Input/Output: Komon & Appleblim
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In our series Input/Output, we pull up a stool in the studios of producers from the Ableton Community, inviting them to shed light on the inspirations, techniques and technologies that feed into their production process, and the latest music to come out of it.
Starting out with a remix for Sideshow, Laurie Osborne aka Appleblim and Keiran Lomax aka Komon (or Komonazmuk) have forged a collaborative partnership through a series of lauded releases. Most recently, the duo released the Jupiter EP on the respected Aus Music label, co-run by long-term friend Will Saul. We spoke to Laurie and Kieran about working together in a studio, the specifics behind Jupiter, and how having a collaborative partner can help in finishing a track.
When you work together, are you usually in the same studio, or bouncing sets back and forth?
Both: In the studio, 99% of the time.
Keiran: Sometimes we might even take a couple of hours before we even switch on the DAW meanwhile weâll be playing tunes to each other and kind of getting into the same vibe.
Laurie: Weâve been friends ever since I first moved to Bristol, so itâs really been a sort of mates thing first and then the fact that weâve had good results every time weâve gotten into the studio together. Our remixing just really worked together, but then after we had done four or five or so and gotten really good results we thought maybe we should actually just try and make some ourselves. It sounded fun and we had never really done that, it had always been a job, like this is the remix, letâs get it done. So then it was like: âwow, can we translate this into being in the studio and starting a track from nothing?â
How does it work to come up with ideas when youâre together?
Keiran: With the newer material itâs probably down to tutorials, and getting the Push and really going in with the Max for Live things. Iâm learning every time Iâm doing something so once I make a channel strip or something, I want to show it to Laurie at an early stage.
Laurie: Heâll say, âIâve got something cool here, I learned this the other night so letâs try and start with that.â One thing we did recently started off from generative music patches that Keiran had learnt how to make...
Keiran: One note is generating 24 notes, all in scale.
Laurie: I hear something like that and I think âwow, that sounds crazy, Iâm really interested in it, I never would have been able to do it myselfâ and that will become the starting point to a track. So weâll go -- letâs put a tempo to that, letâs put a beat to it.
You used Operator and Analog on Jupiter, right?
Laurie: Yeah, thereâs quite a few things we had gone back to in the arrangements now seeing like âOh wow, that was Operator and that was Analogâ. I always forget what we do and so itâs like, âwhat was that little thing there?â And you think that sounds truly analogue and you look back and realise thatâs Operator with a Grain Delay and something else. Those are bits people are noticing on the EP and going: âoh yeah, thatâs definitely the Roland Jupiter there,â but itâs not.
Iâm starting to use Ableton but Iâve always struggled, so Iâm still trying to learn that, but Iâm always totally blown away by sitting down and watching what Keiran does and learning a couple of bits here and there.
Keiran: You can navigate the whole arrangement, you can cut and paste, you can do all those things no problem.
Laurie: We can sit there and weâll jam musically for a while and then weâll start editing the clips or whatever. Thatâs really where I need Keiran to just be there and take the ball and run with it and pass it back - you know what I mean? Otherwise Iâd be sitting there, going around in a circle, whereas Keiran just goes on to the next thing, getting the structure going.
[playing a track from Jupiter in the background] Is this one of your FM Kicks?
Keiran: Yeah the kick drum is completely synthesized from Operator, and all Iâve got on the end of that is a Dynamic Tube.
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Komon's custom kick synth Rack
Thereâs what sound like a few layers of synths on âGlimmerâ, from Jupiter. Can you walk me through whatâs going on there?
Laurie: We started probably with the Arpeggiators. Thatâs a thing weâve been really enjoying using a lot, the Scale and the Arpeggiator and stuff like that in Ableton. Iâve always been obsessed with arpeggios, but Iâve never really known how to do them properly and just sitting with Keiran, weâll get one rolling in one chord and then weâll add another one thatâs pitched up, like 7 semi-tones over the top of it.
Even though thereâs quite a lot going on, I find Keiranâs skill with EQing gives it all a space that it can sit in. It could get a little bit messy or over the top, but I think everything has got its space here. For me, I really love that track because it feels very clear and separated⊠youâve got shiny synths in the middle, youâve got the click-y percussion at the top and then youâve got real fat, round bass at the bottom. In the end, hopefully, it doesnât sound cluttered or messy.
Keiran: Nice for the dance floor, really. Everything has its spot. Even looking at the drumsâŠwhereas on the last track we had probably around eight or nine tracks of drums and they would even have sort of drum racks inside them with multiple channels â here I can easily see four channels of drums. Two of them are percussions. Three channels of bass, but two of them are sort of ârespacedâ sounds â resampled and layered.
Youâve both produced music that fits with a number of different styles. When you set out to collaborate, how do you get on the same page musically?
Keiran: We will get some tea on, and weâll start playing some tracks on YouTube, things weâve been buzzing off recently. Itâs about getting into the same kind of vibe that will set you off and start you thinking âthat sounds like a weird sort of synth, letâs have a go at thatâ â and thatâs the starting point.
Laurie: We share our influences in terms of the music and the history, playing together since we met each other but also prior to that. I was a massive jungle and drum nâ bass fan and so was Keiran. He was making that music, whereas I never have, but we understand the sonics going right back to house music and rave music, which is what we grew up on. Living in England and being into any form of dance music, youâve instantly been opened up naturally to these things. I can say to him: âItâd be really nice to hear some mad Reese drum nâ bass bass sound,â and literally within five minutes Keiran will have worked it out and made exactly what I was thinking.
Keiran: And you know, in the first one or two days of putting a track together, we fire in the channels fast and furious and we donât worry too much about EQ or anything. If anything needs to be high-passed weâll do that but weâll just keep adding and adding, trying to get something done as quickly as possible. But then the next few, Iâd say six days after that are more about getting rid of stuff and chopping down.
As a producer working solo itâs always hard to know when something is finished. Do you find that it helps when youâre collaborating, to know when a track is or isnât finished?
Laurie: I think weâre getting better at it, but personally thatâs something I struggle with. Keiran is definitely much better at starting and finishing music. Iâm bad at starting it and Iâm bad at finishing it. Keiran will turn to me and say, âthis is it now, these are the elements weâve got, thatâs all we need for a track.â Whereas I would probably be sitting there, thinking we should put in another little stabby riff over the top or that thereâs space for another melody. But no, weâve got what we need. So yeah, for me personally, it really helps having Keiran to just bounce ideas off and go, âyeah, thatâs good,â or âno, thatâs bad.â
Keiran: With finishing the track, once weâve switched off the monitor and we think weâve hit the mixdown stage, if weâre playing it from start to finish and weâve got our notepads here, if we donât really write anything down, it just plays from start to end, thereâs nothing jumping out, thereâs nothing annoying, then itâs done. We do always try to get a bounce at the end of the day for assessment in the kitchen or wherever you are and give you fresh ears for the following day.