Misled Convoy | Te Ahi Top 10

A stalwart of the Christchurch electronic scene, Michael Hodgson AKA Misled Convoy returns with the dub-infused remix of ‘Mr Selector’. One half of the renowned duo Pitch Black, Misled Convoy is the solo project of Douglas.

The track was initially released in 2005 by The Nomad and appears on Hodgson’s recent Translations ll remix compilation.

We caught up with Hodgson to chat about how the track came together, his production process, and collaboration.

Check out the interview below.

Congrats on taking out the top spot on the Te Ahi Top 10 this week with your remix of ‘Mr Selector’, can you tell us a bit more about who you are and what you do?

Misled Convoy is my solo project when I am not creating tunes as half of Pitch Black. 

Tell me a little bit more about how the collaboration came about with you and The Nomad?

I have always dug his vibes, he called me up one day and asked if I wanted to do a remix and I remember asking for samples from the whole album with a plan to sort of remix the whole thing but all mashed up, so this remix sort of a collision of the whole album Mr Selector was on.

The original track was released back in 2005, when did it first appear on your radar as an idea to remix?

I started this one around the time the original came out, it began as a long evolving 13 min track which I never quite got finished, then it just sat for a while. I went back to it around 2012 but never got it totally finished. Last year while in lockdown and making new remixes I decided to finish it and finally get it out there as part of my second remixes album. 

The original track has quite a reggae groove to it, what was the process you undertook when remixing it?

I set a tempo and create a dub structure so the delays are flying right from the start. Then I like to make a pile of sounds off the original samples with lots of effects which I render out, I then find combinations of sounds that work together and create a basic song structure from them. Once I have a basic idea of where it might flow I chip away till I have a song. 

‘Mr Selector’ appears on a compilation of remixes that you recently put out called ‘Translations ll’, tell me a bit more about the project as a whole?

It is the second edition of my remix series. My original solo work is quite cinematic and spatial, so the chance to work with songs that are not in my normal sonic sphere excites me. I really love taking other people’s melodies and ideas and working them into completely new tracks with my production process. Because there is already a composition, the challenge is not having the original concept, but in how I re-imagine that track into a new work, a new sound, a new state.”

What was it like collaborating with all these different artists? It seems like a pretty massive project to undertake.

The remixes were made over a few years so it was not like making an original album which is done all at once, two were made during lockdown here in the UK and the rest I have been working away on for a while. 

Tell me a bit about your production process as a whole? How do you go about starting a track?

The first thing I do is to set a tempo, I then take all the raw samples from the original song and create a folder full of processed sounds from them using the tempo and delays as sync. Once I have a palette of sounds I begin on the beats and then add the sounds. Once I have a selection of sonic objects that work together I start to create the song structure. 

What three words would you use to describe your sound?

Ambience dripping in dub 

What does the rest of 2021 have in store for you?

Currently working on a remix for Eyeliner and a new collaboration with Greig Bainbridge and Kat Five. I am also beginning the work for my third solo album. 

Check out ‘Mr Selector’ below.

The Te Ahi Top 10 is our weekly chart as voted by YOU, our audience! Presented live every Thursday 3 – 4pm on RDU 98.5FM. 

To vote for the Te Ahi Top 10 simply download the RDUnited app and click the like icon for a track you love when it’s played on air. The tune with the most likes each week will be crowned the winner! Simple as that.