Electric Independence: XXXChange
Posted by Motherboard on Wednesday, Dec 23, 2009
In this episode of Electric Independence, Motherboard heads all the way over to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, to drop in on producer and DJ Alex Upton (aka XXXChange) at his home studio.
This formidable jazz drum virtuoso (he studied at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute) retraces his steps from music school to interning at the record label DFA to creating a slew of legendary tracks heard in every raunchy crevice of every seedy club across the globe. He’s not an MPC-master; XXXChange (that’s “triple-exchange”) explains why the visual display of the sequencer is key to making booty-shaking tracks. Upton also takes a moment to show off his gear, including a spiffy vintage vocoder: the rare-as-hen’s-teeth EMS VCS3 monosynth. And all that time cooped up in the synth henhouse has made him eager to share some secrets: Most notably, the innovative use of umbrellas as acoustic design tool, and the magical weapon behind Dr. Dre’s super bass heavy productions.
XXXChange has produced albums for the likes of Spank Rock and The Kills, and done loads of remix work for Thom Yorke, Bjork, Panda Bear, and a whole host of other famous aural celebs. Most importantly, though, we—and by that we mean you and us, the both of us, together—get a sneak peek at an as‐yet unheard track from his forthcoming psychedelic rock album. Yeah man, that’s what we said: psychedelic rock album.
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