Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category
A-Sides Interview, new album
A-Sides is one of the most prolific artists in the international drum and bass scene, touring the world almost non-stop, traveling to over 300 cities in his DJ career. He boasts releases via huge labels such as Metalheadz, Bingo, Hospital, True Playaz and Innerground, as well as his own long running Eastside imprint. More recently, he’s had his hand in starting Basshead Music, a label based out of Miami that releases dubstep, drumnbass, house and other styles of bass music.
His newest album, Worldwide, is out on Beatport now and featuring collaborations with Break, Kemo, Deeizm and MC Fats. Jason was cool enough to take the time to answer some questions about the album, his travels and give some advice for those trying to get ahead with music.
1. Your new album “Worldwide” has just dropped on Beatport – how long did the album take and where were you when you were producing the tunes?
Worldwide is a combination of tracks i have been producing over the last 2 or 3 years. Half of the tracks on it are new and exclusive and some are projects which i have had assigned to other labels such as Metalheadz or Innerground but they were never released due to scheduling issues. I decided to pull them back, Revamp them then put them onto the album.
A bulk of the tracks were written in my studio at home in London but there was also a hand full of tracks such as “White Riesling”, “Milk & Honey” and “Stop Frontin’” that were made at Basshead HQ in Miami and then brought back to my studio in the UK for a final polish. All of the vocal tracks were written and recorded from scratch at my studio in London other than “Change” and “Synthessed” which I started to write in Miami then recorded the vocals when I got back home from my travels.
2. You’ve got collaborations with Kemo, Break and a couple of other big names on the release. What was the collaboration process like? Were you working together in person or was there a lot of internet based work done?
With ” Argot” I already had a sketch written so I then had Kemo come over for the day and lay down vocals. Once I had the vocals sounding tight I worked more things around those again until the track was finished. The same with “Rebel Rouser” and “Change”. I get sketches made, then have the vocalists come over, lay down their vocals, then they normally leave me to it. Deeizm works with complex vocal structures and a lot of layers of harmonies so I really had to work on that track. Once I had dealt with the vocals I had Makoto come over and lay down some final keys and that was a wrap.
Methodus Interview, Calibre Spotlight Mix
South Florida based Methodus has been doing the damn thing for a hot minute, starting out djing electro and breaks, moving his way to drumnbass and a successful weekly show on Bassdrive.com to doing A&R for a record label.
This past weekend he recorded a rather impressive, live and unrehearsed Calibre Spotlight Mix via his Bassdrive.com radio show. You can download the mix here, and read the rest of the entry for the interview and track listing.
ill-esha Interview and new Haunted Audio release
Vancouver singer, songwriter, MC, DJ, instrumentalist and producer ill-Esha has been a mainstay on the Vancouver drum and bass scene for over a decade. One look at her Discogs.com listing or search on YouTube confirms the extent of her considerable musical experience and talent. Add audio engineer, film composer, voice actor, and jewelry designer to the mix, and ill-esha is truly a renaissance women.
Singing since she was a child in various choirs and theatre productions, ill-esha has always integrated her voice into her musical endeavors. After being told she didn’t sound “rock” enough in her garage band years, ill-esha found a more accepting home in the world of electronic music – making her first appearances in the late 90s as a vocalist and quickly picking up a set of decks to become the first female in the international drum & bass scene to simultaneously spin, sing and MC. Currently counting all styles of broken beat in her DJing repertoire, she has performed across the globe in various venues; from American raves to Asian waterparks to Canadian national television.
Interview with D-star
D-star is one of the US’s legendary Drum and Bass producers and has recently cut a multiple album deal with Foul Play Records. “Dumb It Down”, which is set to release in 2010, features his production along with collabs and remixes from the likes of 6blocc, Hulk (Claw and Richie August), Command Strange, Armanni Reign, Prolific, Cojaxx, NonStopKrooks, Zardonic, a6/Prodigal Son, Apollo, End Boss, Kice of Course and Mad Cobra.
The album is a mixture of dubstep, glitch hop, hip hop and R&B, but dubstep and east coast underground hiphop are the most prevalent sounds.The first 12” single for this album will be dropping February 2010 so keep your eyes out while shopping for tunes.
How long have you been producing and djing, and what made you get into each?
Music lovin! Been into making music as a drummer with various bands since I was 11, heard some Aphex Twin and Orb back in the day started getting into electronic music, so I became part of a radio station and ran the rpm & hip hop departments, developing Dj skills on air, meanwhile tinkering with what programs were available to me to create dance music. So I’ve been Djing and producing about the same length- 13 years or so. My first release was in 2000.
As an artist that produces drum and bass and dubstep, what are you feelings regarding accusations that DNB artists are “crossing over” into other genres just for the money or fame? Why are some people afraid of producers making more than one kind of music?
I think it’s halarious. In ten years Rusko may dominate Classical and Grooverider Waltz… Who knows who cares. An artist is an artist. Anyone producing quality shit can do whatever they want, it’s all love. Do painters get shit for sculpting when new pottery tecnniques are being explored? Do film makers get flack for changing styles? The answer is yes, but they still make history because…fuck the haters. They just mad cause shits dope. Plus I’m on a plane on no sleep so I can babble about whatever I want.
SubReachers
Hailing from Antwerp, Belgium, Tim and Matthias roam the musical halls of dubstep, techno, house and garage with finesse.
They’ve played with the likes of Silkie, Substance, Headhunter, 2562, Jack Sparrow, 2000F and Martyn; and the list goes on. Their “Bad Kids” track is fast becoming a huge hit after support by Distance on Rinse.FM.
Their Octave EP is due out on Haunted Audio this spring. Watch for big things from SubReachers this year.
What inspired you to start producing music and what are some of your influences?
We wanted the do something ‘ more ‘ with the music we were already pushing an playing out. Wanting to provide a bit of counterweight to the fast growing filth scene in Belgium was a factor to. Our influences are all over the place. We get a lot of stuff out of Soundcloud. But if you really want some name dropping here it goes: Derrick May, Marcel Detmann, Moderat, Quantec, Carl Craig, Mr Fingers, Larry Levan, Tom Trago, Motor City Soul, Beat Pharmacy, Instra:mental, Al Tourettes, Planetary Assault Systems, Luke Slater, Bill Withers, The XX, Burial, TRG, Skull Disco, Serge Gainsbourg, Mala, Coki, D Bridge, Kid Creole, Severed Heads, The Human League, S P K , Throbbing Gristle, Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Gary Numan, Breakage, Guido, Geiom, Skream, and Headhunter.
What is one of your best ‘music moments’ (ie concert/show you attended, gig you dj’d)?
Not really a fav. All of them are great in a special way. Every gig is different and has its ups and downs. That’s how it is and we like it that way.
What inspires you, musically or otherwise?
Going out. Having a laugh with friends. Talking to like minded people. Everything inspires us and influences us actually. Musically we’re influenced by old detroit, house, experimental, noise, etc, too much to mention.The good stuff ( in our vision ).
http://www.myspace.com/subreachers
http://soundcloud.com/subreachers/tracks
Read more to hear some of their tunes.
