Making a Maestro: In Conversation With David August

This article was originally published on THUMP UK.

David August and I are the same age. Normally, when I survey the achievements of somebody who has had the same amount of time on the planet as myself, but done infinitely more with it, I start to question what it is that I've been doing wrong. Only, following my conversation with August over Skype, it's clear that in this case it has a lot less to do with what I'm doing wrong, and more to do with what he's doing right.

He has spent the best part of the past decade carving out a reputation for the meticulous. Whether floor-ready house cuts, as on his early releases, or the glittering textures of his Diynamic releases, there's barely been a misplaced note or a foot put wrong. Whereas younger producers, caught up in the fever of chasing play-counts and column inches, typically release relentlessly, August has managed to restrict himself to occasional but appreciated output. Perhaps the root of this more studious nature lies in his ongoing curricular activities. In 2011, the same year he released his lauded Instant Harmony EP, August began his placement on a Tonmeister course in Berlin, moving from Hamburg to study. The degree, in music production, has required him to focus on a precise grasp of his craft, something that is reflected in the patient fluidity of his live set, and his increasingly orchestral ambitions.

August is releasing a new EP soon, this time on Ninja Tune sister label Counter Records. The two track EP, comprised of "J.B.Y." and "Ouvert" is another pristine collection. Lush, lorn, rollers that manage to do the whole "intricate dance music" thing without sounding dull or overwrought. Coming to the final stretch of his study, and with more attention on his music than ever before, it seems that August is on the edge of the next stage in his young, but already celebrated, career.

THUMP: Let's start off with your Tonmeister course, are you close to graduating?
David August: No I'm still studying. I've just finished the first part of my last exams and I should be done in January or February of next year. I'm taking a bit of time off university to tour. I could have finished this semester but I spent so long working towards the February exams I didn't want to go straight into another period of learning.

Has it been a challenge studying music production alongside trying to create and tour your own music?
It's been a mess for the last five years. Touring, the career thing, didn't used to be as full on as it is now. I don't like using the word "career" but there's more intensity now than there was then. It was easier to handle at the start. My future at that point was the Tonmeister and being a record producer, then everything started to change. The study became second priority without me wanting it to. It was such a privilege to be part of the study—a lot of people don't get admitted there because of how hard the admission test is and getting in was the best thing in my life—but as it got harder I realized I couldn't handle both at such a high level. Then I realized that right now it's more fun to work on my own music. Producing my own stuff gives me the maximum creative output which is what I'm missing on the degree.

The Tonmeister essentially teaches you how to engineer records, which means you can influence how other artists play but I was missing my own creativity. I was missing my own music, my own world.

That said, has the discipline of the degree informed the way you make your own music?
Totally. If you are at university you are surrounded by brilliant people; both teachers and students. That's always been inspiring—I am around people I really admire. What also really helped me was the constant contact with music. I've been constantly in contact with classical theory and audio engineering, which has had a huge impact.

Outside of your study, do nightclubs still influence your sound?
They were definitely important at the start. Going to clubs made me want to produce the type of music that I do. That environment has been part of my life for the past couple of years so I can't deny its importance, but I have realized more recently that it's a very tiring environment. It consumes you. Just because of the circumstances you are in—loud music, you usually have a drink or two—it's a parallel world within those hours and then in the morning the world goes back to normal. I don't know how much inspiration I get from the club scene now.

That's interesting, we're the same age, but I don't feel tired of clubs. Has producing dance music left you tired of it prematurely maybe?
It makes a difference if you start very young. Sometimes you'll hear older producers questioning what you could possibly know about the scene if you're only 25. Well, yeah I'm 10 years younger than you or whatever, but I've still been doing this for 9 years. 9 years feels like a long time for me.

Did you grow up around classical music?
Yeah, I've been in touch with that music since I can remember. It was always a part of my childhood, and my home. My father plays the piano, my mother is a music lover as well. My brother is a musician and record engineer also.

Do they like your music?
They didn't at the beginning. When I started they didn't really understand what it was about, but they got really behind it a couple of years ago. I've evolved and it's not all about dance music now. Nowadays my mother and my brother really like what I'm doing.

How did your recent collaboration with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra come about?
Basically I got an email from someone I didn't know saying "How would you feel about writing something for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin?" I said: well yeah, but who are you? I was naturally skeptical. He explained what it was all about, he'd been working with the orchestra for a couple of years and that he really wanted to bring in electronic artists. It was a period when my Boiler Room was doing really well and my Innervisions release was just out, so I'd come to his attention from there.

Did it feel like a lot more responsibility, overseeing that many musicians?
Definitely. In the first rehearsals I felt so stupid, I wanted to back out. You have 50 musicians playing your music. I thought they were probably bored of what I'd written. My clarinet teacher from school was in the orchestra. It was switched roles, my teachers playing my piece. It felt embarrassing. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

In the end we had three shows, and with each show everything got more relaxed. I think we had some really beautiful moments in the end.

Let's talk about your new EP, you've said the track "Ouvert" is named after a card game?
Yeah, it's called Skat. It used to be an old German farmer game, it goes back centuries. It's very complex. When I wrote the track I was playing it a lot with my flatmate and friends, and I was feeling the track transmit somehow.

Are you enjoying releasing music more now?
I would like to release more music in general. I haven't been releasing much, not because I was afraid of what other people would think but because I was afraid that I wouldn't like it after two weeks. All the stuff in my live set has never been released because I didn't think any of it was good enough. That's the reason I haven't been releasing as much, and only doing remixes until now. I think that I need to be fine with a track not being as good as the one released before. I'd rather have that and release more music, instead of having no music. It's about being more accepting of yourself. That's very important, I think. You might fail, but that's okay.

David August's 'J.B.Y./Ouvert' is out now.

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