Aphex Twin says he’d be ‘too scared’ to try online dating

[XerXes]

The reclusive producer has shared his thoughts on romance in the digital age in a new interview

Aphex Twin has revealed he would be “too scared” to try online dating.

The reclusive producer, whose real name is Richard D. James, has opened up in a new interview about his life and music, including his views on romance in the digital age.

Speaking to Crack, James discussed sampling his family’s voices in his music and the importance of formant patterns in people’s voices. “I think [it’s a factor] when you’re attracted to someone as well,” he said. “Everyone knows that you need to know if you fancy someone physically, that’s the obvious thing. The less obvious thing is if you like someone’s voice.

“Maybe smell would come second for a lot of people but I think the voice is really important as well. And this is based on no evidence at all but it’s my theory that if you don’t like someone’s voice you’re probably not a good genetic match for each other. Girls that I’ve liked, I’ve analysed their voices the way you do… well the way I do things… and I’ve seen some characteristics that are similar with [their] voices.”

As the conversation moved onto online dating, the producer explained he had never tried it but would be “too embarrassed to meet people” if he did. “I’d be too scared, I think,” he said. “But then that’s quite nice as well, isn’t it? To overcome your fears. I expect you’d get a good sense of satisfaction even after it goes wrong. Like, ‘Oh well, I did that.’ 

He continued: “I suppose with things like that you just have to not think about it, just do it. Which is the situation with so much of life. We’re thinking too much about stuff rather than just being. That can lead to a lot of problems. You just need to just do stuff. Like if you saw a girl or a boy that you fancied, if you thought about it too long you wouldn’t do anything. Eventually, the brain is just gonna talk you out of it.”

James released his latest EP ‘Collapse’ in September. A video for its track ‘T69 Collapse’ was pulled from a scheduled TV premiere at the last minute after it failed the Harding Test, which helps decide whether videos may cause a reaction in people suffering from photosensitive epilepsy.