This vintage video, from 1996, captures an interview with Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin.
The interview, by Simone Angel, comes from MTV’s Party Zone.
This vintage video, from 1996, captures an interview with Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin.
The interview, by Simone Angel, comes from MTV’s Party Zone.
seems like a normal dude to me!
though a bit of a recluse
He appears a bit shy. Maybe because she’s totally gorgeous and friendly and sitting really close to him?
In a span of no more than almost 20 years, this mild-mannered genius would have inspired a whole slew of artist, bands, musicians, and composers.
All the (new) good music is now disappearing into the underground once again, and one day it will come out 10/20 years from now, history repeats itself.
Can’t be THAT rare when you posted it on Synthtopia two years ago: https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/10/27/aphex-twin-full-90s-mtv-interview/ 😉
It seems that you’ve been paying attention these last two years, Bruno. Well played.
Ah, the 90s, when MTV still was about music, when playing gigs with a laptop was still innovative and sort of cool, and electronic music was still somehow directed into the future as opposed to now where we (necessarily) look back to the past and relieve things from 30 years ago. Makes me sad in a good way to watch this interview and hear the music.
he reminds me of a kid i grew up with. a bit odd and very shy but a real genius. the kid i knew was a guitarist. buy the age of 14 he was doing stuff we all wished we could do with a guitar he could ape any style and play a solo by ear after hearing it one time. he made me listen to two songs he recorded on a small tape deck and it was just amazing. he was doing stuff i never heard before. simple and pure but complex. really impressive and catchy.
but he got bored with what he called “pop music” and went off into his own areas of music. he lost us.
at the time it sounded too odd and weird for our teenage brains.
last time i saw him was 14 years later and he was still living at home making “his” music. i only got to hear two or three tracks and to me it sounded really crap. like 12 tone jazz fusion! just messed up noise most of the time.
i thought to myself that he had gone on to another level.
i sometimes think Richard is the same type of musician. he got bored doing stuff normal people liked and went off into his own level.
Still the most important and influential person in all of electronic music. IMHO.
Up there with Kraftwerk and early DM for sheer genius. His period from 86-93 is just jaw-droppingly good and has had such a major affect on me.
Thank you for this rare glimpse at the man.