15 questions with… Amon Tobin

Amon Tobin’s new release, How Do You Live, marks his 25th year in music. Working under four aliases and across more than a dozen albums, he’s transmuted elements of jazz, drum & bass and trip-hop into his own brand of intricate, brooding electronica, developing a sound and method that’s defined by process and technique – not genre or style. But, we hear you ask, what are his favourite plugins?

The producer’s latest studio album sees him continuing his exploration of new frontiers in sound design, blurring the boundaries between the acoustic and the electronic by using synthesis to model imagined instruments and processing guitars and vocals beyond recognition. Tobin talks us through the studio equipment and techniques he used to achieve the unique sound of his new record, and reflect on 25 years spent working at the forefront of electronic music…

1 This year marks the 25th since your debut release. Do you feel as if you’re still learning new things as you continue to progress as a musician?

Amon Tobin: “It’s a bit like a feedback loop, where the things you make spawn new things that you make in perpetuity… a beautiful spiralling madness.”

2 What moment or (moments) in your career are you most proud of?

AT: “I’ve had so many moments where I caught myself wondering how I managed to end up where I was. Looking out at all those people from all those famous stages around the world. What I’m most proud of is a sense of contribution to what a new generation of artists are doing now, because it’s never something I expect to hear. I feel immense pride whenever a new producer tips their hat my way.”

3 Tell us about your current studio setup and what you’re working with.