep as the man, full of feeling and moment and a name I wanted to get on the blog for over a year, finally with the release now here it all came together and I got the chance to ask one of the worlds finest producers a few choice questions.

Thanks for taking time out to chat Charles, I’m sure you’ve done the back story a million times, but I think it’s a great place to start… give us a brief run-down of how you were first inspired to produce and how you got to that first album “All Systems Gone”…

From when I was 12 or 13 years old, it was always my dream to make music, specifically electronic music - I was fascinated by any music that used synths and drum machines. My vision of electronic music was a blend of soul music and the colder, mechanical sounds of synths and drum machines, I grew up imagining a hybrid of Kraftwerk and Marvin Gaye and the deeper more abstract side of music, I started releasing house music in 1990 after work as a studio engineer in the late 80’s, very much focusing on the electronic (electro, hip hop, house, techno etc) side of studio work, as well as many indie/rock/classical/jazz/folk recording projects, eventually I got tired of making music for others and made the decision to focus on my own music.

Who were your biggest early influences?

Kraftwerk, Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Rickie Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell, Joy Division, Miles Davis, Steely Dan and the Beatles.

You’ve had a few guises over the years (over 30 I believe) - Presence, Furry Phreaks to name just two, many of them influential to my own house music journey - do you see them as different identities or just ways of getting your sound out there and not flooding the marketplace?

I have quite a few different guises, they all have different voices and styles, subtle differences, but the differing guises allow other sides of my musical personality to express themselves, when producing under these guises i morph into the character of each pseudonym

and approach producing each track with a different attitude and personality.

You’re held in the highest regard globally, but how would you sum up the Charles Webster ‘brand’?

Oooof ! I’m not a fan of the ‘brand’ concept, I’m sure that’s why you used the “”’s around the offending word! – but, I’d like to think that my ‘brand’ represents musical integrity.

You also founded Miso was this a way of controlling the creative output more or just something that was a natural progression?

Miso (and Kristiana, my vinyl label) are just outlets for music, there is no grand plan or empire building strategy, they are just about releasing good music when I feel like it.

It’s been 20 years since your last album under your own name - what took you?

Well, I wasn’t just working on this album for the whole of those 20 years, that would be quite slow! Over the last 19 years I have made lots of singles, hundreds of remixes, 7 compilations and the Webster Wraight Ensemble (big band jazz) album, so I have been fairly busy, but I was waiting for the right moment and collaborators to make the new ‘solo’ album. I believe that music has to be a natural process and should not work under business ‘norms’ or pre-ordained time scales, i thing a musician should only release music when they its ready and they have something new to say.

I’ve read you talk about the balance of creativity and making money in the past - is this new album ‘Decision Time’ striking that balance?

I think that balance is more relevant when remixing, making a mix that is appropriate for the label and artist. My new album is a collection of 10 songs I made without any financial or stylistic boundaries or constraints - just making the music I wanted to make in that moment. The way all music should be made in my opinion, I never think of ‘markets’ or genres when I produce my music - if it feels right, it is right regardless of what anyone else thinks.

What has been the work process for this album - a production routine or just waiting for inspiration and ideas to form then recording?

A combination of the two. I can’t force inspiration, it has to happen naturally, so there is a process of honing down and editing many ideas and musical concepts and letting them gestate for a while until I achieve and put to tape the sounds I hear in my head, this can take a while, but i won’t settle for anything less, I love creating music with a rich palette of sounds and textures, i cannot be happy with cliches and ‘out of the box’ type sounds. The final stage of the album had to be very organised though, the final mixing process was quite fast as everything was kind of produced and 95% mixed as I went along - I pretty much mixed the album in a few weeks, so it took a long time to produce but all came together very quickly at the end when I was happy with the way songs sounded.

The first single from the album ‘The Spell’ came out early in October. Tell us about the reason you chose that track?

That track kind of chose itself as the first single, Burial sent me his remix, I loved it, he totally hit the musical nail on the head.

Whilst it’s been a long time between albums, have you been continuing to produce your own material or has the break been deliberate?

I never stopped producing, I am constantly releasing music, more recently mainly remixes, so not specifically ‘my own’ music, but in many ways it is my own music, I put just as much effort and consideration into remixes as I do making my own music. I released the Webster Wraight Ensemble ‘No Lucky Days’ album in 2014, that was a collection of 10 tracks/songs in a collaboration with Peter Wright and Emilie Chick, after that project I felt that the time was right to go back to working on my own material.

You have been a prolific remixer over the years - do you approach a remix differently to a personal production?

Not really, apart from a consideration to the label or artist who commission the remix, usually they have a brief with specific stylistic requirements and if those requirements fit into my sonic world I will do my best to include them, but generally speaking I treat a remix just the same as I do producing my own music.

There’s a lot of collaborations on the new album - including former Prince collaborator Ingrid Chavez, South African singer Thandi Draai, Shara Nelson, Sio and others - what defined who you’d be working with on this project?

I think selecting the right collaborators is very important, I have to get along personally with the vocalist, it has to be more than just a business agreement, there needs to be a personal connection and a spark between us, music is such a personal thing. I cannot imagine working with someone just because they were famous or had a nice voice yet they were not a nice person. Sio is of course a name you introduced to the house community, how important is that aspect of music to you - discovering talent?

I can’t really claim that I introduced Sio to the music world. I certainly helped spread her talents to the wider world - I think the two tracks she features on the new album will really make people take notice of her brilliance. I have worked with lots of young/new singers in the past and it is very rewarding to see them spread their wings and grow as artists.

The range of sounds on ‘Decision Time’ is broad - is that a reflection of your own musical passions?

Of course, it has to be. The music I make is a reflection of my musical tastes and experiences, music is a complex blend of millions of subconscious elements I have absorbed over the years, that’s why I think it is so important to have an open mind to music and listen to other genres you may not be interested in producing yourself, there is good in everything, the wider ones tastes the deeper pool of inspiration you can draw upon.

The new album is being released on Dimension Recordings (I’ll admit to knowing nothing about them) - tell us about the label and why them for the album and not your own Miso?

Dimensions Recordings are the label component of the well-known Dimensions Festival, one of the very best electronic festivals, very open minded and forward thinking with a focus on the more ‘interesting’ and eclectic side electronic music, no big room house or trance here folks, and that’s what sets them apart. The label contacted me just as I was finishing the record so they were one of the first labels to hear it…we had a few meetings and realised we were all on the same page musically and business wise, so, here we are now, with the album just about to be released, the same as musical collaborators, again it is about choosing the right people to work with. I certainly didn’t want to release the album on my own label, Dimensions can do a much better job of making the album a success than I can, I feel it is important to know ones strengths and weaknesses and appreciate the skills and strengths in others. Is there a track that has special significance to you on the album?

Not one specific track. I am really happy with all the songs. I feel this album is the closest I have come to realising my sonic vision. All the songs have special meaning to me as they were all composed and produced during a particularly turbulent time, they all represent different aspects of the last 5 years of my life.

This album comes out of a background of a global pandemic and lockdowns - how did you find that creatively?

It’s been a total rollercoaster, some days the situation is inspiring, some days very depressing. At the beginning of it all we had no idea how long it would last (we still don’t) and it was inspiring to write music with this new and strange backdrop to life but as time went on and things became clearer how huge and tragic it all was, all and the existential dread kicked in, and now, I am kind of resigned to it, the often mentioned ‘new normal’ has arrived and I’m working quite positively again, making lots of remixes and writing music.

Will you be looking to promote the album with gigs/Dj sets?

Ideally, yes I’d love to…we did have live shows and Dj sets arranged around the release of the album….but Covid-19 got in the way…who knows when live music will be possible again.?

What else have you planned for the near future?

I have quite a lot of new music in production; a spoken word/downtempo album, a house album, lots of remixes and I’m just about to re-start my vinyl label (Kristiana) with a set of my own remixes of Ingrid Chavez’s version of ‘Justify My Love’ (she co-wrote the song for Madonna and has never released her own recording of the song). I had a big burst of creativity once this album was completed - I guess I was putting all my brain power into finishing that project, now my mind is free to explore new things at last.

Where can people follow you?

Facebook

Website

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Charles Webster

Interview

Charles Webster is one of those names that your ear prick up at the mention of new music, and after incredible albums back in the day he’s been busy releasing and remixing under different guises but after two decades he’s back with a new album, ‘Decision Time’ – a rich personal journey amidst a turbulent backdrop and packed with collaborations with a stella line up and people. His music is as deep as the man, full of feeling and moment and a name I wanted to get on the blog for over a year, finally with the release now here it all came together and I got the chance to ask one of the worlds finest producers a few choice questions.

Thanks for taking time out to chat Charles, I’m sure you’ve done the back story a million times, but I think it’s a great place to start… give us a brief run-down of how you were first inspired to produce and how you got to that first album “All Systems Gone”…

From when I was 12 or 13 years old, it was always my dream to make music, specifically electronic music - I was fascinated by any music that used synths and drum machines. My vision of electronic music was a blend of soul music and the colder, mechanical sounds of synths and drum machines, I grew up imagining a hybrid of Kraftwerk and Marvin Gaye and the deeper more abstract side of music, I started releasing house music in 1990 after work as a studio engineer in the late 80’s, very much focusing on the electronic (electro, hip hop, house, techno etc) side of studio work, as well as many indie/rock/classical/jazz/folk recording projects, eventually I got tired of making music for others and made the decision to focus on my own music.

Who were your biggest early influences?

Kraftwerk, Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Rickie Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell, Joy Division, Miles Davis, Steely Dan and the Beatles.

You’ve had a few guises over the years (over 30 I believe) - Presence, Furry Phreaks to name just two, many of them influential to my own house music journey - do you see them as different identities or just ways of getting your sound out there and not flooding the marketplace?

I have quite a few different guises, they all have different voices and styles, subtle differences, but the differing guises allow other sides of my musical personality to express themselves, when producing under these guises i morph into the character of each pseudonym

and approach producing each track with a different attitude and personality.

You’re held in the highest regard globally, but how would you sum up the Charles Webster ‘brand’?

Oooof ! I’m not a fan of the ‘brand’ concept, I’m sure that’s why you used the “”’s around the offending word! – but, I’d like to think that my ‘brand’ represents musical integrity.

You also founded Miso was this a way of controlling the creative output more or just something that was a natural progression?

Miso (and Kristiana, my vinyl label) are just outlets for music, there is no grand plan or empire building strategy, they are just about releasing good music when I feel like it.

It’s been 20 years since your last album under your own name - what took you?

Well, I wasn’t just working on this album for the whole of those 20 years, that would be quite slow! Over the last 19 years I have made lots of singles, hundreds of remixes, 7 compilations and the Webster Wraight Ensemble (big band jazz) album, so I have been fairly busy, but I was waiting for the right moment and collaborators to make the new ‘solo’ album. I believe that music has to be a natural process and should not work under business ‘norms’ or pre-ordained time scales, i thing a musician should only release music when they its ready and they have something new to say.

I’ve read you talk about the balance of creativity and making money in the past - is this new album ‘Decision Time’ striking that balance?

I think that balance is more relevant when remixing, making a mix that is appropriate for the label and artist. My new album is a collection of 10 songs I made without any financial or stylistic boundaries or constraints - just making the music I wanted to make in that moment. The way all music should be made in my opinion, I never think of ‘markets’ or genres when I produce my music - if it feels right, it is right regardless of what anyone else thinks.

What has been the work process for this album - a production routine or just waiting for inspiration and ideas to form then recording?

A combination of the two. I can’t force inspiration, it has to happen naturally, so there is a process of honing down and editing many ideas and musical concepts and letting them gestate for a while until I achieve and put to tape the sounds I hear in my head, this can take a while, but i won’t settle for anything less, I love creating music with a rich palette of sounds and textures, i cannot be happy with cliches and ‘out of the box’ type sounds. The final stage of the album had to be very organised though, the final mixing process was quite fast as everything was kind of produced and 95% mixed as I went along - I pretty much mixed the album in a few weeks, so it took a long time to produce but all came together very quickly at the end when I was happy with the way songs sounded.

The first single from the album ‘The Spell’ came out early in October. Tell us about the reason you chose that track?

That track kind of chose itself as the first single, Burial sent me his remix, I loved it, he totally hit the musical nail on the head.

Whilst it’s been a long time between albums, have you been continuing to produce your own material or has the break been deliberate?

I never stopped producing, I am constantly releasing music, more recently mainly remixes, so not specifically ‘my own’ music, but in many ways it is my own music, I put just as much effort and consideration into remixes as I do making my own music. I released the Webster Wraight Ensemble ‘No Lucky Days’ album in 2014, that was a collection of 10 tracks/songs in a collaboration with Peter Wright and Emilie Chick, after that project I felt that the time was right to go back to working on my own material.

You have been a prolific remixer over the years - do you approach a remix differently to a personal production?

Not really, apart from a consideration to the label or artist who commission the remix, usually they have a brief with specific stylistic requirements and if those requirements fit into my sonic world I will do my best to include them, but generally speaking I treat a remix just the same as I do producing my own music.

There’s a lot of collaborations on the new album - including former Prince collaborator Ingrid Chavez, South African singer Thandi Draai, Shara Nelson, Sio and others - what defined who you’d be working with on this project?

I think selecting the right collaborators is very important, I have to get along personally with the vocalist, it has to be more than just a business agreement, there needs to be a personal connection and a spark between us, music is such a personal thing. I cannot imagine working with someone just because they were famous or had a nice voice yet they were not a nice person. Sio is of course a name you introduced to the house community, how important is that aspect of music to you - discovering talent?

I can’t really claim that I introduced Sio to the music world. I certainly helped spread her talents to the wider world - I think the two tracks she features on the new album will really make people take notice of her brilliance. I have worked with lots of young/new singers in the past and it is very rewarding to see them spread their wings and grow as artists.

The range of sounds on ‘Decision Time’ is broad - is that a reflection of your own musical passions?

Of course, it has to be. The music I make is a reflection of my musical tastes and experiences, music is a complex blend of millions of subconscious elements I have absorbed over the years, that’s why I think it is so important to have an open mind to music and listen to other genres you may not be interested in producing yourself, there is good in everything, the wider ones tastes the deeper pool of inspiration you can draw upon.

The new album is being released on Dimension Recordings (I’ll admit to knowing nothing about them) - tell us about the label and why them for the album and not your own Miso?

Dimensions Recordings are the label component of the well-known Dimensions Festival, one of the very best electronic festivals, very open minded and forward thinking with a focus on the more ‘interesting’ and eclectic side electronic music, no big room house or trance here folks, and that’s what sets them apart. The label contacted me just as I was finishing the record so they were one of the first labels to hear it…we had a few meetings and realised we were all on the same page musically and business wise, so, here we are now, with the album just about to be released, the same as musical collaborators, again it is about choosing the right people to work with. I certainly didn’t want to release the album on my own label, Dimensions can do a much better job of making the album a success than I can, I feel it is important to know ones strengths and weaknesses and appreciate the skills and strengths in others. Is there a track that has special significance to you on the album?

Not one specific track. I am really happy with all the songs. I feel this album is the closest I have come to realising my sonic vision. All the songs have special meaning to me as they were all composed and produced during a particularly turbulent time, they all represent different aspects of the last 5 years of my life.

This album comes out of a background of a global pandemic and lockdowns - how did you find that creatively?

It’s been a total rollercoaster, some days the situation is inspiring, some days very depressing. At the beginning of it all we had no idea how long it would last (we still don’t) and it was inspiring to write music with this new and strange backdrop to life but as time went on and things became clearer how huge and tragic it all was, all and the existential dread kicked in, and now, I am kind of resigned to it, the often mentioned ‘new normal’ has arrived and I’m working quite positively again, making lots of remixes and writing music.

Will you be looking to promote the album with gigs/Dj sets?

Ideally, yes I’d love to…we did have live shows and Dj sets arranged around the release of the album….but Covid-19 got in the way…who knows when live music will be possible again.?

What else have you planned for the near future?

I have quite a lot of new music in production; a spoken word/downtempo album, a house album, lots of remixes and I’m just about to re-start my vinyl label (Kristiana) with a set of my own remixes of Ingrid Chavez’s version of ‘Justify My Love’ (she co-wrote the song for Madonna and has never released her own recording of the song). I had a big burst of creativity once this album was completed - I guess I was putting all my brain power into finishing that project, now my mind is free to explore new things at last.

Where can people follow you?

Facebook

Website