When I only had one or two synthesisers you learn how to do everything on those things and you know them inside out. I think that's the best way to be with them. Thighpaulsandra More Quotes by Thighpaulsandra More Quotes From Thighpaulsandra I grew up in the South Wales valleys, but I think my parents realised from quite an early age that if they hadn't sent me to boarding school I would have probably gone to prison. And it cost them absolutely everything. Thighpaulsandra parentschoolthinking Obviously I can't rely on my group, but I don't want to rely on a laptop just to play back some backing tracks, that's not the way I do things really. Thighpaulsandra groupstrackplay The thing I've learned is it's good to restrict your palette somewhat. I will try and, say, use two or three instruments on one track. You learn, after a while, they're all good at certain things and other things fall outside of the natural areas they work well in, so I tend to stick with what they do best. Thighpaulsandra tracktwofall Sometimes I just experiment quite a lot. I've always got my computer set up to record so I'll just record a sort of library of ideas [that] I'll either come back to or use as they stand. Thighpaulsandra libraryuseideas I write all the time, I've got a big, thick, old ledger book that I write stuff down in. I used to watch TV and write things that people would say and now I tend to get it more out of books and from conversations with people I meet. Thighpaulsandra writingbookpeople It's the way I make music, I will take two ideas and smash them together and if they sit well together for me then that's fine, and it's the same with the lyrics - if I see a couple of lines and I like the way they look on the page then I'll use them. I find they take on a meaning of their own, it's very difficult to explain how I actually go about all that. Thighpaulsandra coupletwoideas I still use a lot of cut-ups, I physically cut-up pieces of paper and stick them all together on another piece of paper then I'll think, "Ah, that looks good," or shuffle them around a bit and then I'll photocopy it and then that's my lyrics. Thighpaulsandra cuttingtogetherthinking I still love pop music, I still have a huge pop music collection, and I like that juxtaposition of styles. Thighpaulsandra juxtapositionpopsstyle I really like working with drummers, I like being able to bounce ideas off drummers. Thighpaulsandra drummerableideas I'm not a great fan of people who suddenly manage to pull out the whole track sounding perfect from a laptop. That doesn't feel like any kind of show to me. Thighpaulsandra trackperfectpeople Unless somebody's actually creating something and doing something spontaneous I wouldn't find it at all interesting, to watch or to create, so, I'm trying to make my solo shows something different altogether. Thighpaulsandra creatingtryinginteresting I tend to work in the mornings, then take a few hours off in the afternoon to walk the dog, and then come back and work in the evening. So, if I can remember my pre-dog walking music when I get back then that's fine, I'll kind of commit to those bits, but if I can't remember them I'll just move on to something else. Thighpaulsandra dogmorningmoving I've also got a kind of rule where if I don't write it down and I can still remember it it's worth remembering! Thighpaulsandra down-andkindwriting I'm not the fastest reader or writer but occasionally I'll write things down just so I don't forget them. Thighpaulsandra readerwritingforget My dad owned a tiny little shop and we never had any family holidays or anything like that, so I was sent to boarding school as a means of control more than anything I think. Thighpaulsandra holidaydadschool Going to public school is like living in bubble, you have no concept of what other people do. Thighpaulsandra conceptspeopleschool I'm a bit of a hoarder, so I did tend to buy things and just hang on to them. Thighpaulsandra bits There's a lot of people I know who have a lot of synthesisers and they don't really know anything about them, they know the specifications and everything, but they don't really get to know them. Thighpaulsandra specificationsknowspeople I'm not saying I don't ever improvise because I do that quite a lot, especially with other people, but generally I've got an idea in my head and then I'll pursue it 'til I get there. Thighpaulsandra pursuepeopleideas As a person who has a pretty short attention span I think of music like that, completely. That's why I can quite happily change genres mid-song. Thighpaulsandra songattentionthinking
