When did you start using computers in your music? I'd been working with keyboard programming about eight years ago and it had started to become a little restrictive in terms of what I could do with Audio and MIDI sounds simultaneously. I started to use Cakewalk with a normal PC until I found that quite restrictive too.
Is that why you switched to Macs? The instability of PCs and the music software available for them felt a bit Mickey Mouse in comparison to the stability of Macs. I think most serious programmers do use Macs now. I got into Logic Audio www.emagic.de, which I thought was brilliant and allowed me to do everything I wanted to do. I currently use a G4 desktop and also the Titanium PowerBook. I'm waiting for Logic Audio 5 to come out, then it'll make more sense to upgrade to OSX.
How important was technology while making Prophesy? I don't like the idea of using technology to replace reality or first-hand experience. On my travels to make Prophesy I wanted to experience things and use technology more as a glorified recorder of events. Sometimes I'd use my laptop and a Sony MiniDisc and other times I used Pro-Tools in a proper studio to record the Brazilian Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the big problems was synchronisation, as you have to make sure that whatever you record when you're away syncs with everything when you get back. I solved that by putting a Synch Pop at the beginning of the waveforms so everything could be lined up visually.
Could more be done to make the net available to everyone? Only 1% of the world's population even has access to computers, which really puts it in perspective. It is really important that there's not a "haves and have-nots" situation created by the net -I don't think access to the net should necessarily be linked to money in the same way education shouldn't be either. I have a friend who fixes broken computers and sends them to countries that otherwise wouldn't have the resources.
Favourite gadgets? I've just got the new iPod, which is amazing! Just the idea of having 1,000 tracks in your pocket is great as it has a 5Gb hard-drive. I also use a Nokia Communicator, which is extremely handy for email and surfing when I'm abroad. I would like someone to come up with a lie detector gadget that can sense when politicians are telling the truth or not.
Favourite sites? I really like the site of a theoretical physicist called David Deutsch who wrote The Fabric of Reality. Indymedia.org gives a different slant on world events, as does The Onion , Bored.com and DancingBush.com are fun and Mtv2.co.uk is really well put together graphically.
