The Spacemusic Podcast!
In June 2009, I was interviewed by TC, from the Spacemusic podcast. I am really thrilled about this as Spacemusic is one of my favourite podcasts and has been for a couple of years now. So TC offered to produce and entire show playing exclusively my music with an interview throughout. He came to meet me at the London EnlightenNext centre, did a public meditation there, had a great meal and got a flavour of the life of an evolutionary at EnlightenNext. He then asked me a few questions in a bar called ‘the Bull’ on Upper St – where you can buy raspberry beer….
Interview with Fluid radio – August 2008
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself David...
A: My name is David Leckenby, born in Perth Australia and moved to London 6 years ago. My interests are creating a human culture based on deeper and higher insights into who we really are and what's ultimately possible. I am a student of spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen, and help bring out a pioneering future vision through working for an organisation called EnlightenNext www.EnlightenNext.org
Q: What musical influences did you have growing up and do you feel they shaped you to be the musician that you are today?
A: It was a mix but at one stage I was into glam rock (Kiss etc) and seriously cheesy pop, so I certainly hope not.
Q: Was there a defining moment early on in your life that made you think "Yes...I'm going to make music for people to enjoy"
A: Seeing The Cure perform 'A Forest' live in France and some of U2s performances inspired me so much and showed me that music can transmit deep, subtle and powerful experiences. And also the early Acid House era...
Q: When did you start creating music?
A: I started playing guitar when I was 9, was in school and university bands throughout school, but turned to creating electronic music in my early 20s, when I first played with a Korg Wavestation in a music store....it was like WOW!!!!
Q: When did the David Leckenby project begin and can you tell us more about that project?
A: The project is basically a compilation and mix of most of my musical creations as an individual artist over the last 6 years. Most of the material I produced in Australia is lost on some DAT tapes somewhere...
Q: When/Where was the first gig/event you played at-How did it go-How did you feel?
A: In Australia I formed part of a minimal techno duo called 'Morpheus'. We had a relatively small release and played some festivals and events in Melbourne. My first gig was in a small town outside Melbourne called Ballarat, in a massive circus tent in front of 400 people at 8am in the morning (after everyone was up all night). I was terrified.
Q: What equipment do you use when playing live?
A: I now use Ableton Live 6 and Reason 4 on a MacBook Pro laptop with 2 controller keyboards Evolution MK249C and an Evolution X-session. I have pre-recorded loops in Ableton from all different sources and play live over the top with Reason. I set up about a whole load of synergistic textures and percussion elements and use levels, low (and high) pass filters and various effects to control the mix and create on-the-fly arrangements.
Q: Describe how you feel when you play live to an audience...
A: Totally alive, absolutely unselfconscious and the most myself that I ever feel.
Q: Musical bio from 1st production up until most recent?
A:
Morpheus - Pulse Frequency (1996 - Azwan Transmissions)
David Leckenby - Retransmission (2003 Indie)
Sonic Devotion - Introspective (2006 out on CD Baby and most digital music sites)
Sonic Devotion - Networks (2006 out on CD Baby and most digital music sites)
David Leckenby - Simplexity (2008 out on CD Baby and most digital music sites)
Q: What kind of studio equipment do you use David?
A: I have a very streamlined studio at the moment (very portable!) - Its all software based. Using my exact live setup up, however my production efforts centre on the awesome Logic Studio. That's the centre stage for my productions and I use Native Instruments Battery, Ableton Live and Reason in different ways. I also have a set of Sennheiser headphones (HD 600s) and use Edirol monitoring.
Q: Did it take a long time to build up your studio kit and how much have you spent over the years?
A: When I was making music in Australia I had a whole room full of equipment including a 20 channel Yamaha digital automated mixing desk, Akai S1100 sampler, Korg Wavestation, Ensoniq EPS16+ sampler, Novation Bassstation, Roland TB 303, Alesis Monitor Ones plus more. I sold all of my equipment to fund my spiritual search in India and other places, getting back into music making in a much more portable way later on. With music making software developments now, so much is possible and getting better all the time.
Q: Any tips for someone just starting out with regards to building a home studio?
A: Invest in a good DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and learn it well. I recommend Logic on a Mac platform as the interface is so user friendly and just helps you create. Also I used to think DAW's were like blank slates but they aren't, and some just sound better than others. Logic just sounds awesome to me and I can produce higher quality output with it. If you can get an acoustically considered environment with good quality monitoring go for it. From there you can add other equipment and microphones etc...but your workstation environment is the most important and you should feel totally comfortable with it.
Q: Fav piece of hardware?
A: Apple MacBook Pro - it's awesome!! Love it
Q: Do you have a process that you like to stick to when working on new material in the studio?
A: Not really, although through experience you get to know what to do next as the track progresses. The thing about a great track is that you have to capture a vibe, an inspiration so it's really important to capture it while its still there. So you need to know how to work fast and move on so that it becomes a flow. The more experience I get the more I can let go of ideas of how it should be and respond to the moment and create from there. The more dimensions you can hold in your awareness the more depth you can express, so in doing this I mix, use eq and effects constantly throughout the producing process. So in the end I don't really do a final mix as it's already been done. Mastering is the icing on the cake, because if the mix isn't balanced and the track working, mastering won't help at all.
Q: Tell us about the musical movement (chillout) going on at the moment? How do you feel the scene is advancing?
A: I don't really get out to many events as such, but I hear lots of fantastic music. I have been listening to the Spacemusic podcast and am constantly blown away by how much great music there is out there. It's really inspiring....its a very creative time now I feel.
Q: How does visual/visionary art fit in to what you do and why? (If at all)
A: Very much so. I am part of a multimedia production company called 'Kosmic Fire' www.kosmicfire.com where we are attempting to bring together live electronic music, live projected visuals, animations and choreographed dance and light poi work in a way that takes an audience to higher and deeper state of consciousness. The visual elements take the experience to a whole other level and consciously working on integration in this way is relatively unexplored I feel, and my tip for a very exciting future direction of art.
Q: What genre would you say your music fits into?
A: I don't really know. It's easier to know what it's not.
Q: Plans for the future/Upcoming releases/gigs/events???
A: We are playing at a Weareone party late September at the Synergy Centre (Central London), and we are seriously looking at getting work in the Creative Events industry with Kosmic Fire (have to earn a crust somehow...)
Q: Why is music important to you David...
A: It can transmit life, intelligence and inspiration. Sound is very physical.
Q: What words can you give to new artists wanting to make music.......
A: Realise that it takes time and effort to develop and reach high levels of proficiency, competency and potentially even mastery. I think the whole concept of putting in great effort to achieve great things is a bit lost in our current culture where many things are often taken for granted. There is a great satisfaction in real development of an art form, as it can teach us about how the universe works and how things are related. Keep going and follow your own inspiration, as this is the fuel and what ultimately gets communicated.
Q: Finally top 5 albums????
1) Treasure - David Helpling and Jon Jenkins
2) Bladerunner Soundtrack - Vangelis
3) Disintegration - The Cure
4) The Bends - Radiohead
5) Avenue - Ten Madison
Sorted Noise - German Webzine
This is a review of my track 'Elements' in a German Music Webzine written by a music journalist/writer Robert Wantke. He puts one track a day on his site and has an excellent mix of artists on there – check it out!
David Leckenby: Elements (Original Mix)
Sonntag, 7.12.2008
Trance am Sonntag? Regelmäßige Besucher dieser Website werden vermutlich ahnen, dass der heutige Track des Tages mit dem, was hier häufiger freitags und sonnabends aus der Rubrik "Trance" präsentiert wird, nicht so sehr viel zu tun hat... - David Leckenby ist gebürtiger Australier, in Melbourne aufgewachsen und nach allerlei Band-Mitgliedschaften als Gitarrist (Unterricht in klassischer Gitarre hat er seit seinem neunten Lebensjahr erhalten) Anfang der 90er in die dortige elektronische Dance- und Rave-Szene "hineingerutscht". Als die in Kommerzialisierung versandete, hat er ihr und auch gleich der Musik an sich den Rücken gekehrt und sich intensiv mit den Thesen des amerikanischen spirituellen Lehrers Andrew Cohen befasst. 
Die Lust, selbst wieder Musik zu machen, kehrte zurück, als Cohen, dessen Schüler er bis heute ist, sein Jazz-Funk-Rock-Kollektiv Unfullfilled Desires startete. - Drei Kompilationen mit eigenen Werken hat Leckenby, der mittlerweile in London lebt, bislang veröffentlicht: "Simplexity", "Networks" (enthält auch "Elements") und "Introspective", allesamt ohne Unterstützung einer Plattenfirma entstanden und bei verschiedenen Download-Anbietern (etwa iTunes) erhältlich. Auftritte absolviert er sowohl als Solokünstler als auch als Mitglied von Kosmic Fire, einem Performance-Ensemble, das eine Kombination von Musik, Tanz und audiovisuellen Elementen auf die Bühne bringt. Mehr über die Arbeit von Kosmic Fire verrät dieser Trailer. - Die Musik, die David Leckenby macht, könnte man natürlich mit den dem Szene-Jargon entlehnten Begriffen "Ambient", "Chillout" oder "Downtempo" (wobei es durchaus auch Tracks von ihm gibt, die ein etwas flotteres Tempo vorlegen) charakterisieren. Was ihr gänzlich fehlt, ist das Kalkulierte, das so mancher nach dem Markt schielenden Produktion innewohnt. Hier gibt einer durch seine Musik sehr viel von sich selbst preis und geht einfach seinen Weg, ohne sich um die Mechanismen des Business zu kümmern. Auch wenn mir altem Skeptiker die Lehren der Andrew Cohens dieser Welt eher fremd und an mancher Stelle ein klein wenig suspekt sind - dem spirituellen Element, das David Leckenbys Titel - abgesehen von der technischen Perfektion - auszeichnet, vermag ich mich durchaus nicht zu entziehen. Große Musik, aus der man auch mal Kraft schöpfen kann.
Offizielle Homepage (englisch)
David Leckenby bei MySpace
Kosmic Fire bei MySpace