Interview with Mike Bell(Hive) about Devious Methods
Did you love music as a kid?
Absolutely. The first vinyls I bought were the Fat Boys self titled album (’84), Beat Street Soundtrack (’84) and Run DMC ‘King of Rock’ LP (’85)…that was at 9 years old. My older stepsister turned me on to Led Zeppelin and Guns & Roses a bit later on and in my junior and high school years I was a punk/NY Hardcore/DC Hardcore kid…and was listening to a wide variety of music during that time and a lot of metal too. To name a few, Metallica ‘And Justice For All…”, Bad Brains, Helmet, Public Enemy, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and especially the Mr Bungle self titled album were influential for me before I left for LA.
Did you ever feel then that you wanted to be a musician of some sort when you grew up?
I never looked at it like that..as some sort of a plan for a career or future or anything. I was just playing in my hardcore band as a guitarist and then started experimenting with Tascam Portastudio recording and sampling later…but never did I think that far ahead. I just wanted to get out of the DC/NoVA area and my two best friends at the time were moving to LA to get into filmmaking so I went with them. That was the beginning of my arc to become a producer/dj/engineer.
To the best of your memory, how long did it take to record Devious Methods?
I couldn’t say exactly but the actual production didn’t take long. ‘Ultrasonic Sound’ was the first tune to be produced and that’s what got me signed to FFRR/London. So after we signed that deal I went in a produced the rest of the album in my home studio and then we mixed it over a couple weeks I think? Scott Wolfe was doing the mixes and it was all MPC 2000 direct to analog tape and hardware, Neve consoles, etc. After that it was mastered by Bernie Grundman. I asked if Brian ‘Big Bass’ Gardner could master it but he wasn’t available so they offered Bernie and we were thrilled with that option.
When you were starting to compose that material was there anything you were listening to heavily? If not one thing, what were you listening to or experimenting with at the time?
Most of what I was listening to was what I was finding at thrift stores and used record shops through crate digging…late 60’s, early 70’s jazz, soul, rock, fusion, experimental, synthesizer records…but also plenty of 90’s hip hop of course and I was heavily into Mo Wax Records stuff, Metalheadz…but this was before I was truly into Jungle D&B, it was still pretty new to me. I didn’t know how they made it. And this is probably why my album came out so different.
Where were you at that time in your life? What was the scene like there?
I was living in Mount Washington, Los Angeles with my good friend Daddy Kev (Low End Theory co-founder/owner of Alpha Pup Records & Distrbution) and we were working with a lot of LA Hip Hop artists and later we started the LA chapter of Konkrete Jungle at Spaceland in Silverlake but that didn’t come until after Devious Methods was out. When I made ‘Ultrasonic Sound’, I was living in San Pedro and had ‘Treehouse Studios’ there where I was recording some extremely talented MC’s and producers from the LA underground Hip Hop scene, a lot of who came from Project Blowed. The LA underground classic ‘Beneath The Surface’ was one of albums I recorded and engineered during that time. I was also working with the Alien Nation guys (Phoenix Orion and Orion South) who moved to LA from Brooklyn.
I read there was a bidding war for you after your first album, what was it like being courted and why did you choose the label you went with?
Man all of it was new to me…it was between FFRR/London and Thrive Records. I don’t remember the details exactly but FFRR being a classic label and also releasing two of my all time favorite albums, Goldie ‘Timeless’ and DJ Shadow ‘Entroducing’ had me heavily leaning one way to which I ended up signing with them. Funny note is that Thrive is where I met Kev. He was doing graphic design there and when I went for a meeting one time, he asked if I wanted to go out to his car and smoke a bowl. We became best friends and the rest is history haha.
With songs like Ultrasonic Sound, Questionable Directions, Experiments in Synthetic Rhythms and Devious Methods it seems like in a way you’re telling the listener exactly what’s going to happen and yet it blows their minds anyway. Every song works as its own short story. If this is right, was that a conscience choice?
No, probably not. Although obviously with ‘Experiments..’, that had a theme to it. But what I was doing at the time was all based around my record collection, finding samples and just allowing myself to get open and creative on the MPC. The label just let me do my thing and put out the record as I gave it to them. Amazing when I think about it now, how much times have changed.
Have you ever considered the impact the album had, especially since it came out before the term ‘breakcore’ was ever coined?
Maybe to some extent… When ‘Ultrasonic Sound’ came out, it was put on the original Matrix Soundtrack as well and the movie was so big, it reached this whole new audience of people in middle America, people not in big cities and it was the first time they had ever heard jungle (even though it’s not a jungle tune, it had those influences). I have heard that it was some peoples’ turning point for getting into jungle/D&B. I also heard from a Dubstep producer in London that the slow tempo part of ‘Moves Within Time’ was considered to be the first Dubstep style or tempo tune..or something to that extent but I don’t know if that’s true…was 1998 so, maybe?
How have you seen the album age? Do people still bring it up to you rather than your later work?
I’m noticing ‘Devious Methods’ is starting to come around again. I think kids are starting to discover it and are hearing something they’ve never heard before. It seems to be happening organically through word of mouth and perhaps situations like this where maybe it was influential to a certain producer and they are vocal about it and fans take notice. I remember several years ago seeing a live stream of Deadmau5 in his studio setting up his equipment and he played the first 4 or 5 songs off Devious Methods on vinyl. That was surprising because I didn’t know he was a fan. But i’ve flown under the radar for a long time. I don’t really do self promotion…I hardly ever post on social media…finding out about me is maybe harder than most but that’s kinda cool right? I know that when I was unearthing rare finds while crate digging, picking up something amazing that no one knows about is the best.
Could you look down the track listing of Devious Methods and give at least one small fact about each song?
Mmmmm, I don’t know if I can do that really because I’ll just end up sample snitching on myself on every one cause I can’t remember much of that weed filled haze from 28 years ago haha. But if you have any questions in particular I’m happy to do my best.
Mike Bell
Founder / Engineer
Darkart Mastering