I met Reid Dunn (Wisp)  at The Warehouse Project, just after he came offstage from his slot supporting Aphex Twin. We speak of his upbringing, his side-projects, mythology, and fruity loops…

Lisa: I’m backstage at The warehouse Project with Wisp, how’s it going? You’ve just finished your set haven’t you?

Reid: Ah yeah, it was great, a good night.

Lisa: What’s it like playing here in the UK, obviously being from the US – is it very different?

Reid: Yeah, it’s very different, people actually dance here, whereas in the States, everybody just kinda wonders  what software you’re using – I mean, not everybody, but it’s generally the case.  But over here, people dance which is good.

Lisa: So people don’t really dance in the US?

Reid: No, I mean it’s more of a sort of social event, where everybody comes to talk and hang out, and it’s cool , you know, I’m fine with that, but it’d be good to get people dancing a little more!

Lisa: People seem pretty up for it tonight don’t they!

Reid: Oh yeah, definitely! They’re crammed in there for sure!

Lisa: What’s it like playing alongside Aphex Twin of all people?

Reid: It’s a bit daunting! I played tonight obviously, in Manchester, and in London I had to play after him, and I was… sweating basically! But it was good, it’s gone really well. Everybody’s really welcoming and everybody seems to be in the same sort of mindset, so it works out well.

Lisa: Tell me a bit about where you grew up – how did that influence your music? Was it to do with your surroundings?

Reid: A little bit. I live in  a city, but it’s more like a small town with big city problems – it’s called Niagra Falls New York, and it’s run-down, there’s not a lot going on there. I grew up there, I was born and raised there, and there’s nothing really. There’s no real record shops, there’s one record shop, and he’s just kinda like a nutty old guy! Living in a city like that, where you have nothing, you’ve got to go outside of the city, using the internet or going on long-distance trips, to find records and new music and stuff. But it’s been great, because I kinda pull all of this stuff into where I live, and it’s just me and a couple of my friends, and there’s not a lot of people around to bother you or influence you, other than what you’re really interested in. It is a bit of a downer, because the city’s a bit of a slum, but for the most part, it’s OK.

Lisa: But you’re still living there, so it can’t be that bad?!

Reid: Ha! Well I’d like to think that, but eventually you know, I’d like to move out of the area, but for the time being, it suits its purpose. I get to come over here and do shows and stuff, so I can’t really complain.

Lisa: So, tell me a bit about your main influences – I mean, Aphex Twin is blatantly a big influence, but is there anyone else that’s notable?

Reid: Well the Aphex Twin influence is pretty obvious, I never deny that!  A lot of people get all uptight about it, like, oh you’ve gotta be original, or whatever, but it’s always just been music I’ve been really into. Outside of those kind of influences – I grew up listening to a lot of Tangerine Dream,  really synthy music, Vangelis… Then there’s the whole video game aspect, I’m really interested in video game music. And I listen to my fair share of industrial music, Skinny Puppy, and all that… There’s still music I listen to, but as far as influences go I’m not pulling from strictly music, there’s a load of other things.

Lisa: I read somewhere that you draw a lot of influences from books, is that right?

Reid: Yeah, a lot of literature, mainly mythology. Obviously when you tie mythology into anything music-related the Tolkein influence comes up, albeit he was a big one for me, but there’s loads of other novelists like Borges… Anything to do with magical realism I’m really interested in, anything that has its roots in mythology I’m really drawn to.

Lisa: Are you reading any good books at the moment?

Reid: At the moment I’m reading a fantasy series called “A Song Of Fire And Ice”, and I’m reading the collection of Jorge Luis Borges’ work, which is just like magical realism, short stories, that kind of thing.

Lisa: It’s quite interesting that a musician would say that they get quite a lot of influence from books, how would you say that works, I’m intrigued!

Reid: Well, it’s more-a-less being left to your own devices, I mean you have music to listen to all the time, and sometimes you just need to take a break and do something else. Some people have different hobbies, you know…

Lisa: So is it just something that helps you to get into the zone you need to be in to write your music?

Reid: Yeah  big time, it allows me to channel a lot of the ideas I have. I don’t want to sound silly about it, it’s not like I’m sitting around writing music and am like “ooh, who could I draw from now?” and “ooh, how can I write a novel in music?” It’s not really like that. But when you read like that, you can’t help these peripheral influences from seeping in to what you do, and the mood you’re trying to set. It’s just a big part of the music that I write and what interests me in general.

Lisa: So tell me a bit about where you’re planning to go now with your musical career, have you got any side-projects going on or anything like that?

Reid: Yeah, I’m  always writing music, you know, it’s pretty much all I do! So, I have the Wisp material, which obviously is being put out on Rephlex. I’m sending Grant at Rephlex loads of material all of the time, different stuff. It’s easy to get pigeon-holed  when you have one style of music that’s popular to a certain crowd, which I’m fine with, but I’m definitely up to other stuff. Like I said, I’m into old school, really synthy, soundtrack-based music from the 70s – Sorcerer and all that stuff [Sorcerer was a film by William Friedkin, for which Tangerine Dream wrote the soundtrack]. And then there’s a few other side-projects. The main one I have is at home with my good friend Alex, it’s called Overlap, and it’s more textural, more sound-design orientated. The software we’re using is a little more open-ended, you know, open-source basically.

Lisa: My friend that you spoke to at a gig in Leeds once told me that you write all of your tunes in Fruity Loops, is that true?

Reid: I wouldn’t say that I write every single track specifically in Fruity Loops, but it’s been a big part of the construction process since the program came out – I mean I’ve been using it since version 2, and I’ve stuck with it over the years. It’s had its downsides, and felt a little restrictive at times, but it also gave me the room to open up, and to learn the software very intensely and intuitively. It’s kinda become an extension of  me… I’m able to put ideas down really fast, and then work on them in other software, but then always come back to it and do the construction part of it in that software. So yeah, I’m definitely a fan of FL…  Fruity Loops! I won’t even call it FL Studio!

Lisa: Ha ha! Well I think we’ll leave it there, but thanks very much for joining me tonight, we’ll go and enjoy a bit of Aphex Twin I think, he’s sounding good!

Reid: Please do, he’s killing it out there! Thank you very much!