Addison Groove: Footcrabbin'

When describing both Tony Williams' music and schedule, "fast" is an appropriate term. Jetting around the globe, the young producer known as Addison Groove and Headhunter has a habit of igniting dance floors with his quick mixing and up-tempo live sets. Ableton Live has been a central part of these live shows. "For me, the greatest thing was that it was a totally new approach to making music," explains Tony of his first encounters with Live, and the intuitiveness of clips. "[W]hen things are less visual, you hear a lot more, and get into the groove a lot faster. It's definitely helped my whole sound."

Beyond providing the backbone for his live setup, Tony also uses Live as his primary sampler in the studio. He often utilizes unusual clip lengths to compose syncopated and evolving rhythms. "One thing I do that really adds groove to the sound is playing around with the loop length," he explains. "For example, rather than having something playing for one bar, shorten it to ⅓. You find some interesting rhythms this way." Additionally, Tony triggers on uneven measures in a live setting, something which can feel a bit uncertain. "It's always unexpected," he relates, "you take a gamble hoping it's going to work, but 9 times out of 10 it really does."

Preview a new track from Addison Groove: "Starluck"

Tony's productions also feature Live's sound libraries and devices. The Drum Machines library appears frequently in his music - including on his infectious 808-smash, "Footcrab". Though he now also works with an original 808, Tony says, "I still go to many of the Ableton libraries and effects to help me out with my song making." One of Tony's favorites is the Ableton Reverb, which, he says, "cuts through on both my mixes and when playing live."

Next up for Tony is, unsurprisingly, a lot: releases on Hessle Audio and 3024, summer festival dates including Glastonbury and Melt!, and a USA tour. At some point, he's looking to find time to put together some of his tracks for another year-end release. "That's the plan for the moment," he says. "Keep things on an electro/808/juke flex."

Download "Footcrab VIP", featuring sounds from the Ableton Drum Machines library, free from Swamp 81.

Learn more about Addison Groove and his music.