Seven Questions With Complicit
In Part 3 of our Seven Questions series, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tanya and Travis Norman, AKA Complicit. Based in Minneapolis, this project has been making a lot of noise lately. After conducting this interview, I know why. This is a serious project that runs like a well-oiled machine.
It’s evident that you two have a remarkable synergy when playing together. It almost seems like you’ve melted together to become one entity. How long did it take you two to get to this point and what do you attribute to the success of your working relationship?
Firstly, thanks for saying so. We've recognized that synergy and communication, both on stage and in the studio, are essential skills for this project, ones that demand practice and attention as much as any production technique. I would say it's taken the entirety of Complicit's lifespan, over 5 years now, to reach it's current state and that, far from having arrived at any end point destination it is instead forever in flux as we encounter and adapt to new circumstances. Regarding our working relationship, I would attribute its success to the highly fortuitous aspect of our each possessing a true passion for the same exact type of techno. When composing together, when reviewing promos or purchasing music to add to our DJ sets, even when attending events and on the dancefloor listening as fans, our tastes tend to align to a startlingly precise degree.
Thanks, Tim. I giggle when I look at photos of us doing the exact same movement at the exact same time when we perform as we are caught in the moment. Complicit's first gig was December 26, 2009 and every day since then, we've recognized and paid attention to the small achievements in order to see the bigger goal. So, essentially it has taken about 5 years for us to develop our signature sound and the type of energy we want to portray. Both of us have years of performance experience prior to Complicit so we understand the importance of practice and professionalism both in the studio and on stage. We respect each other and have the ability to read non verbal cues very well.
What does your current live setup look like?
We are Ableton enthusiasts and currently perform entirely "in the box" - a MacBook Pro flanked by an APC40 on either side. We do a lot of custom mapping in order to facilitate the use of a single computer between the two of us and make sure we don't get in each other's way.
We perform using Live by sharing a laptop. We each have our own APC40 and have mapped them to our liking. I launch and create sounds that are mostly in the mid and high frequency range such as vocals, synths, pads, leads, and auxiliary percussion while Travis drives the low end. I have my favorite filters on each channel and the ability to do 1 bar, 1/4, 1/8 or 1/3rd note looping. I have endless choices on the Master channel to add delays/reverbs and FX. Lots of custom racks have been built within our Live setup.
When performing live, what piece of gear would you say has taken your performance to another level and how has that piece of gear helped you achieve that?
Definitely the APC40 and a custom add-on remote script (originally developed by Hanz Petrov and available here: http://remotescripts.blogspot.nl/p/apc-64-40.html) that introduced a 64 step sequencer and the endowment of the 'Shift' button with the seemingly magical ability to create additional layers of functionality for nearly every button and knob on the device. This guy, as well as Fabrizio Poce who developed the update allowing compatibility with Live 9 (available here: http://www.fabriziopoce.com/download.html) deserve massive credit for this tool; it goes into pretty extreme technical territory - deep enough even to intimidate a lot of the other APC40 users I showed it to who would normally consider themselves pretty savvy with these things. Diving into those waters paid off though, as we now had more than enough banks to accommodate as many separate mappings as we might need. I also use it to add improvised drum sequencing to our sets. This ended up being a deep rabbit hole to go down as well - I work with 20 or so customized kits where each sound is created from its own Operator synth.
The AKAI APC40. When we first purchased this controller in the summer of 2009, we both fought over it, so it made perfect sense to buy another one. It was so intuitive with Live. Once we connected two of them, there was no stopping us. I learned the APC40 inside and out because I saw the power it had to communicate my ideas to the listener. It also minimizes time looking at the laptop in order to concentrate on the energy and vibrations in the room. With the layers of banks that the APC40 allows you have so many paints to choose from to create your masterpiece. Instead of getting swooped up in the endless cycle of purchasing new gear and toys, I stuck with the APC40 because I wanted to "own" it. It has become my instrument and an extension of me.
Complicit working the APC40s. Photo provided by Complicit.
What is your “go to” piece of gear when making music and why?
Without a doubt, the Push has been huge for us in terms of workflow. I am utterly fulfilled musically and finally at a point where the process is transparent, instant, and of no impediment to the idea. New techniques will also spring readily from the inherent capabilities and layout of the device. For instance, I've been adding rolls and flams on percussive elements, something I didn't do much of in the past, by rhythmically altering the repeat resolution during a live take. We also make a lot of custom racks for our frequently used instruments so we can easily work with our 8 favorite parameters and do long continuos takes of automation recording; most of the sounds in our tracks will have some subtle modulation happening continuously to keep the listener's ears perked up.
AKAI's Push for Ableton Live. Life changer. It's like the APC40, times a million. We are both fluent with Live so the Push was a no brainer to purchase when it comes to electronic music production. I've made music using outboard rack gear and modules in the past, but I am very satisfied musically and creatively working "in the box". My analog background has helped me to understand instruments within Live such as Operator (frequency modulation synthesis). The Push basically executes what's in my head without ever having to press the space bar to stop and refresh. It sounds good, the pads feel good and it offers every feature I like to make techno music.
What piece of gear have you owned the longest? Why do you think it’s stayed with you for so long?
I have kept my M-Audio Luna microphone for some time now; if you have a microphone you have no excuse for your music sounding generic.
The Yamaha S80 fully weighted 88 key synthesizer. I've been luggin' this heavy keyboard around since 2001, but it's my "piano". I'm classically trained in piano and flute, playing all my life, as I also have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music and a diploma in Recording Engineering. I love techno, and Chopin. The sounds that come from the S80 are outdated, but it doesn't matter because I can still use it as a controller and have that same feel as a piano when I want to write moody, minor, sexy chords.
What DAW are you using in the studio? How did you come to the decision that DAW was going to work for you?
ProTools dominated my world for many years, to the point where I went to all the trouble of getting my expert level certification in both music and post-production with it. Then one day I abandoned it entirely and never looked back. There are a lot of good DAW options going these days and to anyone just starting down the path I would strongly recommend spending some time with each of them before committing to one; it's all about finding an environment that clicks with a person and I totally get why Ableton does not make a ton of intuitive sense for some folks at first (though I think many of those people end up having an "a-ha" moment at some point). For me, Ableton's ability to roll production, mixing, and even performance into a seamlessly unified package is very attractive.
Ableton Live is what we use and always have used. We are upgraded with Live 9 Suite. I have been using Live since version 5. It's a standard platform for most electronic musicians, but the software is so brilliant that any serious performing musician will appreciate the way it keeps your creative ideas flowing. I come from a Pro Tools background prior to Live; long before that I made music with ReBirth. The Session and Arrangement view get equal attention from me so it is nice that Live 9 has dual monitor support now.
Where do you see your music going in the next year?
The past year has seen us focus intently on refining our workflow and finishing tracks; now we will hopefully reap the reward of increased exposure as this material gets released. I feel like we've arrived at a place with our music where the results more accurately reflect the sound we have built our reputation as DJ's on. When we play out and mix our material against tracks from some of the heavy hitters in the scene and witness our tunes generating the biggest reactions of the night that is very validating, and a sign to me that what we're doing is in fact resonating with people and having an impact.
We are excited to have 4 EP releases scheduled for the next few months from labels in Mexico, Vancouver BC, Chicago and Kansas City and are going to continue to release steadily in 2015. We look forward to upcoming gigs in our hometown of Minneapolis and throughout the US while we begin to reach out to international promoters as well. As a self-contained DIY business entity we'll be seeking to grow awareness of our project in every way we can, including working with a filmmaker who wants to help us tell the Complicit story in a documentary. It's going to be a good year.
On November 28th, 2014 Complicit will have their debut on Grid Based Beats with a remix of "Flesh" by Axkan. Our seventh release will feature two tracks of Axkan's signature sound with remixes by Mark Angel, Ryogo Yamamori, Complicit and Tim Vitek.
Tim Vitek is an artist, audio engineer, producer and owner of Grid Based Beats.
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