Adam Freeland

Speaking on Adam Freeland’s behalf, please don’t pigeonhole the popular UK-based producer and DJ. Of course, it’s easy to do since he’s made quite a name for himself on the dance floors of Europe and U.S. For the better part of two decades, Freeland’s potent dance cocktails have taken him all over the globe and earned a Grammy nomination to boot. But he’s interested in much more than the narrow framework offered by the genre and he’s hoping Cope can change things.

That’s the name of his new album under the name, Freeland. It’s intended to be an entirely different animal, affording an opportunity to branch out in all new directions. Enlisting help like Tommy Lee from Motley Crue and Joey Santiago of the Pixies is a good start. And in this SSv exclusive, the DJ talks all about the new disc, getting bored with music and how he almost released a shoegazer album to the masses.

SSv: Can you talk about the new disc as Freeland and the difference there?

Adam Freeland: Well, the Freeland thing. If I do it as my full name, it’s just more stuff with my DJ sets in mind, whether that’s remixes or a club tune. But the point of the band thing or the artist album is really just so I don’t have that constraint. I like a lot of music beyond the dance floor, so I can just do whatever I want to do. Ideally, I should have made it a very different name instead of such a similar name. [Laughs] It gets a bit confusing. But it is what it is.

When I am making art, I’m not trying to make DJ tools for my set. I’m trying to make songs and records that I would want to listen to at home. And obviously, I still have the dance floor in mind in the way that I produce records. But ideally, I’d like to make something that would be a great listen that also have moments that work on the dance floor level.

SSv: So the Freeland moniker – did you go with that again because that’s what you’d already established?

Adam: Yes, pretty much. I had already established it and we had a good thing going and for the lack of a better name, it made more sense to keep it as it was. [Laughs] It does cause that confusion, as I said, because it’s so similar to my DJ name.

SSv: You say you have interest outside of the dance floor. Do you find that it’s essential for you have to get away of sorts?

Adam: It’s a blessing and a curse to have such a broad taste in music. It’s great inhaling and consuming as much music as possible. There’s so much that inspires me and I spend way more listening to and writing music that isn’t for the dance floor specifically than I do the other.

SSv: Really?

Adam: Absolutely. However, it’s nice to write stuff that I can play out. It is a necessary relief for sure. I would agree with you.

SSv: So how about this collection of songs? How did they come to you?

Adam: This album came in a couple different phases. I wrote an entire shoegaze, drone rock album and then realized it was a million miles from what my audience would want to hear. And then I split the other way and made all of these club tunes and a dance floor record. The problem is when you do that, you can make disposable music. I have an issue with writing disposable music. The production style – especially now that it’s all moving so fast – it’s too easy to make something that will date you. We always try to make something that can stand the test of time and make something with some longevity to it.

So I’d written this shoegaze album and then the dance floor album and it’s really obvious now, but it wasn’t at the time, but I had this eureka moment. I realized that I didn’t have to be separate things. I could actually combine the shoegaze, drone rock and the electronic mayhem. And that’s pretty much how Cope came about.

SSv: You mentioned the consideration of your audience. How important is that and how much do you refuse to let people in?

Adam: From my experience, I have to write music for me. If I’m really into something, then there’s going to be a certain number of people who will be into that, too. There are things I’ve done that are some of my favorites that are also some of the audience favorites. You can get pretty instant feedback especially with digital things. So I have to know to ultimately be true to make music that I would want to hear. Whenever I try to make something to please someone else, it never works for me.

For the last album, “Burn the Clock” is instrumental and it wasn’t released as a single. It was always my favorite track on the record and it sold on iTunes more than anything else. And here it was this instrumental track. So I know that I just have to be true to what I want to hear.

At the same time, I know that I can be quite fickle. I can get my super rock on and be totally rocked out and then I’ll go through my super electronic phase and sometimes it takes a bit of time to see what works out. Sometimes I have to figure out myself what it is that I’m trying to do. So I’m glad I didn’t release the shoegaze album as it was. I don’t think it was as good as what I came up with. I mean, if I wanted to just totally satisfy the dance floor crowd, I would have made some hipster electro-album. I could have done that with my eyes closed and hoped it would have been well received.

At the same time, I think this one will last. It’s not trying to be one thing or another. It is what it is and I’m hoping that it will all be able to stand the test of time and be its own thing.

SSv: Are you bored with that? The dance floor scene a bit?

Adam: No, but it’s just one-dimensional. I play hipster electro-records in my DJ set. [Laughs] I do love it because it’s fun. But I think it’s very much a moment and a style and sort of what I’m trying to avoid doing. I don’t want to be too influenced by trends. Trends come and go very quickly. It just doesn’t excite me to do that. I mean, I can do remixes and things like that. I’ve done that before over the last couple years and it’s a different approach. But yeah, it can become totally generic and boring. But it can also be some good stuff.

SSv: Has there been a period where you were artistically bored?

Adam: [Pause] Yeah, I would say that I was about three or four years ago. I was pretty disillusioned with what I was trying to do and where I fit in because I had made a name for myself and yet I didn’t feel affinity with that entire scene. I spent much more time listening to rock music than dance floor music. But then something shifted and I became more excited than I’d ever been about making music. I think you have to go through those moments of despair to make you appreciate the flip side.

Tagged as: Dance, Shoegaze, UK

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