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With one of the most recognizable catalogs in Nerdcore today, Karl Olson is branching out from his techno roots as a mass scene producer for Westcoast bad girl Nurse Hella and established veteran, Rai. Ultraklystron sits down with Beaker for a little 1 on 1 manterview love.
Beaker: Ultraklystron - you are certainly one of the most recognizable veterans on the boards today. You have a well-known and widely played catalog – you’ve can even be seen in Nerdcore Rising. As one of the most experienced players still active in the music scene, what would be your favorite show – favorite collaboration? Was there any artist or group you really enjoyed working with?
Karl Olson: That's a difficult choice to pick from - everyone I've worked with has been quite professional and fun. That said, I was really happy with how "Shonen n' Shoujo" - my collab with Baddd Spellah and Nursehella came out, and I was pleasantly surprised with how good Rai's debut came out considering I did the bulk of the final mastering in about a 24-hour time frame. Really spoke to the existing strength of the material I think.
Beaker: Speaking of Rai and Nurse Hella - everyone I know is very excited to know that you are the production force behind both of their upcoming and soon-to-release albums. How involved are you in the production of these albums?
Karl Olson: For Rai, anything she isn't doing…her singing, a collaborator rapping or is a melody she told me to flesh into a song, I'm doing. All the composition, mixing, producing, mastering - basically all the hats but main vocals… I will do a guest verse or two - lyrics and vocal recording since she'll be doing most of the vocal work remotely in theory. I'm also doing that work two and half times over, as there is the main mix for Cor Leonis, her new album, the remix version of Cor Leonis, and the remastered/fixed version of Electric Sheep, her debut CD. Oh, and there is wrapping up and finally pushing out the Fukushima Earthquake benefit CD.
We might end up splitting [off] the actual manufacturing/brand management-type stuff up, but I know she's also doing all the graphic design and merch fulfillment for her albums. She's also intending to hit a string of cons to promote the albums next year, some of which I might also hit if time allows for it.
My [role] on Nursehella's album is a bit more fluid. I will definitely have some beats on it, and I might be the studio engineer for the tracks I don't actually do the backings and production on, but to keep things with in the CanCon rules, we need to be careful with how much I do. Additionally, Baddd Spellah will obviously be doing some production on the record, but we're trying to line up some other notable, Canadian producers as well, maybe perhaps out of the Backburner stable. The connections are there obviously, it's about finalizing things.
Karl Olson: For Rai, the effectively unlimited ability to layer as many synths into one patch as I want is fantastic. I can make a very big sound for a simple melody very easily, and very quickly. The extent to which I even need to properly program a synth up in Thor is sort of optional a lot of the time, because I can just layer what I want in a combinator with a mixer in it, and adjust levels and EQ as needed. For Hella, the ability to just use filters and distortion with impudence on anything I want makes a huge difference. It gives me a dirty, sampled sound without actually having to sample music and clear it. For both, the production plugins let me take vocals other producers would have trouble with because of ambient noise or a live room, and cover those flaws fairly easily, and [then] proceed to get a really pro sound on [a] shoestring budget when necessary.
Truthfully, I think Reason keeps it simple and cheap relative to anything that needs VSTs or other plugins. You have a crazy wide array of good virtual effects and instruments built in, all of which have a widearray of decent presets, the work flows is pretty obvious. It's as low a barrier to entry as it gets without being Garageband or Sony Acid.
Beaker: How is it producing for two of the most talentedfemale voices in underground hip hop? What’s the mostintimidating thing about working with women? The mostrewarding?
Karl Olson: It's great to work with both of them, as theyboth want things beyond what I would normally work on for myselfsonically. Rai wants some big House and J-Pop backings - fun,dance-floor oriented records and anime/chiptunes flavored stuff.Hella wants dark, hard and bass-loaded Hip-hop - stuff in the vein ofKool Keith, Wu-Tang Clan and the Neptunes. It requires a lot of moreof me that just satisfying myself and while that's intimidating atpoints because the marks to hit can be so specific, it's a good challenge to have.
Beaker: Dates for releases?
Karl Olson: As far as dates, well, I know when I want things done, but actually getting things done against theschool schedule is its own question. I have a feeling I will be very busy on my December break making sure at least the vocals for Rai and Hella are mostly on lock. I can peg away at actual mixes during the semester, as that's how it's been with my own new albums.
Beaker: You have been posting some interesting tracks in the forums lately -a lot of work seems to reflect your electronica roots... tell me all about the new album.
Karl Olson: Well, the new Ultraklystron album, Animatic, was supposed to be concise at 14 songs long. However, it's out of hand just like the 5 records were, if not worse. There will be at least 18 songs on the main album, plus a remix/bonus album. The upside is, this lets me leak a short mix tape version of the album without spoiling everything, and this time there will be a good chunk of guest appearances on the actual album, which is a first for an Ultraklystron release. Already lined-up (in as much as they are confirmed and I have a spot for them on the record) are Beefy, Death*Star, Garrett from Mega64, Klopfenpop and Rai. I am trying to find a good song for Nolely Nole (Jesse Dangerously's protégé) to guest on as well, and I would like to see if I could get one of the touring Nerdcore artists to guest on it, though I've been busy enough that I haven't bothered to put too much pressure on any of themyet.
The subject matter is pretty much par for the course for me –otaku life, memes, computers, nerd girls - but it's going to be a much more anthemic album sonically. There is a lot of influence fromproducers like DrummaBoy and Lex Luger on it, with a corresponding change in my vocal delivery to fit, and where that influence is absent; I think it's still a more evolved sound on my part. There are tinges of Passion Pit/Mike Snow-esque electropop. There are BladeRunner-like epic synths. There are some fun, Kanye/Outkast-esque club tracks. There are some Beck-like asides. It's diverse, but somehow coherent. The remixes so far get into OFWGKTA-like rawness, nasty dubstep and Cataracts-like electro-hop. I think I'm get even weirder with the remixes, to a certain limit. I want an excuse to have a Moombahton mix in the project, and I think it's do able with this album.
The really obnoxious stuff is going to go on the next cuo2duo album, and the stuff that works as straight electronic music but isn't being used as remix fodder will probably eventually be released on a straight up electronic music album. I would also like to do another straight Drum n' Bass album eventually, with the caveat that it has to be better than my last release, Haven, which is actually a pretty high bar if I am going to complete it while in school, so it's probably a ways out.
Oh, and I suppose the new Ultraklystron is a lot more self-aware of my accomplishments and successes. It's almost a bit of me convincing myself that yes, it was okay to take time off from school, because hey, I'm on Hulu and Netflix because of that, I write reviews that help convince companies to license anime for physical release, I have friends at those companies, I produce great albums for other people, I get spotted any time I go to a con and so on. It's catharsis and self-assurance while I get my head bashed in with occasion mediocre lectures on difficult subjects.
Beaker: Speaking of which - college in Canada - how is that going for you? Any classes really throw you for a loop? Any you are just cruising through? How are the parties up in Canada? What’s an average Ultraklystron weekend look like?
Karl Olson: University is pretty brutal. Even the classes taught by good professors are still fairly substantial at this point as all I really have left are upper level Computer Science courses. This semester is particularly nasty as it's second level Algorithm design, (whose course content seems to match that of graduate courses on MIT's open courseware,) Numerical Analysis and Statistics. It's basically 3 tough math courses which occasionally I get to use a calculator or program for.
The average weekend as such is usually either spent in Canada studying with maybe a little bit of hanging out withfriends, or down in Seattle visiting family and friends there, in which case I must not have anything immediately to do for school. Either way, I have to proactive about not screwing around on Redditor Canv.as or other internet time sinks, and if I am messing around, it's probably working one of the four-to-six albums I have on myplate.
Beaker: Those are some impressive math courses. What major requires designing algorithms? Didn’t midterms just wrap up for you?
Karl Olson: I'm a comp-sci major, and I've been pretty savaged so far on the tests, though so has the rest of the class. They are just pretty imposing.
Beaker: I know a lot of nerdcore fans are looking forward to being able to see you perform outside of Hip Hop Karaoke night. Any upcoming shows you intend to be a part of? Any artists playing in Seattle in the near future that you may jump on stage for a song or two with?
Karl Olson: I think I am confirmed to perform at Norwescon 2012 in Seattle, and there are some cons that Rai might be playing at if they don't conflict with school I might open/dj/guest mc for her at, but I hope to have something going on sooner than those. Death*Star has been my gig hook-up in the Seattle area, but they are putting work in on their second (rad) album, so I'm not sure when they'll have something lined up again. I would love to put together some gigs myself, but making the time to network with some of the people who can open those doors is tricky. Best I can do is bother my cohorts down south for the most part, then swoop in on the gig once they've landed it.
Plus, Seattle is insanely nerd friendly in a lot ofways, and PAX has made the city exceedingly nerd music aware which makes it even nicer to do gigs there. PAX enforcers work everywhere, and some of them even know who I am and like what I do, and that helps a lot because they can open doors and come out to shows. We have nerdy venues to play at like video game stores, card shops and geek taverns. I have a decade's worth of nerdy friends I've made at anime clubs and anime cons in the area who turn out to shows, even when they are out in the middle of nowhere. Add to that acts like Billy the Fridge, Death*Star and Klopfenpop who have the time for the intense hustle needed to call venues until they get the weekday shows that eventually become weekend shows that I can come to open at, and it has made it easy on me to get work. All but one of my last five or six gigs were the result of the work of Death*Star. Seriously. I depend on all of that a lot.
All that said, if I can get the right schedule lined up next semester (Tuesday-Thursday classes,) I might dramatically open up the nights on which I could do a show, and if the actual homework is reasonable, my extra-curricular activity might spike.
Beaker: On that note - Nerdapalooza has a significant lack of Ultraklystron. Why would that be?
Karl Olson: Air fare to Florida isn't cheap from the other side of the country, as is hotel, and even before I was back in school, when I had the time and money, San Diego Comic Con cost less to get out to, and to stay at thanks to friends (split hotel rooms if not staying atgrandparents - lovely memories!) If someone could sponsor me out to Nerdapalooza, I'd do it if didn't get crossways with school. That said, I'm not sold on the idea that I'm top tier enough to deserve that over other younger, more relevant artists. If I were booking, and it were between me or one of the other Seattle-area acts, I'd take one of the other Seattle area acts. Any of them.
The Lucky 7: Ultraklystron
- Favorite Prince song? “Raspberry Beret” - I like buying cheap old clothes and cute women more than sad birds.
- Full nude or full bar? I don't drink alcohol ever, so I guess full nude.
- Best nerdcore single of the year? "Critical Hit," by MC Frontalot and "Lookin' Up" by Random - one of those two.
- Family Guy or South Park? Adventure Time.
- Higgs or Boson? Boson
- A number - any number? i
- Favorite nerdcore album released this year? Tyler the Creator - Goblin. MC Frontalot's "Solved” Adam Warrock and Mikal kHill's "The Browncoats Mixtape," Random's "Megaran 10" Kabuto The Python's EP "The Kvetch Sessions" Klopfenpop's "Temptations of the Fresh"
Yeah, all of that is great, and different enough I couldn't pick one, or even come up with a semblance of order.
-beaker
http://karlrolson.com
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