INTERVIEW: Hospital’s Own Electric Son, Logistics, Talks About His New Album Electric Sun

Posted by Adam on 1st April 2016

If, for some unimaginable reason, you didn’t already know Logistics has just released his sixth studio album and it’s arguably one of his best. I was lucky enough to be able to grab a quick chat with him about Electric Sun and I also managed to get a little bit of info about the highly anticipated 2nd Nu:Logic album too….

Hi Matt! How are you mate?

I’m good thanks! Looking forward to putting the new album out there. It’s always an exciting time.

So…album number SIX is here, has your writing process changed much since Now More Than Ever came out?

In some ways, yes. These days I don’t write quite as much material as back then but for the most part I work in pretty much the same way. With my first album I wrote so much material it was almost counter productive. I also used to work throughout the night from say 11pm until 11am but I had to stop that as it caused my body clock to be completely messed up. I try and work sensible hours now but having said that, sometimes you get an idea going and have to see it through. One of the main differences is that I’ve been more open to collaboration with this album. In the past I’ve been a bit of a control freak but I think I’ve calmed down with that lately. I was lucky to be able to collaborate with other artists I respect and with the vocal tracks I was keen to let them do their thing for the most part. I’d contribute and make suggestions but I enjoyed giving them as much freedom as possible as I think you get the best out of vocalists working in that way.

Buy Electric Sun



So the album’s in the bag and it’s literally just been released – is this a time of tension or are you chilled out now it’s all done?

I’m quite relaxed to be honest. I write music for myself first and foremost so how it’s received isn’t the biggest priority for me. I’m much more interested in writing music that I’m happy with. I think its easy to write music that sounds forced and calculated if you worry about anything else other than doing what’s true to you. I really don’t think the world needs more of that music, there’s literally so much throwaway music designed to tick the boxes out there right now.

Having been so successful and being, as the press release so aptly put it, “one of the pioneers of the signature Hospital Records sound” do you feel a lot of pressure on you start working on an album?

I think in some ways I’ve been lucky in that I’ve always sat just under the radar to an extent. I’ve never really felt that pressure at all. I also think my audience knows by now what I make. I don’t really view my music in the sense of it reaching other people’s ears either if that makes sense. I just treat it like a hobby as much as I can.

The title of the album is Electric Sun – what’s the story behind the name?

There’s not a great deal behind it. It’s a track title I’ve had for years but never got round to using. I just felt it worked with that particular track and also suited the album project in general. It’s got an almost prog rock feel to it which I like. We initially toyed with the idea of going for some psychedelic artwork but settled on the current artwork in the end.

One of my favourite tracks on the album has to be Tell Me True which samples a gorgeous piano sample. Do you still spend a lot of time sample hunting or is everything created from scratch now?

I still dig for samples a lot but I use them in creative ways or I use tiny elements and then rebuild those to create a new loop. I’ll always sample hunt because I love the feeling of finding that bit of gold that feels exclusive to you. I also adore the sound of sampled music. For me, that’s something that’s really missing lately in drum and bass and not just the musical side of it either. One of the reasons I loved the recent London Elektricity album was that it has this certain texture to the music that I love. I love the sound of breakbeats and dusty samples. I could listen to that kind of music all day. It’s almost like you can hear the history in the music.

Buy Electric Sun



For a while now I’ve been creating my own loops and then resampling that material to try and achieve a sampled sound. It gives you so much freedom working in that way too as using sampled material you’re always dictated by things like the timing, quality of the sample and the pitch. This way I take the track in whichever direction I want whilst still having that sampled texture to my music.

What are you running in the studio these days? Any kit on the wish list that you’re planning on treating yourself to?

I use a Mac running Ableton and Reason with some PMC monitors. I’ve got a few synths and bit of outboard gear. Lately I’ve been trying to keep it really simple in the studio as I think that forces creativity. There was a point where I had all this kit but I wasn’t really making tracks I was happy with. The minute I simplified things and put certain bits of kit to one side I got results I was much happier with. There’s always stuff on my wish list but for the most part they are rare synths that cost about upwards of £5000 that I’ll probably only use sparingly. I’m still after a space echo which aren’t too expensive or hard to come by but I just haven’t got round to buying one yet. We use them on the Nu:Logic material and they have such a rich sound to them that I really crave in my solo productions.

Buy Electric Sun



Slightly off topic now to finish things off but I’d be doing people reading this a disservice if I didn’t ask; is there a Nu:Logic coming and if so when can we expect it?!

There is. It’s a way off yet but we’ve been back in the studio writing and have done a few sessions with vocalists that we’re really excited by. Hopefully we’ll get some new music out later this year!

Cheers for your time Matt, is there anything else you want to tell us about?

Pleasure! That’s all, just a big thank you to anyone that’s supported my music over the years.