Ed Bidgood AKA Edapollo is a UK native, Melbourne based producer and multi-instrumentalist. His work is a mix of atmospheric downtempo electronica and House, with organic elements that informs a human feel to his work.
Ed recently released his second album titled ‘Blue Spring’ at the end of 2021 which received widespread support from radio, tastemakers and streaming platforms including BBC Radio 1, Sirius XM, Worldwide FM, Triple J and more. He’s built a steady reputation and gained over 40 million streams across streaming platforms in the process. Ed gave us some insight into his sound and how he works.
What do you attribute to your sound and how has it evolved?
I’m always searching to create interesting new sounds and textures in my music, through experimenting with my synths and running them through different effects. For example, I often run my Juno 106, Moog Sub 37 and Korg Minilogue through my Echo Fix Tape delay and sometimes my Korg Kaoss Pad and then record extended sections of audio experimentation. I then listen back and search for small sections of interesting audio where I build loops and form them into new tracks. I find this process really inspiring and rewarding. I’m often embracing happy accidents or slight random nuances in sound, that happen when playing with the parameters of the synth combined with playing the effects unit. Over the years I think I have found a certain sound palette, but I always like to push it further by experimenting with new equipment and ideas.
2. What pieces of gear are essential to your sound?
Atmospheric synth sounds have become pretty essential to my sound, lately I’ve been gravitating towards lush, warm synth pad sounds. I find there is so much scope to experiment and get inspired by when using synths and running them through different effects. Also layering up synths with guitars and finding a balance between the two is another key part of my sound. Recently my key bits of gear would be the Juno 106, Moog Subsequent 37 and Korg Minilogue.
The Juno 106 has such a distinctive and classic sound, it’s easy to get inspired when listening to it. The Moog Sub 37 is also a very detailed synth with many sound creation options, I still feel like I’m learning how to use this synth to its full extent. I’ve seen Jon Hopkins use it as more of a rhythmic machine which is really interesting and something I’d like to explore further.
3. How does your live rig differ from your what you use in the studio?
It’s actually pretty similar but slightly more compact, in order to be portable. I use a JU-06A (rather than the Juno 106) running through an Echo Fix EF-X2 Tape Echo, a Korg Minilogue and an Ableton Push 2 controller. I also play the guitar, running it directly through Ableton and using Guitar Rig 6 to achieve different guitar tones for each track I’m playing. At my upcoming show in Melbourne, I will be using my Tape Echo unit more than I do in the studio, to create transitions and added ambiences within the set.
4. Do you hoard gear, is there an emotional connection to some instruments/music technology or hardware?
I try not to hoard gear, I often sell things if they are not getting regular usage. I don’t have too much of an emotional connection to pieces of gear, I’d much rather sell older bits that I’ve explored fully, in order to finance new gear which I can get more inspired with.
5. If you could create your ultimate instrument or piece of music gear, what would it be what would it do, and how would it work?
Ohh, tricky one! Maybe a synthesiser that has a built-in tape delay unit would be very cool. It would save me plugging in effects and is much easier to use on tour.
Who would be one artist/producer you haven’t worked with (alive or dead) that you’d love to work with?
It would be cool to jump in the studio with one of my heroes like Jon Hopkins, Tourist, Bonobo or Tycho. I think each of those producers has such a distinct style and it’d be interesting to see the way they build their tracks in a studio environment. Tycho is definitely a master of atmospheric and ambient synth sounds and I know he has a huge collection of hardware synths, so it’d be cool to see the way he uses them. Jon Hopkins also would be very interesting, I love the sounds he achieves through his Moog Sub 37, so I’m sure I could learn a trick or two from a day in the studio with him.
Edapollo launches his new live show at Colour Club in Melbourne on June 8.
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