Scott Monteith — better known as Deadbeat — has spent over two decades building one of Canada's most distinctive bodies of work at the intersection of dub techno, minimalist club music, and committed sound-system philosophy. Launching his career in Montreal, he performed at the inaugural edition of MUTEK in 1999 and spent years at Applied Acoustics Systems deepening his knowledge of DSP and synthesis. Relocating to Berlin in 2008, extensive international touring followed an expanding discography, culminating in the launch of his BLKRTZ label in 2011. Rooted in a traditional dub approach, Monteith has consistently treated the studio as an instrument in its own right — one to be practiced, reconfigured, and performed. With his new Splice pack distilling his core dub techno vocabulary into a production-ready format, we sat down with him to trace the thinking behind the sounds: where they come from, how they're made, and how to (mis)use them.
MFA: How did you get started as a producer? And what was your first bit of gear?
Deadbeat: My mom bought me a computer in the interest of helping me find a job when I was 17, and while I can't say it was effective for that purpose, it did, however, allow me to download a cracked version of Rebirth RB-338, which I spent hours recording jams on to cassette tape.
I'd been going to raves for a while by then already and was obsessed with mid-west acid in general and particularly Plastikman so it was quite a revelation. I even passed Richie one of those tapes when he played in Montreal around that time!
First proper piece of gear was a Yamaha CS20M that was given to me by my girlfriend at the time's older brother, as it was collecting dust in his closet. There was a lot broken with it, but in my blissful ignorance at the time I didn't notice at all.
I reckon there’s quite a few who got their first taste of production with Rebirth! And the CS20M - what a score. So you've moved around from Ontario origins, to a significant stint in Montreal where you began collaborating extensively with MUTEK, and finally to Berlin. How have each of these stations impacted your outlook and technique — musically, culturally, and creatively?
Most importantly, each of those places introduced me to people who have become lifelong friends. Regarding music specifically, I discovered electronic music in my teens and started going to raves in Toronto and later further afield in Detroit and Chicago.
My best friend, Mike Shannon, and I even made it to the Even Further Festival outside Milwaukee in 1995 which among many other mind blowing things there was Daft Punk's first show in North America!
MUTEK obviously had an enormous impact. I played my first ever live show at the first edition in 1999 using that same tower computer my Mom gave me. They also really put Montreal on the map, and by inviting so many like-minded artists from abroad, effectively paved the way for people like myself and other Montreal artists to start releasing and touring internationally.
I also worked for Applied Acoustics Systems during my time there for four years, which effectively gave me a knowledge of music DSP and synthesis that would otherwise only be available in a university degree program, and connected me with other musicians working in the industry, like Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles at Ableton, and Joshua Kit Clayton at Cycling 74.
The move to Berlin in 2008 was when I really committed to making music my full-time profession, and while it tends to be a life with periods of both feast and famine, so to speak, I wouldn't change it for the world.
An underground odyssey of sorts! Interesting how it all flows together. But so you've described arriving at dub backwards - via minimal techno rather than through reggae or sound system culture. How did that reverse approach shape the way you actually use dub's techniques? And do you think coming at it from the electronics side gave you a different relationship to the conventions of the form?
Yes, I definitely discovered the electronic stuff that utilizes dub techniques first before diving deep into the roots (I ran a classic dub and reggae night in Montreal for a number of years with my good buddy Mossman) but I think from a production standpoint the techniques remain the same and can be applied to any genre: the studio as a whole becomes an instrument unto itself. As with any other instrument, regular - ideally daily - practice is key to mastering it. Mistakes are your friend, and will open up totally unlooked-for paths of inspiration and creative possibility.
Unlike other instruments, it also has the advantage of being completely reconfigurable. I take a lot of satisfaction in setting up a new performance and recording setup and reaching the point where I've learned it so well I can “play” it with my eyes closed and it becomes all about listening.
I love that: configuration as challenge, but also as new instrument. So when you sit down to start something new, where do you usually begin - a rhythm, a bass line, a texture, or something more abstract?
Funnily enough, it very often starts with my mouth. Humming or whistling a melody, or quietly beat boxing a rhythm. I'm also a serial field recorder. I have a pocket recorder I like to carry around, but the phone works just as well. I go through the recordings from time to time, and there are always a few nuggets of inspiration in them.
That’s awesome. So important for producers to remember inspiration can be lurking nearly anywhere. Your Mondays Are For Music workshop is built around the idea of dub logic as a compositional framework. What motivated you to start running these workshops?
I've done workshops for many years for MUTEK in various locations, RBMA, and other companies, and always really enjoyed it. For the first edition, I wanted to really focus on in-person interaction, and all involved really enjoyed it, including me! There has been a lot of interest from people living outside Berlin, and for the second edition (June 8 - July 13) I've decided to offer a limited number of slots for online participation. Anyone interested can apply here.
Very cool you’ve started sharing your knowledge like this. So what's your relationship to hardware versus software at this point? Has that balance shifted over the years?
While I worked entirely in the box for many years, I would say it's about a 40% hardware and 60% software these days. Like a lot of people, I have fallen victim to gear lust and the all-too-common buyer's remorse that comes with it. As such, I've developed a kind of checklist for myself before even considering getting any new hardware:
Can I currently really afford this?
Is this something I am going to use regularly in the studio and/or for live performance?
Is the build quality solid enough that it can be taken on the road? Is it repairable?
If it is an effect or a synthesizer, what does it do that I can't already do with some well-thought-out plug-in chaining and MIDI controller mapping? What does it do that my existing hardware can't?
If it is a studio utility upgrade (microphone, soundcard, monitors, preamp, mixer, etc.), does it offer a tangible, clear improvement over what I already have?
Regarding the last two points especially, I always test for at least one, or ideally a few days against existing tools in my studio, doing blind tests ideally with a friend or two, and testing it in an existing project I'm working on or have recently completed. The big online shops like usually have a 14-day return policy for exactly this purpose. For new, bigger ticket items like mics, preamps, and other outboard gear, it often pays to reach out directly to the manufacturer, especially if they are a more boutique company. The same goes for smaller synth and modular developers. In my experience, if they have the stock to do so, they are more often than not happy to accommodate in this respect.
That’s a great tip, and a really helpful list. What specific reverb or delay plug-ins do you recommend these days for classic dub-wise approaches?
I'm a great fan of Arturia's classic reverb models (plate/spring/LX-24) and think they have probably the best Space Echo RE-201 emulation on the market currently — and believe me, I've tried them all!
The quality of all of Valhalla's plug-ins also can't be overstated. Their simplicity in terms of well-thought-out parameters, sound quality, and vast range really make them true Swiss Army knives.
That said, for Ableton users, don't overlook the included effects! They hold their own proudly against any plug-in on the market and were purpose-built to be played.
Agreed on all counts. But so when something isn't working in a session, what's your move? Do you strip it back, walk away, push through? And has your answer to that changed over twenty-plus years of making records? How do you know when a track is finished?
I find it beneficial to compartmentalize the initial “idea” phase of the process as follows:
Melody writing/beat making (if applicable).
Sound design/tweaking.
Jamming/dubbing, usually combining hardware and mapped software instruments and effects.
The first two phases are interchangeable. If one or the other doesn't seem to be working, I concentrate on the one that is, and save it to a “new rhythm ideas” or “new sequence/melody/drone/ambient, etc ideas” folder, and shelve it for later. More often than not, I'll find myself working on something in the coming days or weeks where the other side of things is particularly strong, drag in some of those shelved ideas, and find they slot in perfectly together. I think I used to be more impatient and tended to give up and start something new whenever things weren't clicking. Now I diligently archive and record everything, even the silliest little ideas. It's important, though, with this approach, to have a check through the archive every so often and not end up with the digital equivalent of a kitchen junk drawer.
In terms of deciding when a track is done, I think it's entirely subjective. You just “know,” so to speak. That said, it will never be done if you don't take it to the arrangement stage. One of the most common situations I've run into in my education work is people arriving with literally hundreds of loop ideas that have often been collecting digital dust for months and even years! They're not going to arrange themselves, and if it doesn't work on the first try, start over. This is particularly where a live dubbing approach really shines.
Indeed, that transition from idea to arrangement seems to be where so many people get stuck. So now, a sample pack is a fundamentally different kind of deliverable than an album — it's pure ideas in a way, designed to be broken apart and reassembled in completely unpredictable ways by other people. Did that change how you approached your pack for us? And did you find yourself surfacing sounds you'd normally bury? How would you advise a producer approaching your pack?
As this pack was intended to be dub techno-focused, I tried to divide things into categories that tend to be staple elements of the genre, while avoiding things that people can easily produce themselves (909 drum loops, acoustic drum hits, etc). To test them out, I'd dump all of the loops onto their own track in session view in Ableton by category, and create a drum rack with a random selection or even all of the one-shots, load up a 909, maybe a lead synth, set up a couple of effect sends (short delay, long delay, spring reverb, digital reverb, etc.) and have a play! With the drones and noise loops, sidechain compression is your friend, and not just from the kick drum! Some truly weird and wonderful things can happen sidechaining from less linear sources (field recordings, synth lines, etc). Without a doubt, if you have a MIDI control surface, get those mixer parameters mapped, get your hands dirty, and dub out!
Love that dub approach: mixer and effects as instruments, meant to be played. So what have you got coming up next? Anything else you're excited to share?
Lots of touring over the next while. Upcoming releases include an EP for Bright Sounds, the re-release of my Infinity Dub Sessions album with Tiki, and a bunch of remixes. I have what I think is a new album starting to come together and hope to finish it up for release in the fall. As mentioned above I'll be doing quarterly versions of my Mondays R4 Music workshop series until the end of the year. People can sign up to participate here.
MUTEK OBVIOUSLY HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT. I PLAYED MY FIRST EVER LIVE SHOW AT THE FIRST EDITION IN 1999 USING THAT SAME TOWER COMPUTER MY MOM GAVE ME.
I TAKE A LOT OF SATISFACTION IN SETTING UP A NEW PERFORMANCE AND RECORDING SETUP AND REACHING THE POINT WHERE I’VE LEARNED IT SO WELL I CAN “PLAY” IT WITH MY EYES CLOSED AND IT BECOMES ALL ABOUT LISTENING.
I THINK I USED TO BE MORE IMPATIENT AND TENDED TO GIVE UP AND START SOMETHING NEW WHENEVER THINGS WEREN’T CLICKING. NOW I DILIGENTLY ARCHIVE AND RECORD EVERYTHING, EVEN THE SILLIEST LITTLE IDEAS.
WITHOUT A DOUBT, IF YOU HAVE A MIDI CONTROL SURFACE, GET THOSE MIXER PARAMETERS MAPPED, GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY, AND DUB OUT!