Steven Rutter: Out Of The Fog
In 1991 Steven Rutter and Michael Golding christened B12 Records with an EP produced by Musicology – one of the numerous pseudonyms adopted by the pair in the 90s. By 1996 Steven and Michael had released 9 classic EPs of their own music through the label, as well as two outstanding albums on Warp Records - Electro-Soma and Time Tourist - which have come to embody the melodic, brooding side of UK techno. Momentum slowed towards the end of the decade as they and Warp struggled to agree on the musical direction of the third album, and following their 1998 release 3EP the duo seemed to drop off the map, reuniting in the mid-noughties. By that time B12 records was already considered a fundamental piece of techno and IDM history, and their productions from the nineties had transcended their initial hype to become “timeless”.In 2010 Steven had a life threatening bike accident, suffering injuries so extensive that it was feared he wouldn’t recover, ever since suffering from bipolar depression. In 2015 he was on the path to recovery and using his music as a form of release he started performing live across Europe and releasing his own music under the B12 moniker on labels such as Delsin, Soma Quality Recordings and Central Processing Unit, at a pace reminiscent of B12’s 90s heyday. On this solo path he opened his own Firescope Records in 2016, welcoming other artists onto the imprint. Appearing as B12 on labels such as Analogical Force as recently as 2017, he stamped his own name on wax for the first time in November 2017 with the ninth EP on FireScope Records, From Me To You – a radical new direction for an artist who had previously taken measures to preserve his anonymity. First an EP now an album, last week saw the release of BrainFog by Steven Rutter. With this change in the air I decided to take the opportunity to meet up with the East Londoner and techno legend to discuss his album and the various stages of his life and music.
Hi Steven, so you’re living in Kent now?
Yeah I come from East London. I grew up in Mile End and now I live in Biggin Hill. I like it, I like being away from other people, in fact if I could move further out I would. It seems the more isolated I am the happier I am. And when I open my front door I know that I’ll recognize every face I see outside and I like that, I couldn't go back to being one of a crowd of strangers, it kind of freaks me out. I’m a miserable old sod, but I'm 51 so I think I'm entitled to be!
You’ve had a reputation in the past for being a little interview-shy. But recently it seems you’re a lot more outgoing.
That's true; I see some definite phases in my career. The old Steven wouldn't talk to anyone. I was really shy and Mike didn't particularly like doing interviews either… whenever we were interviewed I’d put myself on mute, basically because I was paranoid. Now I kinda love it because I'm a different person to who I was back then. Although I'm ill, I'm much happier. I like talking and I've got a lot to say, ‘cause I haven't said it before.
In the past you’ve used a number of pseudonyms but now you release under your own name - Steven Rutter. Is that also a part of the new you?
I have come out of my shell, but as for the use of pseudonyms we started B12 records and we didn't have any artists, it was only Mike and me. So we created these pseudonyms and each one had a different flavour -
Musicology was more dance-floor,
Redcell was more science fiction,
Cmetric was kinda experimental.
So what were you into before electronic music?
My background was punk, reggae, calypso, ska - a bizzare mish-mash I think. Mike's was disco and soul, that kind of thing. I got into electro first (and Mike did the same), then hip-hop, house, acid, Chicago and Detroit and I consumed it all in vast quantities, I have a big record collection from back then. But it really started when I heard the track Rockit by Herbie Hancock. I was at a house party (and I used to hate house parties because I’d never dance I'd just stand there like a schmuck); all this ‘song music’ was playing and then someone put on Rockit and that was that, I’ve been hooked ever since.
Did you ever have any musical education?
No I can't play anything. I have no musical background at all actually, I just bought lots of equipment and learnt how to use it.
That’s surprising, because the early B12 stuff is all about melodies, harmonies etc.
Yeah I don't know, it just comes naturally… I had no musical training whatsoever – I was clueless, absolutely clueless and in school when we had music lessons I was pretty crap… I was the one who played the triangle, did the one 'ting' but struck the ‘ting’ in the wrong moment.
I put a lot of pressure on myself in the past about ‘having to’ make music. That was before the accident. Since then I don’t feel this need to try so hard any more, I don’t put any pressure on myself and I’m so much more free, it’s brilliant.
What difference do you see between B12 back then and Steven Rutter now?
That's a good question. After my accident I put out ten B12 releases myself. Mike hasn't been making music but he recently expressed an interest in starting it up again. So really I should have released under Steven Rutter, but I didn't and Mike was always ok with the records being put out as B12 but now that he wants to return to music I’ve decided to start releasing under my own name.
So that's mainly a practical thing?
Yeah but there is a massive difference - B12 was a collaboration between Mike and I. The years 2015 to 2017 I call the Rutter Years… I’ve moved away from the Detroit style and changed the direction of our sound a lot, it’s gotten really dark and sinister (my depressive states are reflected in my music). My music is actually very different from what me and Mike made together, that was always more geared towards Detroit techno, some of it was for the dancefloor, some of it for home listening. What B12 will be like in the future I don’t know because we haven’t done that yet, it’s still to come.
So Brainfog is an embodiment of what you’ve felt in the wake of your accident?
Yes. As part of my recovery I decided to start making music again, and ever since I’ve really felt a sense of freedom, it’s fucking brilliant. If I think about the music I was making pre-2010 compared to now it’s worlds apart in terms of how I’m feeling. I used to really try hard… just like the hardworking student at school. Definitely what I do now is from the heart, without a shadow of a doubt. My music today is 100% me. In the 90s it was still me, but it was me fighting. In these last years I’ve been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and what not, as you know I suffer from manic depression – it’s been 8 years of treatment, I’m happy to be open about it… I can spend days curled up in a ball on the floor doing nothing. And then I can spend other days being how I am with you now… happy, connected, engaging. Brainfog is my description of those days when I can't face getting up to even have a piss – when even that feels like climbing Mount Everest.
It’s funny though because most of the music you mention listening to early on – electro, Detroit techno, Chicago house – that’s all quite energetic and upbeat. What inspired you to make music that was more driven by your emotion?
Wow yeah, good question. All the music I used to listen to, apart from punk which was just aggressive, was all sorts of happy. Outside of music, science fiction films had an early influence on me, so for example Blade Runner, Dune, Alien, Terminator 1, all those sorts of films I loved the soundtracks. Mike does too, we've always loved the big chords and pads and strange noises, and also manga films - Akira for example, we used to love watching that.
Is there any soundtrack in particular that stands out?
Terminator 1 soundtrack is brilliant. Lots of strings and pads!
So what made you take a break from listening to dance music?
Back in 1995/1996 we'd just put out Time Tourist with Warp, a Warp tour then followed. We went, there were lots of us in fact, Squarepusher was there too. I remember listening to Aphex Twin and in all honesty I couldn’t understand why people were going so beserk for something so strange. He makes beautiful music, but he also makes music that sounds like fingernails being scratched against a blackboard. I guess I became somewhat disillusioned with what was going on musically… a lot of people copying Aphex Twin, it was getting glitchy, less melodic and it just didn't work for me. I went back to listening to a lot of jazz and reggae and then I discovered bands - I'd never listened to bands before. The likes of Oasis, Nirvana, the Charlatans, Stereophonics, Radiohead. I started after everyone else. So that’s where I went in the late 90s and early 2000s. And nowadays if I listen to music, the only music I really listen to is my own. Well, I still listen to Radiohead and stuff like that, but generally I listen to my own demos.
Whilst we’re talking about Warp I also wanted to talk about 3EP. I heard you’re not a fan…
When we worked with Warp they offered us a 6-album recording deal. On paper, the 6-album deal was worth a quarter of a million but we didn't sign it. We did a 1-album deal for £3,500 or whatever it was. So we made Electro-Soma - that was cool, then Time Tourist which was also cool but on another 1-album deal. And then we were talking about making a third album but they were rejecting all the music we sent them. They said they’d "heard it all before", we’d "done it all before. There was nothing new". To be honest this was their approach with everyone: Black Dog, Aphex Twin, they made everyone try and change. But the way I see it (and I've said this before), you don't say to John Lee Hooker sing me a pop song. You just wouldn't do that. So although I can see what they were trying to do, in the end it was a load of bollocks. Eventually Rob from Warp suggested for us to bring in some jazz influences… I love jazz - 50s jazz. Mike loves jazz - 60s jazz. I like the pianos and the double bass... Dave Brubeck, Errol Garner, Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. So that’s what the 3EP was, it was us trying to bring some jazz influences into our music. But we didn’t like it.
You still don't?
I don't no. I think Mike might like that Dave Brubeck track because that was the most ‘techno’. One track feels like a drum and bass tune and the other one is just fucking weird. When we put out that EP a lot of people were damning about it. Even amongst our peers they were wondering what the hell is that… what are you doing? Even the artwork, it's just the side of a photocopier! For Time Tourist we had a beautiful painting, for Electro-Soma we actually commissioned the guy from comic 2000AD to draw the sleeve but for 3EP I don’t even remember us discussing the artwork - it was just given to us, so there you go.
Having been part of the scene during 3 different periods you must have an interesting insight and perspective... what differences do you see?
Well it’s very different for me, now when I go out I’m just thinking about what time I’ll leave. I don't drink, take drugs or smoke or anything. But in the old days I used to party - I’d go out raving. I’d go to The Dungeons on Lea Bridge Road, which were some wine cellars below a dual carriageway, on the borderline of illegal… looking back it probably was! Then we’d also be hanging out in the record stores every Saturday and Sunday. We were really immersed, living and breathing it you know? And it was all tied to pirate radio, music music music, all the time. The music was new and the scene was new. Now I hardly go out, nor do I listen to what’s going on if I’m to be honest, I ain't got a clue what’s going on out there, not the faintest idea.
What do you make of people listening to the old B12 records now? Does it surprise you that DJs today play your tracks? Obsessed for example was played out quite a lot!
Really? No way. That does surprise me, it bloody surprises me!
I have a story for you actually. In 2006 I was approached by a guy called Josh Doherty, he runs the I Love Acid nights. ‘Steve are you interested in doing a gig?’ My response, why would I want to do a gig? I haven’t made any music since 1996. But for him the answer was easy ‘but you’re a techno legend!’ I really had no idea what he was talking about so he sent me a link to B12 on Wikipedia or something, it didn’t compute at the time but that’s why we had our little comeback in the noughties.
But even to this day when people say that they’re interested in my music it does overwhelm me, and I don’t really understand why. I do more readily accept it, that’s the therapy talking, but before I’d always ask why someone was interested.
That’s the impression I got to be fair, you once posted something about how you felt like an imposter in the scene…
Yeah I've always felt like an imposter… oh god definitely! But why are people interested in that old stuff though, especially when there’s so much new music?
That’s a difficult question. In all honesty it’s become part of the culture now, if you go to a techno night you’ll be listening to music spanning the last 30 years.
It’s interesting… in the 70s there was a ska revival in the UK, the likes of Madness and the Specials and the Beat etc. This was when I was in school. And I was right into it. But as I got older and I started accessing more and more music, I was checking original ska music from the 50s - it's the same thing.
I'll tell you something else too, when Warp offered us that 6 album deal I remember saying to Mike that 'this music isn't gonna last for 6 albums'. Why did I say that? Because I was used to fashions, punk, ska, etc. and it was all a fashion. All passing fads during my school years. One week we were punks, the next week we were rude boys, the following week we were new romantics. Even electro was a fashion at that time. It didn't last very long, and turned into what would then be hip-hop. So we were making techno and I thought that maybe it would last a few years, house music probably just a year or so... but look how long it’s lasted! Silliest thought of mine ha! 30 years on and its still going.
Looking back over all the music you’ve released or been involved with, are there 3 standout releases you could name?
Musicology – Musicology (1991)
Firstly, B12-01. It's the first record we ever made. We modelled the design on Plus 8 records…
Then I'd say B12- 07, the Redcell EP. People often call it ‘Retreat from Unpleasant Realities’ because that’s what the sticker said. There’s 4 tracks on it, and they're all sci-fi soundtrack type things. Out of all our releases, that’s the one that sums it up for me…
Steven Rutter - From Me To You (2017)
So that’s phase 1. Phase 2, I didn't particularly like what we were doing in the noughties and I don't make a secret of it so I’ll go straight to phase 3 - a Firescope release. The defining moment for me has to be the first record I put out under Steve Rutter - From Me to You. I was so nervous about making that EP. There was no name to hide behind.
Steven Rutter – BrainFog is out now