Tape-Echo

Last week saw the release of Bristol favourite Bass Clef on Punch Drunk. an unapologetic ode to rave cultures rich past. Brash piano stabs, jungle baselines and tight grime-esq snares have all been sampled and reinterpreted into the whirlwind of anthemic energy that makes up the A side 'Rollercoasters Of The Heart'. 'So Cruel' on the flip is a sparse grime influenced workout built around a sugar coated vocal sample. Bass Clefs' output has always defied easy classification,each release getting more and more unharnessed since his mind bending 'A Smile Is A Curve That Straightens Most Things' way back in 2006. His unique sonic experiments were captured at their most rowdy and eccentric on his latest album 'Inner Space Break Free', a letterpress covered cassette released on his own Magic and Dreams imprint earlier in the year. The two tracks on DRUNK023 are cut from the same cloth as the album, but tailored for a more DJ friendly fit. 'If you're going to release a 12, it has to be DJ friendly really, its totally different from an album that you build to be listened to all the way through…But ultimately im not concerned with looking at BPSs or whats fashionable at the moment whilst im writing, or if theres a nice intro to mix in or anything like that' he tells me over an email interview . Both tunes were hand made on his Boss 660 drum machine/sequencer and Akai S950 sampler, recorded straight to 4 track cassette and then tweaked slightly in soundforge for the final output. A fascinating insight into this unparalleled producers working method and a prime example of analog ways of working standing tall in the era of 'making tunes on your laptop on the train ride a gig'. Tape-Echo fired off a couple of questions last week, here are the replys - > > I was speaking to Tom at Punch Drunk the other day about your > forthcoming release on his label and had a few questions, he gave me > your email address and said to contact you directly. > If you have the time spare it'd be great if you could answer a couple > of questions for my review on www.tape-echo.com. > No problems if not though... > > > > I remember seeing your set at the cube for the 'If Symptoms Persist' > launch and seeing your selection of pedals and the roland 404's. I > have one myself and it really gives me a massive appriciation for your > music as i know how difficult they can be to use...Were the two tracks > on PD made with this hardware? The 404 is absolutely a joy to use live, but I wouldn't write any Bass Clef tunes with it, the sequencer just isn't up to it! It's great for loops though - all the Coseph Jonrad stuff I've done (http://magicanddreams.wordpress.com/category/coseph-jonrad/) has been with the 404. The tracks for Punch Drunk were still hardware though - built on my more usual set up - Boss Dr660 drum machine as a sequencer - Akai S950 sampler for the sounds - recorded onto to Yamaha 4 track cassette - and then the computer bit - a touch of editing in Soundforge as the final part of the process....     > And how did this release come about? was it something you built for > PD? For want of a better term, these 2 tracks seem a bit more 'Dj > friendly' than some of your previous output... I've always wanted to do something with Punch Drunk, because it's an amazing label and Peverelist is a hero...plus my years spent in bristol and in the music scene there. If you're going to release a 12" it has to be DJ friendly really - it's totally different from an album that you build to be listened to all the way through.... But ultimately I just try and make music that I think is the best I can do - I'm not concerned with looking at bpms or what's fashionable at the moment whilst I'm writing, or if there is a nice intro to mix in or anything like that. The more 'dancefloor' tunes make it into my live set for obvious reasons...If people want to play them out I am very happy! > I was wondering if you would be able to take a photo of your hardware > set-up so i can put it with the write up for Tape-Echo? i know its a > bit of a cheeky ask, but I like to give the readers a bit more of a > full insight into the subject matter on each post and that'd be > amazing...Do you use any hardware synths in your tracks or is it > purely samples? Hardware-synths wise, I have a modular synth - a doepfer eurorack (it's the one in the pictures, in two cases, it doens;t have a keyboard) and a Roland SH09. Oh and there's a synth inside the sampler I have - the Akai S3000. Digital waveforms but analogue filters. It's really nice actually, especially the sawtooths (sawteeth?).   > A couple more questions if you dont mind? > > Have you always used hardware? What is it about the analog sound that > you prefer over a computer based set-up? (It might be an obvious > question but i had to ask)...Do the machines you use dictate a working > method or have you refined your setup to suit the way you work? > I love the fact that the tunes were recorded straight to cassette, > theres such an honest quality in tape recordings that logic will never > beat. I've always used hardware (starting with the trombone - ha!), because when I started seriously getting in to making music in my teens, computers that could do music were really the reserve of top end studios, whereas drum machines and effects pedals where much cheaper and easier to get your hands on. A few years later I got an Atari that ran a really early version of Cubase, and I worked on it for 6 months or so, but I never really enjoyed it. I don't like looking at a screen when I work, I prefer just to concentrate on listening, or walk around the room (or even dance!). That whole thing of thinking of music as straight lines that run left-to-right, scrolling across a little screen, all neatly quantized, just doesn't do it for me. I can see why people like it, and it comes out of the western classical system of music notation, so I understand why it's there....but I dunno. Something like Logic say - that's about the ugliest thing I've ever seen. Can't imagine working on that for 8 hours a day. I like to stare off in to the middle distance :)     > I've been battering 'Cruel' off the PD release and i really can't get > enough of it, it almost sounds like a more refined version of an early > Wiley eski-funk track, are those classic grime tunes an influence? definitely! the early wiley 12"s like eskimo, firefly, icepole, and the 'devil's mix' versions especially, are absolutely unbelievable records. Saying so much with so few sounds. I know they were probably bashed out in a half an hour on a playstation, but they are such virtuoso demonstrations of the power of restraint. and so brutal. That track also owes a debt to early Mala tunes like Changes and Neverland, and more generally to memories of going down to 3rd bass and getting my mind blown....