First off, I would like to thank Ian O’Brien and David Sugalski (aka The Polish Ambassador) for the time that they devoted to giving the Drop and its followers some great music and insight. Second, this release may be one of my favorites of all time. The fact that this album contains an incredible array of genres and styles that can be listened to over and over set it apart from the rest of the pack. I can’t speak enough about how much I dig this release. From the hip-hop driven, synth heavy melodies of Infinite Mammalia to the club crushing noise of Erotic Robotics, this album defies reality. Not to mention the ever so amazing remix/re-do (ok so not really a remix but really a sample filled tune) of Ellie Goulding‘s Lights, titled Lightening For Everyone. Without further ado, I present to you, the first ever GlitchDrop interview. It’s number one for good reason.
GlitchDrop – First things first, could you give us a little bio about yourself? Nothing too long, but just to give us a feel for your background as a producer.
David – I began tinkering with production while earning a Marketing Degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, 2002 – 2003. In 2005, I put out my first DIY release, Diplomatic Immunity, a collection of 8 and 16bit funk/electro anthems. The record gained a surprising amount of fan support from the get go, thanks to Pandora Radio aligning the music with groups like Crystal Castles and Daft Punk. From there I cranked out a couple more albums, got the attention of a Microsoft funded Video Game developer. They hired me to do the soundtrack for a game, which allowed me to quit a few part time jobs and focus on music full time. From there I began taking performance bookings, putting out more music, and here a couple years later, I’m thrilled to be making a career out of electronic music.
GlitchDrop – Your album Future, Sex, Computers just released this week. Personally, I
think you’ve created a completely original sound, do you feel like you had
any outside influences (or inspirations) that helped to shape this release?
David – Why thank you. Well, I would say living in the Bay Area helped shape this release. Lots of great bass and glitch music coming from this neck of the woods. My previous albums had more of an emphasis on the electro with some glitch sprinkled in and this album leans a bit more toward glitch with a smattering of electro. Also, crowd feedback played an important role in shaping this album, as so many peeps were coming up to me at shows raving about the Mating Season album I put out under the Ample Mammal alias. I suppose listening to a broad range of music would be one more sound shaper for this release.
GlitchDrop – My personal favorite track to listen to off of this album has got to be “Rising in the Wake of Supernova.” Which track do you like the best? Or should I say which track did you have the most fun with?
David – Hmm. Tough one. My generic answer is to say love them all dearly, each in different ways. But if I had to pick one it would probably be the last track, “Dismantling Earth Based Authority Via Sattelite”. Reason being, there’s a secret to that track. It’s actually an “In Your Eyes” (Peter Gabriel) remix. Of course I stripped off the vocals for the release. It’s sort of a downtempo track, so it’s hard to play it in certain environments, but during a good sunrise or chill down moment, its pretty epic.
GlitchDrop – All of the tracks on Future, Sex, Computers are pretty different in terms of tempo, style, and energy. How difficult was it keeping your thoughts together and focusing on the style at hand when it came to a single song?
David – Not too difficult. I’ve cultivated a pretty good work ethic. When I’m not touring and in the Bay, I bang out tracks pretty regularly. Just flows sometimes, you know? Actually, I have a few more albums worth of tracks ready to be shopped right now. When I’m ready to release an album, I simply pull from a pretty broad palette of compositions residing in the deep dark depths of my hard drive, and piece together the album one track at a time.
GlitchDrop – You’re just about to go on tour, playing shows all across the country. Are there any stops that you made sure to include on this trip?
David – I really dig that I’m going to be supporting the Future Rock guys in Buffalo, NYC, and Burlington. That should be a blast. I have an affinity for Charleston, SC. That town seemed to believe in me right from the get go, my first 2 shows selling out, so I got to big up them for that. The Sonic Bloom pre-party in Denver is going to be pretty wild. Lot of dope musician’s in the same room that night.
GlitchDrop – Finally, in terms of Electronic Dance Music in general, where do you see yourself fitting in as this musical style evolves?
David – Well, I have plans to release some more Ample Mammal stuff in the near future. At the current moment, my vision is to take Ample Mammal down a more downtempo road, and have Polish Ambassador be the party rocker, but my plans always tend to change as soon as I make some sort of announcement. I suppose I’d like to be thought of as an artist that takes chances, and consistently evolves his/her sound. Artists that transcend genre, work with a variety of tempos, and continue to surprise listeners in an ear pleasing way are the artists that inspire me the most.
Again, I cannot thank David enough for taking time out of his busy schedule (he literally goes on tour tonight) and gracing the Drop with such in depth answers and feed back. This is why we’re in this business… To foster relations and bring fans that much closer to the artists that they love. Keep on Droppin’.
-Woodz
Make sure you pick up your copy of Future, Sex, Computers over at The Polish Ambassador’s Bandcamp. Trust me, it’s the best ten dollars you’ll spend in a while.
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