D.I.M interview: Mind-bending distortion from Boys Noize Records

Who? Andreas Meid, 33, German electro-techno pioneer who makes a lot of noise.

Sounds like? Cranking your hearing aid up full and listening to Autechre through a blown-out speaker on an industrial building site.

There could be a number of explanations for why Andreas Meid’s breed of twisted electro-tech goes under the initials D.I.M. As an abbreviation, it could stand for ‘diminished chord’ as a reference to the dissonance within his music, or for ‘dimension’ perhaps as a nod towards the ethereal atmosphere it creates. But, in fact, these are no where near.


“The name comes from a painting by a good friend that had a spiral with a head and a hat, and the letters D.I.M on it”, he explains. The darkness of such a surreal image can clearly be heard in his tracks; the immaculately produced ‘Is You’, and the bordering on disturbing ‘Sysiphos’, have been storming dance-floors across Europe since 2007.

It’s not difficult to locate the source of the aggression within his music too. “At a young age, I was really into metal. The distortion and aggression of metal riffs and bass lines feature heavily within my music.”

Andreas grew up within a musical family with a father who exposed him to Motown at time when “you needed to hear music rather than search for it on the internet”. At nine, he learnt to play the piano and later moved onto the guitar, playing in a number of bands during his teens. His first concert experience, when he was 12, was a Happy Mondays gig in 1987, in Munich. “The venue was packed and the atmosphere was great. I remember seeing Sean Ryder come on stage with a joint and a beer, and thinking it was a little revolutionary considering the situation in Germany at this time.”

What has since followed is an obsession with wobbly synthesisers and grinding bass lines. He tells me, “I don’t have time for anything other than playing live and working in the studio. My hobby has become my career” - which doesn’t sound too dim to me.


Andrea’s Top 3 Metal Bands

Pull out quote: “At a young age, I was really into metal. The distortion and aggression of metal riffs and bass lines feature heavily within my music.”

Guns & Roses:

“I’m not sure if they count as metal, but their album ‘Appetite for Destruction’ is the greatest album ever made.”

Entombed:

“They’re a Swedish metal band. I like the aggression of the deep, huge guitars.”

Helmet:

“They’re a hardcore band from New York. I like them for the irregular drum rhythms.”


Words: Adam Saville