Workspace and Environment: Toecutter

All I have to say is "gabber flute". This is the infamous Dave Toecutter from down under.


Background
I started in about 1999 after asking Bomb20 through email what programs he uses (I cringe to think of this after how many people have irked me by asking the same!) I started cutting up stuff in SoundForge XP which I got a demo of. What initially motivated me was the give-a-fuck punk of late 20th Century D.H.R. and Culturcide (Texan band from the 80's). I started in my parent's house in 1999, then an apartment with the computer by the bed in 2000. In 2002 moved into a massive warehouse venue, sharing with 7 others and the computer by the bed, then in 2005 I moved into a room in an old stable in an industrial district in South Sydney. Now I live in a house further south, but near the train line, with no studio to speak of.

Where can we find your work?
Toecutter, Soulseek is the best spot, I have no website ATM.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?
I like the SP404 and Kaos Pad II. They were really cheap second hand.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
MDA Combo is a classic distortion for me, apart from that I am using the simplest audio filter in Abelton at the moment, and that's about it. I just found a freeware side chain compressor which works in Ableton, which should help me get that Vengaboys sound I crave.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?
I am not sure as I don't usually have a chance to reflect as I move often without choice from one studio to another.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
Free, not too cold, about the size of a cell, with other people around to sleep and eat with.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining? The last?
First: Boss SP303 Dr. Sample, Last: Boss SP404 Dr. Sample.

What is on your current wish list?
None. But I could use a Gabber Flute - I saw one in France once at Boris Cavage's house, but only as a gimmick. Also a friend has a circuit-bent toy pistol with a filter/pitch shift attached which sounds awesome - great little noisemaker!

Do you have a mobile studio setup?
It's the same as my live set-up, AUD$200 PC Laptop running SoundForge 5.0, Abelton 4 and 6, WinAmp and FruityLoops 1.3, SP404 and Kaos Pad II.

Where were you born and how did you end up in the location you currently reside?
I am about 35 km. from my place of birth, but I don't have time to explain the second half of the question.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a public place?
Yeah, national radio in Australia while I was at work at Kinko's in 2004.

Are you involved in any music/sound work outside of your own projects?
From time to time I do pieces for performance artists or fashion shows. Nothing to brag about.

Explaining the picture above...:
The speakers are Mackie HR824, nice! Borrowed from Core:Tex Labs!
The harddrive on the chessboard is all my files backup from 2004 - which is not much actually!
The RAW harddrive is about to go into my PC which I have at The Barn, which was my studio for about 3 years
The Berringer mixer atop the left speaker is for live shows, when i am not running my gear in a line from laptop - through sp404 to Kaos Pad2. It's when I need a mic. and I bring along an auxillary sampler - usually the Boss SP303 which you see to the right of the Laptop keyboard
The Monitor is because the monitor on the laptop is fucked, resulting from too much Brown Ale in NCL, UK
There is a small harddrive which is what I tour with - lot's of samples for my Abelton Live set - a fucker when you forget WHY you take it to the gig - or don't bring one of the LITTLE usb cables!!! ARGH!!
Midi Keyboard M-Audio Oxygen8 - really handy for noodling out baselines, or whatnot. Yes, I use melody, SOMETIMES!
To the right of the BOSS SP303 is my little sound card SOUNDBLASTER/CreAtive- it also has optical in and out, which is handy for capturing from old minidisk recordings.. aaauurghh... it was handy for 5 minutes...
The Yellow case is all the connecty bits you need for being an audio guy.
It's mostly RCA to JACK converters. I think I am going to get a tattoo of one of those suckers!
Oh, and the I-Lamp you see on the corner of the desk is what my girl and I do all manner of electronic chores on, NOT making music! (just to put your fears at rest, I DO NOT use MAC!)

Toecutter Myspace