Hot Press meets Auxiliary Phoenix

Anyone who’s been to college knows there’s a special place in hell for noisy people: the girl whose phone goes off in lectures, the guy munching through a pipe of Pringles in the library. But most students have not had to put up with a hip-hop producer toiling in their vicinity.

“All I really need is my laptop and midi keyboard,” explains the man known as Auxiliary Phoenix. “I’ve become used to bringing them to college, and any time I have an hour between classes I make music there.”
While his exam papers might have James Strain printed on the top, the name he has adopted for his musical endeavours is beginning to gain considerable traction. Hip-hop capital of the world it may not be, but it turns out growing up in Carlow doesn’t mean his roots in the genre are not deep-set.
“I got into making music because of Mixmaster Mike,” he recalls. “The first instrument I got was a pair of turntables.”
Unfortunately, like the hapless DJ in Father Ted, there was a small oversight.
“I didn’t have any records to play!” he laughs. “I was just picking up albums from my auntie’s attic, and scratching anything I could get my hands on.”
After flirting with the world of rock, it was back to his original love, with no small amount of lessons learned. “I picked up a whole lot of musical theory while in bands – everything from scales to how to write songs and piece things together, and incorporated all that stuff into my beat-making. That’s when I heard Beat Dimensions for the first time; it was the first wonky hip-hop, instrumental, electronic thing that had grabbed my attention. I never even thought of making beats without rap, beats that would actually stand by themselves.”
What’s followed has been a barrage of releases, remixes and collaborations; the most notable of which came in the form of High Elders, a project where he teamed with Delaware rapper Gentle Jones for a full-length album.
“I’ve known Gentle Jones for a good while,” he explains. “A long time ago, he came over to visit and stayed at our house; my father hosted his website, so they knew each other online. He must have made an impression on me, as a young fella listening to hip hop. It started with me doing a few remixes, and he’d send me instrumentals and a capellas. He eventually said we should just do an album together. The idea of pairing up a consistent producer with a rapper provides a pretty solid basis for
a record.”
The result is Forest of Pencils, an eccentric and expansive collection of joyously abstract hip hop. It’s all the more impressive when one considers it’s a product of transatlanticism, the entire record coming together
with the collaborators thousands of miles apart.
“To be honest, I’ve never worked with anyone in hip hop in person!” James laughs. “I’d package beats and send them over; he’d figure out what he liked and send me back vocal tracks. From there, it was just small suggestions and fixing niggling things. I let him do what he wanted vocally, and he gave me the same freedom musically.”
Another more recent production was ‘Real Life’, a track which saw him link up with Jones’ Delaware compatriot Fluent and Minnesotan Ill-Lab. “That’s pretty exciting,” James admits. “We’ve only been talking for a few weeks now, and already it feels like something worth continuing in the future.”
Also in the pipeline is an EP, which he’s determined to get right. “It’s my first effort at creating something thematically cohesive, production-wise, from start to finish. It’s probably due for the summer; I’m going to give it all the time it needs.”
It seems as though there’s no end to the possibilities, but for now it’s a simple ambition that drives the young producer.
“I’d like to have my own music on vinyl. That would really feel like I’ve got somewhere. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal for me – maybe just because records got me into music – but being able to manipulate my own music on vinyl would be pretty trippy.”
He laughs. “It’s like breaking the fourth wall or something!”