A few years back, I was amazed at the 8-bit beauty of the Potato channel on YouTube's "Bitcrush" series. Being a child that grew up on Nintendo games, hearing a jam like A-Trak and Tommy Trash's "Tuna Melt" getting a proper 8-bit cover (and a fire throwback video to boot), all of the nostalgic feels were had. Come to find out, the guy behind the track–a producer by the name of Scattle, who also developed indie video games and was a graphic designer–had me open.
It wasn't until we dropped our Hotline Miami documentary that things all made sense, as this ultraviolent, 2-d batch of brilliance also housed a number of Scattle tracks. Interest, you've been piqued.
Fast-forward to today, where we're on the cusp of Scattle dropping his debut album, Timelapse, on July 31st. It made sense to get some insight on the producer, one who's spent some time rubbing elbows with massive electronic music imprints (including Mad Decent, Greco-Roman, and Fool's Gold) as well as embarking on numerous design projects. Set to the driving sounds of the title track from his forthcoming Timelapse LP, we get to know how Scattle got involved with Hotline Miami, the changes his Timelapse album went through, and what games you should be enjoying while trekking through this album.
While I’d seen your talents before (big up to that Bitcrush 8-bit video remix you did for A-Trak & Tommy Trash’s “Tuna Melt”), but it feels like a lot of people might have first heard your material in that fire Hotline Miami game. How did you get in contact with the developers to have your music featured in such a game?
Thanks! Those videos were pretty fun to make.
I've known Jonatan a couple years before Hotline, but was always a fan of his games. Back then I was making more games than music, but we always stayed in touch. Once I saw a screenshot of the prototype he was working on I had to hit him up about writing some music for it. One of the first demos I sent ended up being "Knock Knock," so I just kept making tunes hoping that some of them would make it into the game.
It feels like a perfect match, honestly, as your skillset fits right into that zone. Were you making music or visual art first?
Definitely started making games and pixel art first but I got really serious about making music later on. Really though it was Souleye (composer of the VVVVVV soundtrack) who mentored and pushed me to go harder with my music.
Digging into your past and touching on your now is a big part of your latest project, your debut album Timelapse. Can you talk about how this album came about?
After releasing EPs for so long, I needed to start on a project that had songs that were a bit more personal and tell a story musically without any features on it, just wanted to make an album for the fans of the good ol' stuff who wanna know where I've been.
With this being your debut album, and it taking over three years to make, did it go through a number of different variations? What caused the project to be worked on for that long?
The album didn't take three years to make, necessarily; originally I was going to try with a more EDM-y sound for the record before deciding against it and going for that lo-fi nostalgic feel that's in my roots.
How would you describe the album to someone who’s not heard your music before? Are there any particular peers or releases that you say would parallel Timelapse?
Honestly I'm not sure how to describe it, I'd say Timelapse is like a trip down memory lane in an alternate reality. My buddy GosT has a pretty rad album out, but other than that I cant really say, people who liked the Takedown EP and Visitors will definitely dig this one, though.
Back in the day, I used to love playing video games while blasting my favorite albums. What games do you think would fit with Timelapse?
Crazy Taxi for sure, Vectorman, Cruisin' USA, and GTA: Vice City to name a few... Air Fortress for the NES maybe? I dunno haha.
Scattle's Timelapse album is out on July 31st on Sounds Expensive.
