Comments

***Quantum*** · by Quantum 04-19-2010

Agent J is an upcoming new music producer whom I recently had the chance to interview. The interview was conducted via instant messenger, and consists of all the relevant questions I could think of to ask. You can hear some of Agent J's music here:

Asylum

and here:

Odyssey

I recommend listening to them at some point if you're reading this interview.
And now, the interview! :

Q: What first interested you in music composition?
A: It started a few years ago when I was playing DDR. I was listening to the music and wondered how it was done. I've already by this time dabbled with MIDI software, mainly creating covers of electronic music. Fast forward to a few months ago: I acquired "In The Groove", a dance game very similar in some aspects to DDR, but vastly different when it came to the music. Where DDR was perhaps half Techno and half Pop, ITG was almost all Techno. Techno, specifically Industrial and the structure of it, was what interested me the most.

Q: What are your influences?
A: I have many influences. There are too many to list them all, however, notable ones include: E-Rotic, 180, 190, Affinity, ZiGZaG, Kbit, Inspector K, and KaW. The name Agent J was actually inspired while talking to Inspector K.

Q: How do you create your music?
A: I start by listening to different artists with vastly different styles and attempt to sort of mesh them together to create something totally different. In fact, one of the first songs I did was very similar to a song by KaW named "Indulgence". If you're referring to the software, I use a mix of software, namely Ableton Live 8, Audacity, SoundForge, FruityLoops Studio, and Sampletank 2 XL.

Q: What do you mean when you say "mesh them together"?
A: I listen to a few different styles and sort of intertwine the styles into one song. That doesn't mean that I do covers of them, it only means that I mix the styles together to make something unique.

Q: Have you ever just thrown something together completely at random?
A: Yes, actually I have. The song titled "Odyssey" was a song I threw together in about three hours.

Q: Why the anonymity?
A: The music that I have on the drawing board has some dark, mysterious undertones. I decided to match that mysteriousness in the name and completely hide my true identity.

Q: Don't you want recognition for your work?
A: Agent J is part of me, so when Agent J gets recognized for the music, I get recognized by extension. It's just a little bit of fun. For example, no one knows who ZiGZaG really is except for a few friends, and they still get recognized because ZiGZaG is a well-known name.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: I am currently in talks with the co-owner of SCI Recordings to publish my work on both digital download and CD. I plan on continuing to develop my method of production and in the future, I'll move on to different genres. Perhaps the next one will be Happy Techno instead of just the Industrial Techno it is now.

***Mikey*** · 04-19-2010

Good music, GREAT interview, be sure to thank Agent J for allowing us to interview him!

***Quantum*** · 04-19-2010

Agent J was actually very happy to do the interview for us. They are very interested in getting the word out to others interested in music, even though they stay totally anonymous. Agent J is going to be pretty busy for a while, but if anyone can think of any further questions they would like answered, Agent J would be more than happy to answer them when they have the time.