I am Rémi Gallego aka The Algorithm, AMA!1

Hi Remi, thanks for doing this. I love The Algorithm! Could you explain what gear and software you use to produce and record with? Also, how it differs when you are playing live? Cheers!

Thanks! At the moment I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, a Macbook Pro, and I use Ableton Live both for writing and live purposes. I have a bunch of plugins, but I use mostly Massive, z3ta+2, FM8, quadraSID, Ohmicide, Ozone.

Live, I have a separate track for each instrument, and each of those has an FX rack consisting of filters, reverbs, a delay, grain delays, a beat repeat, a bit-reducter, several overdrives. I try to switch and apply effects to the track and thus add another dimension to the mix and the textures within the song. It's all about making it more complex and organic.

I love you keep doing what you're doing <3 also how do you cook your pasta ?

With water. And pasta.

Hi Remi, fellow djentleman here. Thanks for making djent-step awesome! Mike Malyan seems like an amazing drummer to work with!

We at r/djent would like you to check us out!

Also, I moderate the biggest Djent playlist on Spotify with over 600 subscribers. Your music is on it!!!

Check it out!

Thanks for the support!

Do you guys plan on coming to tour in America?

We would LOVE to, spread the word! :)

Hey man i am seeing you at Facebar in december with the lovely boys from hacktivist. I am a fan of your music. I cannot wait.

Now onto the question. What other projects have you been a part of?

I have been featured in a track by the mexican boys in One Of Us. I have been remixing a bunch of artists (Chimp Spanner, Igorrr, The Betrayer's Judgement, more to come...). There's actually a lot of new exciting projects I'm working on right now, but it's top secret I'm afraid. See you in December!

So, as a fan of your music, my question is: do you have a certain message you'd like to send with your music? Or is it, as most of my friends call it, 'just' chaos and sounds (their words, not mine)?

I think one of my main goal has always been to try and open my and peoples mind as much as possible. Experimenting and trying new ideas, even those you're not familiar with, breaking your own limits. I also see it as a satirical response to the ridiculous rhythmic and melodic simplicity of modern mainstream electronic music.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Y... yes... ?

I can die happy now

pls don't die

Ok but only because you said so

thx

Just saying, you look like my friend dan. so, just making sure you arent him in a secret music career with a double life and different name

I am actually your friend Dan. How does it feel?

Currently wearing my The Algorithm tshirt so i'm getting a kick of this AMA.

Hurray for music !

Thanks for being involved!

Just wanted to say that I FUCKING LOVE YOU (no homo) ! What you do and the way you do it is so unique and as you say, mind opening. Your music also got me into Igorrr, you sooooo should work/tour together some time. Wish you all the best and keep making badass music. Merci pour tout ce que tu fais !

Merci beaucoup. <3 Igorrr est un génie.

You are the man. I was so bored with music until I heard you randomly, thank you. Also, what kind of sauce do you sauce your pasta with?

Carbonara is where it's at.

Do you have any background in computer science or math that influenced the name of your project?

I have a degree in networks and computer science, and i was a java developer for a while. I've done network security briefly as well.

What was it like touring with Enter Shikari?

I played with them in Paris and London, it was incredible. Their audience is really diverse and responded quite positively to the shows, the guys are sweet as well!

Will you be playing any new material at Euroblast? :)

I don't like that kind of question, because the answer is no. I'm working on a bunch of surprises, though. :)

Hey! I've been listening to metal as long as I can remember and I'm now getting into producing. I've been writing alot with soundfonts but now I want to take the next step and create my own sounds. I've started learning sylenth from tutorials on youtube but I'm having a real difficult time. Do you have any tips on creating sounds?

Keep reading about it, and most of all keep experimenting. My first tracks were terrible, but i've been learning something new with every track I produced. Sylenth is a really good synth, I forgot to mention it in the other post about my setup but I use it more and more (didn't use it all on Polymorphic Code though). Get into the theory behind sound design if you can, it helped me a lot to get the gist.

You mentioned you'd like to score an indie game one day. What game soundtracks have inspired you creatively?

Mostly the old-school era: Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, R-Type, Tim Follin and the c64 sound generally. More recently, I loved Danny Baranowsky's works. What inspires me a lot is all the new possibilities with interactivity between the soundtrack and the gameplay itself. I would love to get involved with games pushing boundaries in that kind of technology, there's so much to be done!

Speaking of interactivity, have you played FTL yet? There is two versions of every song, and you switch seamlessly between the battle and explore versions.

Never played it but I'm gonna give it a try, thanks for the recommendation!

Hey man, caught you supporting Tesseract, absolutely insane skills!

How would you say you generally go about writing your stuff? I wouldn't even know where to begin!

I usually start with this question 'What's an intro i've never done before?'. It could be a drum roll, a type of melody, a sound. As long as it's something i've never done, I'm happy. Once the intro is established and i get something solid, I just write using my instinct and I don't think too much about "what to write". It's more like a feeling, but it's always driven by the need to do something original everytime.

Do you see yourself ever being booked to play for a more electronic crowd? Would go down a storm in something like the UKF tent at Global Gathering :)

I'd obviously love to connect with a different kind of audiences. I've done a bunch of DJ shows and it's really fun. :)

Hello! Big fan of your music, saw you twice so far(supporting Tesseract and at Download) and you were brilliant both times! Two questions;

1 - What's your favourite Dillinger Escape Plan album?

2 - If you continued getting more popular and more popular, and got a bigger budget for your live show, in what directions would you want to take it?

1. Can't decide between Miss Machine and Irony of a Dead Scene. Oh and Calculating Infinity. Damnit...
2. Some kind of real-life music-focused video game with awesome projections and a system for people to interact with the show. Something like that.

What's your favorite algorithm?

Sorting algorithm because http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPRA0W1kECg

Another thing. I've had some binary conversations with you before and it got me thinking.. Would you consider using binary as a riff pattern of some kind? You could spell something out with it. 0 meaning not playing and 1 is strumming, obviously. It would be an algorithm equivalent of Pi by After the Burial. :D

I had a project with a friend some years ago, we tried to figure out to build a piece of script that could generate a breakdown based on probabilistic figures. You'd have a probability for noteX to be 0 or 1, depending of the state of the previous notes, etc. We tried to figure it out with Markov chains but we both got too busy in our respective fields to make it happen. Hopefully someone likes the project and helps me out with it!

Did you try the breakfast mega-burger at Tech Fest 2013? Thoughts?

I don't think i did, i was too busy not playing a dj set. :)

Do you find your own music to be emotional to listen to?

I ask because I was listening to Polymorphic Code the first time I took acid, and it filled me with the most amazingly positive feelings of energy and euphoria - and then lying on the grass staring at the sky when Panic came on was such a perfect end to the album and complemented the feelings I was having listening to your music. It was such an amazing experience, and I always feel great when I listen to Polymorphic Code now (even greater than before that experience XD).

There's definitely a bit of melancholy in my style. I think, without emotions, the songs wouldn't make sense. I try to describe an emotional journey, and it wouldn't be the same if everything was cold and neutral. I appreciate that you had a great experience on acid, I am so happy my works can make you happy. :)

Will you give me a highfive at the ISC club in Berne next week?

Of course.

I saw you play download festival this year, given that your music isn't exactly the same as the typical music at download would you play Download Festival again if you were given the chance?

YES! Download Festival was an amazing experience, both Mike and I still think it was the best show we've ever done. The crowd was incredibly responsive, and i've never seen that much smiley faces! The sound engineer himself cheered us, it was incredible making that many people so happy. Also, Slipknot.

yo bro. Tiens, une question que jme pose : tu as eu une éducation musicale ou t'es autodidacte?

J'ai fait 1 an de guitare et 3 ans de solfège quand j'avais 10 ans, mais j'ai tout oublié. J'apprends en autodidacte, en m'aidant de pas mal de trucs différents: forums, vidéos, cours, en posant des questions... C'est beaucoup plus fun comme ça, et je cherche seulement ce dont j'ai besoin. :)

Hiya! I was lucky enough to catch the show with Tesseract in Manchester earlier this year. How do you prepare for live shows using live instruments and loops as efficiently as you do? The timing was perfect. What's the secret? ;)

I suggest you to check the post I replied earlier about my setup during a live show. Basically, the tracks are automated and I add effects on top of them.

Hey Remi! I saw the Algorithm in Guildford back in June, it was an amazing show!

What do you think has been your greatest achievement as an artist so far?

Also, when might we hear some new music? Thanks in advance for replying, keep up the awesome work!

Thanks! I think the greatest achievement is being able to travel in so many different places in the world and see happy faces everytime. I can't wait for the australia tour in January!

Have you ever watched Evangelion?

Nope. I loved Death note though.

Do you like math?

01011001011001010111001100101110

Hi Remi! I love the way you fuse djent and electronic music since I first heard your tracks. I was wondering, what your biggest influences are for both aspects of your music?

For the metal aspect: After The Burial, Born Of Osiris, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Veil Of Maya, Mr Bungle, Mike Patton, Genghis Tron. For the electronic aspect: Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares, The Flashbulb, Milkyway Project, Justice, Danger, Daft Punk, Nobuo Uematsu, Igorrr.

Will you come to New Zealand?

We're playing in Auckland on January 17th as part of the Big Day Out festival. http://www.bigdayout.com/

Hey remi! Will the algorithm be going on a headlining tour rather than supporting another band ? and why wasn't your guitarist with you at Download festival? also GG on the rickroll was so amazing

It's not planned yet but I can't see why not. :) Max Michel wasn't there for logistics reasons, he'll be playing with us for the Hacktivist tour though!

Hi Rémi! I was wondering when you next plan on heading back up to the North of England for a gig? I'm still really enjoying the music, and the new ensemble you've got with the others is brilliant. You've come a long way since Tech Fest 2012 when we first saw you! I can't wait to see what else you and the others will be getting up to in the future. :)

We're touring with Hacktivist in November/December. We're playing in Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds... See for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=602232013141100&set=a.270547452976226.73219.259619944068977&type=1&theater

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Yes. ;)

So how do you feel about making remixes, and releasing them commercially?

How do you feel about dubstep and electronic music in general?

1. Remixes give me the opportunity to mess around with loads of audio samples. My speciality is synthesizing, that's why I think it's good practice for me to try something new and train myself with sampling.
2. There's a lot of good and bad things, like with every music scenes ever. With dubstep, I especially love Tim Ismag and Zomboy. With electronic music, I'm mostly into IDM and experimental stuff. But I don't want to sound too restrictive, I find gems in every style.

Seriously though, what would be an Algorithm-related dream come true? Something that might never happen, but would make your head explode if it did.

Finding out my girlfriend is actually a robot. Oh wait...

Hi Remi how do you like burnt omelette with cheese, sausage and bread early in the morning while having a terrible hangover?

Orgasm. Wait no, several orgasms.

Rémi! Its good to see you on here. I just wanted to say that I've loved your music for so long. The first time I heard it, I seriously stayed up all night long listening to it on repeat. The next morning I called all of my friends and told them to smoke some weed and get to my house asap because I've found the best music ever. Their reactions were spot on with mine. Continue your greatness and you've got a place to stay if you ever come to the NSA.. I mean USA.

That's amazing, thanks man!

Dis, qu'est-ce que ça fait de savoir que ce que tu fais, ta musique, ce qui sort de ton cerveau puisse toucher/bouleverser des gens, comme toi tu as dû l'être avec d'autres artistes que tu apprécies et/ou qui t'ont marqué ?

C'est génial! J'adore l'idée qu'il est possible de transmettre une vision à travers quelque chose d'aussi immatériel que la musique. C'est comme si je connectais mon cerveau à quelqu'un qui a une manière similaire de penser, je pense pas qu'il soit possible d'expliquer à quel point ce sentiment est puissant. :)

Hi Rémi! When you're out with Hacktivist (I'll see you in Manchester, 3rd time I've seen you!) will it be with Mike, or Boris? Both are fantastic, just curious!

Also, have you considered some glitch remixes of video game tracks?

PS The MGS theme to your merch/logo is a great touch, I never thought about it until I saw it but the visual/musical themes really work well together!

Thanks man! The Hacktivist tour will be with Mike and Max, we can't wait!

Hey man, i'm a big fan of your work. Saw you live back in May when you were supporting TesseracT. I've got a couple of questions:

1) You said that Polymorphic Code had a story behind it, did you have that story in mind whilst you were writing the album or did you come up with it once it was done?

2) Really obscure question but in Access Granted during the reggae part (which is awesome) there's 2 samples that say something along the lines of "Oh no! Somethings coming...." and "Its time i rest a while". I swear i've heard them somewhere and i was just wondering if you remember where you got them from.

Thanks, keep up the great work!

1. A bit of both, the idea came to my mind as i was writing the album. It's a similar process as when I'm writing a track, I usually don't know what to do before i start.
2. Hint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRhDmUzWuBI :)

Hi remi, your music is pretty much perfect to me. I have a hard time finding similar music, do you have some recommendations? Usually (last.fm) I end up with some hardcore, which iI fkndon't really like . thanks!

Hey man, try the following artists: Igorrr, A.I.(d), The Ulex.

Every time Im at work and I get a null pointer exception I think of your music. Congratulations.

Would I be correct in thinking you are/have been a developer? If so, favourite programming language?

I used to work as a Java developer. My favorite language is Pure Data, though. :)