Proton Radio


Interview with Stuart McKeown & Darius Bassiray 1) Congratulations. How do you feel? Stuart: It's all a bit strange really, but hey, strange is good. We're really excited to have won the competition, it's hard to believe that so many entries were received. I've been a big fan of Blake's for a ages, I can still remember when Steve May first played Okoboji back about a year ago when I moved to Australia in front of about 100 people and it totally tore the place apart, I ran up asking what the hell that tune was and he just gave me a knowing grin. I only really got talking to Blake recently and he's been supporting our work 100%; it was good to be able put some of our ideas back into a song that means a lot to him. I would say we've all definately infulenced each others styles & taste in music. Darius: Feels great to win this comp! Blake Jarrell was one of the first producers outside Australia that recognized my work and the stuff me and Stu did together so to get a release along with him is a funny type of fate really. I think this real type of dirty sound is being pushed by Proton very well, so that was the main reason I first approached them with my work. A lot of labels now give you the same logic of thinking... "this is too deep, too dark..." looking for that constant accessible bass line or electro hook which we were never about. So when Blake asked us to remix this I instantly had an idea of what we were going to do with it, and it all turned out according to plan! 2) Tell us a little bit about your remix-- any stories behind it? Its noticeably weirder, darker, and quirkier than any other remix submitted. Stuart: It started with the intro. I've really gone off melodies lately, so we needed to somehow turn all the parts that didn't suit the style we were looking for into something usable. That's definately one of the funnest parts of writing music, when you can take something recognisable and make it into something grittier but in the same respect make it work well. Darius is really good to work with, he speaks his mind....alot, and that's a good quality to have when you're writing music with someone. If he doesn't like something he'll say straight away and point out why he doesn't like it. The track is a journey of mayhem that works well together, which basically translates into our friendship. Darius: We like dark and quirky stuff! It all started with me running down to Stu's house with the parts and he came up with this awesome intro, in the way he really has a knack of doing, with his rock solid programming. I actually never heard the original, until way after we finished it to keep a full head about it! This was right at the time Stu was just about to leave Melbourne to go back to Ireland, so that's why we came up with the name 'Leaving Melbourne' in the remix title. Me and Stu clicked instantly together and share a common ground in our styles, but with individual differences too 'n everything we have done together has been picked up this year so, like our friendship I guess this translated into us wanting to make our tunes the best we can. 3) Both of you have had music released digitally, namely on the now defunct EDM Digital. What do you think about the digital market and the artists role in where the scene is going? What can the digital labels be doing better? What can the stores be doing better? Stuart: The digital era is really moving forward at a fast pace. I think Beatport is really setting the standard at the moment, awesome interface, good prices & excellent music selection with the ability to buy Artists Charts / Playlists all in one go. Artists are also now finding it much easier to set up their own labels and distrubute tracks which they were having trouble signing & with relatively little overhead. It's great seeing how the Artists are evolving, I'm constantly getting blown away by good music every week. An awesome example of hard work & dedication to the sound is Opencloud. Every single song they've sent Darius & I has been ball tearing. I think the only downside of a Digital Label however is exposure, a lot of digital labels are still finding it hard to reach the same level of exposure for artists as a vinyl release would, I guess this is something that will change in coming years. However, the Release Promo Pool is an excellent outlet for digital labels to get their music heard right now. Darius: I think the digital market is fantastic and is giving labels a bit of room to breath without the obvious overheads. I'm not sure how much longer vinyl will be available & in terms of what they can do better an I think keep focusing on exposure and not get complacent because it is so easy to get music out to the masses now and a fundamental quality control is definitely something you need which vinyl has as it costs so much for them to produce and distribute a release. I agree with Stu that it is fantastic to see artists evolve from this medium-- Opencloud being the prime example. 4) Darius, you've been a DJ down under for a few years now with a residency at the legendary Sunny and have played at various clubs around Australia. How does the scene there influence your music, if at all? And what are your plans this year DJ wise? Darius: I am not a resident at Sunny, but I have been fortunate enough to have been invited to play there as a guest regularly. That night has really been the single biggest influence for me and their music policy is second to none. My fundamental sound is really a bastard child of going to Sunny for so many years and listening to guys like Gab Oliver, Phil K, Ozzie LA, and Gavin Keitel. Our scene here definitely influences me a great deal, we are very fortunate that down here everyone is very supportive of each other and there is an obvious major talent hub coming out of Melbourne. As a DJ, I play under the 'Rollin Connection' guise with Daniel Banko, another great DJ down here. My goals with that remain the same from the day we started playing, which is to just maintain the same sound structure we have always believed in, not to compromise to fads, and just do it because we enjoy it and believe in it. I have achieved pretty much most of my goals as a DJ in Melbourne, so know I just really want to develop my sound personally, and push it to a wider audience. Together we also plan to further the party we run called Darkbeat, and really continue to achieve the same level of professionalism with that we have worked so hard to create. 5) Stuart, having just returned from Australia, what's the best experience you've had down there? Would you go back? What can the scene learn from the artists and DJ's that you worked with while visiting? Stuart: I met Michael Napora on the Prog Breaks board a few years back and really digged his production & what he was trying to do. We decided to move to Melbourne & the rest is history really. Australia completely changed my whole perspective on music. I felt like I could promote myself as a DJ endlessly however the only way to really get satisfaction would be to make my own music. Melbourne I guess was the best place to start, huge array of producers & a close knit music scene. I never really expected it to turn out like it did. Darius pretty much introduced me to everyone there, and it instantly felt like home for me. The first party I went to was actually an Andy Page live set, watching him play the bass live through Reaktor was quite surreal; as was standing on the main floor of Melbourne' best underground club Sunny watching Gab Oliver drop Blackphunk. Good Times. I've got loads of friends there now, all of whom have been supporting my Music from day one; notible mention goes to Dean Millson who runs the Private Function Parties; his support has been motivation to keep writing music & sticking at it. The amount of talent down there is unreal, all the producers & DJs are always constantly trying to push each other, I guess this means that they're a good deal more critical about each others music. Which is why a large majority of it is so good. 6) Both of you now have music signed and forthcoming on the Proton Music label as a result of this remix. What are your goals and aspirations from this point on? What can we expect to see from either of you in 2006? Stuart: To keep doing what we're doing. We both have a few bits and pieces happening over the next while. The first tune we wrote together, The Gyppo Funk is coming out as part of Iron Box's (Brian Aneurysm's Label) Framed & Formed 3 Vinyl Compilation. That particular song came about because my nickname was "The Gyppo" I guess that was something to do with me being Irish and all. It's a fairly wierd techy number with Darius' vocals in it, which came from an answer phone message. God knows what Darius was thinking. We've also written another track called Our Sound, which Opencloud are currently remixing. In terms of Solo projects, I released a track called Chemical Thrust through L2 music on Resonant Vibes which got a lot of good feedback. There's also 'Meet Me On The Corner of Raven Hill' which is now coming out on Proton soon & then there's the remix of Darius' 'Lorenzo' which is also out soon with another remix from Habersham. I've got heaps more in the pipeline, along with getting back to Oz to live thrown in there somewhere too. There's clips of most of the stuff I've been working on, on my website. Darius: My goals from this point on are to just keep writing records that I personally believe in and not just make a certain type of sounding record because I think it might be well received. We both have a record called Gyppo Funk coming out on Iron Box Music very soon, as well as Our Sound out on Proton and my record Lorenzo now coming out on Proton. I am in the middle of finishing a few more records so hopefully they may see the light of day. 7) What advice can you give to future remixers that participate in our forthcoming contests? Stuart: The best advice I can give is try and write something that stays true to your sound, try and be original, but always have fun at the same time. I always try to be as open minded as possible when writing music, mess around for hours and bounce different bits of audio off then cut it all up and mess it up some more. Many people when remixing get too caught up in using all of the original parts and just stringing them together, If I was judging a remix contest I'm sure I'd be sick of hearing all the parts by the end, so I'd want to pick something that sounded unique but still encapsulated the true feel of the original song. Darius: My advice is to avoid listening to the original if that's possible. Also not to write a record you think might appeal to people if you do not like it yourself. I think too many producers write records that they don't even like themselves just because it is a popular sound or what is the big thing at the time. If you like that stuff then yeah write it in but if you don't write what you believe in and you will always have far much more longevity if you do. Use the parts to create a new piece of music, don't just re-arrange them into a new sequence. Have fun, and try and fuck it up as much as you can! 8) If you could remix any artist or song, who would it be and why? Stuart: I'd love to get my hands on the parts of any of Peter Benisch' albums, or Boards of Canada. I love the real crunchy analog sounding pads & synths. I'm pretty open to working with any type of song, the further off your style of music the more challenging the remix is. Darius: I have always wanted to work with Gab Oliver in his hay day but I was a little bit too young when he was really killing it and was no where near ready for production at the time. Now, I would really like to remix a Peace Division tune they always seem to find the most filthy, sleaziest vocals I think I could have endless amounts of fun playing with, their new one Blacklight Sleaze for example is a fuckin ripper. Or something totally different like Kinnie Star would be fun. 9) What equipment and software was used in the creation of this remix? The song was written & sequenced entirely in Ableton Live. People underestimate the sequencing power of this program; I frequently get told that I should be using Logic or Cubase because they "sound better." Your sequencer is what you make of it, people can still write mad tunes on Fruityloops. Our main Soft Synth is Reaktor 5 purely for the pure Raw Power it has. The possibilities are endless, and the rich granular textures you can create are awesome and if you are used to modular environments you can create your own patches too. 10) What is it like collaborating when doing a remix? Stuart: It can be difficult to find the time when you're remixing with someone. We made a pact at the start of the remix that neither of us could work on the tune when the other person wasn't there. That didn't really work though as we found it hard to make time to get it finished. So we'd both work on individual parts, then try and combine them together as best we could. Then tweak what we needed to tweak. I think the worst part is the final mix down, that's something that you're never satisfied with, but on the flipside that's when having another pair of ears can be most crucial, especially to pinpoint parts of the mix that don't sit right. Darius: I love working with Stu, since I met him we have become best friends, the synergy of styles we have is quite remarkable, with music with him its like looking in a mirror. He really has a very good ear and his programming is seriously off the hook. When we are writing together I am always learning new things of him and we started writing tunes together at the same time, which was only really a year ago so we are all still learning a lot of things but the response to everything we have done has been overwhelming in a good way! 11) The scene right now seems to be going through some exciting and drastic changes. Which artists, labels, or DJs are getting you hot and bothered--and on the contrary, what is boring you? Stuart: I'd say 75% of the music I listen to doesn't excite me anymore. One of the most exciting & refreshing DJs of last year was Gavin Keitel, along with Darius of course :P His sets were just so consistent, he's definitely a DJ to watch out for. I've lost interest in Prog, Darius & I seem to have a wierd connection when it comes to liking music. As he says, if the tune isn't rolling then it's not good enough. What he means by the term "rolling" (which also has a special hand signal) is the balance in the song between the kick, snare & the bass. A perfect example of something like this is Wighnomy Brothers - Pele Bloss. I'm loving anything coming out of Germany right now, there's loads of great labels putting out consistent music every week. Franklin De Costa, Brian Aneurysm, Misc, Robag Wruhme, Butane, Heartthrob, Egoexpress, Repeat Repeat the list goes on. Darius: I really love what Opencloud are doing at the moment-- really really consistant, and the only two I can pinpoint who are really writing fantastic breakbeat records as well as the crazy 4/4 stuff. Stu's new one Antioxidant typifies the hybrid techy-oldskool influenced, driving sickness I love so dearly 100%, Habersham still remains at the top of the game I think and always quality. I like a guy called Brian Aneurysm-- really nice stuff coming out from him and not too minimal like a lot that is around at the minute but very dirty. I still enjoy the older influenced dark records merged with the more modernized twisted groove, so basically anybody making that type of stuff. In terms of DJ;s ñ a local Melbourne DJ by the name of Ozzie LA always keeps it real. I am always really impressed with Phil K when he is in his element and totally, literally destroying a room. What is boring me is the big room electro stuff that seems to be everywhere at the moment, but I guess all music has its place if it is used correctly. DJís that have versatility are always good, I mean if you open with some records that set a room up nicely, then drop a deep dirty as fuck 4/4 record, then a kick snare record, then a record with a lot of swing, then a total head fuck noise pollution record, then a melodic record, then a break beat record, then an electro influenced quirky record thatís all good fine it has its place, but move on drop a driving techo record next or anything to balance it out not just an electro song, then another electro song, then another electro song, then anotherÖ Thatís my belief on it ñ every type of music has its place if used the right way.. I may not do it personally but I appreciate it if done correctly.. The DJís I have the most respect for are the guys who play records I might not necessarily play myself but the way they play the records and the way they program a set it just works. The master of this I believe is Phil K which is why he is so successful at what he does when he really really nails it.

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