The Reborn Identity

April 19, 2009





*Name: The Reborn Identity

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: Not by me. I'm sure some of the artists I've sampled would have some other less than complimentary names they could offer.

*Do you use a pseudonym? Yes - my name's not very rock and roll.

*Members: Gavin Burrell. It's just me, though I collaborated with others in producing the Mashed in Plastic album.

*Founding Members: That would be me.

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: Definitely "digital deconstructions". All the magic takes place on my PC.

*Another genre descriptor: I think of the music I produce as mashups. I've always preferred this to the term "bootlegs", which conjures up images of speakeasies and gangsters with tommy guns.

*Location: Manchester in the UK.

*Original Location: Originally from Glasgow in Scotland, but I've been down in Manchester for well over 20 years now.

*What is your creative/artistic background: I'm a total geek, to tell the truth, and spend a huge amount of my time tinkering around with software of one sort or another. A creative spirit, an interest in mashups and an aptitude for software came together almost by accident when I was fortunate enough to see The Eclectic Method in action. Those guys make audio and video mashups look damned easy, so when I got my hands on the right software I thought I'd give it a go. From that tentative start it's turned into an obsession that laps up pretty much all my spare time. There's rarely a time when I don't have at least a couple of audio and video projects on the go.

*History: The Reborn Identity was launched in 2007, not long after I started putting together mashups, and I've been putting out tracks pretty regularly since then. Late on in 2008 I also became part of 1086 Productions - a collaboration between Wax Audio, Colatron, Alan Black and I - to produce the David Lynch mashup album, Mashed in Plastic. That was a fantastic experience, and the response we've had since that was launched last November has been way beyond anything we could have hoped for. I'm still working on a few videos for that project, and there will hopefully be another 1086 Productions album in the not-too-distant future.

*Born: Near Edinburgh in 1977.

*Motivations: Like most people producing their own tracks, I've got a real passion for music and couldn't go more than a day without listening to something or other. Producing mashups gives me the chance to wallow in that passion, and share some of the music that I love with others, in a hopefully new and unusual way.

*Philosophy: For me, it's all about creating music that I like to listen to - if other people enjoy what I'm doing too then that's a bonus. I'm always trying to push my horizons too, trying out new techniques and styles, so it always stays fresh.

*How would you like to be remembered: If I can introduce some listeners to new artists they then go on to love, then that's all I could hope for. At the moment I seem to be known best as one of the Mashed in Plastic guys, and I'm more than happy to be remembered for that.

*Web address: www.rebornidentity.com or www.mashedinplastic.co.uk for the David Lynch mashup album.