Interviews:

 Psy Reviews » Interview in early 2003 with Damion Brown:

Mike Indidginus, aka Deviant Didg, aka Michael Martin, makes both fullon & chilled hammock soaking trance with a difference. You may have guessed, he fuses the techno-shamanic nonsense we all know & love in the psytrance world, with a liberal sprinkling of live didgeridoo. With a benefit album completed & awaiting release, a mounting live schedule & various shenanigans with OOOD/Unconscious Collective, the time was just about a quarter to right to chat with Mike himself, about music, about the industry, & about why he wouldn't put your face on urinal no matter what you did.

Okay, so first up - where are you & how are the vibes?

I'm sat in my studio/bedroom with a cup of redbush tea listening to a track by Tandu called "The System". Very nice :) Especially at around 2:15 :) Otherwise, I'm just rinsing out the flavas & mixing up the vibe. It's been a particularly nice day too with sun & blue skies, which always helps :)

For anyone new to the Indidginus name, give us a brief run down of your musical CV.

Well, I tried to play guitar at school & bombed out after the music teacher wouldn't teach me anything other than "Yankee Doodle". I wanted to be getting on with Jimi Hendrix & the Chili Peppers. So needless to say, my motivation went south quite early on. Oh yeah, I was in the school choir for a while as well, although the less said about that the better ;) And I got kicked out of the recorder class because I was terrible at reading music (terrible at reading full stop actually). It was only after I dropped out of nursing college (can you see a pattern forming here?) that I really started to get into music properly. I decided to teach myself didg, & then went out as a sort of "didg for hire" at various trance/techno clubs/squats.

A couple of years after, I bumped into a Maori guy (Pete) in Tescos in Brixton who commented on the Koru tattoos I have on my arm. As it turned out he ran a drum & bass live PA called Koru & we decided to join forces. We played out & about all over the place (Trancentral, Pendragon, Lizard Eclipse Festy etc.) & he was the first person to really introduce me to the production process. He had converted his lounge in a tower block in Loughborough Junction (a rough place at best) into a studio. The room had been completely soundproofed so that neighbours wouldn't shoot first & ask questions later when they heard repetitive beats till the small hours of the morning!

This was great for a while, but I soon found myself wishing I had my own equipment (& the knowledge to use it!) so that I could manifest my own ideas. Problem was that I had no money. So I decided to try & get a career to finance my musical leanings. I got myself a career development loan, trained to be a software developer & bought some basic gear. During the time that I was studying, I moved out of London & became involved with another drum & bass live PA called Impact & a chillout live PA called Squeeker. Both very good, but not what I really wanted to do.

At the end of 2000 I met Colin Bennun Esquire, a very nice chap & a great musician. His live PA's OOOD & Unconscious Collective need no introduction. We started to write music together from time to time, whilst I continued writing music on my own as well (I was busily working away on an ambient/downbeat album called Sine Language to raise money for Samye Ling Buddhist monastery). I also got to know Kristian Thinning (Elysium Project), Yoni Oshrat (Psysex), & more latterly Matt Hillier (Ishq). Again, great people, first rate producers, & very helpful with providing feedback/leads for my album.

I've since completed the album & it is awaiting release. Hopefully it will achieve it's intention. I'm also tinkering around with some psytrance & a bit more drum & bass for fun. I'm currently trying to weave a traditional Sesutu song into a breakbeat track. It's proving very laborious at the moment, so I'm happy to have a break to chat with you!

You've travelled a lot with the music too, I understand?

I've done quite a bit of travelling, but not necessarily specifically with music in mind. My father is a diplomat, so when I was younger we got to move around to different countries every few years, which was fantastic. That mindset has stuck with me & I tend to go a little stir-crazy if I stay in any one place for too long these days (although I have been in Hampshire for a bit now....). I've been asked to play abroad twice - once at the Psynews launch party in Belgium, & at the Earthdance party in Holland put on by Boom Records. Both gigs were great fun. The people were lovely & the other DJ's/live acts were great too. Hopefully there will be more gigs like this in the future :)

Clearly there's this didgeridoo connection - how long have you been playing didge, what got you started with it?

I started in 1996, although I was first introduced to the instrument some years prior when I was travelling in Australia. I was with my sister browsing around in a craft shop, when I spotted a didg propped up in the corner of the room. I asked the shop manager if I could have a go for a laugh (to see if I could make any noises with it). He agreed, & it turned out that I could. I took that as a sign to continue. I practiced every day for about 6 years. Although this year I have put the didg on the backburner, focussing more on the production side of things. There is a hell of a lot there to use up my time! I'm also trying to get a little more proficient with the keyboard. I've got a ways to go.... ;)

Is it a coincidence that the low-set acid sound prevalent in kicking off a lot of the electronic music scene "mimics" in a way the sound of the didge?

I blame it on Colin myself.

I think I know something about the instrument sort of having shamanic, or at least ritual, significance?

He, he ;) I make no claims to knowing anything about shamanism. All I know is that the didg rocks when played right ;) Very hypnotic. Very rhythmic. Very natural. Very good at providing the player with intense headrushes ;) It's also good for leaving pools of saliva on your friends' kitchen floors. Always a winner that trick.

To try & answer your question slightly, I believe that the Aborigine's use the didg as a means of telling stories about the dreamtime, but that's about the extent of my "knowledge" (& I'm probably wrong with even that!).

You're part of the Unconscious Collective. What's the vibe & the idea behind the collective?

Unconscious Collective - good for the soul, bad for the digestion. The brilliance of the name is down to Colin - it's his brainchild ;) And yes, it is a good name - a play on Jung's theory about the collective unconscious I believe. As I live in Hampshire, & Colin & the rest of U.C. live in Bristol I am only involved when time (& Colin :)) allows. It's not exactly easy to just pop down the M4 to knock out a tune when the fancy takes us, although we do our best.

At the moment, I'm focussing more on Indidginus for a while. I wish I had more time so that I could allocate equal amounts of effort to both projects, but unfortunately that's not the way things are just now. I have to keep my day job in the mix too somehow... Anyway, the vibe is about spreading positivity & friendship. All of the members - Colin, Ryo, Ramsay & Steve are amongst the nicest people I have had the pleasure to meet, so it is easy to perpetuate that vibe. In fact the best set I have ever been involved with was played with them at Tribe of Frog last year.

What's involved with the Indidginus live set?

At the moment, the bare essentials. I need to get a laptop, but that will have to wait till I get more cash in the coffers (come on gigs! You know you want to....). So at the moment I am forced to do a track mix to CD, & then play slide didgeridoo & synth live over the top.... Is it live or is it Memorex? Hmmmmm ;)

The U.C. play live as well... How does the live thing work there, who does what?

The live thing works via a crudely manufactured coin operation system. 50p gets a couple of minutes & a surprise gift. Colin plays with his hair, Steve makes systematic popping, clicking & whirring-type noises, Ramsay repeatedly fires up a petrol-driven lawnmower, Ryo mimics a seagull & I read out Russel Grant's horoscope page in the manner of an Italian lounge singer.

Do the live sets always work?

No. Where there's electrics, there's problems.

Actually, where there's me there's problems too. I managed to forget the Indidginus live set data at home when Colin & I were heading out to Belgium. We were on the bus that took us from the car park to the terminal, when it all went a bit Pauline....

Colin: "Got your passport?"
Me: "Check".
Colin: "Got tickets?"
Me: "Check".
Colin: "Got your favourite underpants?"
Me: "Check."
Colin: "I won't bother asking you about the live set data, there's no way you wouldn't bring that."
Me: "Um. Shit."

That was pretty funny. We managed to redo the live set in Belgium on Joske's Dad's computer in the couple of days leading up to the party thankfully.

What gigs are lined up?

For Indidginus: Natural Order, London in May (date to be confirmed) & The Tobacco Factory, Bristol in August (date to be confirmed. (Thanks Ryo & Colin!)

At the moment, Indidginus is taking focus. My intention in starting Indidginus in the first place was to write my own music. So I want to get back to my original aim (as for the first few months of last year when I wrote "Sine Language"). I really, really enjoy mucking about on my own here in me studio. I spend hours twiddling dials & laughing manically. It's great.

Time is also a factor. Having a full-time job, writing music & trying to promote Indidginus (& Unconscious Collective wherever possible) can get stressful at times. So it's nice to have some time to myself in that regard too.

I find that after spending a while doing our own things, when Colin & I hook up again, the result is an intensely creative session, which I find very inspiring. If we were to hook up on a regular basis for any length of time, I feel that would be lost (as has happened in the past with the other live PA's I've been involved with).

Would you say that, to an extent, the majority of psytrance getting released now has lost its "organic" vibe?

I'm no expert, but it would seem that a lot of the trance being released these days seems quite clinical/sterile. Melodies seem to be on the downturn too. But, as I say, I'm no DJ, so I don't really keep up with current trends (which is why I guess my music often gets labelled as "quirky"). It would certainly be easier to get released if I kept up with what was "in fashion" at the moment, but I find that can take it's toll on the creative aspect of writing music.

What's your take on the general health of the (UK or global) trance scene today? Who rocks?

I think the trance scene could use a calcium supplement. And perhaps a vitamin B complex too during the winter months.

As for who rocks.... In no particular order:

• Psysex (they played a fantastic set at the Rex recently).
• Fractal Glider.
• Pleiadians.
• Colorbox (Nicely organic. Nicely melodic. I don't understand why these guys weren't more well-known. My friend Per introduced their music to me (along with a ton of other music!))
• The Delta/X-Dream.
• Kox Box.
• I've heard some pretty rocking Oforia tracks too.

As for other styles:

• Plaid.
• Talvin Singh.
• Asian Dub Foundation.
• Michael Jackson (the early years).
• Squarepusher.
• Dreadzone.
• (And so the list goes on... ;)

Where do you want to take the Indidginus "creation" into 2003 & beyond?

Past Bracknell would be good.

My primary objective at the moment is to get "Sine Language" released, so that I can give some money to Samye Ling! Thereafter, who knows? I know that I enjoy writing music. If people enjoy what I write then that's fantastic. Then we're all happy :) As for what the future holds, that is largely out of my control, so I'd be foolish to want (or expect) too much....

Three most inspiring figures from musical or other history whose mugshots you'd have above your metaphysical mantle-piece?

Hmmm, that's quite a hard one. Here's 3 to kick off with:

• Milarepa.
• Henry Rollins.
• Kool & the Gang.

Three non-inspiring figures whose mugshots you'd have emblazoned on the surfaces of urinals?

I tend not to think very much about non-inspiring figures to be honest.

Three products from the supermarket you simply couldn't live without....

Alright, now we're talking....

• Avocadoes.
• Tea light candles
• Hair dye (OK, maybe not the hair dye. I don't have much hair left!).

The one thing you would do if the world was about to end, & you had one hour's notice....

Stand on one leg & recite Shakespeare. Or meditate. Maybe both.

One person who needs a smack upside the head with a fresh salmon...

Me from time to time ;)

Do you have anything else to say in your defence?

I was shearing the next-door neighbour's sheep when it happened. This spoon will corroborate my story. Go on, ask him. His name is "Tony" & he doesn't like it if you raise your voice. So be nice.

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