Theo
I need to get back to L.A. because at seven in the morning we start shooting a new video. Day after that I go home. I’ve been deejaying in the states for a month and I think it’s time to go home.

Delaney
Where are you shooting the video?

Theo
Some airstrip in the San Fernando Valley. Without giving too much away, it’s gonna involve an airplane and be quite cool.

Delaney
Who’s directing?

Theo
Guy called Scott Bebo. Works through Villains. He does lots of commercials and wanted to do his first promo...his first video.

Delaney
How many videos have you done?

Theo
We did an Ooh la la video back in the U.K....sort of a demolition derby thing...and then we did one for Stop the Commotion which was a proper, quite well produced video by Pedro Romania who’s done all those Gap ads where each guy sings a line of the song. Next to it, the Ooh la la one just didn’t look as good., We want to make a new one that will be more kind of...me. I wasn’t really into the first one.

Delaney
How long has Ooh la la been around?

Theo
I did it ages ago. Summer of 98. Came out in the UK as a big club tune, then came out again a year later because it was an advert on TV. Got to number two on the national charts a few months ago, just blew up. And now America will release it. It’s got legs, that tune.

Delaney
When you perform as a deejay, do you play your own hits?

Theo
Yeah, you’d be stupid not to. People expect it. I play remixes I’ve done etc....people react better.

Delaney
Do you play the material you sample from?

Theo
No, I never go into that sort of thing. All those records aren’t really danceable. I’ve played things on the radio but I’ve got to watch out; I’m not about to give away my sources. Firstly, it’s just tradition not to and B, in this day and age with all these parasite fucking lawyers buzzing around and little opportunist bastards in publishing companies, you’d rather just keep it secret.

Delaney
Have you had trouble with any of your samples yet?

Theo
It’s happened once or twice, yeah. We anticipated it for one track, but we’ve done well with clearing things. There’s loads of stuff that hasn’t been cleared but I challenge anyone to tell me what it is. Maybe some beathead like myself could figure (the source of the sample) out, but even then, the way I change it, and where it’s from, you’d spend two years trying to find the bastard that made it. But I’ve definitely cleared things that I think are worth clearing.

Delaney
Were you Deejaying clubs before you were mixing?

Theo
Yeah, I’ve been deejaying since I was sixteen - playing hip hop and dance floor stuff, but I’ve always been a beathead - I dig it - digging for old records. There are parties that I pull out my old 45’s but you can’t always expect people to dance to them. It’s lots of bizarre old records.

Delaney
How do you build a song? Does it start with a sound you hear, or do you have a concept that you try to fulfill?

Theo
I go through records and find samples that would be good to base a track around. Then I go back to decide which ones stand out. Something might give me a certain vibe, then I just build stuff on top of it to reinforce that feeling. It might end up changing half way through and become something else, but that’s the starting point. Then you find the bass groove, then drums next. I’ve got hundreds of records with drums. No sample CD’s. None of these break loop things. Just the old tunes. Then you think, OK, this would sound good with a harpsichord, or a flute, or a sax, so I plow through loads of records, find them, chop them up to make them fit, then a hook of some sort, weather it be a vocal or a melody; something that engages the listener.

Delaney
Is that when you know your song is done?

Theo
I’m quite well disciplined like that. I’ve never had any very good equipment so haven’t had the chance to be self indulgent and listen to something, tweaking knobs and buttons for two hours and then forget where I was to begin with. I couldn’t do anything cosmetic with what I had, so it had to be a good idea to begin with and I could only improve on it. ‘The Antidote’ and the previous album were written on a Commodore computer, which has the memory of a Palm Pilot; one megabyte. The sampler is the size of two matchboxes. When it came time to go in the studio, I had to recreate it on a better computer, but I did that bar for bar, note for note. While originally making ‘The Antidote’, I could only load a minute or minute and a half of music at one time. You can’t go off on tangents.

Delaney
Do you ever use samples from sources other than records?

Theo
A couple of times, but not like, a creaking door or that kind of shit, it’s bullocks. It’s pretentious. Actually, Alex Gifford of the Propellerheads is good at that. A track on their album had sounds from crossing a road in Australia and the exhaust from a van that was driving us around in Germany. It worked but I can find it on vinyl if I want it, you know? And I’m not averse to recording something myself if I need it; if I want a howl, I’ll howl into the mic. But no knocking jars over - bullocks.

Delaney
Do use a keyboard to create sounds?

Theo
Not on ‘The Antidote’. Everything is 100 percent samples, apart from the raps and rhymes. From vinyl. I’ve been doing remixes lately and they say not to use any samples or you’re liable. You have to sign a disclaimer. So, you obviously have to use what they give you, but they only give you so much. You can get away with a few little really obscure samples but generally, if they’ve got a melody, and a vocal, you have to be very pure in your tuning. You end up having to play things because you can’t do things off key when there’s someone singing. I’ve played in Hammond lines, keyboard lines, bass lines, but always so that it locks together with any samples and it still sounds like what I do.

Delaney
Who besides Beck are you remixing for?

Theo
The Offspring, Ben Folds Five, Jungle Brothers, Rasco, Herbalizer, Lightning Seeds, West Street Mob; part of the Sugar Hill label, a weird cross section of people.

Delaney
Do you go in and use new equipment or remix at home?

Theo
Well, that computer I used, died. Turned it’s toes to the sky not long ago. These days, I listen to the song they give me, think about what I’ll do, then they send me the parts, and I need to rethink what I’ll do. I imagine it in my head, then find a few drums I can choose from. Generally I go into the studio for two days and make it up from scratch on the spot. Sample this, this bit, this, try this, put a bell in, whatever, do some cutting. Doing remixes is another way of giving you discipline because you know you have two days, you’re given something to work with, and you can’t be self indulgent. Using their song and time limit keeps your skills honed, you know?