INTERVIEW: Randomer [Super]

Randomer’s music bangs; and it’s a testament to his artist name and personality that his music can bang in such different measures. His early work on Hospital Records offshoot Med School trod a darker more rolling jungle sound set (hence the release on a d&b affiliated label) but his newer stuff – including collaborations with Fife and Adverse – seems to be on more of an energetic house tempoed carnival kind of tip. His recent work on Soul Jazz and Brighton label Tru Thoughts has been of the highest quality, those glossy, high energy, full clip kind of tracks that unleash themselves across any dancefloor. Catching our attention from the off, they’re measured to perfection, with thick stabbing FM bass and at times (‘Zabu’ put out on Tru Thoughts is a case in point) the melodic emphasis is simply stunning.

With a release out on Raffertie’s Super imprint this week, a release that features a couple of collaborations and remixes from HomePark and Greymatter (previews of which are embedded below), we figured it high time that our geographical bedfellow Randomer took the reigns of our mix series, so we set him the task of curating our first mix of 2011. Now we get to bask in the results...

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Randomer: My real name is Rohan and I’m from north London. My first release was in 2008 on Medschool and since then I’ve had music put out by a variety of labels such as Hospital, Soul Jazz, and Tru Thoughts.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

There isn’t really any outside of music to me. I decided to concentrate on music production full-time about a year ago and have been lucky enough to get by so far, with short spells of teaching music to help me along. I spend most days from waking to sleep working on writing music or discussing it with my flatmates who also write.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I’ve been making my own music in one way or another since I first picked up the guitar aged 12, and started making electronic music at the age of 15 on Cubase and Fruity Loops. I couldn’t honestly say what made me write music, I’ve just always been more interested in making my own than learning other peoples. I think it was my first proper experiences of rave culture (both chemically and physically) in my late teens that made me so passionate about writing electronic dance music.

What’s your production set up like?

I use Ableton Live on a PC which I recently switched to from Cubase - the workflow in Ableton is amazing, it really suits the intuitive way I go about writing music. I have Mackie HR824 monitors and a large midi keyboard also. Occasionally I play live bass or guitar on my tracks and I’ve been saving up for a decent microphone to record more live sounds.

How would you describe your sound?

My sound is pretty random. I mean at the time of thinking of the name ‘Randomer’ I have no idea what came through my head, but I’ve stuck with it because it seems to suit my music. I write in a really intuitive way, usually depending on how I’m feeling on the day and what is inspiring me then will dictate the music that I come up with.

My music from one track to the next can be pretty bi-polar. I think the two most prevalent things that determine how I sound, are a kind of quirky, tongue in cheek energy and a deep, dark and sometimes aggressive vibe. It’s those parts of my personality that compete with each other to come alive in my music.


SPR003 : Randomer & Adverse – Alizé

I remember getting a zip of the tunes you did with Fife (that ended up on the Soul Jazz 12”) and it was a departure from that Med School tip – only one of the files worked and I was gutted not to get both haha – it was such a pleasant surprise to hear something on much more of a soca tip. Do you listen to a lot of that type of music?

I listen to all kinds of stuff from all around the world, old and new. Discovering other sorts of music is another thing that makes it all worthwhile. Whether I was listening to soca or not at the time I don’t remember, but what I do know is that there was a lot of sun in 2010 in London and that seemed to have quite an effect on what I was writing at the time.

As my discography is a little disjointed it can be sometimes be hard to work out how the Medschool and Soul Jazz stuff fits together, but they’re all basically part of this two-sided thing that I elaborated on in the last question. This may have hindered me commercially a little as it can be hard for first listeners to pinpoint where I stand, but it also has the advantage of giving me distinctiveness. And excuses the fact that I called myself ‘Randomer’...

You share an affinity to the kind of impact that Untold unleashed with his eski sounding Stop What You’re Doing era work. What are the really important elements to your music? i.e. Bass, melody etc and why?

Jack is constantly pushing the boat with his production and everything he comes out with I find inspires me, so I’m glad that my work comes across with an affinity to his.

I love percussion. Sometimes simple stomping rhythms do it for me, but I also like complex cross-rhythms and syncopation. Melodically, I have perhaps gone too far in writing overly complex melodies in the past, due to my background in jazz improvisation, so I’ve recently been simplifying things to give some more coherence. It’s a balancing act.

Your beats have been picked up by the DJ elite, from Ben UFO beyond, do you feel comfortable making music for dancefloors?

I enjoy the limitation of writing music that has to be mixed by DJs. It means you have the challenge of being as creative as possible within a fairly rigid structure. I don’t want to repeat what has been written thousands of times, but you can’t put across in words how great the collective experience of a properly tuned soundsystem with a good crowd and skilled selector is.

What is an inspiration for you?

Other people’s music. Although I did hear this street cleaning machine while walking down Wood Green high street the other day that made the sickest sound. And there is this broken fridge in the Tesco express in Hornsey that makes the DARKEST synth noise.

I read that you consider yourself something of a synth geek? What is it about them that you can loose hours in/on do you think?

I’m a music geek. Synth is part of it. I really enjoy making weird sounds from scratch, its proper satisfying when you spend hours warping a sound until you create something that you’ve never heard before. But it probably ends up being so weird that you could never use it in a tune.


Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about?
Blawan has some fire coming this year. He’s got ridiculous skills. Also I hear something about there being a militant gabba collective called Hornsey Terror Corps that will be making waves.

You’ve just put out a 12” on Raffertie’s Super imprint. Can you tell us a bit about that and shed some light on what people can expect from you in 2011...

The release on Super is a pretty quirky collection of dancefloor tracks that I wrote during some sunny and probably hungover days. ‘Alizé’ has a bit of a vintage 2-step feel with cut up vocals and some bouncy synths and ‘Five’ is a bass heavy stomper with some marching band stuff going on.

In 2011: I have a collaboration I did with Foamo last year which is coming out in late Jan / early Feb on Fat!. Remixes in February for Marla and the Nightshifters artist Magnum and following that there will be some more stuff with Super, and later in the year I’ve got some tough dark vibes coming out but must remain hushed about which labels as it is still a bit secret.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

The mix I’ve done represents where I am at musically at the moment. It’s a mixture of UK bass music, house and techno, a bit of a musical journey. One tune I had to put in the mix is the opening track.

I found it on my laptop desktop and had thought Joe had left it on there but he denies this, and there’s this strange vibe to the track – the whole thing is a bit mysterious.

I have included some exclusives which are so fresh that I have to keep the artist names secret for now, I’m sure you will found out what they are and who wrote them in the next few months.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

Work hard, play hard, take the piss.

::

DOWNLOAD: Randomer – Sonic Router Mix #64



Tracklist:

Jason Havelock - The Fusion
Olantunji - Jin-Go-Lo-Ba
Cristian Vogel - Bopx Bocx Variant 1
Batida - Puxa (Randomer Re-edit)
Green Velvet - Pursuit
Gregor Salto - Just for Fun
Manare - Voodoo
Talk - Holy Mountain
Apster Firebeatz - Cencerro
Dj Gregory & Gregor Salto - Vem Rebola (Instrumental)
A Made up Sound - Rear Window (Shattered)
? - Lavender
? - Lost Everything
Blawan - Bohla
Randomer - Brunk
? - Obtuse (VIP)

Links:
http://soundcloud.com/randomer
www.facebook.com/rohanrandomer

READ: SRQ014: Joe [Hessle Audio]

The latest edition of the Sonic Router opinion column on theQuietus focuses on Joe who has to date released music on Hessle Audio and Apple Pips...

First releasing 'Grimelight' b/w 'Rut' on the closely watched Hessle Audio in April of last year, the unknown Joe - and his efficient command of stylistically brutal percussion, minimal arrangements, thick sub bass and subtle strokes of melody – has taken over a year to provide a follow up. In the last six weeks or so, though, he has hit out with a quickly succeeded duo of platters: an untitled piece backed with 'Digest' for Appleblim's Bristol based Apple Pips label and his DJ tool-come-party-starter 'Claptrap' b/w 'Level Crossing' for Hessle. Thankfully each piece he's released has been worth the prolonged silence, jumping out from the off with stuttering drum lines and or a sense of groove that's now recognisably his: a playful yet mature exploration of unadulterated percussion and minimal sound colouration. - Oli Marlow

READ: SRQ014: Joe [Hessle Audio]

Link:
www.myspace.com/joemakemusic

Photo: Shaun Bloodworth

INTERVIEW: Cloak And Dagger [Immerse]

Time messes you up sometimes... You look forward to something for so long, it comes and goes and then you realise you haven't done anything productive in the run up thanks to the anticipation and expectation; still, its a great thing to be able to come back and go big the very first day...

Evan Gach, a little more commonly known as Cloak and Dagger, had us enraptured with his very first release at a dubstep tempo; his 12" for Immerse, 'Crimewaves' b/w 'In The Cut,' making the grade for our radio show straight away, fusing gloriously with the minimal work of people like Joe, Blawan and James Blake. We caught up with him to reignite the SR mix series and get the low down on his music and life choices...

Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Cloak & Dagger: I’m 27 years old, from San Diego, California, and have been located in Japan for the past four years or so. After DJing for a few years, I first started experimenting with production in 2003 making mostly drum & bass, and I’ve had a few drum & bass releases out over the past couple of years on labels like Intasound, Offshore, and Subtle Audio. I’ve been focusing increasingly on slower tempos over the years, and for the past while have been really enjoying working with the possibilities of 130-145 bpm range.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily? Where are you based etc?

I recently finished a master’s degree in Environmental Policy focusing on global climate change policy - that’s been taking up the majority of my time over the past few years. I just relocated to Tokyo for work, so it’s looking like I’ll still be quite busy with that. Most of the little free time I have is dedicated to music, but when I’m not doing that I enjoy messing around with photography or hiking when I have the chance.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I bought a guitar when I was 13 with money I saved up and played in a few punk/hardcore bands with friends since then. Around the same age, I was introduced to jungle, and for the first time I felt like I heard a style of music where you could seemingly do anything. I was always into a wide variety of music, mostly from having two older brothers, and hearing a genre where you could incorporate any of those was eye-opening for me. By 15 I was buying records with every spare bit of cash I had. I’d always been interested in electronic production, mostly because I had no idea what the producers were actually doing to make their music- it was all a big mystery to me. DJing was fun (and still is), but I always wanted more than anything to actually make music where I felt like the only limit was my own creativity. When I was 20, some friends showed me the basics of Reason one night, and I just got hooked; the experience of seeing a crowd of people enjoy music that I enjoyed making is still the best feeling in the world to me.

Why the decision to switch styles, slowing it up from a d&b tempo to a dubstep speed?

It was never really a conscious decision. Production-wise, d&b was my first love, but I always enjoyed the UK garage I heard. In America we were never really exposed en masse to the commercial side of the genre, it wasn’t really getting played in San Diego, so it was easy to weed that stuff out and just enjoy the sounds that were closer to d&b in their aesthetic; people like Wookie, Zed Bias, El-B, Horsepower Productions etc. As this stuff developed into dubstep, I heard in the music what I loved most about jungle - a mash of influences, a drive to experiment and develop a unique sound, and the idea that you could have a general aesthetic (tempo, bass, etc.) and just push it until it was almost something else, yet still accepted within that genre.

Even when making drum & bass, I had always still experimented with slower tempos, and I was finding it a little hard to make music at 170bpm that didn’t sound like d&b; a lot of the stuff I was making was deliberately trying to push (or at least blur) the boundaries of the genre’s conventions, which is what I loved about the genre in the first place. It wasn’t an act of defiance or leftfield elitism or anything like that; it was just how I thought it was supposed to be done. At the same time, the scene seemed to be splintering more and more into predefined subgenres, each with their own set of rules, and I was finding that I could go to a drum & bass night and not really identify with the majority of what I was hearing. I think this is pretty natural for a music genre that had seen as much growth and different “eras” as dnb had and new producers and DJs come into the scene after being influenced by a particular sound or era.

However, as a producer, hearing a lack of “grey areas” between subgenres and a lack of outside influences as a fundamental part of the genre was frustrating, but I found that at slower tempos, the opportunities for mixing genres, influences, and experimentation were overwhelming. Overall, I find this more interesting and more challenging, and so this has led me to lean naturally towards the 130-145 range.


Cloak & Dagger - Crimewaves [Immerse]

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

I’ve always been a huge proponent of the idea that it’s not the gear that you have but rather what you do with it. All of my favorite electronic music - jungle, electro, techno, hip hop, whatever – was made on so much less than what’s available to bedroom producers nowadays, so I never really fully understood when I would talk to other producers and they would tell me I couldn’t make good music using certain software or without a particular piece of gear. My setup itself is pretty minimal; apart from a few cheap toys, a couple of low-budget midi controllers, a mic, and a pair of monitors, everything is done on my PC. I use a lot of free plugins and have more fun getting interesting sounds out of those than a lot of the professional, powerhouse plugins that are available. Up until recently, I was using Reason as my main software, so even the ability to use and experiment with different plugins is pretty exciting for me!

Where do you take inspiration from when making music?

More than anything, inspiration comes from my environment and surroundings. I’d been living in Nagoya (Japan) for the past four years, which has a very industrial vibe, similar in some ways to Detroit in atmosphere, as well as a lack of sunny days throughout the year, so my music would often reflect that in its sound. If we had nice weather for a week, my next tune would generally be more upbeat and dancefloor-friendly. I didn’t realise quite how influential my surroundings were to me until I played in San Diego last year and realised how out-of-place some tunes felt compared to Nagoya and vice versa. Other than that, I listen to very little dubstep and don’t follow the scene that closely, so musically a lot of my inspiration comes from various other genres I listen to and trying to incorporate other philosophies, ideas, and attitudes from my influences into my own music.

Your moniker suggests hidden talents or an underlying intention. What was your thinking behind it?

I think it encompassed the attitude I had when making music; it’s always been the subtle things and little nuances in songs that I’ve loved the most, even in really simple music. Also, I’m a small guy, so the characters in books, movies, video games, etc. that have always left the biggest impressions on me were the ones that weren’t physically strong or socially/politically powerful, but rather came out ahead through wit, deception, and skill – spies, ninja, detectives, all that cool stuff. I’ve just always dug the idea that there’s a whole world behind the scenes that we can’t see.


Cloak & Dagger - In The Cut [Immerse]

How would you describe your sound?

This is a hard one for me to answer. Knowing that what I’m about to say is extremely cliché, I’ve come to realize over the years that, first and foremost, I make music for myself rather than for others, and at this point it’s more of a therapy than anything else. I never feel comfortable sticking to a particular sound, and on the contrary my motivation comes from pushing myself to make something I didn’t think I could or experimenting as a learning experience. Even so, I’m sure there are similarities in my approach that can be pointed out - as I said before; I love the idea of making music that doesn’t sit completely comfortably within a particular style but at the very least flirts with the grey areas between them. Percussion and rhythm is the driving force behind my music, and overall I think space and groove are the most important elements to a track…

Your first release for Immerse comes out shortly. Whats the deal, what can we expect from the release?

I’m extremely happy to have both of these tunes released and even happier to have the support of a label like Immerse behind them. I think both tunes showcase the genre blending I’ve been going on about so much; you can hear dubstep, garage, broken beat, drum & bass, and other influences in there. Both are percussion driven, but ‘Crimewaves’ takes a more upfront approach, whilst ‘In the Cut’ is a bit subtler and darker. I think they both represent my sound really well and hope others dig them as much as I do.

What other projects have you got in the pipeline?

Hopefully I’ll see more releases, but anything regarding that is too early in the pipeline to mention. But I would definitely like to try and get more of my stuff out there; not following the dubstep scene so much is great for my music, but not as good when it comes to getting my music to DJs and labels. As far as gigs go, I’ve been DJing less and instead doing a live set of my own tunes over the past year and just remade it from the ground up, so I’ll continue to perform that when I have the opportunity. I also just moved and started a new job, so I’m expecting my output to slow down for just a bit as I get settled in.

Any words of wisdom for our readers?

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who’s supported me over the years, whether it be through buying or playing my music, attending a show, giving me feedback and criticism, or teaching me a bit about the business. Props to Immerse and every other label who’s stood behind my music, and thanks to Sonic Router for the opportunity to provide a mix and rant about myself a little.

Hope you guys dig the mix, and words of wisdom… stay positive!

::

DOWNLOAD: Cloak & Dagger – Sonic Router Mix



Tracklist:

Africa Hitech – Blen [Remix] (Warp)
Loefah – Fire Elements (Rephlex)
Uday Napoleon – Crack Crack Crack (Flogsta Danshall)
Kidkut – Lilt (Applepips)
Addison Groove – Dumbsh*t (Swamp81)
Soft Pink Truth – Big Booty Bitches (Soundslike)
Cloak and Dagger – Snaketopus (Dub)
Untold – Gonna Work Out Fine (Hemlock)
Akufen – Synthaxis 2 (Source)
Cloak and Dagger – Raspberry Beretta (Dub)
Eero Johannes – Finnrexin (Planet Mu)
Midwest Product – Swamp (Ghostly International)
James Blake – CMYK (R&S)
Slicker – Frustrache (Hefty)
Paperclip People – The Climax [Basic Reshape] (Basic Channel)
Hyena – Puma [Cloak and Dagger Remix] (Dub)
Cloak and Dagger – Slither (Dub)
Two Fingers – Broken [Stance] Rhythm (Ninja Tune)
Late – Phantom Papers (Immerse)
Cloak and Dagger – Thrive Un Oncertainty (Dub)

Link:
http://www.myspace.com/cloakanddaggerdnb

‘Crimewaves’ b/w ‘in The Cut’ will be out in July on Immerse Records

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm 13.06.2010

This Sunday's Hivemind.fm show is now archived on mixcloud.

STREAM: Sonic Router x Hivemind.fm 13062010



Tracklist:

1. Low Density Matter - Blue Steel (forthcoming Keysound)
2. Planas - Look Into My Eyes (Immerse)
3. Oriol - Memories [Shortstuff Remix] (forthcoming Planet Mu)
4. Rooflight - What Makes You So Special (forthcoming High Point Low Life)
5. Jamie Grind - Balloon (forthcoming Infrasonics)
6. Daega Sounds - Silver Daen (Formant)
7. Joe - Claptrap (Hessle Audio)
8. Jamie Grind - If You Want (forthcoming Infrasonics)
9. SBTRKT & Sampha - Break Off (forthcoming RAMP)
10. Hyetal - Pheonix (forthcoming Orca)
11. Matt Shadetek - Blackeyed Susans (Dutty Artz)
12. Joker - Stuck In The Systen (Earwax)
13. Ginz and Baobinga - The Good Stank (Build)
14. Blawan - Jackal Ter9's (Folk Wood)
15. Hypno - Telescopes (Haunted Audio)
16. Peverelist - Better Lving Through Chemistry (forthcoming Punch Drunk)
17. Joe - Level Crossing (Hessle)
18. Simon/off - Eight Times Up (unreleased)
19. Ital Tek - Moment In Blue [Falty DL Remix] (forthcoming Planet Mu)
20. George Fitzgerald - Weakness (forthcoming Hotflush)
21. Spatial - 201000402d (unreleased)
22. Jack Dixon - Need You (unreleased)
23. Simon/off - Such Is Life (unreleased)
24. KLIC - Forwards (forthcoming Hit & Hope)
25. CRST - Dial The Operator (forthcoming Well Rounded)
26. mlr - You've Changed (unreleased)
27. Distal - Africa and Mars (unreleased)
28. Mount Kimbie - Field (forthcoming on Hotflush)
29. Kelis - Milkshake [Doc Daneeka Refix] (unreleased)
30. Ikonika & Optimum - Aqueous Cream (forthcoming Hum & Buzz)
31. Jackal Youth - Let Me Be (forthcoming Reduction)
32. Ill Blu - Bellion (forthcoming Hyperdub)
33. Altered Natives - Crop Duster (forthcoming 3024)
34. Ital Tek - Infinity (forthcoming Planet Mu)
35. Jackal Youth - Bruk (forthcoming Reduction)
36. Kode9 ft. Spaceape - You Don't Wash (forthcoming !K7)
37. Untold - Cool Story Bro (unreleased)
38. Rooflight - Praying to T.E. (forthcoming High Point Low Life)
39. Gon - Riddance (forthcoming Infrasonics)
40. CosminTRG & Baobinga - I Get Ruff (Build)
41. Mista Men - Lengthy Riddim (Bass Tourist)
42. Hypno - War Demons [Julio Bashmore Remix] (forthcoming PTN)

Direct Download (Right click/save as)

Link:
http://hivemind.fm

PRE-ORDER: Joe – Grimelight/Rut [Hessle Audio]

The Leeds conglomerate, Hessle Audio, is back with its first wax platter of the year and after making all the steppas cry with the success of the truly sublime Pangaea tracks on HES006, ‘You & I’ and ‘Router’, the debut 12” from the unassumingly monikered Joe is anything but a disappointment.

‘Grimelight’ with its clicky, clipped wood block drums, claves and bells sends feet moving on the floor as Arabian flute melodies, sublime chords and his waves of warm, deep bass really hypnotise. Resting on the percussion is the key for this track and seemingly for Joe’s production in general as he works his sparse melody around the minimal patter of his congas.

The flipside ‘Rut’ is the killer here with yet more skipping drums, soulful piano stabs and organic building chords that work around a note or two, rolling out the enlightening effect of the synthesizer tones. There are hints of the Antisocial Entertainment sound of Silkie in this one with the free flowing funk coursing throughout the production, but Joe definitely has his own style and gives it all a super minimal, swung techno/future garage vibe.

To be fair it was always going to be a tough ask to follow Pangaea’s ‘Router’ but the Hessle camp have taken the challenge, picking up the gauntlet and running headlong into the fray with it. Joe’s first release is an expertly executed, skeletal slice of minimal programming that manages to retain that heavyweight skip that Hessle are so quickly becoming renowned for.

Links:
www.myspace.com/joemakemusic
http://www.myspace.com/hessleaudio