With the Portugese sound of Kuduro blowing up, with the scene's main exports, Buraka Som Sistema, going from strength to strength its currently a great time for Portugal's underground music network. Octa Push are a duo who fuse rolling drum breaks with sub bass in a particularly driving minimal style, eeking out a beautifully complex and forceful style all of their own.
Ahead of a couple of London dates and just after their performance in the Red Bull Music Academy tent at Sonar we tracked them down to an IP address to DL their exclusive Sonic Router mix and get the lowdown on what they do.
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Octa Push: We're Dizzycutter and Mushug, two brothers from Portugal, we've been making tunes for a while. In 2008 we started this live project [Octa Push] that fuses Garage with Bashment, Afrobeat, Techno and Dub.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
Dizzycutter is Leo a Web/graphic designer. Mushug is Bruno and he studies sound.
How did you first get into recording music? What was it that infected you to do produce?
We both started making tracks around 1997/1998. Dizzycutter used to play drums at a Metal and Hip-Hop band. The band split, and then he started building jungle tracks at home with some material from a friend. Mushug was younger, he eventually ditched his Sega Master System to make beats aswell.
What’s the big idea behind the Octa Push moniker?
It's about pushing octaves, not really underwater hockey unlike most people think.
How did you get into making music?
Last year we were talking about how it was stupid that we were both making music for a long time but we werent collaborating or taking it seriously. Then Conspira - one of the first portuguese crews pushing bass music - asked us if we could play a show at one of their nights.
We accepted and started making loads of tracks and found a really silly name. From that point it was on!
Whats you production set up like? Has it changed a lot since day dot?
We're using mainly Cubase, loads of VSTs and midi controllers, pretty basic and simple but we plan to extend it at some point with some hardware! Individually we started making tracks with a small keyboard and a 2 deck tape recorder. After that came Acid and Rebirth using a wack Hi Fi music system's speakers.
How did you first get into the dubstep sound? What was it that sucked you in?
There was this DJ ThinKing mix from 2004 that was really fresh. The music had lot's of space and bass. It's funny because we knew a bit of UK Garage and names like Zed Bias, DJ Zinc, Ed Case, The Streets before but took a while to see a relation between them and the particular sound from that mix.
Whats the scene like out in Portugal? Is it going strong?
Loads of wicked music coming from here, things are really taking off. It's great to see that there's actually a new portuguese sound shaping up, drinking from all the influences of different cultures that this country has/had!
What can we expect from you guys in 2009?
We've just finished a couple of official remixes, one for DJ Znobia and other for Debruit. There's also an original 12" coming out on Iberian Records, it features panamanian badman MC Zulu and cape verdean talent Toni Clean.
As for gigs, we just played Sonar and we're at fabric on June 26th. In July we've got gigs lined up at Cable and Glade Festival.
We're really happy how things are moving...
Your mix represents your live sets quite nicely… what are you using to mix your sounds together live?
We're using laptops, Ableton and MPD samplers. This mix was recorded only by one of us, so live we have an extra couple of arms and more things happening. More dynamic in general!
What can people expect when they come to see you?
Expect two guys pushing buttons while dancing like cavemen.
Have you got anything else you want to tell us, words of wisdom for our readers?
Always take care of your back if you dance like a caveman...
::
DOWNLOAD: Octa Push - MPDTAPE for Sonic Router
Tracklist:
Octa Push - Quebu Sabe
Octa Push - Kolokani
Octa Push - Sasquatch
Octa Push - Laika Likes It
Monkey Steak - Voodoo is Everywhere (Octa Push RMX)
DJ Znobia - Me Batem (Octa Push RMX)
Octa Push - Dubshh
Debruit - I'm Going With You (Octa Push RMX)
Octa Push ft MC Zulu - Baila Mundo
Catch Octa Push at fabric this Friday (26th June) alongside El-B and Hot City.
Link:
www.myspace.com/octapush
No comments:
Post a Comment