City of Bass [Dispatches from DJ Mad Wax]

Anthony Rother's Return to Electro in 2013 : Perspectives

2013-07-17T11:10:00.004-06:00

For those of you aware of the hip hop scene, the legendary Dr. Dre has a mythical album called Detox that will never see the light of day. It's going on 10 years since he announced it, and much like the Detox myth, I had written off Anthony Rother ever returning to the electro scene. He did his thing, he did it better than almost anyone else outside of the mighty Drexciya and he was the driving force in the scene's second resurgence back in the mid to late 90s. His back catalogue is highly coveted among the vinyl collectors, and continues to inspire producers today.

Fastforward to 2013, and everyone perked up when Rother started posting missives that psi49net was being reactivated. Being he's a huge star (for the electronic scene, relatively speaking - we're not talking David Hasselhoff levels of stardom;) in his native Germany, it was no surprise to see a well coordinated marketing effort of posting up his old works onto soundcloud, extremely well produced video teasers ... all efforts that have stirred up electro fans up into cautious excitement. In fact, it wasn't until this video below that we actually heard real electro beats from him .. I don't think anyone believed it, myself included.

To put it in blunt terms, I'm stunned and pleasantly surprised. I've been writing at City of Bass actively on this little scene of ours since around 2010. There had been a lull in activity for the better half of the late 2000s, with the scene held together by a small group of dedicated producers, labels and artists, but I've always felt that a resurgence was on the way. Led in part by seeing several highly prominent former drum n' bass producers flipping their own takes on the electro sound, and held down as ever by the mighty Dave Clarke, electro has been doing okay. But with Rother's return, I'm truly excited - if he does well and the sound is embraced not just by the dedicated fanatics but his entire fan base, we might see a general rise in interest in all of the scene's main active labels and producers and DJs. Kind of like trickle down economics ;)

I'm probably being overly positive, but this is a good look for our scene. Anthony Rother - we salute you. Bring it.

City of Bass: I flux with it if its kopfnicken. Follow along via twitter, facebook or the RSS feed

Dagobert & Kalson - Astronaut EP - Dominance Electricity

2011-07-23T14:32:00.001-06:00

I might ruffle a few feathers here, but I would put forth that Dominance Electricity is probably the pre-eminent label in the electro scene these days. Absolutely zero shots at any of the other labels, because as all the readers of CoB know, I push sounds from everyone who's doing anything in this little scene or ours.. but when I say pre-emiment, I mean absoolute presence in the sense of branding, A&R development, graphic design and presentation... and releasing big albums.

Are they the Metalheadz of our scene? Who knows, I've gone on a tangent when I really mean to be telling electro heads that the new Dagobert & Kalson EP is on some serious electro business. What I find most interesting about this record, and in general across most of the DE releases, is that they really capture this crazy vibe of modernizing the classic electro sound. This s--t doesn't sound old school, it doesn't sound new school... it just sounds like what one images electro would sound like in 2011 if you were pontificating on that in 1991.

It's the future, rooted in the past. There's a Polish word that applies here... korzenie. The direct translation is roots, but it's not just that - you can tell these are cats who follow the Rakim school of thought - know where you're from but it's where your at that counts.

Dagobert and Kalson deliver big on this release, and it's well worth your time to listen through, minimize those browser windows and just crank it and let it seep in. Light on up, crack one open, or practice your breathing techniques if you're on the natural tip. Recommended. Out now and available digitally as well is various other formats.

Dagobert & Kalson - Astronauten EP Medley (Dominance Electricity) by TRICKLZ!

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with Paul Blackford [Militant Science Records]

2011-05-16T07:33:00.003-06:00

For the next edition of my on-going series of conversations with electro DJs, producers and scene-makers, I travel virtually to the United Kingdom to sit down and have a chat with producer, DJ and label boss Paul Blackford of the mighty Militant Science Records.

For those of you who follow the modern electro scene, you will know that Blackford/Militant Science releases crop up on DJ playlists regularly, destroy bassbins worldwide, and in general funk you up and smack you down. I'm pleased to bring this City of Bass exclusive interview to you.

First things first, for those who don't know you, tell the City of Bass readers a little about yourself...

I'm originally from Chertsey in Surrey which is on the outskirts of London. Growing up I was into Hip Hop and early rave music. I've always liked making my own music from a very young age... I used to jam along to tracks using a s--ty casio keyboard and then got into using tracker based music programs on the Amiga Computer back in the early 90's. I'm constantly coming up with beats and baselines' in my head so thats what drives me to produce.

Man I think everyone back in the day started on Casio! So what's your background with electro music specifically? How'd you get involved?

I heard a lot of tracks in the mid 90's that sampled elements of old electro tracks. The first record I ever brought was '20 Seconds to Comply' by Silver Bullet and since then I've always been into broken beats and hip hop. I was lucky enough to be growing up during the early 90's before dance music had been diluted by the mainstream and big record companies.

I suppose my first taste of modern electro was 8 track music for sound systems on Fuel Records; I was really influenced by the tracks that Keith Tenniswood produced as Barge Charge and Radioactiveman. After hearing those tracks on that release I wanted to try making music that sounded like it. The turning point though was picking up the Breakin' MPC trax by EDMX, got inspired and finally, I sent Breakin' a demo of '1991'.

Did Ed provide any input and guidance for you? Obviously he dug it enough to get you signed.....

The original demo for '1991' was an 8 track album but the tracks ‘Don’t touch that Dial’ and ‘Just Feel It’ were dropped early, which was a joint decision between Ed and myself as they were weak compared to the other 6 tracks. Ed helped refine the tracks for '1991', pointing out to me some suggestions of edits and changing levels in the mix. Ed pointed me in the direction that I needed to be in and I’m eternally grateful for his help in getting my first release together.

There's nothing like having someone established in the game helping out younger artists. I love it when artists put there ego's aside and share that knowledge.. since we're talking records, tell me about your studio and production philosophy - how do you make these records? Whats your process?

I've never been one of these people that's got to have the latest piece of software or hardware, I find that the people you meet that are always buying new equipment and software on a regular basis usually make the worst music because they never really learn how to use the stuff they get. I like to keep things simple, I make a beat then add some bass then stick in some other sounds over the top.

the studio

No doubt. Some of the best records were made using second-hand gear that often times was broken, or limited in some way. The plethora of VSTs makes it really easy to get lost in that box and endlessly noodle with sounds. I recently reviewed your latest album and I mentioned there that I was wondering if you were running masters out to a tape or analog gear, you’ve got this crunchy sound to that record.. can you share a bit more detail on your production process?

For the latest material I’ve been using Nord Lead emulation VST to create synth parts and using my collection of sampled drum machine sounds. The samples I use are always mono and at 16bit. The machines that I sampled from were old analogue, one’s that gave out some fuzz; I think it’s important to keep that in a sample. I never use anti-aliasing or exciters to make stuff sound cleaner. I just don’t see the point of being anal over bit rates and getting the sound really clean, it’s supposed to be played so loud that you end up feeling it more than hearing it.

You've been a force on the electro scene for a while - you have a real distinct sound in your own productions, and on top of that run Militant Science. I read somewhere your mission was to bridge the sounds of electro bass with the intensity of drum n bass - can you speak directly to that and how that influences your music?

When I first started Militant Science I was looking to set up a platform for Electro music that was above 150bpm and in theory could be mixed easily with Drum n Bass. I soon found that I was being sent tracks with the same rawness of fast electro but at slower tempo's. Which is why the mission has had to slightly change.

So what’s the mission now, and more to the point how are you staying so consistent with the quality of releases. Do you find producers are submitting music with a 'Militant Science' sound? Or are you vetting and the label’s taking on your A & R ear, so to speak...

The mission is to provide decent quality Electro to the world. I'm lucky to be sent amazing music from very talented people, I pick the tunes that I like and put them out on the label. For most of the time all the music I'm sent by the regular MS artists makes it onto the label, I think they know the score when it comes to what I'm going to like.

Now and then as with most labels I get sent music by time wasters who are sending out their music to every label they can find without listening to the music the label has already released.

That reminds me of how special I feel when I get a Soundcloud private track that's shared with me and 4857 other people. Your tagline for Militant Science is 'Global Electro Bass Terrorists'. Does it every piss you off that we've all had to resort to calling our genre of choice "electro ----- bass, funk, etc etc" since the house people took over the name?

It doesn't worry me too much because in a few years we'll be looking back on electro house the same way we look back at electro clash these days.

Skinny jeans and cocaine man ;) Since our initial conversation, you've changed Militant Science into a Creative Commons net-label. Usually the process is the other way around, can you dig into why you decided to go that direction and just put the music out there for free?

I can tell you from my experience in running City of Bass, I really push reviews and new music and focus on directing visitors to legitimate retailers where labels and artists can make what little scratch they can. I can't tell you how many visits come in from 'title-artist' searches appended with +.rar or +.free search strings... nobody wants to pay for music these days..is this a pre-emptive Militant Science strike?

The decision to change the label into a netlabel came about from finding the Militant Science releases being shared on blogs and forums wholesale. Pretty much every release was available for free from somewhere on the net and you didn't even have to really dig for it... I was finding that the second and even first result in google for each release pointed towards a free rapid share,mega upload or hot file download.

I went through the long process of contacting all the websites asking for the files to be removed from the servers, they took them down and then almost immediately the files were re-uploaded.

Weak.

I was around my wife’s parents house a few weeks later and her younger 14 year old brother was on the home computer listening to tracks on YouTube, racking up playlists of music and streaming it off the computer through his stereo. I realised that this is what’s going on now, why bother buying music when you can get it for free off a blog and stick it on your MP3 player or listen to it whenever you want off YouTube or SoundCloud? I thought f--k it just give the music away, it's the way forward.

The decision to change to a free netlabel has been in my opinion the making of the label - I'm a lot happier with the way it's moving now, and at the end of the day it's a case of if you can't beat 'em join 'em. I think in the next few years people will just stream music off the internet and not even bother downloading MP3's, with the next generation of mobile phones and small tablet PC's you can stream music anywhere.

It's an interesting take..we're definitely in changing times and I'm curious to see how it will all fall out. But I'll tell you what, with you making a move like this, I definitely feel like you've helped bring a sense of legitimacy to the net-label concept. I say that only in the sense of there's always been this perception of net-labels being ambient noodling or amateur hour, but then here's Militant Science bringing down the electro hammer. Brilliant.

Given how much time it takes to run a label, how do you balance the challenges of being a label owner and of being an artist?

I think I learnt a lot of lessons from co-running Bass Gun Records with Smashback. If your going to start a label then think carefully about what you want from it. For me it's a way of releasing my own music and that of others quickly and easily without having to deal with usual bulls--t from a label. I started off using distribution then moved on to only dealing with Junodownload and finally ended up going down the free netlabel route.

Unfortunately for me the business side of music seems to be full of shady characters. Everything goes sour when money comes into the equation, I think with this style of music you end up doing it for love not money.

I absolutely agree with you. With the current state of things in context, it's surreal to think back when you had all the dnb guys getting signed to major labels and pissing off in Ferarri's and M3s. Tell me about your most recent artist release [Editors note: This interview was conducted in part before the release of the album, which I reviewed here ]

My next release on the label is an album called 'Sub Mission'. There's no hidden meanings or messages in the music, it's just music to blast out loud and dance to.

I spent a week going though some old DVD's like Predator, Star Wars, The Thing and The Warriors stealing vocal cuts and sound effects and made up a few tracks using the best snippets. Some of the samples are obvious but some are well hidden.

Anything you want to share about your most recent Militant Science releases that are from other artists?

I'm really pleased that I've had the honor of putting out music by such a wide range of talented artists from all over the globe. Coming up there's albums from Scape One, Soundex Phonetic and also some new EP's from Chordata, Oort Cloud and Melogik.

I always ask this question of everyone I interview - what do you think about the state of the electro scene and where it's going?

Same as it's been for the past 10 years, It's always there in the background. People who listen to it do so because they truly love it and not because it's popular or what Mixmag has told them is cool.

I feel you on that, like a lot of underground music genre’s, there always seem to be some pillars of the community, so to speak, that hold the torch and keep the flame alive. I’ve found it most exciting to see so many talented newcomers in the last few years that are getting me more amped and who are rekindling my love affair with electro. Speaking of, I’d like to get your thoughts on the top newcomers to the electro scene to look out for? Artists or labels or cities doing their thing?

I can't pick any particular artists as there are so many good ones out there but labels to watch are Micron Audio Detroit, Transient Force, Napalm Enema and also look out for Antizer0. The artists on these labels are the one's pushing Electro forward in my opinion.

Share any night spots, cafe's, coffee shops or record stores/clubs in your city that visitors should know about?

There's not much here to be honest and the nightlife is non existent, but there's a Wimpy burger restaurant thats worth checking out.

Ha! Fair enough. Where can bassheads find you on the web?

The best place to find me and also to get in touch regarding demo's for Militant Science is via my Facebook Page

Thanks for taking the time to let heads know a little more about you, to wrap up, what's next for Paul Blackford, from an artist perspective and what's next for Militant Science?

No worries its a pleasure, Well I spose I'll continue to make beats, remix tracks and put mixes together. And Militant Science will go on to become the most powerful force in the universe and take over the world, so nothing that exciting really.

The back catalogue is pretty much now online minus the material from the artists that didn't want to have their music released for free. And of course, Militant Science will continue to release new music. Big respect to everyone who downloads, plays out and supports music from Militant Science and it's artists. Without you we would not exist.

Be sure to check out everything Militant Science related at the official site. Mad respect to Paul Blackford for taking the time, and thanks to all of you for reading.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

To netlabel or not......

2011-02-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

Paul Blackford's recent move to change his excellent label Militant Science into a netlabel got me thinking about the idea of free music.

While I don't know Paul's particular motives behind this move, I've been operating Vocode Records as a netlabel since the beginning. There's a reason for that, and aside from the ultimate goal of getting my own music out there, as well as enable other artists who may not have a name to get some exposure to the Vocode and City of Bass audience, a lot of it has to do with time, cost and money.

If you are passionate about music, but you have a regular life and a regular job to pay the bills, perhaps a family, I can definitely see going the netlabel route. That's not to say traditional label operator's aren't grinding 9-to-5, but for me the netlabel route was the choice. I probably honestly have 4 hours a week for myself these days, but I digress. There's of course the artistic view that artists should be compensated for their work, and I absolutely and emphatically agree with this. It's why you don't see free download hulkshare or zshare links on City of Bass, but rather links to reputable legitimate ways to purchase music. As an aside, I won't tell you how much of the search traffic I see coming to this site comes from 'artist + title' search strings appended with 'free download', or '.rar', or '.zip'. It's depressing.

Originally, the netlabel scene blossomed from a sense of community and heads who just wanted to get their music out there. The stigma associated with netlabels, however, became one of too much s--t music, and too much ambient noodling. There's a lot of folks who won't take music seriously if it comes out on a netlabel. That said, some of these same folks don't have a problem downloading pay-label music illegally for free. So if that's the case, I can absolutely see why you'd sidestep the entire issue. I know there are some artists who see good money from their music releases, and that's fantastic. But I would venture to say that's the exception and not the rule - unless you have a name and a brand, it's hard to make a dent out there with all the noise.

Going further along the stigma issue, what then do you make of a label like Militant Science going this route? You can't knock their solid reputation or the music or the artists, because Militant Science has been putting out bangers from day one, from respected artists. And they're continuing to do so, but under the creative commons guise. I really see it as a positive, because it gives credence to the entire netlabel idea for those who look down on the concept.

And let's be honest, there's not too many artists who are paying to have their music professionally mastered. Mastering is not dumping presets on T-Racks and tweaking a few knobs... perhaps I'm just picky, but I'll tell you that I can pick out who's paying for pro-mastering and who's jacking pre-sets. Maybe your average punter doesn't care, but I do.

And why would you drop the significant coin on getting your music professionally mastered if the end result is your tunes appearing on endless free download links?

I don't know where I'm going to take Vocode Records. I don't get too much time to even produce anymore, much less make mixtapes. Between all the work I do that pays for my family to have bread on the table and a roof over their head, and the small amout of free time I have, all I want to do is to enjoy making music, and I want it to be heard, not rot away on a hard-drive. I don't have time for proper promotion, running the accounting, networking with distributors, and all that other s--t it takes to run a label properly. Will I make the time eventually? Perhaps, I've got an idea for releasing a vinyl album at some point. But it's more just to do it, and I have to be honest - this thought is always in my head "why drop all the coin and energy into making a traditional label if it's just going to wind up chilling on megashare". If it's just so that some heads take my label "seriously" but then download my music for free anyway, I don't see the point.

I know I get a fair amount of visitors to this site, and I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on netlabels, free music, and your thoughts on the matter. If you've taken the time to read this far, drop a comment and let me know. I'm damned curious.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A Conversation with Morphogenetic, the man behind FBI Recordings

2011-02-14T00:01:00.028-07:00

On this next installment of my series of interviews with electro producers, DJs and scene-makers, I sit down with FBI Recordings label boss Santino Fernandez. Raised in Colombia, and now residing in Virginia, Morphogenetic stays busy as a producer, head of FBI Recordings and contributor and partner in Technobass.net, which is run by his wife Stjarna. With that, let's get into it.

Santino, welcome to City of Bass, and thanks for taking the time to chat with me. First things first, tell the readers a little bit about yourself and your background...

My name is Santino Fernandez. I am originally from Takoma Park, Maryland, but I grew up in Colombia, South America. I moved there when I was a year old and returned in 1991, so to me it is as if I had been born there. I currently reside in Charlottesville, Virginia U.S.A., which is a small mountain college town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is where the Declaration Of Independence was written, and home of the University Of Virginia.

I’m always curious to hear how music-lovers became so, how did it spark with you?

My passion for music is a bit of an enigma really, something hard to put into words...I'll try my best! Since I was kid, i was exposed to many different kinds of music, from Colombian folklore music, to 80's New Wave and Rock. One thing was for sure, and it is that music did something to me, it moved me. In the 90's when i got into the Rave scene, I had a lot of very intense psychedelic spiritual experiences that made me come to the conclusion that my calling in life was music, and that i needed to use it to bring positivity and emotional stimulation to the masses.

After realizing Y2K had just been a bunch of hype, and after 9/11 happened, it all began to make much more sense to me. I knew that the world truly needed people doing things to help bring about change, and this was were it all fit in with music for me. I knew I wasn't alone, and that it wasn't gonna be easy, but I wasn't about to sit back and allow the negativity to consume me and everyone around me.

Tell me, what's your background with electro music specifically? How did you get involved?

I had been exposed to electro funk music around 1994; different friends would play it for me, but I never really knew its history, I just knew I loved the sound of it. In South Florida, where I spent my teenage years, the rave scene was composed of mainly breaks, but a lot of these so called "breaks", were actually old school Electro Funk beats, mixed together with a little bit of Miami and Detroit techno bass, as well as Florida funky breaks.

Around '98 I began to heavily collect titles from the label "Breakin' Records", primarily the sounds of Mandroid. This was really the turning point for me. The music of Ed DMX and Bass Junkie was amazing to me, but Mandroid's compositions were unique and extraordinary, dug deep into my soul and made me realize that this was the sound I was looking for.

What made those Mandroid records pop for you?

Mandroid’s music is just powerful, the melodic arrangements that he puts together are on another level. I have always said that he is like Beethoven or Mozart reborn...he makes brilliant masterpieces. The notes he plays come from some place familiar, but at the same time it is a place none of us understand except for him. It also can tend to have this Egyptian or Arabian feel to it, which was one of the main things that got me. Being a big fan of Egyptian and Ancient Sumerian history, that type of sound really spoke to me.

I guess it could be said there is something ancient and very wise about his music. At the same time, he has good techniques, not overdone in any way, and he gets sort of playful and funky, which balances everything out in a really cool way. Perhaps the most stand out record by him would be his first on Breakin’, "Retrospect", which is very deep and has a really strong message about his own dedication to the scene, and how music plays such an important role in that...sends shivers down my spine!

I love that Arabian vibe. The Blastromen release from 2010 had elements of this as well. So bouncing off of that, let's jump into your studio, What gear and software do you use daily?

Well, my studio is quite simple really. I use a laptop with Cubase 2.0, Reason, Rebirth, FM7/8, Pro 52/53, Moog Modular, etc, but most importantly, the Sonnox Oxford mastering plug-ins and the D16 Nepheton; which is such a realistic emulator of the 808.

Morphogenetic's Studio

No doubt, there's a lot of VST developers about, but the D16 crew really come correct with their suite of.. you can't even call it emulations really..enhancements rather of the original Roland hardware suite. What else?

Besides Cubase, Nepheton, and the Oxford plug-ins, the other stuff is for back up, because I make 90% of all my music these days with a Korg MS 2000, along with a Microkorg. I also just purchased a pair of Roland Cakewalk monitors, which I am very happy with.

Tell me about your production philosophy - how do you make these records? whats your process?

As far as philosophy, to me music is all about melodies and depth. I always start with a nice beat, something to groove to while I find the feel. I'll begin to do a string by hand, just freestyling, and then go from there. I approach making music with a tremendous respect for classical music theory, so I will write everything in relation to its foundation and focus solely on the actual melodic structure first. The spacey abstract stuff comes in last, once I have all that figured out and it is time to add a little funkiness.

You’ve done some outstanding remixes. Tell me about your approach when doing these for other artists.

Well, again, its all about the melodic stuff to me. If the original track was not very melodic to begin with, then I try and compose a very strong structure out of the notes used on what was given to me, otherwise I just add some accompaniments to complement the original, along with a new beat. I never use the original beats, in fact, I always tell the artist not to even bother sending drum samples.

That’s interesting. I always start with their original drums but I freak them so much they’re unrecognizable, and minimal in the overall mix - kind of my way of leaving an element of the artist’s “drum funk” stamp if you will... but I can definitely see how it’d be liberating to do it in this way. Other than doing your own music and remixes, i know you stay busy with your own label, FBI Recordings. Can you go into why did you decided to start the label?

I always dreamed of having a label, it was in many respects as important to me as making music. Being that I felt that my music was something very important to me in terms of spreading positivity, I knew I couldn't do it alone, and that I owed other artists for the inspiration they gave me to do this to begin with. In a way it was about giving back, but it was also about helping direct the conceptual artistry of people's music, so that it would convey a strong message.

How do you pick out tracks in terms of what you want to put out?

Many labels just pick tracks that are "hot", or that "will sell". We pick tracks based on their meaning, and their relation to one another, so that it creates a concept E.P. or album. We don't wonder if it will sell, we just believe in what impact the music will have, and that is enough for us.

So what are you looking for when deciding to do a drop?

FBI is not your usual label, the only other label i have ever known that you could say has a very similar philosophy is Underground Resistance. Our purpose however, is to tell a story, to explain the history of humankind and where we are headed, what we truly belong to, and why it is important to understand this. All of our records, from the first, to the newest being published as we speak, follow a sequence in storytelling, all of them using sacred geometry or symbology to tell this story and prepare you for the next. At the same time, we see ourselves as a force that is fighting the elite and their master plan to control the world and create ignorance amongst the people, so we do get a little political and rebellious.

Who are some of the artists on the label?

Until recently, we knew that we needed to build a strong reputation, so people would want to listen to us. From the very start, we were incredibly fortunate to get a bunch of material from Sbles3plex, Dark Vektor and Mandroid, so we wanted to focus on getting this stuff out first, being that these artists themselves had a strong reputation already. We are now entering a phase where we are beginning to release and seek out material from up and coming artists, so one of the aspects of our mission is beginning to come true.

What’s cooking as far as upcoming releases?

The new FBI release, which is about to be announced, is by Kosmozo, who you may remember from Dona-li Records a few years back. After that we have an E.P. by MicroControlUnit, and following that a solo project by one of the artists from Kosmozo, Voehn.

Looking forward to hearing these mate. From first hand experience, I know that running your own label can be challenging. Can you share with the readers your story of operating the label - in particular, for example, I imagine it's hard to balance running the label and being an artist as well - can you talk a little bit about this from that perspective?

Well, from the very get go I have tried to make this all as simple as possible on myself and my partner/wife Starrie. Throughout the 7 years we have been doing this, we have also been going to school, working full time, moving to a new state, etc...so! As you can imagine, when you also add trying to make music and meet deadlines, it all begins to get a little unbearable.

The other part of it is that our particular style of electro music doesn't make very much money, which, even though we are anti-commercialism and do not care about profit, it does make it very hard to continue pressing vinyl or CDs if you continue to loose a vast amount of money.

Honestly I'd venture to say that hardly any styles of electro make money in these times, it's why I can't really fault some bigger names from the electro scene expanding and making different styles...but I digress, go on....

Well, this is one of the main reasons why we only release about one title a year; also because we have not wanted to completely go digital. It has always felt as if we would somehow be demoted. That's not to say digital labels are in any way below vinyl ones, its just that when you have been a solely vinyl label, its hard to give up on that. Maybe its a vinyl junkie's mind talking, i don't know.

FBI Recordings discography

That’s a tough one for sure.. I’m an old vinyl DJ, but it is definitely hard to justify the cost - but I’ll tell you as a consumer, it’s hard to drop 12 to 15 USD for a vinyl. The flip side of that though, digital releases are so here-one-minute-gone-the-next, you know what I mean? Anyway, can you share any advice for newcomers who are thinking of doing their own label?

My advice to newcomers in someways depends on where you live, things are a little different in the US as opposed to Europe. In the US, we only have one good Electronic Music distributor, and that is Crosstalk in Chicago. Europe has a wide variety of them, and they have all proven to be worthwhile. I would say this: Only do a label if you really care about the music, not the money or popularity...say something! The power is in your hands. Pick the music that really means a lot and also pounds the dancefloor at the same time.

Most importantly, give the artist the opportunity to express themselves by truly listening to what they are saying in their overall productions, and find a "happy medium", that wraps their overall message in a nutshell.

As far as pressing, if you are in the US, go digital, but master your stuff well and have really good artwork; maybe try Templeplate's on demand vinyl service, so some people can still get wax. If you are willing to risk it, press 100-200 copies and try to hustle them through your website and forums. In Europe, it's the same except you can actually press a bit more records and sell them because there are more distros...one big thing though: stay on top of your distributors and be confident, your music is worthwhile if you believe in it; don't take no for an answer.

How about advice for new artists shopping their music to labels? What can they do to stand out?

All you can really do is make sure you are not copying anyone, refine your craft Jedis! Make sure what you do is powerful and stands out because it is unique and truly means something. Other than that, it is like swimming in a school of fish trying to go hunting for food...survival of the fittest!

It isn't easy, there are many people doing this today. Do not give up whatever you do, and do not do this for money! If someone is willing to release you on vinyl and doesn't offer much or anything at all in terms of money, do it no matter what, get your names out there. When you establish yourselves, you will have more leverage to make demands. This isn't the commercial music scene, most labels aren't making money anyway, why should you; its about the love of the music. Work together as a community.

Now digital labels however, have little overhead, so get contracts and take no less than 50/50 if possible. Otherwise you are being ripped off. Believe me, they are getting something, and it deserves to go to you as well.

Great advice. I remember years ago, a few of my mates had a chance to do a remix for a fairly big house music label, and mind you this is in the days when vinyl was still big and CDs weren’t even popping. One of them threw a hissy fit about getting paid and all this nonsense when they were nobodies, and the label just took their remix off the releases. Poof, like that their shot was gone. It’s not a question of just giving everything away for free, but you need to know where you’re at in the game. So now that we've covered the label side of your life, let's talk about you as an artist. Tell me, what are you up to currently in the studio?

Right now I am actually in the middle of doing a lot of remixes, which has been a great opportunity for me and has helped me truly find my style much deeper than ever before. I just finished a remix for Darxid's song "You", which should be out soon. I am now trying to polish a remix for Umwelt, then on to one for Devine Disorder's Zerodouble, and after that an E.P. that Prototype and I are working on for his label Battery Park.

Once all of this is all said and done, I will move on to finishing an album I started a couple years ago called "Harmonic Defiance". I consider this my manifesto, my most important message to everyone as we head into some of craziest times we will ever experience in our lifetimes. I am trying to keep things dancefloor friendly, but attain a dramatic and profound melodic element within the music and the lyrics. Some of the tracks actually have my voice barely vocoded, a little Detroit styled, but different. No singing, I don't sing.

So far its coming along great, but there have been hurdles. Half of these tracks were actually done using mostly a computer, then I had a crisis of sorts where I found myself needing to become more hands on with my music. Now most of it is done by hand. I sort of had to change my entire approach to making music because i had gotten sick of the way i did things, so Ii had quit for a few weeks until I realized what I needed to do to start over fresh. I am glad I did it though, I have been able to take things to a whole new level and it has proven to be a good thing.

I'm definitely looking forward to hearing this when you're done! Moving on, as I’ve been doing this series of conversations with electro heads, I always ask: what do you think about the state of the electro scene and where it's going?

I have been very pleased with the past few years and where things have been going. For sometime it seemed like things that gotten overly focused on glitch and technicality, which was fine, there is an amazing aspect to what can be done with the new technologies, and I am sure this was a path the music took to explore this. The thing that concerned me is that things had sort of lost the soul, the melodic element that moved you and gave the music meaning. There were artists and fans of the music alike who were saying that "music" was formulaic and boring, that it was all about making music with abstract sounds. This really bothered me.

Growing up on the sounds of Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, and of course having been an old school Rave kid, i was all about the soul, the feeling. I knew that there could be a balance, and that it would take things to a new level. In many ways this is something that i am trying to achieve with my music and our label...balance!

In the last 2 years or so, i have noticed a strong resurgence in soulful music, and the amazing thing is that it carries that balance I talk about. Take a look for example at Blastromen, if that is not balance at its very best, i dont know what is. I have been running around like a little kid since their album came out, fascinating stuff...a testament to how you can accomplish strong melodic structures, with brilliant technicality. (Read the City of Bass review of the Blastromen album here, and Morphogenetic's review here) Yeah, I think things are headed in the right direction, i feel something brewing, something strong.

Any thoughts on the top newcomers to the electro scene to look out for?

Well, as I mentioned, Blastromen is everyone's must! On top of that there are many great artists like MicroControlUnit, Rogue Frequency, DJ R21, Spectrums Data Forces, Defekt, Prototype, and so many more its impossible to mention. its a good time for the scene. Label-wise, I would say New Flesh is on top of its game, Binalog Productions, Devine Disorder, Dominance Electricity, etc.

How about geographically?

As far as locations, the US isn't doing as well as Europe, but it seems like Detroit is still ticking as it always did, Florida has a nice little scene, North Carolina as well. Lately I have also been noticing Denver, Colorado beginning to get strong. Virginia where we are at it's just us really, there are some scattered folks around, but we don't know them except for a guy that goes by the name of EMZ, might be a good name to look for in the future. Europe like I said is doing very well, all countries seem to have small but interconnected scenes with the others, lots of going back and forth. Perhaps because their economies are in better shape.

Can you share any night spots, cafe's, coffee shops or record stores/clubs in your city that visitors should know about?

As I said, this town has no electro funk or techno bass music besides us, and we just haven't focused much on playing out. There is definately a small electronic music scene, but its mostly techno, house, and some other stuff. Perhaps in the future we might try and do something, get a nice little scene started.

Record shops are actually more prevalent here than most cities this day in age, however, they dont sell much of our style of music. You can find FBI records there though! Richmond has a nice little store called Turnstyle Records that does carry tons of used stuff, anywhere from Elektrix, to Electronic Corporation. Not sure what that means, obviously that people buy the music in the area, why they get rid of it beats me. Perhaps they switched to digital and dumped their vinyl.

Out of my old DJ crew, I think it's only myself and one other cat who's hoarding the precious black records.. a lot of heads have been dumping vinyl. But that's only good for real vinyl heads! For those who are not up on your sites yet, where can bassheads find you on the web?

Our label site is: http://www.fbirecordings.com/, and of course, our new portal that has been gaining lots of momentum is at: http://www.technobass.net/. I do the articles for the site, which is mainly my partner's. We kind of traded talents, she helped me with FBI, I helped her with Technobass.

Thanks for taking the time to let heads know a little more about you. To wrap up, what's next for Morphogenetic as an individual artist, and what's next for FBI Recordings?

Well, as I said earlier, there is a new remix of Darxid's "You" about to drop, as well as a remix for Grow's "Tissue Replacement" track that will be released on a remixes album called "Immortality Recalculated", after that there will be a remix for Umwelt on his New Flesh label, and following that either a remix for the British artist Zerodouble on Devine Disorder Records, or an E.P. on Battery Park Studio that Prototype and I are writing together; depends which one is finished first i guess. After that, I am gonna finish my album "Harmonic Defiance", to make sure it is out early 2012...wish me luck, this one is a challenge!

FBI has a new E.P. coming out by the group Kosmozo, which will be out on vinyl around February 10th, after that we will be getting geared up for MicroControlUnit's, and our new sub-label Techno Bass Music, which will have a remixes E.P. of my song "Techno Bass Is Back". Remixers are DJ Di'jital, Sbles3plex, and DJ Xed...stay tuned!"

Thanks for taking the time to interview me, i appreciate it! Keep up what you are doing, and that goes for everyone! Let's keep building. :)

Big things coming from Morphogenetic, make sure to stay on top of http://www.fbirecordings.com/ and http://www.technobass.net/ for all the latest and greatest.

You can order 12" from FBI's back catalogue at http://www.crosstalkintl.com/ and http://www.templeplate.com/ . For the digital heads, check the back and current catalogue available via Juno and other digital outlets.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Scape One - Stellar Remnants - Militant Science

2011-01-12T12:12:00.050-07:00

Not too long ago, I dropped a fairly extensive and in-depth interview with UK electro producer Scape One as part of my conversations with series.

I always ask artists I'm interviewing about their upcoming projects, and 'Stellar Remnants' on Militant Science Records was one of several that he mentioned. That album dropped last week on January 4th, and I'm having a damn good time writing tonight thanks to the one and only Kurt Baggaley.

Scape One is a prolific producer, as can be evidenced by his extensive back catalogue, much of which he is re-releasing digitally thanks to the self-distribution model of bandcamp. This is a man that is clearly in love with making music, and without sounding like too much of a gushing fanboy, I will say that he's one of those rare artist's who's music I can confidently buy without even having to listen to the tracks before hand.

This is a deep, brooding electronic music album - yes, it's full of the electro sounds that most readers of this blog love so much, but it's not formula driven... it's deep analogue goodness mixed with just the right amount of bangers for dance-floor DJs. From hard records that open the album up, to the headphone phreak flavors of 'Kinetic' and 'Stellar Remnants' to the pure weed-laced funk vibe of 'Sunk'... I don't need to write anymore and describe these records, listen for yourself, and go cop that. This is a superior album..... and recommended.

City of Bass picks: An Unearthly Child, Kinetic, Being, Stellar Remnants, Sunk, Geometrix, Fightmode, This Immortal

Related: Scape One features on City of Bass

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Paul Blackford - Submission - Militant Science

2011-01-10T03:03:00.041-07:00

Swinging bouncing funk balls that move and glide, a groove with a pimp walk. Paul Blackford's new album 'Submission', released on his own label imprint Militant Science, keeps on stretching the boundaries while remaining firmly planted in the roots of electro.

This is futuristik funk with a dark edge, wrapped in the grit of city streets... in these digital times, so much music has this polished sheen and sound to it, it's kind of like that crap modern paint on automobiles that results in the orange peel effect. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check a modern BMW or Honda Accord in the sun sometime.

It's not that polished records are bad, but sometimes you want it funked up - i think I'm suffering from an over-abundance of HD, perfect DJ sets with no mixtakes, and just the word digital, but I digress. Blackford's records have a unique sound, so much so that the audio nerd in me has to ask if he's processing the final outputs through analog gear or some computer emulation.

The entire album is 100% pure unkut, but if I had to pick just one cut off of the entire project, it'd be 'Jungle Funk'. That bassline is incredible, and what I call a 'walking bass' - if you've got your crowd locked, watch this record's effect on the floor. Guaranteed ass shaking.

The year's starting off with a bang with so much good music; Submission is out now via Juno Download, and recommended listening.

City of Bass picks: Sub Mission, Bubble City, Destroy The Mothership, Jungle Funk, Electro Transmat, Syntax Error

Related: Militant Science features on City of Bass

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

The curse of game-changing music albums....

2011-01-08T21:39:00.003-07:00

Rupert Parkes is kind of like the electronic music version of Nas and Dr. Dre. Nas has never been able to live up to the expectations set forth by his masterpiece album 'Illmatic'. Dr. Dre will never live up to the expectations for 'Detox', his long and often delayed follow-up to the legendary '2001'.

And we all know what happened when Axl Rose finally quit effing around and released 'Chinese Democracy'

Photek's music touched so many people, and he was releasing solid 100% raw bangers for so many years, that people really bugged out when he dissappeared to the US to pursue who knows what. While the crazy "I've-gone-hollywood" interview vibe didn't help at all, I can't really fault anyone for pursuing their dream. If it's in Hollywood so be it. Now he has finally returned, and you can listen to his new offering at the end of this blog drop, a cut off of an EP scheduled to come out in February of 2011.

I dig it - I can hear elements of the Photek sound, but it's a totally different direction. But then I'm not a stan; apparently the pain is being felt greatly all around the drum n bass circles where every night they worship at the alter of 'Ni ten ichi ryu'

Let's be honest, even if he created a brand new classic Photek sounding album today, in 2011; if Nas did the same with Illmatic, or Dre with his classics... these same stans would tear it apart.

You can't live in the past. Respect it, learn from it, but move forward. This is the same reason I'm not mad at Rother for developing his sound - I'm glad he made those electro classics in the 90s, but I'm also glad he's making money in 2011 from the music scene.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with Glasgow electro producer Galaxian

2010-12-20T00:32:00.002-07:00

For the next edition of my on-going series of conversations with electro DJs, producers and scene-makers, I travel virtually to the city of Glasgow to sit down with a producer who's steadily been making waves with a series of releases that are catching the attention of electronic music fans worldwide. I've reviewed his work in the past, and the common thread continues to be that he's not afraid to tear apart genre's.

As a producer who's busy creating his own unique sound and movement, I was very excited that Galaxian took the time to do this next interview for the City of Bass. On this one, we delve deeper into what's going on in his head as he continues to serve up large doses of pure unkut.

First things first, tell the City of Bass readers a little bit about yourself and where you’re from.

I go by the name Galaxian, and I currently reside in Glasgow, Scotland.

When I listen to your music, you’ve got this depth and clarity to your productions that speaks to me of significant experience...how long have you been producing?

I’ve been producing on and off for around 13/14 years. It’s only in the last 2 to 3 years that I have being making music under the name Galaxian. Before that I was mainly producing 4/4 beat techno and electronic, dark and moody, of course.

As with all artists, music is really an extension of themselves; the end result is always driven by the background and story of the person behind the mixing boards. I’ve done some fairly in-depth reviews of your albums recently, and I’m curious about your philosophy and what drives you to make the sounds that you do.

I have become increasingly aware and subsequently more alarmed at the state the human race is in and the direction in which it is going, especially in the last few years. The turmoil and mess seem to be symptoms of a deeper routed failure to understand or comprehend, even on the most basic level, why we have come to be in this free-fall in the first place. We merely need to look around and ask ourselves some serious questions about who we are and how we want to be remembered by future generations. That’s if we have a future as a species, because if we fail to do that we probably won’t be around very much longer.

From birth, almost everything we are taught and exposed to, everything that we should aspire to and work towards is nothing less than enslavement by a civilization that is focused primarily on individual greed and power.

That’s a fairly strong statement. Can you expand a bit on that? What do you mean by enslavement.

Enslavement to a job, enslavement to consumption, enslavement to technology, enslavement to dangerous ideas and institutions which are utterly outmoded and should be made absolutely irrelevant. The list is extensive. This seems to me to not only be a vile way to live but also not viable in the long run.

Clinging on to the commonly accepted narratives will not make the problems and issues go away but rather accelerate them.

That’s an interesting perspective, and one I share to a certain extent, in varying degrees. I’ve purposely simplified my life around the past few years, and I’ve found myself to be much happier since doing so. Tell me, how does this perspective tie in to your music?

These are the thing which enthuse me. I try and fuse my songs with these ideas and themes. As an artist one of the best things I can do is try and empower people through the music. Allow them to see the world in a different light and to question things that they may not have even considered before. If my music encourages someone to pick up a book, or go and research a particular issue or subject, then I’m doing something right.

I have been making a lot more fast-paced, urgent, in-your-face songs for the last few months. It’s a reflection of the continuing disintegration of the social fabric which we are seeing at an accelerated pace on an almost daily basis. I think they tend to have a greater power and rawness than mid-paced tracks might be able to convey.

No doubt, this also sheds light onto the powerful imagery on your most recent album ‘Repent’. What’s your background with electronic music? How'd you get involved?

I was always into music from an early age. I remember mixing with an old 45 record player and a broken Saisho tape deck, the front was broke off so I could stick my finger in and slow the tape down to the speed of the record for a few seconds. Didn’t work very well but I enjoyed trying.

I fondly remember messing about with dual-cassette decks and making pause edit tapes myself. Good times.

Yeah the first tape I ever referred to as a DJ mix by myself was really just quick edits in between tracks. They were not mixed I just cut them so it sounded like it changed on the beat. This was long before I knew what Technics were , DJing or anything like that. Since the whole rave thing kicked off I was into DJing and only got into music production in the mid-90s.

In 1995 I was unemployed, what we call here a “doley”. I went on a job training scheme for sound engineering in a commercial studio. They taught me how to mic up drum kits, guitars, how to mix down tracks, record and all that kind of stuff. I wasn’t that interested in it as I was solely into techno and electronic music back then. However, me and one of the other guys, Gordon, found some sample CDs and tried them in the Akai S2000 sampler; that was pretty much the best sampler around at the time I think.

I slapped on some massive delays and reverbs and started playing the midi keyboard, out came these haunting Aphex Twin type pad sounds. I wanted to record a master but we had forgot how so we just recorded it straight to cassette tape for about half an hour. That was the first piece of music I made and I think I still have the tape somewhere.

Soon afterwards I got a second hand Atari ST with half a meg of memory running Cubase ST, a Boss Dr Rhythm 660 drum machine, a really rubbish Roland sound module with about 250 sounds and a TX81Z which is like a module version of the Yamaha DX7. Didn’t have a mixer or anything like that, just recorded them direct onto tape if I liked them. Still got loads of the tapes and Atari disks. I made hundreds of tracks but never really done anything with them.

I sometimes will revisit old tracks and find a groove in there that’s perfect for re-working, but perhaps didn’t work in the original context. Given you’ve got this backlog of tracks you made, do you ever go back to some of your old sampling based productions for inspiration if the creative well is dry?

Hah, yes, all the time. I have 100s of very old tunes on floppy disc from the Atari days, that’s just midi info, no sounds so I can’t go back to them as I don’t have the Atari or the other equipment. I have 1000s from more recent times. Out of them maybe only a few hundred are worth working on but that’s not bad. Most of the tracks that I have been working on this year were basically done a year or two ago. I’ve made very little new stuff this year, been a bit lazy. Even today I have just about finished a track that I made about 2 years ago. Any brand new tracks I have made this year you probably won’t hear for another 2 year’s or so as I’m always playing catch up. I’ve got some tracks from about 10 years ago that I might work on soon as I think they still sound as good as they did back then. One or two of them are of no definable genre so they haven’t aged badly.

Keeping it unique definitely can help you to stand out as an artist, I’m looking forward to hearing these at some point. So going on from the beginnings of running the Atari ST with Cubase and some hardware, how are you making beats today? How has it changed, not only in terms of equipment but production flow.

I am entirely software based now. About 10 or 11 years ago I had the choice of buying a cheap sampler or a 2nd hand PC. I really wanted the sampler as it would have opened up a whole new world of sounds for me, limited thus far by the minimum of hardware I did have. I had seen Propellerheads ReBirth on a friends PC and thought it was a crazy idea, “A TB303 and 909 on a computer”??? PC based music making and music software was still very new back then. It did sound pretty good though. That was one of the first software emulations, they give it away for free now (editors note: the PC version is free) and you can get a version for your Iphone and now Ipad. Making music on your phone. that is still very futuristic to me.

In the end I took the chance on the PC to see if this new fad for music software was any better than hardware. It was a big risk for me as I didn’t even know how to work a computer. I soon learned the basics and was making beats in no time. I think I made the right choice and I have never looked back. The pace at which the software was developing, new programs being released all the time and power of the computers continually growing was amazing. Of course now we don’t think twice about software mini moog emulators or running 50 different FX and softsynth at the same time.

Sometimes I can make 20 tracks in a day, the way I name them is pretty haphazard and makes for hours of searching later on. I don’t know if workflow is any faster, it’s just different. It’s certainly easier just to fire up the software and load up the song file and have everything play as it should rather than writing down settings and preset names etc in a notebook which I used to do in the Atari days.

It’s funny, I also just come up with random track names when I’m working. I always have the full intention of making a grand title, but I wind up with “Don’t Make Me Smack Yo’ Momma” or “Get to the Chopper” because what you call them first tends to stick, at least for myself. Being as you’ve been on both ends of the production spectrum, do you have any particular feelings about hardware versus software?

They both have their uses and can both play a useful role. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The main reason I started using software is financial. There is just no way I was ever going to be able to afford the hardware I would have liked and I still can`t. In terms of sound, well most people will say analogue hardware sounds better and that’s probably true, but still, I cannot afford a real Minimoog or Jupiter 6, that’s if you can get them at all being so rare these days. I do have software versions though.

In the last few years the midi controller market has really exploded. With things like Novations Automap software coupled with hardware controller’s like the Nocturn and Launchpad there has never been a better time to get that hardware hands on feel and still have the benefits of software.

I think in the future I will move towards some hardware synths and FX again, there are so many nice new and interesting pieces of kit coming out.

I’ve got my eyes on a Machinedrum myself, even though I primarily use Reason and Cubase. Tell me about your first foray and experience with electro....

I had always been aware of electro but was more into the 4/4 techno and electronica for many years. In 2003 I heard Sherard Ingram (DJ Stingray) at a music festival. It was a revelation to me. One of those rare moments when you’re like “Woah, I have never heard anything like that before”. This really fast paced, powerful and very danceable electro. It was unlike the electro I had heard before and that was it for me.

Soon afterwards I started trying to make this kind of sound, my first successful attempt was a track called “No Longer Registered” which was released in 2008 on Solar One Music. I think it is still one of my best tracks and one of my personal favourites. Cut to 2010 and I now have an EP coming out on Sherards’ Micron Audio Detroit label, so I have come quite a long way. No longer Registered was release on a limited compilation CD with another two Galaxian tracks and digital available at Juno

In saying all that that, from the very early days I have always been a big fan of Underground Resistance, Red Planet and labels like that. I always thought of them as techno although it could equally be called electro probably because it is one and the same. So I have probably always been into electro without calling it that.

I feel you on that, I have more of a broad definition of electro that isn’t defined by a particular sound or drum pattern rather to me electro is a vibe, but I’m hard-pressed to accurately describe it, even with all the writing I do as of late for City of Bass. Bouncing off of that, what do you think about the overall state of the global electro scene and where it's going?

The general state of electro seems to be fairly healthy in terms of production output. Unfortunately the scene is very small as compared to some other genres that are in the limelight and in favour with trendy music mags and blogs.

The problem with a lot of music in general is that people like to play it safe, keep within certain perceived ideas and parameters of what they think they should sound like. This is fine to a certain extent but it also leads to a lot of bland, stale music.

Do you have any advice to new and up-and-coming producers? How can they avoid the pitfalls that so many young producers fall into when they first start out?

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, perhaps. I would also contend that could be taken as an insult. Yes, acknowledge your musical heroes and inspirations. This surely does not mean entirely copying them and trying to sound exactly the same as them. The sincerest form of flattery should be sounding nothing like your heroes but taking their ethos and originality and make your own originality.

People just need to think outside the box more. Take a step back and stop trying to imitate each other so much and making what they think will be acceptable to a certain audience. This is easier said than done and I’m sure I’m as guilty as everyone else.

There have been some wicked electronic artists and music coming from Glasgow, from now and going back to the beginnings of electronic music. What's your experiences with electro in Scotland, and Glasgow in particular. How's the scene these days from your perspective?

There are more club nights here than ever before. The scene has changed a lot. Glasgow used to be a big techno town, real techno, not the wishy washy stuff that passes for that now. There used to be two or three great nights on every weekend. That’s been pretty much replaced by a mainstream, scenester, fashion, place-to-be-seen kind of atmosphere. I certainly don’t relate to that and it holds no relevance for me.

That’s happened in my town as well. It’s cycles, but there’s always underground heads cooking up something, somewhere.

There are a few club nights that might play a bit of electro amongst other things but I can't think of many quality regular electro/techno clubs here. Promoter's seem to be choosing to put on DJs and acts playing safe, middle of the road sounds. This may be more to do with the economic climate rather than a lack of desire to put on more leftfield acts and DJs. Hopefully this will change in the future. Again, it depends on what you class as electro or techno. Put it this way, I rarely go out to any clubs in Glasgow these days.

There are quite a few good electronic artists coming out of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole. The Wee Djs from Edinburgh are one of my favourites and have released some killer tracks over the years. Loops Haunt from up North is also doing some great stuff. He’s not electro, but some crazy industrial dubstepish type beats and rhythms. Amazing sounds.

I tend to listen to lots of different types of music these days and take inspiration from the most unlikely of sources. I was listening to an internet station the other day that was streaming 30s music, this muffled mono sound, 78’s I’m guessing. I really liked the tonal quality of it though.

I first came across your music for one of the Vocode electro showcases. If I recall, the tracks were 'Warhead' and 'Sleeper Cell'. These tracks captured this deep rumbling groove that mixed a vibe of deeper techno styles with aggressive break beats. What's going through your head when you're making these grooves?

Not much. That is, that I am conscious of. I have noticed that when I’m talking to someone or doing something on the net and making tracks at the same time I tend to come up with some really good tracks. This would suggest that the very fact that I’m thinking about and doing other things allows the subconscious to do its own work. That approach works sometimes but of course I do pay attention to what I’m doing. I try and not think about it too much and just play about with sounds and fx until it fits.

Can you tell me your five favorite electro artists, producers or labels?

L to R: Ultradyne, Ectomorph, Stingray, Margeurita, Drexicya

Ultradyne – Love their often disjointed abrasive beats and ominous overtones. Powerful. Totally unique. Industrial rawness.

Ectomorph – the Eps from around 95/96, great! The basslines of a lot of these tracks are really superb

Micron Audio Detroit – Sherards label. Got some really interesting talent on the label and will be launching a wave of releases next year.

Marguerita - Proskool, Doubledutch, Edo 8. I think I’m right in saying this is all the same guy and only a few of his monikers. Simply massive tracks!

Drexciya – What can I say that hasn’t been said? A league of their own. genre defining. Covered all bases. They are one of the very few group’s that all subsequent electro/techno is measured against.

I always like to ask this of everyone I interview - Can you share with me your top newcomers to look out for?

Micron Audio Detroit and Doppelganger, my label.

Where can heads find you on the web

@ Myspace | @FACEBOOK | @ Soundcloud | @ Soundcloud 2nd Site

Uploading a lot more stuff to Soundcloud these days. Tracks in progress, upcoming releases, rough ideas and live sets.

To wrap up - can you tell the City of Bass readers what you're cooking up currently?

Well I have a number of things I’m working on at the moment. A massive release for new label Last Known Trajectory which should be out in March 2011. I’m also contributing a few tracks to one on Glasgow’s best wee labels, that will be a vinyl release for around March 2011. Some other things but I’m not allowed to talk about them at the moment.

I’m definitely going to shift gears next year and will hopefully have a lot more releases out and more live shows.

Galaxian Live at Substance, Edinburgh 12.09.09

I’m always surprised and delighted that people like my music so thanks to them and to you for asking me to do this, it’s been fun and interesting.

It's been my pleasure. Be on the lookout for upcoming Galaxian releases, and if you haven't already, check out the City of Bass review of 'Repent' and cop the album direct from Transient Force. You can check out some of Galaxian's past works at June Download, as well as the excellent Solar One Compilation 'Strange Tales from the Future'.

Related: City of Bass 'Conversations With...' Series

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Sometimes, You've Got To Let Your Ego Aside.....

2010-12-14T00:40:00.003-07:00

While I've remained very active with music pretty much from the time I was 14 years old, I wrapped up regular gigging as a DJ around the year 2005. I had a lot of fun over the 11 years I spun records, and I was fortunate to cap it off with a fun residency at a North Denver bar. Musically speaking, I came back to right where I had first started in 1994 - spinning soul and funk records, mixed with hip hop and dashes of new wave here and there, for party people who loved diverse grooves. Life is funny that way...

It was really a great gig for a variety of reasons, but let me set the stage for you first. The bar was about 10 years ahead of its time - it had everything going for it - a great vibe, a great interior, a storied history, a great staff and a great owner. But all of these things could not overcome the location - it was smack dead center in a pretty bad neighborhood, and the target crowd just wasn't willing to come out that far. It was probably 16 blocks from the nearest entertainment row. This was compounded by the stiff drink prices, even thought the drinks were stiff. Had it been a different time, had the neighborhood changed, hell I might still be spinning there.

Aside from the ghost stories, and that the building had been a brothel back in the 1880s, it had a giant gunshot hole in the bar which I assumed had happened during the old wild west days. It wasn't until someone told me it had happened in 1999 that I really got that the neighborhood wasn't effing around.

I started DJ'ing there as a lark, the owner needed somebody for a weekend party and someone there who knew me mentinoned my name. By chance, I happened to be at the bar which had fast become my boozing local, and I was able to rap with the owner right on the spot.

This chance meeting started a year and half of pretty much steady weekend gigs, where for the first time, I finally had a true residency. I opened at 9 PM, I closed at 4 or 5 AM, and in between I got to play music I loved to a very adventuresome crowd, all who were in the mood to party. Sometimes I packed it out, sometimes it was 10 people - it didn't really matter, the vibe was thick and I was having a blast.

The bar owner would lock the front door at 2 AM (bar closing hours in this town), and you could drink as long as you wanted to, but if you left via the back door, there was no getting back in. The spot was so dope, even on nights I wasn't playing, we'd be out with a crew of friends and call at 1:50 AM just to see if they'd be open - the answer was always yes, if we were coming to drink. Good times.

As I got more into the regular gig, I wound up closing my sets each time with the Theme from Shaft. The bartenders would set the bar on fire with liquor, and ladies would get up and dance on top of it. Good times again.

The thing was, the owner, as cool as he was, was stubborn as a mule. He resisted every effort I had made to help increase business. The primary problems he had were that

ladies didn't feel safe showing up and walking from their cars inside (it was that kind of hood)
he wouldn't budge on drink prices.

I explained to him numerous times that I had a crew of party people, all who would bring their crews of party people, to jam in this crazy dope bar. They loved the music, they loved the bar... but $5 a PBR in 2004 was a long shot by any defininition of the word. Plus a drive to a dangerous hood, which was always crawling with cops?

The man would not budge - the bar was his dream, and he was standing behind his original concept. A few months later, I showed up to play to find the doors padlocked. I guess he missed one too many mortgage payments or whatever.

Sometimes, you've got to let your ego aside, even if you are the boss.....and just listen.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with UK electro producer Scape One

2010-11-30T00:22:00.007-07:00

For this next episode of my series of conversations with electro DJs, producers and scene-makers, I travel virtually to the United Kingdom to sit down with a producer who's been in the game for a long time.

He's not only managed to keep producing dope electro music all these years, but has also stayed relevant to a scene that has changed several times over in its history. The mark of a veteran music producer and someone who's dedicated to his craft.

I've been listening and playing Scape One grooves since the beginning of the Vocode Project back in 1999, and it's my pleasure to bring this interview to you. With that, let's go.

First things first, tell us a little about yourself

My name is Kurt Baggaley, I live in a small town on the south coast of England in West Sussex. It's situated in the middle of Brighton and Portsmouth and about 64 miles south of London.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me for City of Bass, Kurt. I'd like to start off and go back to the beginning of your music background. Tell me about your first experiences with electro and what it was in particular that fired you up to begin making electro cuts?

Bognor Robots 1983

My first experiences with early Electro music come from growing up in the 1970s and listening to the likes of Jean Michelle Jarre, Space, Tangerine Dream etc. My older sister used to know a few DJs and would bring back records for me to listen to such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and early OMD. At school my friends and I were beginning to listen to John Foxx, Gary Numan, Human League, Logic System and obviously Kraftwerk.

We used to dye our hair and wear black eye liner, I think we wanted to make everyone think that we were androids or something? We considered ourselves futurists and we found the music to be very synthetic and futuristic. Perfect music for Robots.

It's interesting that you mention that, overall it seems like humans have been fascinated with the concept of future from the dawn of time right? Always, always with what's next. Moving on, I know from our initial discussion you also have a bit of a b-boy background - can you expand on that a bit?

1984 flyer

One of our biggest influences of the time were Tik and Tok, and Fotostat; they were robot mime artists in the UK similar to Shields and Yarnell but with a new wave futurist attitude and they made the most amazing music. Sharp minimal beats and added dark futurist synth to create menace to their shows.

For some reason this particular scene made a bit of an influence on my small town as we had several of us developing the art of Robot mime. In 1982 my friend was seen doing Robot moves at a local entertainments centre by Esther Rantzen who was appearing there. She had a show on the BBC called 'That's Life' and asked him if he would like to appear on the show doing his act. He agreed and began to assemble all of the local robots together and shortly after we appeared on BBC TV.

BBC 'That's Life' 1983: Action starts at 1:40 in, Scape One is the one dressed in white

After this appearance we began doing gigs all over the UK and I was always on the search for new records to perform to and this is what led me to discover how the music was made.

I gotta say, that's a great introduction to getting involved with music! In the early 80s, there was just a fantastic plethora of analog hardware gear coming out... equipment that was finally somewhat affordable after the excessive prices seen in the 70s. Tell me about your first experiences with the gear.

We had a great shop nearby called Coastline Keyboards and they had a back room full of synthesizers such as Roland's Jupiter 8 and Korg's Monopoly. We used to go in there for hours and play with those amazing machines and they didn't seem to mind at all. We also used to go round to see this synth musician who was a session musician for bands like Depeche Mode. He had synthesizers all over his lounge and he played in a similar style to the likes of Vangelis and Klaus Schulze. I remember thinking that he had all these giant monster synthesizers and just the one tiny rhythm box, something like an early Dr Rhythm.

We used to go around to our friends house to begin experimenting for the first time. He was like a young mad scientist with machines and wires all over his room, synthesizers, drum machines and other early effects boxes that he had rewired and soldered to create our own noises. To this day, he still does this and he's a handy person to have around in case one of my machines goes on the blink.

Even though there's so much ease today with producing in the box, what you described just there sounds like heaven to a gear head. I'm still in the process of building out my studio in the new crib, and have spent the last 2 years in laptop land due to a variety of circumstances, but I always seem to feel the creative juices more when I'm surrounded by record crates and synths.

Speaking of records, the early 80s and mid 80s were a golden age not only for electro, but hip hop as well. Also that classic 80's funk vibe - not quite disco, not quite 70's style p-funk... tell me a little more about the music you were hearing at the time.

Around this time, I began to notice that Electro was also being fuzed with Hip Hop, Funk and Disco. I remember hearing The Jonzun Crew's 'Pac Jam' on the radio with it's haunting vocoder, Bambaataa's Planet Rock and Scorpio by Grandmaster Flash. These records had a different kind of energy and production and the clash of cultures was exciting. I remember that early 80's vibe you mention, tunes like C-Bank's 'One More Shot', Warp 9's 'Light Years Away' and the west coast pop locking tunes like Midnight Starr's 'Operator'. Most of these releases came to the UK as import 12” singles and cost around £5 which was double the price of a UK release at that time. Morgan Khan had started a series of dance compilations called 'Street Sounds' in 1982 here in the UK to make it easier for us to buy these records on one album the same price as a regular import 12”.

These compilations would be mainly Soul, Funk, Disco and early Rap. As more of these records were starting to be produced with electronic instruments the term 'Electro Funk' was being used to describe this music and Morgan eventually began a new series simply entitled 'Electro 1', Electro 2 and so on. This is where the term 'Electro' caught on here in the UK around 1983 and the whole fat lace culture took off.

Yeah, those Electro compilations were huge in the US as well. And you're right, there was tons of traditional hip hop in them as well...

Really these albums should have been called 'Electro Funk and Hip Hop volume 1 etc. In fact by the time they got to volume 10 they decided to change the series to 'Hip Hop' as Rap music was beginning to embrace it's truer sound of sampled funk breaks. Really Electro Rap was a fad for east coast Hip Hop that died out with the advent of the sampler. LA kept the sound going for a bit longer but even the west coast crumbled under the might of NWA's gangster influence.

Only Miami and Detroit seemed to keep the bass sound going during the late 80's early 90's but it was overshadowed by the rave scene here in the UK. The kids that grew up with the Electro albums were now producing Techno or Drum and Bass which were both musical descendants from those albums that made such an impact on youth culture in the UK in the 1980's.

In fact those albums are one of the reasons that Electro is such a confusing genre for people. Everyone from Electro Pop to Electro Bass has used the term 'Electro' to describe the scene they are part of when in fact they are all sub-genres and should be using some kind of suffix or prefix to avoid any confusion. This is not a new phenomenon, it's been going on since the late 70's.

Tell me, as the Hip Hop influence became more prevalent in Electro of the time, how did you adapt and move forward?

I began to get more involved with the culture and we organised jams locally for the kids to break, pop and DJ. We sometimes got MCs and DJs down from London or organized B-Boy battles with other towns. At these events I would turn up with my 808 and throw down live beats while a DJ scratched over the top. I think the crews from London were shocked to see what we had in a small coastal town and they weren’t expecting a protégé Mantronix to appear with an 808.

This continued on from about 1984 to the late 80's/early 90's when we began to do raves, mixing in Acid House and Hip Hop breaks into our music just like most of the UK did around that time. I had a Rap crew called Severe Carnage and we were the south coast's answer to the Brit-core Hip hop scene of that time.

Orson, one of the members of Severe Carnage later started his own label called Transparent Sound and began releasing vinyl. They were some of the first new school Electro influenced records to come out in the UK at the time when Techno and Drum and Bass were at their peaks. I collaborated with Transparent for a few releases like 'Freaks Frequency' and 'Night and Day'. We did a few gigs around the country including a live set on Colin Dale's show on London's Kiss FM.

You mentioned jamming live on the 808, which brings me to my next question. You've been producing records for a while now - tell me about your first studio set up and process, and how you're making beats today in 2010. How has it changed, and do you have any particular feelings about hardware versus software?

Around 1984 I started to use a Soundmaster Stix, an amazing little machine. It was on this machine that I learned how to program beats for the first time. The following year a friend of mine said he had a TR-808 for sale so I paid him £250 and never looked back. I still use that very same machine 25 years later. As for hardware verses software? It's all a matter of taste, I think it's good to embrace new technology but also just as important to keep using old machines if you can. I like the roughness that hardware brings to a production, whether it be analogue or digital.

Scape One, the Faithful Duo

I do like software, it's great for getting a clean and polished sound but music can sound soulless if it's all too nice and clean. I like to hear a bit of dirt, distortion, things going out of time or out of tune slightly, that's what makes a track real to me, the machines have a soul with the human interface.

No doubt. Lately I've been toying with the idea of running tracks from my software set up through Maxell cassettes and back in just to give it some grit. Tell me about your production philosophy, how do you approach making records?

I may get sudden bursts of melody or a groove and make a mental note for my next studio session. I normally start with a beat of some type, keep it minimal to start with and feel what comes next, choosing a different tempo for each session is always a good idea as it sets a different mood. I like to get the core of a track down within the first few hours, the feel of a track seems to come out in that time. Using an MPC to midi control everything is the quickest route for that kind of expression. I sometimes let the machines dictate what comes next as this is what makes producing electronic music so exciting.

I like to get a track down and recorded in one session if possible, this is mainly due to the constraints of using hardware. I'm always afraid I may lose something when I switch everything off; even if you know you've saved everything sometimes things don't always sound the same when you switch them back on again.

Although once you're happy with the first recording you can revisit the program and change all the sounds at your leisure, the results can be impressive.

I've heard this before from other hardware producers, and I dig that concept of limitations and randomness happening in the studio. I sometimes try to limit myself when producing with software - you can get lost in endless noodling with sounds and settings when you've got that ctrl-s at your disposal. Moving on,
as I do these interviews, I'm always fascinated with what keeps producers going. You've got a long and storied discography, and are still releasing music today when a lot of cats burn out after a few years - what’s your inner drive that keeps you making these dope beats?

Well if you stare at an 808 for too long it starts to talk to you, it says things like “Think of that amazing electro track you've ever wanted? Well it's in here somewhere, come and get it!” That mentality is what makes me keep writing, it's also a lot of fun and the buzz you get from it is great.

I still get excited when a new track starts to unfold, it's like a journey into the unknown. There are periods when you need a break from writing for a while, you can burn out but eventually you come back to it, it just draws you in. I think I'll still be writing for many more years to come. I guess by then you'll be able to send music directly to someone's neural net.

When we initially spoke about doing this interview for the City of Bass, I had mentioned to you that your records had destroyed many a dancefloor when I and Lex Luthor from Vocode Project were actively DJing electro bass in Denver. You've been doing this for a while, do you still get a kick out of knowing your grooves are getting people hype on the dancefloor? You're music overall has a thread of a certain "scape one funk" going throughout it, when you produce are you thinking of the dancefloor specifically?

I think I am actually, unless it's a chilled track but even then I like to have a groove in it. The other advantage of using hardware is that you have to stand up for part of the time. When I used to pop and do robot there where certain records that used to make you want to move in that way and I try to inject that into my music. It's got to make me want to pop or lock but at the same time it must have a groove.

It's great to know that people actually like to dance to my records. For a while all that people would dance too in the UK was a 4/4 beat in Techno or House and it was a struggle to play Electro as the broken beat seemed to confuse people on the dance floor. So my aim was to prove that you can still inject that groove into an Electro record without resorting to the 4/4 monotony.

Getting crowds open is always a challenge. Going back to "scape one funk" .... what I really mean by that is two things: one, your records to my ears have this unmistakable funk vibe that is reminiscent of 80s funk records - I dont mean an 80s sound, but that funk vibe. The records don't sound dark and metallic, harsh, they have a really distinct funk feel to them. This ties in to the second aspect which is you have your own unique sound. A lot of producers starting out spend a lot of time making formulaic music. Talk to me about how you defined your own sound - was it a gradual process, how did you discover your own "inner sound"?

That's a good question, I'm not sure where my sound comes from but I guess it could be that I draw influence from other styles of music other than straight up Electro. It's interesting that you point out the 80's because if you actually listen to Electro from 1980 to 1988 you will see how the styles change vastly. The tempos ranged from around 105 to 128 bpm and the beat patterns were more varied. I think a lot of producers in the 80's didn't even know they were making Electro, that is just a term that was used to describe anything that was electronic, whether it be Pop, Funk, Hip Hop, New Wave or Disco.

That's really interesting to hear, because everything today seems so tightly bound by genre rules and distinctions. Bouncing off the above, do you have any advice for new and upcoming producers?

I would say be as original as you can, be an innovator just in the same way that the masters were. Think of ideas and sounds that you can bring to electro that haven't been done before. Electro is about the future and that's what the new artists are, teach us something we don't know already.

What's your view on the current state of the electro scene? From my perspective, there seems to be a sort of resurgence going on right now with a lot of new artists bringing in fresh ideas and new music.. it seemed to dry up there for a while after the last resurgence in the late 90s, and now I feel this renewed energy. It's very exciting, as electro has taken a bit of a hit with the whole house mafia stealing our genre name.

I think electro is very exciting at the moment, there are some amazing producers and artists around right now, some of my favourites are Morphology, EOD, Kobol Electronics, E.R.P. CRC, The Exaltics, TeslaSonic, Franck Sarrio, As1, Weltwirtschaft, Plant43, The Consumer. Also it's great to see some of the best producers still releasing material especially the likes of Dynarec, Luke Eargoggle, Gosub, Mesak and all of Gerald Donald's projects.

It's great also to see 80s bands like Oppenheimer Analysis, Iko, Deux, Ceramic Hello, Das Ding and Ausgang Verboten getting re-releases. Finally it's easy to actually hear these amazing bands at last.

As for the electro house scene? Well I haven't taken much notice of it really but some of what I have heard sounds like a descendant of Daft Punk who in turn are descendants of what bands like Space and The Droids were doing in 70's so I guess some of those artists are just revisiting early Electro Disco which is the roots of House music anyway. This is in much the same way that Electro Bass draws inspiration from Planet Rock and Numbers, these are only certain aspects of electro not the only one.

I see the main problem with the Electro House scene is that it is part of the mainstream and a lot of the artists may have no knowledge of Electro or it's roots and are just jumping on the latest bandwagon but I wouldn't like to say they all are. I would hope that some of them are genuinely into what they do and respect Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley in much the same way that we respect Kraftwerk and Zapp.

Wells said. Any artists or labels you'd like to mention that are newcomers that people should know about?

Check out my home boys Anokie, Jon-e-alpha and Titanium Origami, all part of the extended Scape One family and all very talented producers in their own rights. They have all been writing for many years and deserve the recognition for their amazing talents. Some new labels to check are Solar One Music, Zyntax Motorcity, Abstract Forms and Mathematics.

Where can people find you on the web?

Scape One Official Site
Scape One Bandcamp
Scape One Myspace
Scape One Youtube Channel

To wrap up, what's next for Scape one?

I have a whole series of Eps that will be coming out on Napalm Enema Records over the next few months. These will be available as digital and as limited run vinyl for each release. The first of which is called 'Life System'

I've also just completed an EP for Cultivated Electronics called 'Potent Mutagen' which will feature remixes from from Dynarec and Sync 24.

I've also got a digital album coming out on Militant Science called 'Stellar Remnants'

Finally, I'm in the process of releasing my back catalogue digitally for the first time on bandcamp. To make it even more interesting I have been going through my original recordings to find unreleased versions, mixes and bonus tracks from the original recording sessions that have never been available before.

Kurt, you're the definition of staying busy. Big shouts for taking the time to do this next installment of the City of Bass 'conversations with' series, mate!

Be sure to check out Scape One's extensive back catalogue as well as stay tuned for the new releases. 100% pure unkut from the man like. Respect.

Related: Scape One Planet Funk Express Re-Issue; Scape One Digital Back Catalogue; Scape One '10-10-10' Album Release; Scape One Guest Mix on Radio Elektrana

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Galaxian - Repent - Transient Force - Album Review

2010-11-28T23:52:00.009-07:00

The sounds of industrial machines no longer controlled by their operators, the sound of processes, electronix and bolts coming lose at the seams. The sounds of galactic funk, really. This is the sound of the brand new album 'Repent' from Glasgow producer Galaxian. I've reviewed a few of his previous releases, and have been following this producer since I first discovered his music for one of the electro showcase mixes for the Vocode project.

You can tell that as a producer, he's taking in influences from a wide variety of musical styles, and it shows. This is most definitely not electro by the numbers, but rather an evolution of the sound, and that's something that really gets me excited as a long time electro head. Don't get me wrong, I love the classic sounds of electro funk, the Rother vibes of the 90s, the Drexciya and Dopplereffekt school of electro... but for the genre to thrive, it need's more producers like this.

I hate to do comparisons, but many of these tracks wouldn't be out of place on one of those Underworld albums - you know the style... complex layers of acid bits, scattered drums that somehow sound cohesive, warm synth tone washes and vocal snippet samples.

Where Galaxian really shines as a producer is the way he manages to weave these various synths, samples, and dense layers of drums. Take for example 'If You Want' - if you were to start off on this track, you've got a fairly standard electro number, and to be honest, lot's of people would ride that groove, vary up the hats a bit and maybe filter freq the bassline, call it a day. Galaxian keeps this building and building, introducing element upon element, until the track you're listening to has really taken a hold, a funk groover that sounds nothing like the beginnings of the track.

This style of producing reminds me in a strange sort of way of listening to old funk bands, session players who could lock a groove down tight - playing off of each other, building and building till the energy almost breaks out of the track. That is the sound of 'Repent'. This is one of those rare albums that would be at home equally for headphone phreakz getting blunted at the crib, as well as for adventurous DJs with a willing crowd.

I've been really impressed with the variety being released on Transient Force as of late. Clearly a label not afraid to take some chances, and when given artistic freedom, producers shine; this is the case with Galaxian's latest effort. If you dig music in the vein of Underworld, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher with an electro vibe, I have an album for you I'd like to recommend. 'Repent' is out now on Transient Force, and available to purchase directly from the label.

Galaxian - Repent album sampler [TRANSIENT FORCE TF032] by Galaxian

Related: Galaxian 'End of Forever' album review

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Jauzas The Shining - Dependant - Transient Force - Album Review

2010-11-28T23:25:00.003-07:00

You never really know what's going on in a producer's head when they put together an album for release. Often, it's just a mish-mash of tracks that they've been working on and at some point, it all meshes into enough music for an album release. Other times, there's a cohesive feel and distinct concept going on and you can feel that in the LP as a listener. You can tell the producer found a thread that struck their fancy, and began weaving it into something. That's the case with the new joint from French producer Jauzas the Shining, entitled 'Dependant' - out now on Transient Force.

Sonically, this album paints a picture of a frost-bitten November, abandoned streets and an individual who is lost in introspection.... perhaps because of a loss of some sort. This isn't a dancefloor banger, and it also isn't abstract for the sake of abstraction. Rather, it's a dark, introspective album, which carries through a musical theme through most of the tracks - one of faint, almost hopeful strings standing out amidst harsh, metallic drums and mechanic bass lines. What I dig most about this long player is that amidst all the electronic music production, there's this feeling of humanness around each song. Perhaps my current state of mind is coloring my interpretation of the music, but isn't that what it's about after all?

I've always found electronic music fascinating in the sense that you take the essence of someones creative soul, flip it through electronics, whether analog or digital, and in the end product, that very electronic product comes back and integrates itself with the end listener, and interacts in ways the original producer couldn't possibly imagine.

This isn't any easy album. It's not for casual electro fans, or heads who are all about 808 bass and smackdown beats. This is an album to listen to and lose yourself in. Recommended.

Listen to the album teaser snippet below. 'Dependant' is available now directly from Transient Force. Check out more info and tracks at the Jauzas myspace page

Tracklist:
Dependent
La Zounia
Pression
Decedence
Sensation
Sensual
Strange Particle
Suspicion
Jupitor
Strange Partical (ElectroBerlin remix)
Dependent (SheMale remix)
Sensation (Korporation remix)
Trisomie21 (Jauzas The Shining remix)

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

I Misaligned Their Chakra's (A Story from the Psy-Trance Years)

2010-11-13T08:14:00.006-07:00

For a few years, I was really influenced by the sounds of goa and psy trance, a journey which began with my first exposure to the Perfecto Fluoro compilation back in 1996, which in turn led me to the original and Goa Essential Mix.

In 2001 or so, I rallied with a crew of DJs and we began throwing a series of underground parties under the name of Psychedelic Trance Liberation Front. PTLF originally started in Minnesota, and one of our crew members, DJ Brian E pinged them to get permission to start our own branch. Think Sons of Anarchy chapters without the violence, blood and motorcycles ;) The name appealed to our sense of humor, and really was in turn a nod at the cheesy state of trance affairs at the time.

Each party we did was named after a track from the legendary producer Man With No Name. Initially all the focus was on psy-trance and goa, but very early on I began to have a feeling that there were two different crowd elements going on: there was us on the one hand, which were a bunch of guys who liked to throw parties, liked hard trance music and Dr. Dre records and who definitely enjoyed more than one pint of lager.

On the other hand, there were the psy-trance stans. You know the kind - each genre of music has them, people who define themselves so much by a particular genre of music that they almost become caricatures. I didn't really understand the power of stannery until our fifth or sixth party.

By that point, we had begun secondary rooms to feature other forms of music; from a promotional and business standpoint, it brought in more people. More people allowed us funding to keep the next party going. We were doing ambient rooms, drum n bass rooms, electro and even had a live industrial rock band play at one of them. (Shouts to the mighty Deviant)

These secondary rooms were already riffing the psy trance stans - we had diluted their pure crusty vibe you see. But things didn't come to a head until our fifth or sixth party, which was an outdoor all-nighter in the hills west of Boulder, Colorado. We had our usual diverse crowd, and a few of the cats from the Denver house music collective Spank DJs crew were in attendance.

At the last minute, I decided to bail on the seriousness of an hour and a half of psy-trance and invited Damon Willard from the Spank DJ crew to do a diverse, eclectic old school set with me. I'd always been more in love with the art of DJing and playing music more than just defining myself as a "name-your-genre-dj". It just felt right at the moment, and mind this is around 3 or 4 in the morning. We proceeded to tear it up, and you could feel the energy in the crowd of people went up a notch.

We were dropping a mixture of house classics, early 80s new wave records, blended with acid techno and acid house, old school hip hop records, cutting and scratching - right on top of a mountain in the outdoors. It went off!

Except it didn't. Because I was busy having a good time, and the majority of the crowd were into it, I didn't take into account the psy heads here were busy enjoying their acid trips - which word came back to me later that apparently we greatly affected by mixing 'Lucky Star' with 'Acid Trax'. And not in a positive manner.

So the little psy-trance scene here split off, and all of the sudden there were purist parties. No more secondary rooms, no more diversity in music.... and these purist parties somehow seemed to always occur on the same nights PTLF did their parties from that point forward. Co-incidence I'm sure of it!

but do I regret it? Not one bit!

Related: Seventh Day Mixtape, Illusions of a Dream Mixtape

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow via twitter, or subscribe to the RSS feed

Robots Riot Act One - Elektropunkz Records - Album Review

2010-11-12T00:04:00.002-07:00

From the opening salvo of glitched electro bass from Synapse, you know you're in for a ride of pure uncompromising music from the latest compilation release from Poland's Elektropunkz Records. 'Robots Riot Act One' dropped just a few days ago and brings it in proper for the winter for 2010.

There's an overall feeling of despair contrasting with whispers of hope on these records. Case in point, listen to the brilliantly sequenced and haunting sounds of 'Even If They'll Recycle Me' and 'Forgotten Spacecraft'. These are the kind of cuts that get stuck in your head days after you've listened to them.

On the other side of the coin from those dope head phone grooves, you definitely get your dose of bangin' electro content from Robodrum and Cody Commando. On 'Retrolectroboteknoise', crazed drums weave in and out of the mix, with an aggressive style that hints of classic darkcore sounds vis-a-vis Metalheadz. Pure fire. 'Kontrol' brings that straight kopfnicken vibe from the first opening bars - this is the very definition of hypnotic electro.

The stand-out track for me on this release has to be Aurora Surrealis 'I Wonder How It Works'. Getting TB-303 acid sounds to sit in a mix properly isn't an easy feat without veering into cliche acid territory - this track does it right and just grooves from beginning to end.

Closing the album, Croatia's DJ Xed brings it home with 'Something', a positive up-beat vibe that was totally unexpected, and completely welcome. That my friends, is how to wrap up a compilation of dope sounds.

100% pure unkut on this one, and inspiring to hear so many different takes on the electro sound in one release. I don't have any issues buying digital music, but this is one of those albums I'd be happy to have sitting in the crates, on the strength. Recommended.

Robot Riots Act One is available now via Juno

Tracklisting:

1. Robotox - Synapse
2. Retrolectroboteknoise - Robodrum
3. Kontrol - Cody Commando
4. How Can Any Race Be So Stupid - Robots On Acid
5. Freiheit - Darxid
6. Forgotten Spacecraft - Moztostal Rekords
7. Even If They'll Recycle Me - Loyal Plastic Robot
8. I Wonder How It Works - Aurora Surrealis
9. Implosion - q600
10. Something - DJ xed

Related: Interview with Elektropunkz label-head Elektromonter; Interview with Robodrum

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Hadamard - Love Songs - Album Review

2010-11-09T18:49:00.004-07:00

The recently released new Hadamard long player 'Love Songs', out now on Transient Force, features a number of elements that I love about electro music, and makes this an instant add-on to your music playback device of choice.

Namely and in order - I love artists that aren't afraid to take the piss with ironic album titles, I love aggressive beats designed for the dance floor exclusively that retain enough funk to keep the ladies movin', and I love a healthy dose of ghetto bass influences.

I also have a particular affinity for artists that don't follow preset patterns or guidelines - it's clear Hadamard enjoys Miami Bass and Detroit Ghetto Tech records - but instead of following the standard-issue producer-by-numbers method for making those styles, he morphs these productions into his own sound and manages to come up with something new altogether.

The Dutch scene DJs and producers have been doing there thing for quite some time now, and I find it most interesting that they've taken the most to two very contrasting sounds - italo and ghetto tech sounds. They're also very willing to experiment with their sounds and concepts, and it's clear Hadamard's on the same path with this latest release.

Choice cuts? 'The Ass In Bass' with a hook so catchy, you'll get slapped by Human Resources if you repeat it at work, 'Badman' which somehow manages to mix up deep electro, dub basslines, and an 80s style vocal to much success. 'Its Hadamard Bitch' wins straight off from the title alone, and then further surprises with a deep building groover of an electro cut.

'Smooth Talk' strips it back to the basics with a knockin' 808 and claps throwback, which is offset by an excellent outtake on the classic pitch-down effect with some straight gangster talk. 'Love Is A Verb' catches you with instant-kopfnicken, featuring a dope call and response interplay between the basslines and the synthwork sitting on top of those bumpin' drums. That's fancy writing for basically saying this - the record bumps.

If you're looking for a journey-style electronic long player, you're in the wrong place. But if you dig uncompromising electro bass, ghetto tech and a producer who's not afraid to smack your girlfriend in the face and ask you for a cigarette after, well s--t my friend, this is your album. Don't sleep.

Finally, in the immortal words from the D.O.C during his N.W.A days, "Parental Discretion Iz Advised"

Cop that directly from the label here

Related: Dutch Electro Scene Documentary 'When I Sold My Soul To The Machine', Hadamard 'Studio Gangster'

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with Stjarna - Founder of Technobass.net

2010-11-06T22:45:00.006-06:00

Round number 7 of my series of conversations with electro producers, DJs, label owners and scene makers. This time I head back from my virtual tour of Europe and jump over to the east coast of the USA to chat with Starrie Williamson, aka Stjarna, the force behind the excellent electro portal Technobass.net. She's done tons for the electro community, and I was amped to sit down with her and chat all things electro. Let's go......

First things first, tell us a little about yourself

My name is Starrie Williamson. Musically I go by the monikers "Selekta Stjarna", as a DJ, and just "Stjarna", for my production. I currently live in Charlottesville, Virginia in the United States.

When I hit my early teens in the late eighties, my interest in underground music exploded, and I started hitting the record shops in NYC and became interested in clubbing culture. There was an underage club night which played Synth Pop, Industrial, Dark Wave, House, and early Techno tracks near where I lived in Delaware called XLR8, so my friends and I would go every weekend to dance and hang out.

When I was old enough, my parents let me start going to clubs in New York City such as the Limelight.

Ah, so you had a chance to experience that legendary 90s era east coast rave culture. Tell me a little more about that...

When I was 20 years old I went off to art school in Philadelphia, and at that time the rave scene was exploding on the East coast. Philly was nurturing it's own growing tightly knit scene at the time, and I was going out about 3 times a week locally. Of course, I would hit up warehouse events in NYC with my friends frequently.

At the height of New York's Rave scene, it's main influences were coming from Detroit, Germany and the UK. It was very multi-cultural and all inclusive. It truly felt like a global culture, universal even. The community strived for integrity, and even though ultimately it's failure to achieve that led to it's demise, it had a very profound influence on my views of music and community, and it effects everything I do to this day. Those experiences will probably affect the vision for which I strive to achieve with music for the rest of my life.

I understand you're the driving force behind the technobass.net electro community, along with some assistance from Morphogenetic. Can you tell the readers a bit of background with the site....why you created it, what was your original vision, has that vision changed since you began the site?

About a year before I met Morphogenetic and joined Fundamental Bass Intelligence, I found out that the domain name was available, so I bought it. As a professional web developer, I saw it as an opportunity to build a website about something I was passionate about. It was a project that was to become my creative outlet. Originally I envisioned the site as a place where artists could promote their music, but at the time I was limited technologically as to what I could do. I started out small, contacted a few artists, and asked them if I could feature their mix on my site, and create an artist profile for them. I considered the idea of creating a forum for the site, but decided against it as there was already an abundance of them on other electro focused websites.

I wanted to avoid the drama that seemed to go along with moderating those types of communities, so I waited. I actually pulled all of the content down for over a year until I could get the new site launched, which now I believe was a mistake. At the time I was tortured that I had not been able to create the type of site that I wanted, so I took the "all or nothing" approach. It was a a pleasurable experience for me to finally find the right technology, launch the website and watch musicians I had so much respect for start signing up as members.

Do you envision the site as more of a community for scene producers, DJs, label heads and radio folks to gather and collaborate, or is it also geared for fans of the music?

I have had a different vision for the site over the years. Eventually Santino and I found the perfect technology that we wanted to use, so we put it together. We really focused on creating more of a community for artists as a whole: a place for producers, DJs, record label owners, visual artists, dancers, etc, to come together to network, collaborate and promote. I think the site also serves as a place where fans can come, check things out and listen to music. I think it is a friendly place that has been relatively free from drama, which I think is cool.

No doubt. I find the flare-ups on some of the forums to be fairly drama heavy ;) I have to ask, who did your bangin' graffiti logo? And do you plan on selling t-shirts? I'd rock that logo 100%!

The logo was actually done by Santino's cousin, his name is Gary Gerhardt. I am indeed planning on selling t-shirts. I really should get on that and make it happen.

Going off the logo tangent, why did you decide to call the site techno bass?

When I first got into what a lot of people call "new electro" in the mid-nineties, it was through artists on the Direct Beat and 430 West labels, so naturally, that's what I called it, too. Around the year 2000 I read an interview with Aux 88 on a website, where they were talking about the background of this style and how it was a fusion of Miami bass + Detroit Techno. It made sense to me, and I guess I just never stopped using the term. It fits, and it's unique. Electro is a broad style of music that encompasses a wide range of sub-genres.

The term for me, brings to mind exclusively the sounds of detroit electro, but obviously as a member of the technobass community, I see that the full gamut of electro styles, cities and labels are represented there.

Over the years, the style has evolved to encompass many unique flavors which have come from global cultural interpretations, but it all goes back to the "origin of the sound" - Detroit. The music coming from this city has had a powerful influence throughout the world and this site is for me, proof of this influence and how it has come full circle. It's a way for the global - and universal community, to connect to Detroit, and create an integration through love for the music.. My hope is that the creativity of the global community will continue to flourish, and Detroit artists will continue to play a major influence to the world. It is a special place, and I consider myself lucky to have been able to visit there and make friends with some wonderful, humble people. I suggest that everyone make a pilgrimage there at least once in their lives.

That's an interesting point, and I wholeheartedly agree - there's this feeling of "pure" about Detroit electronic music, and while scenes come and go, Detroit seems to never waver in their approach and full energy force when it comes to techno music. It's something really special. Speaking of music, what's your approach in the studio for creating grooves?

I am still figuring that one out. Actually I feel like I have been making great strides in my approach to making music in the past year. I use Reason, Cubase, a Korg MS2000, Microkorg, UM-5E, various VST's; and now recently, I have been getting into building my own patches via the Max/MSP programming language, which interacts with Cubase and my midi controllers. Next I really want to check out Max 4 Live and see what I can do with it, as I have been hearing really great things about it.

When we first started chatting, you mentioned a joint project with Morphogenetic, Metatron. Can you tell me a little more about it?

Metatron is a project that Santino and I conceived of quickly after we met several years ago. There are a few tracks we have been intermittently working on throughout the years. It's a project that is both dear to us, and seems to be something we are both working towards. I have always imagined it as a live performance project with visuals synchronized with the music. The technology I am learning right now (Max/MSP/Jitter) is what I need to realize this goal. The term "Metatron" comes from the term "Metatron's Cube",ˇ which is a geometric object in sacred geometry. I believe it also refers to a higher principle in the universe from which all music comes.

Are you working on any solo material?

Yes, my solo material is my main focus at the moment. I am working on my first album, which features ancient Egyptian themes, with a focus on their esoteric and metaphysical knowledge.

Whats your background with electro - how did you get involved?

In 1984, while I was on a trip to NYC to see my Uncle with my grandparents, my older cousin had a walkman with a "Newcleus - Jam On It" cassette. His walkman had plugs for two sets of headphones, and he and I rewinded it over and over again until we could memorize the words and sing along :); it was the perfect soundtrack to the New York City landscape. That was my first introduction to Electro. As I mentioned earlier, in the late 80s I got into Synth Pop, Industrial, Acid House, some early Techno like 808 State, and of course, Kraftwerk.

In 1996 I was in a record store in New York City called "Strange?". Andrew, the owner of Satamile Records, used to work there, and Colin Strange, the owner, was there that day. I remember I was shopping for some new releases, and Colin put on a cd compilation called "Origins of a Sound"; which had a bunch of Detroit Techno Bass artists on it like Aux 88, Drexciya, Mike Banks, and the Martian.

Before the first track was even half way through - it was "Phase 2" by Audiotech (a Juan Atkins project), I asked Colin: "What is this? I want it!" I think he was kind of amused that he had only played a couple of minutes of it and I had instantly said I wanted to buy it. In a heartbeat, I'd found my new favorite style of techno - it was raw, funky, dark, and I became obsessed with collecting whatever I could of the style on vinyl, as I was sure that Techno Bass was the next "big sound"ˇ that was going to take over the electronic music scene. I was kind of right, but not in the scope that I had originally envisioned.

I can definitely feel that. I had a similiar experience in Austin, Texas at a shop called Alien Records. I found a white label with some hand written titles on it. I think it was a bootleg of some unreleased Detroit material... it was fluid, funky and something about that Detroit sound.... eventually I found out it was some short-print run of unreleased cuts by Eddie Flashin Fowlkes. Good times..... moving on, everytime I do one of these conversations with series, I ask each interviewee if they have any new or upcoming electro artists or labels they'd like to shout out. Who are yours?

Currently I am really into the material on Umwelt's New Flesh label, specifically Deemphasis, Umwelt and Spectrums Data Forces. I also really like the new Blastromen album that just came out on Dominance Electricity. Soundcloud is also a great resource and I listen to a lot of unreleased and unsigned tracks on there. We also just signed a new artist to Fundamental Bass Intelligence "MicroControlUnit", and I am very excited about his upcoming release. I am also very impressed with the new Aux 88 presents Black Tokyo CD, it is different than anything I have ever heard before. Aux 88's sound just keeps getting more and more refined.

Definitely feel you on those artists. Where can bassheads find you on the web?

http://www.fbirecordings.net
http://www.technobass.net
http://www.selektastjarna.com

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. To wrap up, whats next
for you as an artist, and whats next for technobass.net?

My pleasure! For the foreseeable future I am taking graduate level classes at the University of Virginia in the Music Composition and Computer Technologies program.There are a lot of smart and talented people there from which I am learning a lot. Right now I am up to my ears learning the Max/MSP/Jitter programming language, and eventually Max 4 Live. I've got a lot of ideas about how to use these tools to do really dope multimedia live performances, which has been my passion and mission from the beginning of my journey into the music world many years ago. I am getting closer in my journey, I am almost there!

As far as technobass, future plans involve creating a mobile version of the site, as well as integrating more audio clips into the record reviews and articles. As the site grows, I see a need to improve the usability so people can find what they are looking for easily. There are also plans in motion to create a record label - we already have all the tracks together for the first release, and I'm very excited about the artists we have on it! It's a single of Morphogenetic's "Techno Bass Is Back" with hot, hot remixes by Detroit legend DJ Di'Jital, Sbles3plex and DJ Xed.

I also have plans to integrate a store to sell t-shirts and possibly releases - but that's probably not going to come until at least the end of next year. We are focusing on the FBI website right now and FBI's upcoming releases, launching the Techno Bass label, and fixing some bugs on the site for now - in addition to our mutual music projects. I don't see a need to rush into anything just yet. I am watching and waiting to see where things go. I am just happy to see people continuing to contribute and use the site!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out and explore Technobass.net and sign up for a profile - it's a great electro community!

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Blastromen - Human Beyond - An Album Review

2010-11-04T21:46:00.002-06:00

I've been meaning to do a solid review of the new Blastromen album, "Human Beyond" since it first dropped back in late August of this year. Now that I've gotten a chance to fully immerse myself in this 100% pure unkut dope from the Finnish production duo, I regret not doing it sooner.

If I could sum up their vibe in one sentence, it would be a gigantic dense wall of sound done right - this is not an easy feat from a production standpoint, and you can really get lost in the mix if you do it wrong; whoever is doing the mixing and sound sculpting here definitely knows what's up.

This is a big sound - like 80s big, but without being stuck in the 80s - consider it a fresh update on a classic vibe, and I dont mean electro funk - I mean these big giant keyboards that swell up and knock you down and then make you a cup of tea. From the very first opening track, this wall of funk straight up tells you you're in for a ride and you better hold on.

What I also like are these eastern-sounding, almost psy-trance and goa influences in the melodies - densely layered and complex synths that tease each other, dance around each other... and eventually mesh into new styles. 'Follow the Command' is a good example of this - if that's not the combination of psychedelic funk and electro bass I dont know what is. The synth work and melodies on this album are stellar, and are reminiscent in an homage sort of way of what made some of those classic 80s new wave records so memorable. I'm going to guess that not many people who read City of Bass are up on who Man With No Name is, but I can definitely feel his influence in these sounds.

This isn't a happy album by any means, but it's also not dark and morose. It doesn't get lost in chin-stroking moodiness and dark themes that can get so boring after the umpteenth time you've heard them. It's also clear the cat's behind Blastromen understand proper song structure and why it works. Brilliants bridges into ever deeper and deeper layers of synths and subtle chord progressions changes that keep you moving and engaged with the music. I've listened to the album going on ten times now, and I've yet to get bored with it - that really says something.

The majority of this album's cuts aren't your standard fit-into-the-mix dance floor bangers - these are cuts you would close the night with, or fit into the end of a set where you're banging out only your big tracks, and mind you these are BIG tracks. Not always easy to do without falling into a trap of being blatantly obvious, Blastromen get it right.

I was really pleased with the closing track of Sky City as an album closer - after this epic journey it was good to be taken into a slightly more positive tone and nature - you can almost see the sun rising on the eastern plains after an all night battle between mecha and the invid.

If you like synthesizer music in the vein of Moroder, Jarre and other keyboard masters, and you like hard-ass electro beats, the new Blastromen album is right up your sleeve. An overall cohesive sound that follows a theme throughout the album - this is one of those event LP's I'm prattling on about here at City of Bass; one of those music projects that you put on and listen through the entire thing all the way through in one go.

I'm sure most fans and electro heads have already caught up on this album by now, but if you haven't heard it yet, or have been putting it off, this is so worth your hard-earned coin. You can cop digital, compact disc or color vinyl copies directly from Dominance Electricity (regular black vinyl is sold out)

Recommended.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with Northern Poland's electro producer Robodrum

2010-11-01T01:14:00.002-06:00

Coming up in the sixth of my series of conversations with electro producers, DJs, label owners and scene makers, I travel virtually to Northern Poland to the city of Szczecin to speak with Robodrum. He's not only busy dropping dope music in his home bass of Poland, but also had a feature cut on the excellent Advanced Funk Volume One compilation released this year. This is the second interview I've done in Poland, and a follow up to the recent interview with Elektropunkz label head Elektromonter. We get deep on this one.....

First things first, tell the City of Bass readers a little about yourself

My name is Przemek Kuduk, and I go by Robodrum. I come from Szczecin, a city in the north west corner of Poland, very close to the German border. I started producing music around 1998. Around that time, Poland was experiencing it's first wave of rap music and I set up a crew with a few friends to try our hand at hip hop. Of course, this was all very amateur, but it served as my introduction to music production. My main role in the group was serving up beats. We wound up doing a few concerts and came out of it with three or so demo's, all on cassette tape.

It was this experience that really turned me on to the original sounds of early hip hop, otherwise known as electro funk. My first big inspiration, as I'm sure he is to many in the scene, was Grandmaster Afrika Bambatta. His ideas and global perspective, the Zulu Nation... all of this served to show me the way, if you will. When I first heard 'Planet Rock' it ignited a spark in me.

No doubt. Planet Rock was really a bridge to so many producers, myself included. So the original sounds of old school hip hop, electro funk, they got you going. Can you tell me a little more about that?

Hip Hop culture, of which I was a huge fan, was comprised of course of the four elements, from rhyming, DJing, graffiti and breakdancing. It was breakdancing that really gave me the electro virus, and that's been going on 12 years now. Every time I'd go to events and parties, I was always most amped for the b-boy battles, because I knew when that part of the evening would get going, the DJ would be dropping cuts I couldn't get my hands on at the time - old school electro and breakbeat classics!

Additionally, one of my neighbors sorted me with a little CD burned from MP3s. It doesn't sound like much, but for me it was as if I'd received a gift from heaven - it had cuts from Aux 88, Egyptian Lover, Hashim. As my ears and eyes opened to this greater scene, I started to make up for lost time, watching old school classics like Beat Street, Wild Style... I didn't yet know about the new school sounds of electro at the time, but I do remember in the late 90s Westbam was kind of bridging this gap between old school electro and more modern sounds.

It was really around 2000, I was telling a mate of mine about my fascination with the sound of old school electro funk and he wrote me back with only two words: Rother and Exzakt. That was a wrap, these two artists opened a new world to me and I've been on the electro path ever since.

Tell us about your studio and production philosophy

Unfortunately I am limited to producing via software, which I'm sure has some kind of influence on the my sounds.

You know, Przemek, this is a debate that rages on in the production world, but listening to your records I'd be hard pressed to tell how you made your cuts - its just quality and I don't particularly take one side over the other - its not the tools you use but what comes out in the end. Listening to your music from the early days to now, I see a really big progression. Tell me about the evolution of your sound.

I've always looked at producing electro music as pure and clean fun. When I listen back to my early recordings from 2000-2003... It sounds totally amateur, but it brings back good memories. I see a young producer who's just discovered a secret vision and who's producing music for aliens.

That aside, for some time now I've been studying the art of mastering, because I see gaps in my sound. To this day, I'm still not 100% happy from the technical side of things. In the past I didn't really care about this side of producing, I was more lost in the creative process and creating dope records, but now I feel it's really important.

I guess in part this has to do with that my music is being heard by a bigger audience. You want your tracks to sound on par with what other artists are putting out. I always get encouraged by positive reviews and words from fans, but I can't get away from this feeling that my sound isn't 100% where I want it to be yet.

I think that's the bane of every producer, even the big guys. Whats your process? What gear or software do you use?

I start out with laying down drum sequences, and dropping them in FL Studio and layering them with effects. For processing samples I use Goldwave and Cool Edit. My final mix down processes and prep for finishing is in Acid Pro. I use a variety of text to speech programs, as well as Cylonix vocoder. Other than that, I'm always looking for new sounds and dialogues. Lately I've been having a lot of inspiration from American 1950's era sci-fi films. I love to chop and sample the dialogue from these films!

I came across you and elektropunkz after my interview with DVS NME from Dark Science Radio. He mentioned you guys as ones to look out for when I ask folks about who they're checking out. There's a lot of electro music activity going on in Eastern Europe and former soviet bloc countries. Alavux from Serbia had some interesting things to say about this, as did Elektromonter. I'm curious as to what your take is on electro in Eastern Europe and especially in Poland.

Yes, definitely you can say there is a bigger consortium of electro music coming from Eastern Europe. There's more and more quality producers and DJ's from either former Soviet block countries and from the Balkans. Why now? Where were we in the 90s? Where were we during the time when electro, and electronic music in general had its big push in Great Britain, Germany, France...later in Spain and the Scandinavian countries? Alavux talked about it from the perspective of the mental influence the Eastern European history has had on producers. I fall on the side of politics and society. For the longest time during the iron curtain days we were blocked from access and information to the outside world, not just from the music perspective but in general, everything.

There wasn't a lot of knowledge and info for example about Kraftwerk, or the hip hop culture in the US... even after the wall fell, until the middle half of the 90s people only had access to two television stations. Only folks with money could afford themselves the luxury of a satellite antenna and access to MTV, for example. Later with the full on access to the internet, that was the real eye opener for folks. It's only now that we're in the process for making up for lost decades of information, culture etc.... and hence why you're seeing this influx of electro from the east!

I left Poland many many years ago, right before they shut down the country with martial law and so forth. I remember my first visit back after communism fell in 1992, it was a very weird time. Since then, Poland has really moved towards westernization - can you tell me how this influence of Western culture has affected your musical stylings, and if any remains from the dark days in Poland remain and influence your music in particular?

I was born during the martial law years. During the entire 80s, life in Poland was very much full of hard times and constantly the unknown. In 1992, when you came back here, we had our new government, our new president and finally democracy. This was indeed a time of great change, and which didn't fix things as quickly as everyone had hoped of course. It wasn't until after the fall of the old regime, and the long process of dismantling the censures, that musicians could finally, without outside influences put there art out there as it was intended. It was the time of the first Polish hip hop groups, which greatly influenced me. These events really showed me that real change was possible in Eastern Europe.

After the events in Poland, the Soviet regime collapsed, other countries in the region embraced democracy and the communist regime evaporated. Did these events have an influence on me and my music? I don't think so. I would venture to say that hard times in the 80s to the eyes of a child didn't really look so bad. Although I might have these times ingrained in my soul and psyche, because I do make lots of dark paranoid dramatic tunes :) I can't imagine making 'happy' electro. I love darkstyle.

That's an interesting perspective. It's funny, because I don't have a lot of memories from Poland, but I do in particular remember standing in long lines to buy a piece of bread, and I remember the store being almost completely empty. This would be in the late 70s thought. But you're right, I'd be hard pressed to say that these memories have influenced my own production style, but who knows. Tell me, what do you think about the state of the electro scene overall and where it's going?

I don't think there's any reason to worry about the future of electro music. What's more, from the last 2 to 3 years, there's been so many dope producers that have come into the mix, so to speak, that once could say there is a new wave of electro music happening now. Almost on each continent, you can find a group of people, sometimes a bunch, sometimes a few, but always a group who are feeling this electro vibe and making things happen. But I don't see this music becoming popular with the masses. I think real electro in general has a rather underground feeling. Of course this doesn't apply to electro-house, or electro-pop and the rest of that mess. Reading the commentary on Soundcloud tracks, or on sites such as electro empire, technobass.net, I see artists and producers treating each other with respect, pushing each others sounds and generally creating this family vibe. Producers remix each others tracks, they invite each other to collaborations.. The electro scene hasn't had it this good in a long long time. If only some of the bigger names in the scene would come back and start putting out electro again, it'd be all good!

Any thoughts on the top newcomers to the electro scene to look out for?

My favorite up and coming producer from the Polish electro scene is dj NAIL, which I'm sure we'll all get to hear his music publicly soon. He's a very talented cat, and who's also producing ambient as well. Also, I'm checking for DJ Eprom, one of the cream of the crop in terms of turntablism, and he not only produces electro but also just released a dubstep album.

Next up for me would be Cody Commando... he really represented on a recent EP release for DJ Xed's Crobot Music. He's a young producer with a real knack for minimal dark electro. I should also mention Edemski, who's got a great live PA act. If heads are into freestyle, they should also check for Extatick, Makush1no and Sonic Division.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Elektropunkz of course - they're not only organizing and putting on events, but releasing music and doing many other projects for the Polish electro scene.

Around the beginning of December, you'll be able to see Synapse from the UK here. We already had DMX Krew, Illektrolab, Legowelt and thanks to the initiative of other promoters, brought in DJ Xed and N-Ter. We've got parties going in cities such as Warsaw, Wroclaw, Bialystok, Lublin, and Lodz. From time to there are electro parties in Gdansk as well.

Can you share any night clubs or other spots folks should check out if they visit the city of Szczecin?

Two clubs to look out for are Mezzoforte and Alter Ego, where along with the PCV crew I organize dnb, dubstep, electro, and breaks parties.That's really it as far as the underground Szczeczin nightlife.. the majority of folks here go to events with techno, tek-house, minimal , trance, rnb, dancehall or hits from MTV of Viva ;).. I go to these from time to time . We also have a yearly music festival BOOGIE BRAIN, worth checking out.

Where can bassheads find you on the web?

www.myspace.com/electromonter82
www.soundcloud.com/robodrumakaelectromonter

You can also find me on www.binalogproductions.gr

Thanks for taking the time to let heads know a little more about you, to wrap up, what's next for Robodrum?

My most recent releases you can find on a couple of different compilations. On``ADVANCED FUNK vol1`` - on that one I put out `Army of Droids` (Note- you can cop this most excellent track and the rest of Advanced Funk here)

Robodrum - Army of Droids (Advanced Funk vol1 bonus track) by robodrumakaelectromonter

For an upcoming release on Elektropunkz ``THE ROBOTS RIOT-Act One`` I'm putting out `Retrolectroboteknoise`. I also have three tracks coming out on a new compilation called Poltron Invaders, which is a joint project with several Polish artists, also coming out on Elektropunkz. Finally, I'd like to mention a goal of mine, to put together a 4 track EP and have it put out on Canada's Intelligenix Records... I'm hoping they'll dig what I'm cooking up enough to put it out.

I wanted to say thanks for having me on the City of Bass blog. I'd like to send a shout out to DVS NME , DJ Skeme, Chris Spotta, DJ Elusive, lb.ip, Binalog, Illektrolab and everyone who's kept me going with words of encouragement.

Editor's note: Robodrum's interview was translated to English by the author. .....

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A Conversation With London DJ DVNT, the man behind the excellent MANTIS Radio Show

2010-10-27T12:08:00.004-06:00

Continuing on with the city of bass 'Conversations With...' series, this time I travel virtually to South London to have a chat with Mike Samaras, the man behind the excellent MANTIS radio show. Mike is a consummate music lover, and he really does the worldwide electronic music community a favor by constantly searching out new musical treats and sharing them with listeners. He also does his fair share of giving shine to electro producers and labels. With that short introduction, here we go!

First things first mate, tell the readers a bit about yourself, and what drives you to do the MANTIS show?

My name is Mike Samaras, and I host the MANTIS Radio show as DVNT. I occasionally get the privilege of performing DJ sets as DVNT in clubs and warehouses. I live in south London and have done for a few years with my partner and 2 cats.

What drives me to do MANTIS Radio? Well... it's simply that I like sharing the amazing music I'm fortunate to come across. Most of the main networks for music seem to largely push similar stuff. Some of it is good, but most of it in my opinion, seems to be nothing special except through hyperbole, as a result fairly average stuff can be seen as the new big thing. Take for example BBC Radio 1. Most of that station is utter drivel as far as my musical tastes goes. But that said, one of the great things about music is it's completely subjective and whilst I don't want to listen to most of what Radio 1 pushes a large majority of people do like it. So fair play to those folk.

I've always been a fan of Mary Anne Hobbs experimental show and her previous legendary Breezeblock shows for years, and it's a shame that she has now stepped down from the show. She did a good job of flying the torch for alternative electronica since the days of John Peel, getting that music to a mainstream audience.

What's the main focus of your show, and how long have you been doing it?

Primarily it's to share the wealth of sound that I come across. I guess my listening tastes dictate that whilst I seek out and find all this new/old/awesome sounds, a lot of people haven't or won't come across it for one reason or another. So in a way I'm trying to redress the balance. It's not that I only try and play obscure sounds, far from it, and I don't think there is any pretentiousness in it, although some people probably think there is.

I've been doing the show since May 2007. and just reached the milestone of having just broadcast the 70th show. I'd been wanting to do a radio show for a while since I started DJing back in 2003. My obsession with music got to the point that I needed to share it with others very loudly and directly.

You seem obsessed with music much in the same way that I am. I love hunting down electro music world wide, and it's why I've kept on with Vocode Project and now City of Bass. It's always a pleasure to meet fellow music lovers, and I have to ask, what's your story in terms of music and your life?

I was a late bloomer with music I think. I grew up and listened to bits and piece but not much. My parents weren't that concerned with music, although they did do me the favour of introducing me to Jean Michel-Jarre and Mike Oldfield. My Uncle's turned me on to Blur and Annie Lennox, but on the whole music wasn't a particularly massive thing as I was growing up. It wasn't until I started buying CDs when I was 16/17 maybe and even then it was a slow start and somewhat sporadic. Part of me is a bit sad when I hear about friends' upbringing and their submersion in their musically-obsessed family, but largely it's a good thing as it has allowed me to discover all this old stuff, it's never-ending.

You know the great thing is, there's so much music out there, not only the newest in electronic joints but a tremendous back catalogue from the 20th century, you could spend the rest of you life listening every day and you'd never get through it all. Going back to electronic music specifically, how do you go about discovering and selecting new music for the program?

I seem to have an insatiable hunger for new sounds. I will happily follow recommendations made to me or even generally from reviews, forums, tweets etc... and from there make a decision as to whether I like it. I have had many many late nights over the years sitting on the internet hunting down albums or tracks that artists I liked were influenced by or referenced in an interview or sleeve notes or something.

Completely virally almost. Along the way I would come across some truly amazing stuff that would stick. I still do this, but with being older and needing to be in bed at a reasonable hour during the week not as much.

I hear that. So you get to hear tons of music, how do you go about sorting and sifting what goes on the show, determining what makes the cut so to speak?

Currently I am sent promo material from a range of music labels, most of which I'm happy to say fits into the "darkfloor" remit. I also get a couple of music download store newsletters which I check out. Listening to audio previews and purchasing accordingly.

I am subscribed to loads of sites via the excellent web app Google Reader and every few days I'll plough through the music ones seeing what comes up. The list of sites just keeps growing and with the netaudio stuff, there is just so much good stuff I keep discovering. I put everything into my iTunes under a "new music" playlist and then prior to a show go through all the new bits that have popped into it and highlight what I want to play in the show by putting it into another playlist. I also leave myself notes via email or with www.rememberthemilk.com about tracks I really like when I'm out jamming the ear buds on a train or something. When it comes to the show I have all the shortlisted music for the show in front of me and I wing it. I normally decide on an opening track but the rest is pretty organic.

When it comes to selecting artists for the showcase it's simply that I ask people whose music blows me away. And over the years I've yet to be disappointed. Often most of these artists, particularly those who release their music for free via net labels don't get that much exposure, or not as much as I think they deserve. And whilst I have no Radio 1 listener base I do have a solid base of folks tuned into the MANTIS vibe, and really I just want to push great sounds. There's a lot of stuff that slips under the radar, and I hope that my show helps with letting a little less slip through.

Respect for that. One of the things I particularly like about your show is that it traverses across genres but manages to maintain a common theme - can you describe the "darkfloor" sound that you're passionate about?

I started DJing with vinyl, and I guess I would sometimes get bored with playing a single style of sound for an extended period of time. Particularly this would be the case at house parties where the crowd is much more forgiving if you deviate somewhere. So I would play any set I could and throw in some oddball tracks. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. Gradually I focused it a bit and realized that I could do a cohesive set like that.

I like a wide range of music, seemingly larger than most, and so why can't I play more than one style of music in a set? Back in 2007 I was beginning to introduce bits of techno into my sets, having been a breakbeat DJ for a few years. Breakbeat used to be a very good genre for mixing in different styles and genres. I was also getting more into electro and again dropping bits here and there.

When I started the show I really wanted the freedom to be able to play whatever I wanted to. Some of the stations I was looking at playing on where very genre specific, and that wasn't somewhere I wanted to do my show. I wanted the freedom to be able to play downtempo warmth like early Ninja Tune to hardcore essex abuse from the likes of Hellfish.

Gradually this has evolved into the "darkfloor" thing. I think it started about 2 years ago. I was getting annoyed at answering the question that people ask when they found out you were a DJ. "What do you play?" I'd reel off a list of genres and eventually got tired of doing this, so I thought up the name "darkfloor", sort of a play on the largely dark themed tracks I play together with "dancefloor".

No one seemed to be using it and I felt it described what I was playing then and now pretty well. It was also a pretty good tag line for the radio. Essentially it's a collective term for a large range of electronic genres to describe what I play. Techno, electro, dubstep, glitch, IDM, ambient, downtempo, jungle, breaks, dub, ghetto, techhouse, etc... Looking back over the early shows all the artists showcased can be considered darkfloor. So it worked out quite well I think.

From your perspective, what's the common thread that ties these different genres together, to make that "darkfloor" sound to your ears?

I guess the common thread through the range of sounds is that they are generally dark, bassy, deep, and well produced. Thinking about it, I've always been into the less happy, more darker sort of tracks. When I was 17 I managed to blag an interview at the sadly now defunkt 'Our Price'. Those in the UK will remember that store. Anyways there I was introduced to Industrial and Grunge properly, in particular Nine Inch Nails. There's something about tracks which are darker having more to say, they have more of a story. To me, largely, happier music seems very disposable. It can be great for the moment party music but I find it quite disposable. The melancholy darker sounds seem to resonate with me more.

Aside from the cheeky old skool hardcore track I slip in, the tracks aren't hands in the air happy, they can be quite intricate, foreboding or just balls out heavy. There is a certain amount of feeling involved in what I select and the way that the sounds can be programmed can determine how darkfloor they are. How successful this is I leave up to the listeners but I always enjoying dropping some deep rolling techno track for a few minutes before shaking it apart with some jacking electro or slamming in a hard-edged amen break. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

You're pretty organized from a presentation perspective, not only in the radio format itself but in your interactive presence - I know from experience how much time all of this can take - can you give us an inside look as to how much goes into preparing each show, and then following that the promotion of it?

Well it started simply as a generic flyer image that I put on a few music forums. Over the years it's been refined and I think around the 5th show I stared producing custom graphics for each show. These have kept elements as the show has trundled along. Through my career in digital design, I like to think of myself as a dab hand with digital graphics so it's nice to be able to create something visual for the shows each time.

About a week before broadcast I've hopefully got a few promo images from the upcoming guest as well as a bit of promotional blurb to help give some background around artists people might not be familiar with. I always find it interesting how artists have approached their sound or what influences them and such. That info is then blogged a few days before on the darkfloor site as well as hitting Twitter, Facebook, and about 30 to 40 music forums. The archives are done in a similar fashion, as well as writing the code for the podcast, transcoding the MP3 down to between 112kbps and 96kbps to be upped to the Mixcloud site for streaming.

I first came across your show in some of the electro forums. Tell me about your first experiences with electro music proper back in the day, and how you see the scene today in 2010. The well felt really dry to me for a couple of years there, and from my perspective, there's this renewed energy and feel going on currently. What are your thoughts on this?

I guess I really started taking notice after I was finding nuskool breaks records that sounded a bit more sci-fi or more technoid in nature. Stuff like Lawgiverz and Si Begg, as well as Radioactive Man and Son of the Electric Ghost. Producers who straddle the electro and breaks genres.

I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to hearing new music and I download a lot of mixsets often only containing a few artists I've heard before, and from some amazing unsung heroes who have put together mixes with breaks and electro. I still consider myself very much a newcomer when it comes to electro. I got on the wagon late and I'm playing catch up. I guess my love with breakbeats and my first clubbing experiences at jungle and drum and bass gigs led me to electro. It takes all the rhythms and percussion that I like from breaks, but mixes it in with a lot of the darkness of the techno that I like to form technobreaks. Does that make sense?

Absolutely - it's funny you mention that, because aside from electro, I'm a huge huge drum n bass fan, and some of the electro that gets me most amped falls into the camp of producers who deviate from the standard beat patterns and start getting intricate with rhythms and drum sounds. Let's get technical: tell me about your studio set up and how you're making the show

As I broadcast the show with Ableton I need to spend a load of time going through and warping the music I might want to play for that weeks show. This is after I've downloaded it, converted it if it's from CD, tagged it, added artwork etc... The average show I guess is anywhere between 60-100 tracks that I warp prior to broadcast.

It's a headache at the best of times, staring into the abyss that is magnified soundwaves, but it allows me a wide range of sounds to drop during my set in the first hour of the show. The first 12/13 shows were vinyl shows with a shitty Sony laptop acting as a CD deck to play the odder stuff I didn't have on vinyl. As my tastes have evolved, less of what I wanted was coming out on vinyl, it was getting expensive and I didn't have a surplus of cash to get all this stuff I wanted. So it was via a slight detour via some rather clunky Numark CDX's to where I am now with Ableton.

Specifically I'm now running Ableton 8 with an Audio 8 soundcard with 4 stereo channels going into an Ecler NUO 4. I use an M-Audio Trigger Finger for filters, and fx's. The signal is spilt between my trusty amp and 4ft tower speakers and into the back of my iMac where it is streamed to the world via the Nicecast software. I use a Mac Book Pro for running Ableton.

Do you still dig in the crates, so to speak?

Most of my music is bought online. Generally through digital download stores like Boomkat and Junodownload, and increasingly direct from artists with the Bandcamp service. I do pop into my local charity shops a lot (local being Crystal Palace). There is one, the Cancer Research UK one, which from time to time gets some quality CDs in.

There are the music and video exchanges dotted about London that can be a goldmine for the older sounds. The one in Camden is just racks of vinyl and CDs, with two huge sections that are unmarked and unordered. It's crate digging, old skool style. I always enjoy that, although my partner gives up and leaves after about 5 minutes. Haha, who's to blame her really.

Ha, no doubt! I remember when my girlfriend, now my wife, used to come to every gig I played out, eventually she got bored with the superstar DJ poses ;) Heh... For the City of Bass readers, where can they find you on the web?

You can find me, the radio show and a load of quality mixes from a whole heap of amazing producers and mixologists at darkfloor.co.uk. I also can be found in a design/visual capacity at makemassair.co.uk. Those on Twitter can grab me (@DVNT) or the site (@darkfloor). I think that's enough. I'm on other things which are linked to from the darkfloor site.

Thanks for taking the time to let heads know a little more about you. To wrap up, what's next for yourself and for Mantis Radio?

Thank you, and you're very welcome. What's next? Well I'm still toying with the idea of setting up a netlabel or even a digital label, I'm umming and arring about doing a club night or some sort of live real life version of the show. Hopefully some more DJ gigs.

You can check out the MANTIS radio archives here, and be sure to check out each new show - if you love electronic music, MANTIS radio is the place to be.

Related: Check out the previous 'conversations with' series of interviews here

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Hardfloor 'Two Guys Three Boxes' - A Music Review

2010-10-25T03:33:00.002-06:00

It's no secret I'm a fan of electronic music, and one of the things that keeps me going with this daily dose of electro dope blog is a love of music; the chance to constantly discover new artists to listen to.

But there's nothing that excites me more as a fan of music than 'event' albums. What's an event album? It can be a dope compilation that marks the evolution of a sound moving forward, a new artist that creates an incredible long player, or respected artists who continue to come correct with the dope goods, even years after their first foray in the scene. Artist's such as Underworld, Chemical Brothers, and the legendary German duo of Hardfloor come to mind.

When I first got word of new Hardfloor material for 2010, my ears pricked up immediately. When I found out it would also include collaborations with vaunted electro producer E.R.P, I knew it would be a wrap.

Back in March of 2009, I'd done an electro showcase mix for the Vocode Project that had a Hardfloor remix by E.R.P that blew me away - the incredible acid sound of Hardfloor set to deep melancholy electro, a track that built and built, with each twist of the silver knobs it brought out more levels of funk, more levels of finesse... back in the early 90's they used to call Harthouse records 'Liquid Monster Trance'.. this was liquid monster acid funk on a totally different level.

With "Two Guys Three Boxes", Hardfloor nails it. From the opening acid riffs of 'Mesmerizing Liquids', the playful grooves of 'In Acid We Trust' all the way to the tip-of-the-hat to the harthouse years of 'TB Or Not TB', each of these tracks not only intensifies the kopfnicken factor, but is also absolutely uniquely Hardfloor in its sound.

Producers worldwide have been using the silver box for over 3 decades now, but there's only a few artists in the game that have been able to create their own unique and identifiable acid sound with it. Hardfloor is one of them, and still on top of their game. You know how Hendrix made those guitars scream in only the way he knew how? The Hardfloor boys do the same with the TB-303.

Wrapping up this most stellar of LP's are the two collaboration tracks with E.R.P. The first of these, '4th Dimension of the 5th Ward' is full of nods to classic 80's funk records with deep warm synth tones, a blanket of dopeness that invites a warm cuppa and perhaps a spliff or two. The second, 'You Know The Score' captures exactly that vibe that so threw me in the March 09 electro showcase mix. This is pure deep electro. Acid grooves that seem to reach out from the speakers and invite you in. Electronic music that is haunting and funky at the same time - one of those tracks that could have been made in 1992, or 2052. Timeless.

Without a doubt, recommended.

The first single, "Silver Submarine" with remixes by DJ Pierre is available now both in vinyl and digital format.

You can pre-order the limited edition coloured vinyl as well as the regular vinyl album directly from Hardfloor. Shipping in November 2010. Digital versions to follow.

Listen to the album snippets below.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

Digitizer - Computer Controlled - Auditory Cortex Records - A Music Review

2010-10-22T12:38:00.000-06:00

You know what's a recipe for pure unkut to me? Mix one part Drexciya style dissonant chords, add Dopplereffekt style basslines, and throw the whole lot into a big bowl of bangin' aggressive Miami electro bass style beats, and you've got a winning treat sure to satisify electro heads.

This opening track from Digitizer 'Computer Controlled', out now on Auditory Cortex Records, does that business, and it does it extremely well. The other two stand outs on this 5 tracker are 'Robotnik' and the excellent 'Alien Technology', whose descending arpeggio's will instantly transport you to your happy place.I absolutely love records like this.

Recommended.

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed

A conversation with Polish electro producer and DJ Elektromonter, the man behind Elektropunkz

2010-10-15T12:08:00.010-06:00

With this next edition of my series of conversations with electro producers, DJs and label owners, I travel virtually to my home country of Poland to chat with Wroclaw's DJ Elektromonter, the man behind Elektropunkz.net. The talented DVS NME pointed out Elektropunkz as a label and scene to look out for, and I immediately tracked down Elektromonter and Robodrum (ed. note: the Robodrum interview will be up very soon) to set up a 'Conversations With' feature. With that, let's get into it.

First things first, can you introduce yourself

My name is Bartek Wójcik aka EleKtromonter. I’m originally from Chełm, a small city in eastern Poland. This place to me was really a musical desert – no professional concerts (only garage bands), no clubs. Given that, I don’t know how it's possible that music is such an important part of my life ;) Maybe thanks to my family, my older brothers especially. Thanks to them music started to play in my soul very early. As a teenager I had a so-called band and we did some “concerts” in my father’s garage. But mostly we were smoking cigarettes and drinking beers.

Ha! This sound's similiar to my story, especially the drinking beers and smoking cigarettes part ;) How did you get into DJing?

My dj story starts in Lublin. At the time, there was a place called Centrala. I was lucky to be a part of the best time for this place and started my parties there about 2003. I spent a lot of time in clubs. Mostly it was drum and bass and techno. During this time, when i was doing my studies, I set up a dj duo with my brother Wojtek - the Elektropunkz Soundsystem. We were doing electro-techno-hardcore parties.

Lublin

From that time our interests mutated through techno, clash, italo, ebm to electro bass and breaks mostly. And from that beginning, it's morphed into a platform with the blog, label, party promotions, production, live performance and of course DJ sets. Our connections are no longer only Polish. We did some gigs abroad, met some foreign producers which we’ve invited to our label... so we’re still evolving.

You know it's funny, it usually starts off small and if someone is passionate, it tends to really build and grow into something. I started off the same way, a simple techno mix show on saturday nights in my university with a homie. That was back in 1996/1997, and here I am still going strong. So how did you get from there to your current city of Wroclaw and Elektropunkz? What motivates you?

It's a very friendly city - you have to see this place. I was booked for one party here four years ago in Droga Do Mekki and I’m here till today, hehe. What motivates me? I don’t know. It's a passion for music and a love for electro! And also I feel we’re doing huge work in translating the word ELECTRO correctly. It seem's like we’re in Wroclaw fighting for the electro scene. Right now this tag is attached to everything and it’s getting meaningless. We’re on the mission to change that, hehe.

I think every basshead worldwide feels that particular pain. I don't have a problem with house music with giant basslines other than they stole our name, heh. Tell me, how did you get into the electro scene in particular?

By accident. At my friend’s apartment. He was listening to some compilation which hit me like a cannonball. I borrowed this CD from him and never gave it back.. I don’t remember the year but it was before I moved to Lublin.

I came across you and Elektropunkz after my interview with DVS NME from Dark Science Radio. From my perspective, there's a lot of electro music activity going on in Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries. Alavux from Serbia had some interesting things to say about this, and I'm curious as to what your take is on electro in Eastern Europe and especially in Poland. I asked this same question of Robodrum, and in particular I would like to get your perspective as one of the leading lights of the electro scene in Poland.

Very glad to hear so nice words from you. It's really hard to tell why the situation looks like you say, and I don't know if I necessarily agree. When I’m looking on Spain, Germany, UK, Holland - there is much more music coming from there. But yes, there is a lot of newcomers from Eastern Europe; and right now they are not trying to be like the west but want to have their own style and are proud of that. I honestly think it's coincidence that some eastern newcomers and promoters met in one time and are doing good job. We’re not special, we're just out to have a good time :) But that said, be prepared! Bass doom may come from the east! Alavux also had an interesting opinion about that and maybe part of that is true: Eastern Europeans were always better in “sad” music than “happy”, hehe.

When I originally reached out to Robodrum to find out more information about the Polish electro scene, he had some kind words about you and your influence and hard work with the Elektropunkz label. Is your focus on pushing the scene in Poland more, and how are you doing that aside from the label? Are you running music nights? Shows? Working with outside-the-country artists as well?

My grand plan is to spread the proper electro virus! When we started, Poland was a black hole on the “european electro map”. Right now you say that Eastern Europe including Poland is one of the most active regions. That means we’re doing our job correctly. But it’s not done yet. I still feel it can be much much better. For example people in Poland should know more about what we have to show, there is a very few people here who would call us the leading lights of the electro scene, and mostly it’s ourselves. Maybe we’re more valued abroad than here. Nevertheless, we still have some work to do. We’re doing parties in Poland with our artists but also we can push them for live gigs abroad. We can search more artists to release. We can help them to cooperate with foreign artists. It can always be better.

No doubt, and that kind of enthusiasm and believing in your movement is the way to go mate. Moving on, I'm going to date myself terribly here, but the last time I was in Poland there really weren't too many electronic music projects and labels going - I know because I spent a lot of time looking as I always try to connect with scene folks when I travel. Everything was very pop music focused - I can't tell you enough how happy I was to find fellow countrymen doing the real business, especially with electro - tell me about your audience and crowd in Poland - and the scene in particular - is a tight knit group of people? and why do you think they're gravitating to electro bass music in particular?

Electro bass/breaks scene is pretty tight and small. We’re sharing music, talking, helping each other. It’s really cool to be a part of that. There are no quarrels between us yet. But it’s always like that when a scene is small. Problems are appearing when it’s getting bigger and jealousy comes out. As far as the audience? It’s not so cool. People loving this type of music are scattered all over the country. It’s really hard to throw a party and have them come to one place at the same time. We put a lot of work into it.

I don’t know why they gravitate to electro, but I can tell you why I’m gravitating to it. I do because when I’m listening to electro i still feel it fresh. It’s always futuristic and always underground. It has it’s own atmosphere which suits me best. I feel no worries that it will become mainstream and as we know mainstream spoils everything.

What do you think about the state of the electro scene overall and where it's going?

I feel like there's a lot of fresh blood in the electro scene all over the world. I hope it’s something like renaissance for this kind of music. The scene is getting better, but unfortunately not the audience. It’s good that the British scene is more active again. The UK always pushes trends forward; that will help us all.There is a lot of work to do, to make loyal audience and busy clubs with E-L-E-C-T-R-O (not “wannabe electro”;) every weekend. To be honest, in my city I hear electro in a club only when Elektropunkz are doing party.

Any thoughts on the top newcomers to the electro scene to look out for? Artists or labels or cities doing their thing?

Paul Blackford, Synapse, Badaszewski - I’m checking for their music the most. They aren’t newcomers but that’s the best nu skool for me. Also from the foreign artists we cooperate with.... Crobot Crew and Darxid. Big respect for them.

In Poland - Cody Commando has bunch of ideas which are great, he’s still evolving and I’m proud of that he started in our label. Also Robodrum, he has his own unique freaky style. I love it! He hit high places in Street Sounds Electro Chart with 'The Message' released in our label and I think it’s only the beginning.

Can you share any night spots, cafe's, coffee shops or record stores/clubs in your city that visitors should know about?

Browar Mieszczański
Melin Cafe
Krakowska 180
Osrodek

Where can bassheads find you on the web?

www.elektropunkz.net
elektromonter.mixntrix.net
lastfm.pl/user/djelektromonter

Elektropunkz label facebook | Youtube | Myspace | Last.fm | Juno | Twitter |

Bartek, many thanks for taking the time to let heads know a little more about you and for doing this feature for City of Bass. To wrap up, what's next for Elektropunkz?

Right now we’re focused on our next project 'The Robots Riot'. It’s a multi-media project with parties, releases and mixtapes. Stay tuned on elektropunkz.net/tag/the-robots-riot-2/. The tags for this project are: machine, city, nu school, bass, beatz and breakz!

Check out Elektromonter's most recent mixtape below, The Robots Riot Episode One, and the releases to date from Elektropunkz label. Massive! For the next edition of 'Conversations With' I move north in Poland to chat with Elektropunkz artist Robodrum. Stay tuned....

Related: Conversations With... Serbia's Alavux, Toronto's Drumatix Six, United States DVS NME

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene.

Hank Shocklee - Early 80s Production Methods Tips - Video

2010-10-14T14:09:00.000-06:00

The October highlight from Propellerhead's Software features Hank Shocklee, and as the last one with the Beastie Boy's AdRock, they released a deleted scenes and outtakes, which contains fantastic stories of old school production methods and give you a real glimpse into the early days of the Bomb Squad and Public Enemy. Brilliant.

Related: Beastie Boy's Adrock deleted scenes - stories from hip hop's early years

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene.

Dibu-Z - They Came From - Robodisko Records

2010-10-13T02:01:00.002-06:00

oh man this opening track 'Autopilot' from Dibu-Z 'They Came From....' EP on Finland's Robodisko Records got me open. Spacy italo sounds that manage to sound like they're from the past and the future at the same time, riding on some crazy TGV to nowhere. Music that instantly transports you to your happy place of choice.

The next track 'Electric Affairs' channels Japanese Telecom but with it's own unique twist on things. C64 sounds can either really enhance or entirely ruin an electro records - enhancement is on order here.

'Extrasolar' flips it nicely - melding tough Miami Bass 808 beats with a hint of progressive during it's glory days, and quickly morphing from that into tough Italo sounds.

A tip of the hat to Hanover's Dibu-z. Respect....and recommended. And bonus points for the dope cover art.

Looks like you can still cop the vinyl via Decks.de or Juno

You can also check out Robodisko Records here. and Dibu-Z's soundcloud page for more

City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene.