Alex Banks showcase his in-demand skills with a two-hour electronic music clinic…
Alex Banks is a Brighton-based DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his intricate yet dancefloor-driven sound, inspired by the dense electronica of artists like Jon Hopkins and Max Cooper. Blending jungle, broken beat, and dubstep rhythms with techno textures and IDM melodies, his music is defined by masterful sound design—an expertise that has made him an in-demand engineer, composing for film, TV, and global brands like Nike and Honda. His latest Impermanence EP, released on Last Night on Earth, showcases his signature style, where tense drums and euphoric melodies merge into thoughtful electronic compositions.
On this Balance Selections the English producer flexes with an exquisite two hours of scalpel-sharp dance music. Featuring tracks from Max Cooper, Floating Points, Tinlicker and more, this is a journey worth taking.
Tracklist
2. Alex Banks – In the Shadows
3. Harvey Mackay – Purple
4. Max Cooper – The Sun in a Box
5. You Man – Birdcage (Samaran Version)
6. Hugo Massien – Mariana
7. Colline – Poursuite
8. Pleizel – Liana
9. Alex Banks – Elevate (feat. Maya Wolff)
10. Jasper Tygner – FLLL
11. Alex Banks – Afterlife
12. Percussions – February 2014
13. Shed – Rigger
14. R-Mash (O/V/R Mix) – Phase
15. Overmono – So U Kno
16. Alex Banks – Forwards
17. Floating Points – Fast Forward
18. BOP – Holographic Joy
19. Jinjé – Luminal Motion
20. Alex Banks – Cable 23
21. Overmono – Skulled
22. SBTRKT – VOLCA
23. Tinlicker – Slipstream (Alex Banks Hypnotic Remix)
24. Max Cooper – Exotic Contents (Manni Dee Remix)
25. Wata Igarashi – 泡 (Abuku)
26. Hans Berg – Rings
27. Jako Jako – Impetus
28. Alex Banks – Impermanence
29. Phase – Never Alone
30. Bicep – Hammer
31. Quiddam – Haben ist besser als brauchen
32. Brat I – Soil
33. Noroi – Transoceanic Terrorists
34. Kessler – Endless
35. Otik – Lightyear Dub
36. Moderat – Last Time (Jon Hopkins Remix)
Name: Alex Banks
Location: Brighton, U.K.
Alias/Producer name: Alex Banks
Labels affiliated with:Mesh, Last Night on Earth, Ninja Tune, Just This, YUKU
The first album I really got into was Guns n’ Roses ‘Appetite for Destruction’. It was 1990, I was ten years old and the whole L.A. rock scene was really kicking off and it felt really exciting at the time! My older Brother introduced me to them and gave me a tape copy, I remember listening to it on my tiny PYE stereo before school and getting really hyped!
As well as Megadeth and Metallica, I was also started listening to Ozric Tentacles which had the rock guitar elements I loved, but was also my first introduction to experimental synth sounds which sounded really out of this world to my ears back then.
When I was young there was always a bit of rift between the kids that were into rock, and those that were into dance music. As a keen guitarist, drummer and pianist, I didn’t regards synths and computers as real instruments.
I remember one of the kids at school bringing in a CD of one The Prodigy’s early releases ‘No good Start the Dance’ and thinking “actually, this is pretty cool!”. Then around 1994 I saw Orbital on TV playing their legendary live set at Glastonbury and I was totally blown away. I’d never seen or heard anything like it.
Seeing them perform on a stage where I would have previously only expected to see musicians with guitars and drums, opened my mind to the idea of electronic music being a performance art, and combined with the visuals it seemed really pioneering and exciting at the time.
From then on I was hooked, and all I wanted to do was be on a stage with a bunch of synths and drum machines blasting out my music!
Growing up in the Bedfordshire countryside, there were numerous raves happening that my older siblings (brother and sister) took me to. The legendary Exodus raves and the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes are some of my first raving experiences.
I couldn’t tell you who was playing, but the memories I have of dancing until to dawn to Hardcore and Jungle in fields or gigantic warehouses, and the incredible vibe at those events will stay with me forever.
I feel fortunate to have just been old enough to experience such events that would be remembered as some of the key moments in the evolution of dance music history.
Some of my main influences over the years have been artists like Moderat, Bonobo, The Chemical Brothers, Four Tet, Burial, Max Cooper and Jon Hopkins. Amongst the countless artists I’ve listened to from lots of different genres of electronic music, it’s the ones who have a distinctive, recognisable sound that have always spoken to me.
All of those artists create music that doesn’t fit neatly into a genre and tells some kind of story whilst finding some new way of creating sounds in their production.
Max Cooper ‘On Being’. I’ve been releasing a lot music on Max’s Mesh label and so I knew there was a new album on the way from him. The singles he’s released from it have been amazing so I was looking forward to hearing the whole record once it came and see how his sound has developed. It’s very emotive and epic!
My studio is very much hardware based but with my mac at the centre of it. I love experimenting with synths and drum machines, the musician in me enjoys the hands on feel of playing an instrument, and sounds I manage to create with hardware are always more interesting and vibey than when I just create with software alone.
That said, I have loads of plug-ins too and enjoy computer based sound design and manipulation, so really I’m aiming for best of both worlds, trying to harness the fun and creativity that comes from playing with hardware, with the technical capabilities of what can be done within Logic and Ableton Live.
In terms of gear, my setup is based around an Allen and Heath GSR-24m 24 channel desk which has all my hardware patched into it. It has the soundcard build into the back, so the workflow is really intuitive to capture all the sounds I’m making in the studio and for mixing back through it.
My favourite synths include Moog Matriarch, Voyager, Mother 32 and DFAM, Sequential Prophet-6, Roland Juno 106, SH 101 and TR-8s and Korg MS-10 and Minilogue. I’ve also got a couple of original UREI 1178 compressors and an API 2500 which are a key part of getting my sound.
At the moment I’ve got lots of ideas sketched out which need developing. Usually when I start working on an E.P or album, it begins with a creative period of jamming out ideas to see what comes without considering too much about how it’s going to be used or fit together.
Some of the tracks are pretty finished, others are still to be developed from their initial stage so we’ll see where they end up. I’d like to get a new E.P. or album out by the end of the year but we’ll see how the creative process unfolds and won’t set a deadline on myself until I’m a bit further down that path!
My next show will be supporting Max Cooper with his amazing live A/V show at Epic Studios, Norwich on the 6th April. I’m currently working on a new live set alongside the new material I’m writing so I’ll be looking to get out there and tour more in the near future as I love playing live and connecting with my audience in real life.
My process for making podcasts/online mixes is different to when I DJ live. I like to spend a lot of time thinking about track choice and how they can be mixed together in interesting ways, without having to consider keeping a dance floor moving.
Once I’ve compiled a long list of music in Traktor, I start experimenting with different mixes to see what might work well and put together a short list. When that’s ready, I export it into Ableton and piece the mix together there with detailed automation and effects.
Don’t Look Up
Friends
Lanzarote, Canary Islands
