Karl O’Connor is credited as “executive producer” on the record, what was the process of completing the record with him like?

“We would wake up every morning at 9, have some breakfast and then start working. We’d have a lunch break and then get right back to it. Then in the evening we’d kind of be pretty spent so we’d listen back to what had happened during the day, then we’d go our separate ways, meet up the next morning, have some fucking pancakes and hit it again! [laughs] It’s was this really amazing process, it was cool.

“For it’s time, Broadcast’s Tender Buttons was probably the closest we got to a TG record, you know?”

“At the end of the day, I made the record for people like Karl, like Kiran from Blackest, like Veronica from Minimal Wave, like Rabih [Morphosis] – those are the people that for me were kind of like pillars to look to for the record. And even some people that I don’t know, like the dude who runs Captured Tracks, or Justin from The Soft Moon – I played a techno gig in San Francisco and Justin was there; I didn’t expect him to be there, but he came, and was really into it. It’s important to understand the wider scope of what we’re doing, that it’s not just banging techno music, there’s a lot of context.

“Still, it’s strange for me for the record to be getting the attention it’s getting, because at the end of the day the people I’m trying to target it with it are those people that I know, that I look up to. I was talking to Veronica the other day, and it occurred to me that there was just so much that she’d done that had influenced me before I’d even met her, all these reissues and stuff I’d never heard of that had become really poignant to me.

“In terms of influences, another really important one was Trish Keenan and James from Broadcast; for me Tender Buttons was the opening to a lot of things. People didn’t really get that record, a lot of people dismissed it as this kind of synth-pop thing, and they don’t really understand that for that time, it was probably the closest we got to a TG record, you know? Of course the biggest influence was probably all those early Downwards 7″s that we just reissued as the White Savage Dance 12″ – I tell Karl that all the time, that stuff is more relevant today than ever.

“People don’t acknowledge that there is inequality. They’re like, ‘What do you mean? Everything’s fine!’ and it’s like no, everything is not fine.”

Tell us more about the album. Why is it called Negative Fascination?

“The reason I called the record Negative Fascination was… well, I used it on a Sandwell District single a while back, and for me it became this proprietary thing…I’m not a firm occultist, you know [laughs], but I’m very much informed by all those things. I know things like Process Church and Temple ov Psychick Youth are very much in fashion, but they still interest me. At the core of it, it’s about creating context for creation.

“I have a fascination with things that are very disturbing, but which are also very common. We’re very desensitised to things, but we also need to acknowledge that they exist, to know what they are. For example, me, being Hispanic, being immigrant, in the US, the biggest thing that bothers me most of the time is that people don’t acknowledge that there is inequality. They’re like, ‘What do you mean? Everything’s fine!’ and it’s like no, everything is not fine. And I’m OK with that. I don’t feel oppressed, personally, but just acknowledge that things are not equal, and we’re good. Because the acknowledgement of that is the statement of reality. And I’m fascinated by this: there are all these fucked up things going on, and we find a way to live within them. I’m fascinated by that.

“Living in Southern California, for example, you have fucking Disneyland and then literally a 5 mile drive outside of it it’s fucking meth central. There’s always been this crazy juxtaposition of things like that in California. Growing up, we’d go to all these ritzy areas and the way these areas run efficiently is because they’re run by immigrants – on the top there’s this upper crust of the white super-rich, but if it wasn’t for this underbelly, it would not exist, it would fall apart.”

“There are all these fucked up things going on, and we find a way to live within them. I’m fascinated by that.”

What about the imagery? The sleeve artwork feels like a culmination, or continuation, of the themes you explored in the Sandwell District releases…

“With Sandwell District, it was always this obsession with two things: horror movies and teddy boys. A mix of that. And for me, that’s still a big part of it. That time was just a classic time for style, for aesthetics. That’s kind of how we live, top to bottom, you know what I mean? Those things remain hugely influential on us. Part of the reason The Smiths have always been such a big deal for me is all this imagery on the covers – all these crazy British movies that I’d never heard of, or, I don’t know, I’d have to search really fucking hard to find out who Viv Nicholson was, you know? [laughs] Or the guy who was in Leather Boys, or whatever.

“At the same time, I developed this fascination with switchblades and bought a bunch. The cover, that’s me holding the switchblade. We’re doing this limited 20-piece edition of the record that comes with an engraved switchblade. So yeah…the art is very influenced by my fascination with the way that things are fucked up. You read about things like the Process Church… utopia to me is a joke. Utopian cultures and societies always end up fucked up, because it’s the nature of humans that someone will want to take charge, and by doing that, they’ll fuck things up. In that sense I suppose the ‘negative fascination’ thing is quite anti-peace and love, because those things don’t necessarily work. I don’t want to come across as some fucking hater, but that whole hippie shit for me just doesn’t work. And that’s part of the fascination with Process Church: because they were totally anti-hippie, no? 100%. But even that all ended badly [laughs]. The stories are amazing, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the books about it. When people are searching for answers, and for meaning, they can be led to these really weird ends.

“With Sandwell District, it was always this obsession with two things: horror movies and teddy boys.”

“Things don’t always end well, things aren’t always going to be OK. But there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just important to acknowledge that as reality, to acknowledge that we’re in this place and we will have to deal with shitty things, and bad things will happen, people will die – it’s just what happens. It doesn’t mean we’re negative people. And in a way, when you acknowledge those things you’re kind of free – because you’re like OK, I’m prepared, I know what I have to do. It’s about knowing that things will go wrong and being ready for them, no matter what.”

Use arrow keys to turn pages (page 2/3)

The music on Negative Fascination doesn’t feel doomy, it doesn’t wallow in despair; on the contrary, it sounds like it’s trying to find a route through it. It has real momentum to it. 

“Even back with Sandwell District, people would describe our music as nihilistic, and it’s not… I don’t know if I’d call it celebratory, but it’s visceral, there’s an energy to it. I’ve been DJing since I was 16, and I’m now 35. Over that period of time I’ve developed an understanding of momentum: momentum creates energy, momentum keeps interest. If you can’t keep momentum, whether it’s a techno record, or a rock record, or a fucking drone record…sure, there’s way to create environments, to create a headspace, but even within that there needs to be something that moves. Even on the Silent Servant record, some of the tempos drop down to the 110s, the 120s, but through the sequencer there’s a momentum that’s created which keep things moving. That’s really important to me. When I’m DJing, I’m extremely aware of when things die [snaps fingers]. If I’m DJing, if a record dies, however good it might be, I just don’t play it. It’s just about creating dynamic, momentum, that’s the goal with everything, really.”

“It’s just about creating dynamic, momentum – that’s the goal with everything, really.”

How did the experience of recording Negative Fascination, a solo album, as opposed to the collaborative affair that was the Sandwell District album, Feed-Forward?

“Feed-Forward was a strange one because it had so many mutations of what it was supposed to be. And it was the work of different people, though there was a lot of arrangement happened with Karl in Berlin. This record [Negative Fascination] was very much my head, 100%. Usually I work pretty quickly – though I end up spending more time thinking about records than actually making them – and I really appreciate the fact that a lot of bands, like the early Rough Trade bands, Factory or Mute bands, were working with limited resources and limited time. Think about Robert Rental – he made his first two 7″s in his bedroom at night while his girlfriend was sleeping; he had to do them at night and get them done, and get them out. Or whatever band would set up a recording session with Martin Hannett and basically you had a week – you had a week to record your album. Maybe you even had two weeks – but that was it.

“A lot of that was in my mind, and that was part of the reason that I wanted the album to be a single LP, I wanted to keep it in that tradition. I want people to listen to it, I don’t want to have a record where people are like, ‘Oh, there’s four LPs in this thing’, and you’ve got to keep flipping it. That’s why we made the single: if you want to play the record in the club, there is a version you can play. The LP you can play out too, of course – but it’s made to listen to. A side, flip it, then B side. That’s it. That’s the whole record. None of this I think this is side C, and this is side D or whatever bullshit…”

I buy lots of double-albums like that. And I end up never listening to them the whole way through.

“Totally, I buy them too and they just sit there, and I just end up thinking why the fuck did I buy that, and buying the CD anyway. [laughs]”

“I don’t want to make academic music, I want to make records that have some virility in and of themselves.”

So what next? Do you feel the completion of this album is the end of something, or has it perhaps opened up new avenues for you to explore?

“Making techno records is one thing, but making things that are a little more involved is another. I think I’m going to have to slightly regroup now. Because the album is everything that I wanted it to be, in a way. Even though it’s only seven tracks, it’s very representative of what I wanted to achieve – there’s a little bit of Cabs, there’s a little bit of DAF, there’s a little bit of early Basic Channel and early Downwards, there’s some weird post-punk, upbeat, almost Joy Division-like sounds. It was just this weird mutation in my head, and for me to do it again, I’m just going to have to spend some time to find a new focal point and direction and decide OK, this is what I’m going to do next. We [Mendez and Karl O’Connor] might work on a Sandra Electronics record together, that might be the next big thing we do, and I’m going to continue to put out DJ singles, techno stuff, but try to keep it as interesting as I can. People like, for example, DJ Trax – he runs Nation, he’s an awesome DJ who likes taking chances, and he’s making really interesting music that’s also functional – and I really appreciate that. I don’t want to make academic music, I want to make records that have some virility in and of themselves.”

And it seems you’re excited about music in general right now?

“People out here [in LA] say there’s no good music out there, and I’m like, dude, you’re crazy – you’re just not paying attention. There’s so much. New little things pop up every day in random places – shit in LA, shit in New York, some kid in Nebraska, some kid in Switzerland, there’s just so much everywhere. And these kids are being influenced by some really interesting things. Sure, it lives in the underbelly, and that’s fine. It’s OK if things don’t get too big. If things reach a larger audience, well, that’s totally fine; but at the same time, it’s totally fine if they don’t. You know, I’m OK with the fact that I like The Horrors, I think they’re a good band; I’m totally OK with liking them. I like The Smiths. It’s just the reality of what I like. At the same I time I really appreciate fucking Vatican Shadow, I really appreciate Haul, those Swiss dudes who sent me the 7″ – it’s like dude, it’s all there.

“There’s so much happening. You have kids like Nick from The KVB – his record on Clan Destine is really good, it’s super-fucked-up, there are little gems on there and these are the gems that mean in five years people are going to be looking for that record. I’m still a very avid record-buyer – my house looks like a record store, it’s kind of sad. I try to turn people onto different things. That’s why I appreciate – and Karl will probably kill me for saying this – Trevor Jackson. The fact that he put out that Metal Dance compilation – people like him, people like Veronica, they’re doing a really good job at turning people on to different things and bringing unusual shit to the forefront.

“So with regard to new material, I think it’s more a matter of context, finding the right context in which to create it, and finding a new idea to base it around. The the idea of what the music is, to me, is as important as how the music actually turns out. Even if only 500 people like the record, that’s fine with me. I’m really appreciative of all the Sandwell District fans,  I just felt an obligation to move forward. We’re just trying to do things that are interesting and not fall by the wayside. It’s easy just to put out banging techno tracks. And there’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s not what our end result is, it never has been.”

“People say there’s no good music out there, and I’m like, dude, you’re crazy – you’re just not paying attention.”

Techno remains important to you though, right?

“Absolutely. I continue to have a deep appreciation of really good techno DJs: people like Ben Klock, Norman Nodge, Marcel Fengler or whoever… I try to DJ at that level, but at the same time because I’m in LA, there’s so much happening here with [indie/punk/wave-oriented clubnight] Part Time Punks – a lot of the inspiration that I get, and which is going to come out in what I do next, has a lot to do with that. So much stuff happens there, I’ve seen so many different bands there. Every Sunday night. These kids are really trying hard at what they’re doing, and it’s interesting. That energy, those people, is what keeps me want to keep my own shit interesting. It’s harder to get people to go to these shows, but they’re the ones that are really inspiring, because they’re taking chances.

“We’re not motivated by anything other than desire to make something interesting. We will continue to do these things, and we feel we’d be doing a disservice to ourselves not do them. I want people to find out about stuff – stuff that I’m fond of, I want other people to know about too. I want people to know about Led Er Est, I want people to know about L.I.E.S., I want people to know about, I don’t know, fuck, [distribution company] Ready Made, all the stuff we’re doing with Ready Made, or Hospital, or Tropic of Cancer, or Blackest –  fuck, I mean, I intentionally buy extra copies of Blackest records to give to the weirdos who might not know about it. And when they hear it, they’re like dude, I didn’t know about this, and I’m like yeah, this is some cool shit. I want people to know that there’s a lot happening. That we’re not in this dead time. Things are alive. The mutation is happening. It’s a really interesting time, and like they always say: everything you’ve ever wanted is already here. You just have to look for it.”