Get (Back) In The Van

When I started the live show, I had the MPC sending clock and notes to both Circuits. For the first week or so, I was having to memorize exactly what session to hit with each song so I could make sure everything was playing the right samples for the songs.

Having two Circuits and five other things, it felt I was doing a Mexican hat dance to get everything right — and that was WHEN I was getting it right.

For some reason I have never used Program Changes in my life. Maybe I thought they were more complicated, I’m not sure. But now I’m kicking myself that I haven’t.

I pulled out a MIDI implementation chart for the first time in my life. Lo and Behold: Circuit’s MIDI Channel 16 responds to Program Change messages to change the Sessions!

So now I have the MPC on channel 8/9 set to 16a (Circuit A) and 16a (Circuit B). Now when the sequences change in the MPC so do the Circuit/Octatrack and so on. I showed my man Oak City Slum how easy it was in Raleigh and he couldn’t believe it. Highly suggested because the true goal is to be comfortable and perform, and not be in fear that you are gonna play the wrong patch every single song.

For the uninitiated (don’t worry, I’ve slept on this for years too): Program Change messages are a regular part of MIDI. They make it easy to switch settings on synths and other MIDI hardware like effects processors without having to manually skip through the patches on the unit itself. The beauty is that you can send one message to all your gear and everything will switch at the same time. With Circuit, you can choose to make the program (session) change instantaneously, or trigger the change to happen at the start of the next bar, like launching a clip in Ableton — or pressing the actual session button on Circuit. 

LA Show — hope you can make it. 

Crashed over at my friend Chris Gore’s house with the crew. We’ve known each other for 20 years, since back when the Internet made ur phone line busy and everyone wasn’t a producer.

It was so rare at the time we only had each other to figure out how to connect MIDI and stuff when we were stuck. I played him my album at five in the morning. He’s one of the only people that acutally knows how wild my journey is.

Everyone been seeming to dig the setup and the freedom of the show. Atlanta was the first time we played on the weekend and it was the perfect mix of nerds watching, people crowded around me and people in the crowd that just wanted to dance and be a part of the music. I’m happy how it’s working out. I wish I had three weeks in an isolated house in Mexico so I can make it even better, but that will all come.

We got on the road Sunday night and drove til about 3am. We stayed somewhere weird in Alabama. Got on the road to get to soundcheck. I got on the phone and ended up going the wrong way on the highway. FAIL.

Show last night was super dope in Houston. Monday night but there was a great showing. I met so many cool people. The club Arlo’s was this wild little room with a cage and hella smoke machines and stuff. Nadus has been playing such great sets every night, all on the DJ808. 

I think our little idea of just ‘show up and enjoy the whole night’ is coming together..  

I’m getting comfortable back there and Diako (lights) and I are starting to unite on the show aspects. Six shows in and it’s feeling good.

I’ve been driving the whole way so I’m getting a bit tired. But everyone has been showing us love. Atlanta was so tite. It’s a blur, and I hope I’m doing a good job on this journal. 

I’m excited that my album is getting closer — we’re having a few last-minute clearance issues but I guess that’s all part of all this. It’s all gonna come together.

Raleigh was sick. Met so many people. Against the Clock and Rhythm Roulette came out in the last 10 days, and it's been amazing to be able to share my process and my studio for the first time.  

I love the feedback. I just really wanted to express that things just happen in there. Who knows. That's my process. Cuz it all just happens. How u got the space. Who was around. What kinda deals u found on gear. That's what we just gotta be ourselves. Don't even worry about anything else.

We were gonna come to Atlanta and post up but we ended up — after six mind changes — going to Asheville. I wanted to say hey to Moog and Makenoise and its never a bad thing to drive thru the mountains in foliage season.

We set up this crazy ghetto rig to make a timelapse. 

Moog was amazing — they taught me to calibrate my Model D, which I have always wondered. I never realized it was that easy. Can't wait to get it perfect when I get home. Such good vibes.

We stayed in this old hostel in west Asheville. I got to cook everyday. Trying hard to stay healthy. It's a battle. But it's feeling good.

Stopped by Makenoise the next day. They helped get my 0Coast right. I had the wrong baby MIDI cable. I showed them the Circuit, and Tony from Makenoise was looking for something for his 12 year old nephew to start making beats on. I told him to cop that! 

Pro Tip: Not all minijack to 5-pin DIN cables aren’t all wired the same, so you have to make sure you use the correct one with the right gear. Also, get spares of each kind, and label them all.

Took the long way to Atlanta. Drove thru the mountains in the foliage. Saw white water rafters, it was so nice. Every day has been so engaging — not one dull moment.

Pulled into ATLanta. We ended up at the Fresh I Am studio with Tunde, who I had met five years ago with C Will.. it was so crazy…  we posted up and went to soundcheck . First weekend show. Always heard how dope Sloppy Seconds was. Treasure Fingers was playing with his new project The Treasury. It’s an amazing underground venue... in a complex of venues, and the staff was SO COOl. They cared. People are stoked that we’re doing this punk style tour and not needy DJ style. You can see them breathe when they realize we are cool everything is all good.

The show was great — it was the first big one. The audience was diverse, there were people all around me. The nerds got to watch, people got to dance, and we met some really cool people. Nadus killed it, C Will killed it. Good to see Sofa King. 

We went to the after party at Fresh I Am and Tunde asked to shoot the setup. Keep your eyes peeled for that. So we stayed there all night. The next morning I made breakfast for all six of us, for 10 bucks. It was so ATL. 

Setup the rig in the hotel. Me and Diako made this crazy ghetto rig to make a timelapse. We out here getting it done.

L-R @ehx mini grail @moogsynthesizers chorus @ratpedals rat modded by@keeleyelectronics @bosspedals re20 space echo @weareelektron octatrack @teenageengineering op1 /oplab @mackie board 2x @wearenovation circuits @akai_pro mpc 2500

Another day another special. Shout out to @massappeal for having me on Rhythm Roulette.

After my gear scare overnight, me Nadus and Diako (lights) left NY for Bmore on Sunday. I’m stoked to be back — I haven’t been here in ages. I love the Ottobar. Blaqstarr killed it. Played some really amazing interesting cut up guitar shit w triplet snares and his amazing voice. Smoked a couple blunts. Talked life.

The last time I was here I think I was crowd surfing off the side walls, opening for Gang of Four. That night, someone stole my laptop out of the van, then a dude put $1000 in the tip jar at the merch table. Angels out here.

The van is nice. Diako and Nadus are easy. I’m feeling good. We rocked Welcome to Detroit by Dilla in the van today, then Fantastic Vol 2. Then Schoolboy Q’s album then Masters of Reality by Black Sabbath. Full albums on tour the only way to go.

Pro tip: All Denny's have coupon books for hotels — you can get hella deals and save mad money.

The gear has been going good. I’m just learning every day how to get more fluent and feel comfortable up there. A show is worth a million practices. And we got two down.

This dude brought me a USB with the leaked OP1 software. Can't be mad about that. Trying to build a crowd that can listen to Nadus and also play with OP1s. I think it's possible.

Monday night’s show was at the Pinhook in Durham, NC. I’m starting to get in the swing of it. I’m getting the setup right. I cut fabric over my table. I know where to put the screen. I know how to transition songs better and how to interact w the crowd. How to finesse every part the best I can. This is brand new so it's really a work in progress. Last night was the first night that I got to do what I saw I could do in my head. Some stops. Some gos.

The staff at the Pinhook were cool. North Carolina is cool. U see the gender neutral bathroom signs. Weird how the news is one thing but when u come to the city to see how it affects actual people is another. I forgot what grass smells like. Thanks NYC.

We only have a 20 minute drive today so it's nice to relax and look around. Get some sun.  

We just posted up in the hostel in Asheville. Feels good cuz u can cook your own stuff. We’ve gotten mostly Airbnb’s so far. Trying to stay healthy and keep it moving. Last minute change put us here, so I had to come say what up to the Moog squad.

I’m gonna use the next few days to put some work into the show. Raleigh was so sick. Bunch of kids that were making tunes, listening to tunes. So much good conversation. Met this cat Oak City Slums… Amazing vibe… He’s on the Circuits too, so when I showed him the setup he freaked out. PROGRAM CHANGES Y’ALL. Get with it.

We played the first show in Hamden, CT. My man F Sean blazed some beats. Nadus got loose on the DJ808. It was the first time I ever did my live show. It was the first time Diako ever did lights. It was def rough, but we gotta start somewhere.  

Whipped back to Brooklyn on Thursday night and woke right up Friday to work to fix shit. I called my tech Carl and asked if he could make me custom length cabling before I went. He did — saved my life. The rig is now 100000x better.

I also spent the next two days sorting stuff out before we went out for real. I had some clock problems and program change problems, which I finally figured out. But then, the night before we were leaving, I was trying to save the new stuff on the MPC and get rid of the old stuff when I accidentally deleted everything. At 2am on the night before we leave for a month. I had to rebuild it all. Luckily it only took two hours because my file management was so good but it shook me.

I’m trying hard not to let this knock me — I don’t care. One of the best shows I've ever seen in my life was Queens of the Stone Age’s first tour. There were 15 people there. They didn't care. I didn't care. We just went in. I met all my friends at those shows we shared music. I can't wait to get out there again and play. That's it. 

I got over the hump with the gear late last week, then spent time figuring it all out. I realized that four pads on my MPC weren’t working, but thanks to a Russian kid on YouTube, I learned how you can cut them and they generally work. So I took the lid off, and took a knife to them, and now they’re cool.

I got inspired by Octave One when I went to see them in Brooklyn. They had mountains of gear onstage. Looked stressful, sounded amazing. All I really wanna do one day is bring the whole studio out. But I guess we start here.

By the beginning of the week, I had a couple songs tracked out. I really just want people to come and be a part of it. Maybe one night we play zero songs and just jam. One night we’ll play only songs. We will see. I have no idea. I can't wait tho.

Like MTV Cribs but better: http://www.factmag.com/2016/10/05/nick-hook-in-the-studio/

Psyched to get my chance to go against the clock: 

http://www.factmag.com/2016/09/29/nick-hook-against-the-clock/

You forget that not only is there music, but there's also life and other things you have to be responsible for. All I wanna do is go in a hole and work on this tour… There's only a few days left so every moment is vital.

This week was crazy because I basically started over with my live rig. There were things on the MPC that I didn’t know how to do, which took days to work out. Things that would take literally three seconds on a computer. But it's been so worth it to figure it out only with hardware.

I've started putting eight drums total out to the Circuits. I have control of so much and it’s fun to be able to kill parts quickly using the mutes on the mixer page on each Circuit. Bass patches from the album have been sampled into the OP1 so I can play back and tweak. Everything is speaking really well.

A breakthrough was copying the exact same MIDI patches from certain parts to the synths on the Circuits. And then just turning as many of the macro knobs as possible until something wild happened. Some of them were wild percussive rhythms, some weirdo synth patches. It’s dope. Then I have all the songs in key/scale so I can jam out at any time.

We are used to a world where audio time-stretching/warping is easy with Ableton Live. We take it for granted. I thought the MPC had a phrase sampling feature, which it does, but it’s very archaic, and not quite usable like Ableton is for live sample tweaking.The hardest part was figuring that out — the easy option was to go back to having the computer on stage, but I didn’t wanna go that route. 

I got an Octatrack yesterday to solve that problem. It's working well so far, but it’s another thing to learn. Also got a Make Noise Ø-Coast coming, because I realize I didn't have any device to make laserbeams and do crazy shit! 

The breakthrough has just been knowing that I can do this, and it’s gonna be really hard, but I see the glimpses of when I’ll just be up there and it's all working effortlessly. I've been just trying to know every button on every machine and how it flows with my body. I've always felt like muscle memory comes first, then everything comes naturally from there. So I go as SLOW AS POSSIBLE while I can, and when it comes time to cram hopefully things work out!

Some cabling tips: First things first, buy gaff tape. Measure out your cables, label them. Use color codes, do anything humanly possible so you know anytime you pull out two wires it’s second nature where they go.

I’ve got all my stuff labeled. Circuit A, Circuit B, a line of tape down the Mackie mixer so I can see which channel is which in the dark, etc. The goal is to not think about any of that so then you can use the mind to go further with creation.

At the same time we have been ordering tons of shit off Amazon for the video show, working on the album release, trying to promote the shows, do press, get the album out.

It's all I can really ask for — hope 2 see u out there.