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Home (http://www.factmag.com/) Features (http://www.factmag.com/category/features) Photek reflects on Modus

Operandi, his classic 199... (http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus-operandi-his-classic-1997-debut-
PHOTEK REFLECTS ON MODUS OPERANDI, HIS CLASSIC
album/)
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1997 DEBUT ALBUM THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF
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PUBLISHED
28 Jul 2012
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Photek reflects on Modus
Operandi, his classic 1997
SHARE debut album that changed
the face of jungle
(http://www.factmag.com/2012/07
/28/photek-reflects-on-modus-operandi-
8
his-classic-1997-debut-album/)

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NEWS
You were an underground producer – albeit at a time when 50 Cent charged with domestic
“underground” could still meaning you were selling thousands violence against ex-girlfriend
(http://www.factmag.com/2013/07/03/50-
upon thousands of 12″s – signed by a major label and given
cent-charged-with-domestic-violence-against-
the time and money to create something substantial and ex-girlfriend/)
1 of 7 challenging. It’s hard to imagine a young producer getting the 7/3/13 10:43 PM
same sort of opportunity now, isn’t it? NEWS
Ras G returns to Brainfeeder
Photek reflects on Modus“To do whathis
Operandi, I did, you had
classic 1997todebut
be a albu...
person of that age,http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus...
with these for Back On The Planet, shares
spacey ‘All Is Well…’
particular opportunities, in this precise location…and I still feel like
I was really very lucky to be one of those people. At that time you
could still be a kid making vinyl records of whatever style, doing
exactly what you wanted without compromising anything, and sell
you could sell those records – there was a whole movement
around it that was organic, and enough excitement to sustain it for
years and years. I was able to sign to Virgin on what was really the
perfect deal – they basically wanted me to do whatever I wanted to
do, and they had the budget to back it.

(http://factmag-

images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/modus-
disc.jpg)“Thanks to that deal I actually had the time to take a year
and think about the album I wanted to make. Economically that’s
just not possible now. But back then there were a number of
producers – like Goldie, like Dilinja, like Roni [Size] – who were
given similar opportunities and were able to take a year to think
about their music. It changed music a lot. It’s funny, there was
actually a bit of a hole for a year where several key jungle
producers effectively disappeared to think about and work on their
albums! [laughs] But without that time spent, there would’ve been
no Timeless or New Forms or whatever…

“I ACTUALLY HAD THE TIME TO TAKE A YEAR AND

T H I N K ABOUT THE ALBUM I WANTED TO MAKE.
ECONOMICALLY THAT’S JUST NOT POSSIBLE NOW.”

“Nowadays, well, of course people don’t buy artists’ music,

basically. You can’t really spend that kind of time on an album, not
unless you’re financially free – you know rich, retired and free to
fuck around! [laughs] Back then you could be a kid, and you could
get lost in it. I really feel lucky that it happened to me. That said,
the album as a thing is still a big deal I think, and perhaps even a
bigger gamble now than it was back then. In fact I just finished my
latest album, I’m about to head back to the States to mix it.

(http://factmag-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content
/uploads/2012/07/modus-inner.jpg)When Modus Operandi
finally came out, did you feel you’d achieved what you’d
wanted to achieve? How did it impact upon your subsequent
work?

“I remember being proud of the record when it came out, because

2 of 7 7/3/13 10:43 PM
I felt I’d done something uncompromising. There was obviously a
bit of goldrush happening at that time, sort of like what’s going on
Photek reflects on Modus Operandi, his classic 1997 debut albu... with dancehttp://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus...
music in
America at the moment,
you know – rumours of
producers getting signed
for crazy amounts of
money, that kind of
thing. And I managed to
do a truly
uncompromising record
in that environment.

“I FELT I’D DONE

SOMETHING
UNCOMPROMISING.”

“I’m glad I included stuff at different tempos, because there was a

lot of pressure at that time to fix yourself to a style, you know – are
you prog-house or drum ‘n bass or downtempo or trip-hop?
People were quickly getting pigeonholed, and I suppose I
subconsciously anticipated that. I wanted to leave my options
open. It’s important that the title track, ‘Modus Operandi’, was a
downtempo track, you know? You want to make a statement with
an album, but then also you don’t want that statement to be what
you’ll always be about! [laughs]. That’s the kiss of death of
creativity: when people start telling you the kind of music you
should be making, even your fans.

“But yeah, looking back, I just feel like I did the best job all-round
that I could’ve done. The best legacy to look back on. At the end of
the day, I think I got out of it what I put in.”

So you mentioned you were working on a new album. Tell me

about that.

“It’s funny now, there’s seems a general sense across the board in
clubs and electronic music that, well, everything’s pretty flexible
and anything goes. And for that reason, you don’t have to get quite
as hung-up on making an album as you used to. You feel like it’ll
pass so quickly, things move quickly…I suppose this new album is a
3 of 7 7/3/13 10:43 PM
sort of Modus Operandi for 2012 – it’s got quite a lot in common
with the first album – but less hang-ups. These days, I know I can DJ
Photek reflects on Modusthe week after
Operandi, his and play
classic a setdebut
1997 of completely
albu... different style music
http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus...
and it not be a problem. With the album, well, it’s just a case of
what statement you want to put out, and how long it’s going to
last. To tell you the truth, it feels like music’s much less permanent
and lasting than it used to be.”

“TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, IT FEELS LIKE MUSIC’S

MUCH LESS PERMANENT AND LASTING THAN IT
USED TO BE.”

You put out a DJ-Kicks mix recently, what was the driving
forcebehind that?

“Well, I didn’t want the mix to be too locked in time. I didn’t want it
be just, you know, a mix that was hot in 2011 or 2012. No big
anthems…a bit like those old mixtaped, old pirate radio mix
tapes…interesting, cool new music with that underground feeling,
not Smash Club Hits Vol.9 or whatever. I wanted to capture that
feeling when I was driving around when I was 17 listening to tunes.
You know, when you’ve just got your driving license and you’re
driving around, listening to some tape over and over again!
[laughs]

“As for the original tracks I made for it…I thought, well, there’s
quite a range of styles on there, I should do a couple of typical
Photek-sounding things for people who know my stuff from
‘Hidden Camera’ and that era… I thought, yeah I should give them
some of that kind of stuff, let’s mix it all up with all the tech-house
and broken beat or whatever. At the end of the day, I just wanted
to make a journey that people would feel was worth going on.”

Kiran Sande

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Photek reflects on Modus Operandi, his classic 1997 debut albu...
(http://www.factmag.com
/2012/10/04/stream-pyramid-
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COMMENTS
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(http://www.factmag.com
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mr-fox-and-paul-white-lined-
up-for-vauxhalls-lightbox-
this-friday/)
Photek, Fantastic Mr Fox and Paul
White lined up for Vauxhall’s
Lightbox this Friday
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/2012/09/24/photek-fantastic-
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up-for-vauxhalls-lightbox-
this-friday/)
7/3/13 10:43 PM
Photek reflects on Modus10Operandi,
comments his classic 1997 debut albu... ★ 4
http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus...

Leave a message...

Best Community Share ⤤ ⚙

blaq tape • 11 months ago

"With tracks like ‘U.F.O.’, I remember when I finished making
them, I really did think: these can’t be any better, these are
perfect. You know, with ‘U.F.O.’/'Rings Around Saturn’ I honestly
thought, wow, I’ve just made a perfect 12″. And the thing is, they
really do stand up today – even now, there’s nothing at all about
them that I’d change."

I'm glad he feels that way because that 12" really was his peak.
Seriously, the perfect jungle 12".
2 Reply Share ›

T3x#Radio > blaq tape • 11 months ago

I concur... even today I'd still call it perfect.
2 Reply Share ›

Ninzumecha • 11 months ago

Photek was one of those artists that was at the forefront of
experimentation back when you could tell real love was put into
tunes. I think it's the lack of these two elements that gets up my
nose about modern dnb. Now dnb is as formulaic as house.
Intead of expressing themselves at 180 bpm, people just make
dnb. I know there's always a few doing there own thing but...
1 1 Reply Share ›

Interim • 11 months ago

Didn't anyone bother to proof read this before putting it on the
site?
3 Reply Share ›

Slabface • 11 months ago

Just booked tickets to see the 'MO' set here in Wellington, NZ.
Absolutely cannot wait.
Reply Share ›

TB 303 • 11 months ago

THE PERFECT ALBUM. Never have ever got bored of MO. Burial
cites him as an influence, but never learned from the MASTER.
Reply Share ›

Raul Cornejo • 11 months ago

As a retired junglist and fervorous music lover I have to say that
as much as I truly love this album I think it lacks a bit of the rage,
that almost restrained anger that you can hear so clearly in his
peers' music of the time, esp. Source Direct. Don't get me wrong,
MO is a cornertsone of the genre (and any genre of electronic
music for that matter), it is Photek at his best, showing all his
accuracy in beatmaking and nearly anal precision for crafting the
perfect mixdown, elements of his talent that have been praised
endlessly thus far, but I always thought that his prowess was also
his greatest shortcoming: the surgical method sometimes
deprives his music of something I always thought was
quintessential do Jungle and D&B. Ok ok... tl;dr... please carry
on...
6 of 7 Reply Share › 7/3/13 10:43 PM

Implo • 11 months ago

Best Drum n Bass album ever, in my opinion. A kind of quasi-
Photek reflects on Modus Operandi, his classic 1997 debut albu... http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/28/photek-reflects-on-modus...

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