What is your full name?
Julie Straw, I do not have a middle name. It was supposed to be Louise, but a mistake was made with my birth certificate!


Why do you work under the name of 'PinkLogik'?
Pink is a favourite colour of mine, and I suppose the 'logik' part of it just sums up how I feel about using this title, if that makes any sense! I guess what I'm trying to say is that it would be logical to call myself PinkLogik because I love pink so much. Also there's an element of logic when you're writing electronic music I would say. I changed the 'c' on the end of logic to a 'k', just for the hell of it! I didn't want anything too wistful or pretentious sounding, because alot of my music is quite playful really. 'PinkLogik' sounds quite playful, to me it does anyway...

Do you play live?
I haven't played live yet, but I wouldn't rule it out. However, I think I'm more of a composer than a performer.

How, do you think, does the internet change the music industry?
I think it's a great medium for unsigned artists to get their music heard without the backing of huge record labels. Also it opens up a new channel for net labels instead of the big commercial ones.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
It depends. I am currently signed to Kulture Shift Music (since May 2006), which is a nice co-op label with good ethics, and some great artists too.

When and how did you start writing music?
I started writing music when I was about 16 years old. I used to use an old Yamaha keyboard with a digital synth on it. I had an Amiga A600 computer with a sampling cartridge on it and used to hook up the Yamaha to the Amiga and make samples from that. I had a sequencer program on my Amiga, called 'Technosound Turbo II'. It only had 4 channels. Two hard left, two hard right. But I still found that I could do quite a lot with it. That's when I first discovered that I'd like to write music properly. I had a lot of fun with that program!

Who would you say are your musical influences?
Probably too numerous to mention! But Moby, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Black Dog, Plaid, Orbital, Daft Punk, Royksopp, Autechre, Aphex Twin, 808 State, The Future Sound Of London and Boards of Canada are to name a few. I wouldn't necessarily say that all of these artists have any bearing on what I write personally though. But I suppose I draw from them all at certain points. Maybe. I don't strive to sound like anyone in particular though.

What would you say are the advantages of being a solo electronic musician, as opposed to being in a band with other people?
I like being an electronica artist because you only use machines, and software. Machines don't argue with you or storm off in a huff when you have to play something a few times to get it right. It's also good because you don't have quarrels about key changes and what bit goes were, well only with myself (?!??!). The only detriment would be powercuts, they can be problematic...

Any other hobbies besides music?
I like to draw and paint sometimes too. I also like photography aswell.

Are there people you admire?
I admire people who are not afraid to speak out and stand up for what they believe in. I admire people with a compassionate outlook.

Do you write everything from scratch then?
Yes, every single note! I do use samples but they are mostly samples that I have made. Say for example I'll program a drum loop into my drum machine (ReBirth) then copy them as a WAV (audio format) file. Then I'll paste that into my sequencer (Cubase VST), which will be synced up to the tempo of the drum machine loop. I also record my voice, but I tend to do that through my sequencer, as Cubase allows you to record vocals. Also, this way, it allows me to get the tempo correct whilst singing, because I can hear the music through my headphones and sing into the mic at the same time.
I sometimes sync ReBirth upto Cubase and then program the drum machine and have them playing simultaneously, this is a more challenging way of programming and sequencing, but I love a challenge. The synths (ie the actual keyboard/synth parts) are all played by me.

I am a musician who is looking to work with someone, do you wish to collaborate?
I am very busy with lots of musical projects. I already collaborate with a couple of musicians. At present I am happy with this arrangement and I don't wish to add more collaborations to the broth. So I'm very sorry to say that, currently the answer has to be no.

What equipment do you use?
Mostly software (due to issues with space and money). I use Cubase SX, sometimes I use ReBirth for 303s and drums. I also have quite a collection of VST synths and effects plugins. I have a PC and midi set up, using an Edirol slave keyboard, it has 5 Octaves! :-)