Radio Scotvoid has developed his own unique musical style ranging from atmospheric soundbytes with quirky percussive madness to cut 'n' paste lo-fi improv which combines his love for jazz fusion, electronica, ambient moods and big, raw, punky beats.

My name is Scott Daniel Buchanan and I'm Scottish!

UDR: What brought you to the states?

RSV: I was recruited in London for a social services agency almost 8 years ago. I work with families who have children with autism.

UDR: When did your appreciation of sound/music begin?

RSV: My parents were big fans of Motown - They had a huge collection of 45s! Although, I suppose it was when I got into the band 'Erasure' in High School, Around 1987. I was facinated with their 12" remixes and creative cover art.

UDR: Describe some of your earliest experiments in sound.

RSV: Good old fashioned cut and paste! My friend Joe and I used to make megamixes for friends using duel-tape decks and Erasure 12"s. We would use the record, play and pause buttons to create stutters and loops. You could say we were splicing tape without actually cutting it.

UDR: Have you had any formal training?

RSV: Do tutorials count? Ha, no formal music training, but I keep good rhythm... anyway, my schooling is in graphic design and typography which has helped me understand the power of concept, deadlines and the preciseness of fine-tuning.

UDR: What does "Radio Scotvoid" mean to you?

RSV: RADIO for my style of mixing (track to track / John Peel / Gilles Paterson, etc.) SCOT for me and Scotland (I'm proud of being an ambassador for my country) and the VOID came from when I first arrived in Salem, MA. All I spent my money on was vinyl. There is a really cool record store here, and next to it is a really cool bar! Before I moved to Salem, I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for 4 years. The DJs ruled the bars, playing all sorts, so there wasn't as much live music. When I moved here it was all bands, no DJs at all. When bands played I offered to fill in the 'void' between sets, as all the bar would do was play some crappy CD which usually was of a different vibe/genre! That pissed me off, I wanted to keep the vibe going! So I started playing around with the local funk bands Fats Hammind and Headshaft!

DJ RADIO SCOTVOID was born...haha!

UDR: Is there a specific concept embodied by RSVP?

RSV: It's really just Radio Scotvoid Productions; meaning it's my music not me playing other people's. I came up with it when I joined a popular social networking site. It seemed appropriate! Social networking has some great benefits for exposure and listening to fresh new music from all over the world... who would've thought?

UDR: What motivates, inspires you creatively?

RSV: Capturing life, during its ups and downs, either by photography or audio. I've travelled quite a bit, and I love to capture moments in time that are precious. I love to reminisce and look into the future at the same time. Using these ideas when I record adds that real human edge to it, especially when you are making electronic music.

UDR: In what capacity does your environment, life experience affect your work?

RSV: The thing about travelling is that you feel like you are always on vacation. This gives me the mentality to be super-creative at times; I try not to get bogged down with everyday mundaneness. It's been an 8 year vacation. I have spent these years building up to what I am now, which is doing what I love to do in every aspect of my life. I love doing my music, my job, my friends and my life, here in America. Mind you, not everything smells of roses, I do get homesick and I miss my family!

UDR: Talk a bit about your gear, and any other relevant creative tools.

RSV: In life, you have to use the tools you have. I try to do the same with my gear. I buy a lot of used gear. I like hum, and hiss and all that, I buy stuff from thrift stores, old mics, dictaphones. I have a CZ3000 MIDI synth, I use it to control two sound mondules and the MIDI in the comp. I have all this, plus turntable, vinyl, duel-tape decks, a 4" B/W TV and really any audio input. I'm all about the recording and how I've learned that you can make a recording from anything and use it. Ableton Live is my friend along with Reason for that drum machine feel and CUBASE SX3 for mixdowns.

I mix noises on/through the comp, sample stuff, bounce it to tape, feed it back in, distort, render loop, have fun, create a vibe and save.

I do this for about 1 hour then I leave it alone. I have many 'vibe' tracks and they are like my palette. I go back and forth adding and subtracting parts until there is a solid song or skit.

UDR: To what degree are your final pieces structured, improvised, or indeterminate?

RSV: Depends how it sounds, if it sounds like a live take that's been looped and I like it, I'll just leave it! When I have session musicians come in, I don't give them many guidelines. I try to make them feel at home, make them a cup of tea and let them listen to the 'vibe' track. They jam over it, and I record all the takes. That usually lasts an hour, and then I edit once they've left. As long as their 'soul' stamp has been cast in stone on the tape/disc, then there is no going back! When making the final mixdown I do try to keep the structure kind of freeform, so eventually it could translate to the live scene.

UDR: Does RSVP perform live?

RSV: Not yet - still to get a laptop - but the players are all in place, and between us we have plenty of source material.

UDR: Your newest EP... talk about it's conception.

RSV: fae ecosse [translated: From (Scots) Scotland (French)]

I wanted to do an EP similar to my debut, but with only my vocals/spoken word. Still a bit jazzy, full of broken beats and field recordings, and having a more personal & introspective vibe to it. I made it with all my Scottish friends and family in mind.

UDR: For those who aren't familiar, describe your evolution from GIGO to fae ecosse EP.

RSV: GIGO EP (Garbage In, Garbage Out) - The term can be used in any field in which it is difficult to create a good result when given bad input. So when I knew I had captured some 'real' emotion in these songs, I had to put it out there, even though the recordings were pretty bad. I'm a big fan of Pavement and their lo-fi 4-track bedroon recordings; they are so raw and yet so good.

There was guest vocals on all the tracks on GIGO, on the fae Ecosse EP it was all me!

UDR: Describe the breadth of your music projects aside from RSVP... talk a bit about the MySceneLive, your podcast, the Curios and any other relevant projects.

RSV: I DJ/podcast once a month for Myscenelive, a local collaboration of musicians who are promoting the North Shore of Boston's music scene. That's fun... I search for all sorts of music from local artists, I get to play all genres and all different types of recordings, from bedroom recordings to high-quality studio vibes. The 'CURIOS' collaboration is a collective of like-minded artists and producers from the UK - Ben Holt started a night in Edinburgh 10 years ago - it's where I got my first gig, and the nights are still going strong in Dundee/Edinburgh/Glasgow, Scotland and Halifax, England. I host the US one. I get local electronica/hip-hop DJs/artists to play a one hour set at the local coffeeshop in Salem. We crayon flyers, we record the sets and give out the CDs. It's lots of fun.

>>Download Radio Scotvoid's Featured Artist Pcast!

>>Download Urban_D's Remix of Jesse Leaves Autumn!

Check out CURIOS & Myscenelive