Man of many names, Mark Pritchard, has been making some of the most exciting, innovative and forward-thinking electronic music around for the last two decades - not that you will necessarily know this.

You may know any number of his projects, from his seminal Global Communication project with Tom Middleton, to his more recent hip hop work under the Harmonic 313 guise, but chances are you don't know the extent to which his music has pervaded just about every permutation of electronic music possible.

Over the course of his career as a producer he has worked under more than twenty different aliases, each one used to house a different facet of his eclectic tastes. Now working under his own name for the first time, it is time for him to start joining the dots.

"I just always like to try different things out and try different styles; I suppose I kept myself fresh by doing that," he explains. "In one respect it's been really good because I have never got bored of just making the same music and then falling into the trap of albums that sound similar, but on the other hand it has made it a lot more difficult for me to sell records, so it has been both a plus and a minus. It was never something that was planned though, it just happened the way that it happened."

For Pritchard, the aliases were a means of allowing the music to be judged on its own merits in a time when there was not so much cross-scene dialogue as there is now.

"There were lots of styles going on and at the time people were into certain genres and that was all they were into," he says. "I think we were trying to establish ourselves at the beginning in different areas. I did that [create aliases] to try and let the music speak for itself to start with. We carried on making different styles and it just seemed to keep happening."

Now, Pritchard is starting to reel things in and unify the many musical paths that he has trod: "I have been having to think about it a little bit which is weird because I have never really thought about that stuff before. For years I was just doing whatever, but I suppose in the last seven or eight years while the music industry has been changing, I have started to think about how I can make it a little bit easier to sell records and join the dots together without compromising musically in any way."

To this end, Pritchard has for the first time started releasing music under his own name. However, this poses one particular problem. "I suppose because I am using my name for the first time, it becomes 'I am using my own name so is it more really me? If it is under my name then what is it?' But to me, all those names I have used are me anyway. I think it just makes sense to use my name. I have been making music for twenty years, I need to help draw people to my name."

This is not to say that he has in any way homogenized his sound though. From the stunning spectral haze of ?, which featured on Mary Anne Hobbs' Evangeline compilation, to the future funk of the recent Wind It Up for Hyperdub and now his Elephant Dub / Heavy As Stone release for Mala's Deep Medi imprint, each track showcases a different element of his musical taste; the new Deep Medi release alone houses two very different, but equally exciting tracks. The A-side is a lumbering leviathan of a tune, marching along on phased snare hits and physical low-end rumblings, while the B-side drifts along on a 4x4 pulse and a wash of soulful vocals.

To Pritchard, the fundamentals of his music do not lie in anything so restrictive as genre or sound palette, but rather in construction and methodology. "The main thing that I put into my music is a lot of detail, but in a subtle way. In the way where it might not be apparent on the first listen, but each time you listen to it you hear something different. I suppose it makes it more lasting."

The new Deep Medi release is undoubtedly going to whet dubstep fans' appetites, however people might have to hold tight for more material on that front, although there isn't going to be any lack of forthcoming projects from him.

Deep breath... He is currently locked into the studio working on a follow up to the When Machines Exceed Humans In Intelligence Harmonic 313 album, another Music for TV and Film LP, a follow up to an album he did back in '93 on an avant-garde electronics tip and the Africa Hi-Tek project with Steve Spacek, which will be surfacing this year on Warp. There will be an Africa Hi-Tek 12" out in early April, with a double pack following in June and the LP set for release in October.

And if all that doesn't satisfy you, Pritchard is still finding time to work on more dubstep material between all of this and is hoping to get some more stuff out in the not-too distant future. Working around geographical and temporal constraints, he has started some tracks with Deep Medi boss Mala, which he is hoping they will be able to complete at their own pace, and is looking to possible future 12"s on Deep Medi and Hyperdub. On more of a grime vibe, he has also been working on some tracks with Wiley and Trim, which will hopefully see the light of day in some shape or form, so be sure to keep your ears pricked up!

Mark Pritchard has no intention of letting up anytime soon then...

Words: Sam Collenette

 

 

• Mark Pritchard
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• DEEP MEDi

Related Links:

• Mark Pritchard Releases On DEEP MEDi
• Silkie And Quest Video Interview
• DEEP MEDi Releases Volume 2
• DEEP MEDi Releases Vol. 3
• Video: Benny ill & J.King - Kosmic 78

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