Perverse Interview
Tonight we’ve got an interview with none other than one of the weightiest names in New Zealand’s now thriving bass music scene; Perverse aka Auckland City based producers Brett & Alex. Already getting snapped up by labels and getting support from top djs Youngsta, Distance, Biome, J:Kenzo and Seven, these two lads are set to be big in 2012…
Names: Brett & Alex
Ages: 23 & 21
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
What first drew you into producing music?:
B: I socialized with a group of guys doing audio engineering courses, watched them a few times went home, had a jam and started realizing how enjoyable it actually is. I didn’t take it seriously at all really until I met Alex.
A: A couple years ago I first heard Dnb and Dubstep, and was drawn to the sounds and samples and was intrigued to figure out how it was made. So I did a bit of research and got some software recommended to me and some samples and started learning from there, later realizing how much of an addiction it had become.
Can you remember the first time you heard dubstep, if so where and what was it?:
B: It was a few years ago on top of an extinct volcano called Mt Wellington. We were hot boxing a car and I was pretty stoned when a friend said he had some new music to show us. The first tune was “Memories of 3rd Base” by Skream and the second was the Distance Remix of “Deadman Walking” by Milanse. The dark evilness really blew my mind at the time.
A: I first heard Lion Vip by Vex’d in my mates car and was blown away by the energy and dark grit in the tune, then through mates of mates met people in the scene and went to my first dubstep gig (which was Cotti) and ever since have been hooked. When I first heard Kryptic Minds I fell in love with the sound.
How has your sound progressed since you began producing, has the music you’ve been listening to lately changed the way you produce?:
I think we are a lot pickier now than when we first started, we spend a lot more time on singular sounds and make them work for us as opposed to us working around them. Quality control has definitely gone up in our books and a direct result of that is the tune output has slowed down, but in our eyes it means we have spent longer producing and fine tuning the sound we want.
At first we felt obliged to stick to the one style of dub step we were producing, but as time has gone on we have found ourselves becoming more experimental and we have taken great pleasure in trying new genres / moods / styles. Diversifying is very important to us as it keeps things fresh and pleasurable and keeps this passion from becoming a chore.
What is your production setup, and are there any special techniques you use to get your sound?:
Hardware wise, we use a custom built PC, KRK RP8 G2′s, a budget edirol PC50 and an Mackie Onyx Blackjack Interface
Software wise , we use FL10, Native Instruments Komplete 7 and various vst’s and plug ins. Generally we ue a lot of the built in FL plug ins as we’ve become quite accustomed to them. It’s a pretty moderate set up but the simplicity of it seems to work quite well for us. In the end we realized it’s less about what expensive hardware you have and more about spending the time and mastering what you do have.
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?:
Deep, Dark and spacious with an emotional undertone.
What’s your view on genres, do you consider them to be useful catergories or limiting boundaries?:
To be honest we don’t play into that at all. Creating sub genres destroys the option to follow the sound has a whole, as you almost limit people and force them to follow a certain sub genre only. Which means you over populate the market with theoretically the same ideas / sounds, no originality at all.
Who are you top favourite artists of all time and how do you think their work has influenced your own take on music?:
Kryptic Minds – they have really pioneered there own sound that appeals to a lot of people, their tunes are so original and varied but you can instantly tell its a Kryptic Minds tune. The way they use strings and musicality to create emotion, whilst still remaining extremely heavy with their style, their tunes work on the dance floor as well as being something you can listen to on an iPod at the same time.
Loefah – The master of sub bass in my books. It’s hard to find an artist who has no tunes you don’t love with a passion, Loefah is one of them. Again the man has a unique vibe that cannot be replicated yet is really versatile.
Burial – How can you not really, self explanatory
Distance – The first time we heard a distance tune we were hooked. Those mid’s were unparalleled, the fact he infused an obvious metal / rock vibe into his production really blew us away.
Portishead – One of my favorite trip-hop acts, really amazing stuff, I love their style and use of samples to create great music.
Rage Against the Machine – Just like Loefah for us everything these guys touch is gold. Heavy, political, energetic, inspirational. Words like those come to mind when thinking about them.
And a list of others we feel has in some way had an effect on us : Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Tool, Dr Dre, Immortal Technique, Jedi Mind Tricks, SP:MC, Massive Attack, Deftones, System of a Down, Maschinehead, Grand Master Flash, Dj Premier, Wu Tang Clan etc…. oh and most of all Justin Beiber.
What do you get up to when you aren’t busy producing, do you think producing is your life or is it just a hobby?:
B: Right from the beginning we set boundaries, we don’t produce Fridays and Saturdays as we both have long term Girl friends. It’s definitely become more than a hobby but it definitely hasn’t taken over my life. I might always be wanting to be in the studio, but when in the studio wished I was elsewhere. Its all about balance really and I feel we have definitely fine tuned that to work around our social lives.
A: As of late producing has been all I have been doing as I’ve had no job and took time to focus on soley production, spent like 12 hours a day making tunes.. was redonculous.. Starting to get more balance now. I like to use producing as my main creative outlet, it is a true addiction. When not producing I am thinking about producing haha. I have a social life outside of the music which is good i feel as it keeps it fresh.
Are there any producers you would like to collaberate with?:
There are too many on our list to mention we think. But we definitely have some stuff on the go at the moment with people we have a lot of respect for, slowly getting them done.
Top 5 Tunes at the moment?:
Subreachers – Tidals VIP
Biome – Propaganda
J:kenzo – Ruffhouse
SP:MC & LX One – Hunted
Kryptic Minds – Acid Rain
Are there any emerging artists you would like to make light of, (or maybe old ones that have been wrongly forgotten)?:
Formless, NoMan, Nanobyte, Disonata, Anex, Sorrow, Pheral, Content, Percept , ARtroniks, Ghost Note, Tallan, Catacombs, Knowledge
Shoutouts?:
Youngsta / Biome / J:kenzo / Mosaix / Subreachers / Disonata / Truth / Tellez / Jack Sparrow / Seven / RDG / JB / Catacombs / Knowledge / Verity / Collision / Content / Nanobyte / PistonsBeneath / Widowmaker / Versa / Rowl / Anex /Beezy / Shredexx / DCult / Demon / KillaWatt / Ipman / Las / Formless / NoMan / Percept / Gantz / Arkatrix / Kursk / Boot / Sook / Droid Sector / 3rdEye / Occult / Inkarv / TMSV / Triky / Glyph / JSL / RUF / Kaiju / Fable / Congi / Mateba / J.Robinson / Ghost Note / Tallan / Arkotypes / ARtroniks / Duckem / Reamz / Server / Distance / Sleeper / Jay5ive / Crisis / Compa / AJP / Loxy / War / Pale / Overlook / Reza and anyone else that is supporting us and accepting us in any way shape or form. Sorry for the huge list but we feel we owe a lot of these people a real mention as they have all contributed to pushing us in some way.
www.facebook.com/perversenz
http://www.facebook.com/PerverseMusic
For all inquiries / questions / tunes etc get at us on : perversemusicnz@gmail.com
Brett Ducer:
www.facebook.com/ducer
Alex Dickson:
http://www.facebook.com/zandernz
AIM : perversemusicnz