When you were choosing your name, did you decide to select the character in The Wizard of Oz, or is Tin Man a reference to something or someone else?

I am not a fanatic for the Wizard of Oz film. I feel there are two aspects of the Tin Man character that reflect well in my music. One is that the Tin Man is a collage of parts like Frankenstein's monster. Secondly, that his sole mission was to become truly human by getting a heart only to find in the end that this very pursuit showed he already had heart.

You are clearly inspired by the acid sound - was there a defining moment or record that flicked the trip switch and gave you the 'eureka' moment?

Probably repeat listens of early Chicago acid classics melted something in my mind or at least infected me with some kind of wiggly acid virus. That acid virus may have mutated owing to other external influences.

Much of the Tin Man material has a slower tempo and isn't as intense as Chicago house - would you agree?

Well, hopefully as raw. I think, in general, that dance music producers feel some pressure to only release jacking floor tracks. I feel for what falls under the blanket of dance music, people have become very receptive to experimentation and hybrids. So, I feel pretty fine to play around the borders of the norms, even when making retro tracks as a way to branch out.

Was there any other acid style, for example Plastikman or Hardfloor who inspired Tin Man, or is Chicago the mother ship?

Chicago is the mother ship. 1. Armando 2. Phuture 3. Adonis. The world of acid is broad and within only classic Chicago acid you can find a wide variety of styles from bubbly to driving to tripping and slow-flowing to all-in acid funk. I certainly appreciate the developments of the acid diaspora that expanded in other directions. I liked the way Plastikman stretched out the lines and pushed higher alien melodies. Hardfloor was diverse, but their play with a break beat acid groove seems to be their acid legacy. The playing field is big, and while so much ground has been covered, acid will continue to expand in different stylistic directions.



Was there a club or other outlet that gave you access to acid music when you lived in Los Angeles, or were you exposed to it on radio shows or online?

No acid for me in LA. I was given mix-tapes by friends before finding the records myself. I did not encounter acid in a club experience until I spent some summers in Europe.

In recent years you moved to Vienna - was it for non-musical work reasons or did you want to have a European base?

I moved for my girlfriend.

How do you find Vienna as a hub for electronic music or music and culture generally?

I was a fan of the Vienna based labels Mego and Cheap for a long time. Vienna is a small but active city and a generally nice place to live. I enjoy here mostly the smaller bars and clubs, but there are some nice chances for bigger clubbing here also.

There is also a discernible pop influence in your music - what acts inspired you, and do you feel pop acts as a counterweight to techno?

The bigger part of my musical education comes from a lifetime surfing the radio. Inevitably, pop music is a foundation for me. Also, travelling to remote locations in the world and fuzzy logic tell me pop music actually is universal. Could one describe pop as a utopia to answer techno's dystopia? Sure. They are both exaggerations of the worlds that we live in.

If this is the case, then do you feel that the 'Wasteland' album reflected the real world or a dystopia, or back in 2008, when the global financial crisis started, were these real and imagined worlds interchangeable?

Well the 'Wasteland' and 'Scared' records do describe a world where freedom is not the norm, a world where people would not know what to do when given freedom, a world in decline, a world where the majority who says what is sane could itself be insane, a world where life is hard and scary and filled with illusions. Those dystopian feelings are not rooted in the financial crisis, but rather are necessary fears in modern life. But, yes, this dystopian world is coming to the fore as our world declines.

'Wasteland' appears to have a political message, but this does not seem to be the case on other releases. Are you more interested in personal politics than the politics of the wider world?

I don't think music has political agency. I think sociologists can identify groups and define consensus by looking at which people appreciate what music. I think music is for musing about thoughts and feelings along the way. I realize in my own life that I am not a 100% good, smart, or responsible person. Thus, I am cautious espousing my political views. But, if you listen to my music, and you are feeling like I am feeling, then we just agreed on something.

Do you believe that one day, Tin Man will have a pop hit - is this important for you, to get your music to as many people as possible, or are you just happy to release it and let the audience decide?

I see myself as an independent operator. I am happy when I can sneak into different scenes between the birds and the beasts. Yes, having a pop hit would be a prize for me. It is no easy feat to sneak into the pop arena. I would probably need to assemble a crack team of specialists and have a clever attack plan to make it in.

Your remix on the upcoming Acid Test 03 release is deeply melodic, probably your most melodic work to date. Was this a conscious move, or is just the way things panned out when you went into the studio?

For the third Acid Test remix I wanted to 'answer' Donato Dozzy's remix of my Acid Test. His remix of mine was a nice surprise for me, in that he shifted the focus of interest in the track such that it felt much more like it was dealing with a shifting ambience. I wanted to make a remix that took ambience and pushed it towards a melodic and musical narrative.

How did you get involved in the Acid Test series in the first place?

It was serendipity. I offered a number of tracks for the record, and the Absurd crew actually insisted on this melodic direction. I am happy with this direction because I think it is a Tin Man acid style. I will be making a whole album of this melodic acid for Absurd.



Vocals also feature heavily in your music - are they yours?

Yes, they are all mine.

Techno and vocals don't have a very good relationship (apart from maybe 'Losing Control' or 'Flash') but Chicago house and before that, disco and Italo Disco did. Do you see Tin Man's music following in the tradition of dance music with vocals or do you approach it more from a pop songwriter perspective?

I pull from some different traditions for my singing. From Chicago, it is a bit Phuture and Mike Dunn. Sometimes it's getting closer to hip-hop in that it means filling in a subject or describing a mood over a loop. It rarely has the ecstasy of disco or the lightness of Italo. Sometimes its monotone or very dry r&b. Honestly, I'm grabbing at many things and twisting them to fit my sound. Techno is one of the few musical worlds that excludes singing. I can only speculate as to why.

Do you play live, and if so, do you sing in clubs? Does singing in clubs help you connect to the audience on another level?

I play and sing live. At the moment I am mixing my singing and live dance PA. shows. Yes, as soon as someone is singing on a stage, the focus completely changes. Humans are tuned to the human voice.

What exactly is Rashad Becker's input into Tin Man? Is he a co-producer or an unofficial/silent partner in the project?

Rashad Becker acted as producer for the 'Wasteland' and 'Coolwave' records. So, I recorded the vocals and worked on the effects, harmony, and mixes with him.

What is your new album going to sound like - will it be different to other current releases like your contributions to the Acid Test series?

Perfume is a very 'musical' record flirting with many genres tied loosely to house.