So, a few months back, an editor friend emailed me asking if he could interview me via email for the cover story he was doing on Stuff Magazine Philippines’ August 2005 issue. He wanted me to talk about mp3s, QED Records and the future of music. I was game. Answered all the questions, (rather lengthily), sent in the email, and waited.
I got the magazine a month or so ago. And the article is there. Nothing much from the original email interview is left, sadly. But at least I am in the opening paragraph, and they do a sidebar on me, placing me in between U2 and David Bowie. Astig.
Because August has come and gone, I am placing links to the scanned pages of the Stuff issue here.
- Front Cover
- Page 38: Cover Story introduction
- Page 44 : Sidebar feature on Acid42
And here is the actual email interview in its bloody, no-holds barred entirety.
Acid42: THE STUFF PHILIPPINES INTERVIEW
August 2005
STUFF: As a purveyor of electronic music and having come up with albums of self-composed tracks under your own Netlabel, do you dabble on this kind of work full-time?
ACID42: Dude, if you dabble, you do a little of it. If you do something fulltime, you do a lot of it, enough to make it your bread and butter. So, alin dito ang tanong mo?
___Do I do this a little? No. I do it a lot.
___But no, it’s not my bread and butter. Because as any musician will tell you, there’s no money to be made creating music unless you create a megahit under a system which can ENFORCE royalties. (We dont have a good system here in the Philippines. FILSCAP? Forget about it.)
___The real money to be made as a musician is in performing. But even in this aspect, there isn’t enough of a market here to be able to make a fulltime living off performing electronic music. Especially for those who aren’t DJs.
___But I do more than dabble. Creating electronic music and sharing it online is a cross between a hobby, a passion and a fulltime awareness campaign.
STUFF: : Where do you do your work then? Do you do it at home? Do you have equipment at home then? What kinds of devices you use to create music?
ACID42: : Yes at home.
Read this for an older biography.
Read this for info on my gear.
Or you can read my T3 interview:
STUFF: Can you share to (sic) us as well your process of coming up with such music?
ACID42: : If you can share with me your process in writing this article, from conception till publication, then you’d have answered your own question.
MY MUSICAL PROCESS in a nutshell:
Idea–> Initial Draft –> Recording –>Re/Arranging Sections –> Mixing down the song–> Mastering Song –> Uploading Song —> Promoting the New Release.
STUFF: Do you think the use of broadband Internet will help drive Filipinos to get their music online and subscribe to paid online music services? Will it serve artists such as yourself as well?
ACID42: : It will drive them online. but Filipinos will never get into the habit of paying for music online. WHY PAY WHEN YOU CAN GET IT FREE? Would you? I wouldn’t. Putting aside the issue of piracy for a minute, there is enough good music out there which is already free. The trick is to keep looking. Why must I pay for a crappy pop record when i can get an independent release of mp3s from a bedroom musician in Colombia, or Nagoya, or Dusseldorf?
___Now, regarding illegal mp3s of copyrighted records: The recording industry should take a long hard look at itself. Instead of limiting these channels from which consumers can get the new product, they should open it up and use it to draw people to buy the real thing. I mean, MP3s are a lossy format. Why settle for what is essentially lo-fi when you can buy a higher fidelity CD copy?
___Instead of blaming poor sales on mp3s, record companies should rather, analyze WHY THEIR PRODUCTS REEK OF MANURE SO MUCH. Maybe then they’d realize that most of it is made by TALENTLESS IMBECILES WHO PRODUCE NO REAL MUSICAL CONTENT AND WHO HAVE NOTHING BUT A HOLLOW IMAGE.
STUFF: Are your works available over Music On The Go sites like Kazaa, Yahoo! Music, or even at Napster? Do you think these online music services will eventually spread their reach to Asia and the Philippines? Why or why not?
ACID42: : I dont understant your question. Rephrase it clearly. Are you asking if my music is available over P2P software? Probably. And if it is, then GREAT!
___Or are you asking me if the music is available over pay sites, where people will have to pay to download? NOPE. Kinda defeats the purpose of calling your music “free music” right?
___The music from my netlabel QED RECORDS is available mainly from its server: the Internet Archive. If it’s on Kazaalite, Warez, Bittorrent, Limewire, Gnutella, then I’m glad. I WANT people to spread the music.
Why free music? Because you can’t pirate a free product.
Because despite the apparent “unknown” status that netlabels have here in this country, in other countries, there are loads of similar idealists who do the same. And my server logs show they are out there and downloading and wondering what kind of electronic music emanates from our litle “exotic” country.
___So in the end, this is a promotional tactic.
It promotes Pinoy electronica to the world.
It doesn’t make money. But it gets us heard.
And my primary objective in setting up QED was to get us heard. And noticed even if in a small way.
Hopefully in the future, it DOES lead us to deals and opportunities that do make money for the artists on QED. But even if it doesn’t, I’m fine with it the way it is.