Posted on February 14, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

Talking with Digits

Sometime ago I had the pleasure to introduce you to one of the most genuine Canadian electronic artist of our times. Still brand new indie and on its way to grow, Digits was a nice discover to add on my music library. Since I kept on listening to its album quite often I felt the urge to bug the man a little more. Are you with me? Here we go!

Mark Zonda:  Digits from Canada. How did your musical project got born and which are your musical influences?

Alt Altman: Well I only started writing and performing as Digits last spring, but I’ve been writing and recording electronic pop music for five years now, while playing in other bands. I’d say my biggest musical influences are Junior Boys and Erlend Oye, but there are many others – Of Montreal, LCD Soundsystem, Kraftwerk, Belle & Sebastian and Daft Punk are all huge influences.

Mark Zonda:  The packaging of your album is the best you could get from an art & craft class final year test. Who’s in charge of that and how you came to go for that indie design?

Alt: Now that many people don’t need the disc itself to listen to the music, the physical packaging of the CD has to be more interesting in order to give the CD value. Roxanne Ignatius (www.roxanneignatius.com) is responsible for the design. Since the recording was very DIY, we thought it would be appropriate to bring a DIY aesthetic to the packaging as well. Although the record is electronic music it has a lot of warmer analog elements, so we thought it would be cool to give it a kind of handmade, pre-machine era feel.

Mark Zonda: New Wave versus New Rave. Which movement you find more exciting?

Alt: Definitely New Wave. Maybe the term has more meaning in Europe, but in North America I rarely hear people talking about New Rave as a genre. My impression is that it refers to maximalist and rock-influenced dance music, and that it’s not really my thing. New Wave, on the other hand, is awesome. It’s clever, concise pop that’s not afraid to embrace the bizarre.

Mark Zonda: Has music business still a reason to exist? Is it part of your faith anyway?

Alt: I read a good piece recently that argued that the term “music industry” is misleading, that there’s really a number of music industries, and too often it is assumed that the music industry is the same thing as the recording industry. The music business will continue to exist and seems to be quite healthy. The recording industry – record companies, CD retailers, distributors – might not have a reason to exist. And this might not be a bad thing for artists.

Mark Zonda: I’m running a Neo Italo Disco compilation. Will you join in?

Alt:  Thanks for asking me! I do have a lot on my plate these days though, being a self-released solo artist means I have to do all the work. But it’s a good idea, and if I happen to come up with anything that is appropriate for your compilation, I’ll definitely send it your way.

Digits – “You’re going to age”

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