ALEX SMOKE [23:04:08] SMOKIN’ Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you are Glasgow dance sensation Alex Smoke. Your second album, ‘Paradolia’, was released last year to rave reviews. Do you bask in the glow of success or do you push forward? For Smoke himself, the choice is clear. “It feels like it’s been quite a while since the album came out, to be honest. I haven’t thought about it at all for a while. I’m just moving on and thinking ahead. But I was definitely happy with it at the time, sure.” Despite ‘Paradolia’ being defined as the ability to perceive coherent images in randomness, the album was actually much less random than Smoke’s debut, ‘Incommunicado’. While that was recorded over the course of four years, ‘Paradolia’ was written, produced and recorded in just one, making it more cohesive than its predecessor. It also featured Smoke’s own vocals on a number of tracks, which was a new step for the Glaswegian producer. “It’s one of those things that’s really personal, singing. When you hear your voice back, you always think it sounds crap. I try to hide it under a lot of effects. Luckily, most people don’t play a lot of vocals in the clubs, so I’ve not had to endure my own voice in the club very often. That’d be too much, I think.” Having been brought up in a musical family, Smoke is a classically trained cellist and pianist. While these skills come through in his music, it’s behind the decks and at the computer that he’s most comfortable. “When I went to university and got a student loan, I spent all that on decks and stuff, so I guess it started there … DJing was always something that I had visions of maybe doing professionally, but I wasn’t really that serious about it. DJing, to me, was about enjoying buying music and putting it together in a useful way. Whereas production … as soon as I realised I could make music on the computer, that was what I was into. I mean, I love playing music, but making it is more fun.” Despite spending much of his professional life in front of the electronic glow of the computer screen, Smoke once saw himself plying his trade in a much more organic field. If music hadn’t worked out so well for him, life could have turned out quite differently for the Scotsman. “I was doing aquatic bio-science at uni. But I don’t even like swimming, so I probably wouldn’t have gotten into that very much. Rohan Williams Alex Smoke plays at the Moonbar at The Empire Hotel on Friday May 2. ‘Paradolia’ is available now through Soma. back to top ^

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