The difference between Toronto-based artist Ill Gates and anyone else you might check out?  An electrifying combination of intelligence, global awareness, and wicked bass combined with a compelling live presence.  There is a depth to his style that demands multiple listens, and I sat down with the man over a healthy vegan lunch to find out more.

Photo - Joffrey Middleton-Hope

So what’s the story of the Ill Gates logo?  There seems to be some pretty deep symbology going on.

Well, I wanted a symbol that wasn’t just my name, for one.  It’s kind of a crest for interdimensional security; a representation of the underground elite.  Or… what do you want it to be?

Is that the point of it?

There’s a lot of inspirations behind this symbol.  Things like Bohemian Grove – groups like that, developing all these strategies to prevent betrayal by their members.  Blackmailing them by forcing them to do highly immoral things on camera – creating this conspiracy of silence by people who have no empathy for the human race.  So I wanted to make something that was the opposite of this.  I borrowed symbols from a few of these places and inverted them, rearranged them.  Making a statement about how this world we’ve been presented with is a lie, and you need to make your own interpretation of it.  Something to make people think, but not tell them what to think.

@ The Dollhouse in Vancouver - Photo by John Revolver

I think that’s a pretty good description of a lot of your music.  So, how did you get started in production, and what are some of your favourite tools?

I got my first synth at the age of 12 using money from my child acting career and pretty much just haven’t stopped.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have enough success doing artistic things that I haven’t spent a lot of time doing unrelated work, which has given me a lot of time to develop my own style. Lorin Bassnectar is one of my best friends and he’s taught me a LOT over the years. Dave Tipper only ever stayed at my house for one week but it basically changed my life, and then my biggest inspiration is this crazy bitch named Nunich that I live with.
My favourite tool is Ableton Live – it’s so awesome I’d brush my teeth with it if I could.

Well I think that teaching seminars about it is an adequate substitute.  And what drew you to glitch-hop?

I’ve always liked experimental music, the more fucked up and creatively demented the better, and then when I dance i like to dance to hiphop. It’s a marriage made in heaven! I also think that hiphop culture is one of the most touching and awesome things to have ever come out of the modern underground. I grew up on a steady diet of fat beats, graffiti, breakdancing, and psychedelics. There’s really no better place for me than glitch hop.

Do you think there’s any ground left to break in music?

Electronic music is still really difficult to do live. When you’re playing on big sound systems you basically have to be playing mixed, mastered audio to really run the system proper. I’d really like the technology to get to the point where a real deal 100% LIVE live electronic act is within reach of anyone with a computer. As it currently stands you need to hire a highly skilled professional to sit out in the room mixing everything and riding your levels if you want it to sound proper.
Yeah.. I’ve already had that kind of problem.   If you don’t pre-master your samples the levels always go up and down.  I do enjoy the trend of live PA though.. what kind of trends would you like to see in electronic music?

I’d LOVE to see North American radio start behaving more like the BBC. Having the public airwaves be constantly full of new, domestic, electronic, underground, and experimental music is so important for the development of any music scene. In England you get kids growing up listening to pirate radio, or unreleased dubs on the BBC, and then when they get old enough to party that’s what they want to hear. In North America kids grow up listening to basically the worst music that has ever been made, so it’s really unsurprising that they grow up to have horrible taste in music and everything else.

More DJs should be playing their own music. When you travel, it becomes immediately apparent how completely unimaginative it is to just dj whatever this week’s hottest tunes on Beatport are. I see all of these DJs thinking they’re all unique and cutting edge when they drop the latest Reso or Rusko tune and it totally makes me roll my eyes.

Hey I resent that.  The Integrated Grime Unit is very grimey, and fairly integrated, but “cute” we are not.  If you want cute, go steal the Glitch Hop Forum bunny.  So what do you think of the scene in Canada?  What are the pros and cons of being an electronic musician here?

People in this country are so tame… The pockets of freaks are few and far between, and for the most part everyone just wants to go out and get bottle service and listen to Rihanna. It’s retarded. Without the few other crews doing underground jams I’d probably just saw off my own dick.

Heehee, all kidding aside, I actually love living in Canada. It’s a really open minded place, everyone is laid back, I can pay my rent doing only music, and each city totally has it’s own thing going on. Sure I wish that there were more and bigger parties, but that’s life. I’d really like to see some Canadian born genres, and for each city to have it’s own sound more. The Lighta! Crew guys are pretty good like that, and so is your cute little glitch hop fam, but the East Coast, the Prairies, and even Ontario have a LOOOOONG way to go.

What do you think is killing the scene in general; what trends are you sick of?

I’m sick of people just dropping bassline banger after bassline banger with no melody or personality. It killed Drum and Bass, and it’ll kill Dubstep and Glitch Hop too if we let it. Let’s get some more melody in there, and make the tunes a bit more memorable. Too many DJ bass tunes gets overly phallocentric too. What i said above is basically the same complaint I hear from anyone who has a vagina.

I agree, and I have one.  So on the positive side again, what are the top ten producers you think people should be watching out for?

Dewey dB, EPROM, Rustie (heard some seeeeeerious unreleased tunes while in Cali… wow!).  The new Bassnectar album is pretty insane. I really hope he releases it before he fucking dies, Tipper’s got like 2 new albums of unreleased stuff I heard, Glitchy and Scratchy have some unreleased heaters too, and Ana Sia is slaying it pretty hard these days as well. Sharps from Edmonton is a badass, AmpLive has some fresh shit, and Mochipet has been making me pretty happy lately as well.

And what are you up to musically these days?

I’m doing a lot of remixes.  I just did something for Subswara, and I’m getting into a lot of techno-experimental dubstep.  It sounds like dubstep for orcs.  Got some stuff coming up on Muti Music as well.. I’m making another album.

Do tell!  What can we expect from it?

Well, the idea with my last album, Autopirate was to make a really diverse album.  Everyone else seemed to be doing the whole thing where you find ‘your own style’ and then beat it to death by making every tune sound the same) – I wanted to do the opposite.  This new one is going to be diverse, for sure, but there probably won’t be as many downtempo and experimental tunes on it, and most likely no breaks either. It’ll be much more dancefloor, and much more unified. Other than that… you’ll just have to come see me live if you’re curious!

CHECK OUT:

http://www.thephatconductor.com/

http://www.myspace.com/thephatconductor

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Photo - Joffrey Middleton-Hope