INTERVIEW.

DD: Loving this spread out feel of “Flotsam”. Welcome to Disco Droppings man. Watchadoin right now?

Thanks – yeah, Flotsam felt good to produce. Now I’m working on the next releases. We’re doing another EP with Sonarpilot originals and remixes. I love that format. It is very inspiring, you never know what someone else will do with your material. Whenever the first version of a new remix come in it feels like unpacking a very exclusive present. And the next remixes will be very strong. After the Simbad and Ramadanman mixes on EP1, we have just released EP2 with Planet Mu artist Oriol and Kay Suzuki. All great guys – and very different.

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DD: You’ve been honing your musical craft for quite a while yah? How would you describe your current style and work as Sonar Pilot? 

The concept of the project Sonarpilot is to cruise through the vast universe of electronic music and bring back bits and pieces from different corners – musically and geographically. I think of the listeners as the passengers in a sonic space ship that takes them on an acoustic journey. I enjoy the variety of styles out there a lot and like playing with them. Combine that with all the technology we have today and I sometimes feel like a kid in a candy store when I am working on new material. Right now I am cruising somewhere between UK post-dubstep, more classical old school Detroit techno plus a bit of Berlin vibe.

DD: What’s the electronic community like in Switzerland? I think your the first artist I’ve featured from over there.

Well, there are the heroes of my generation, Yello and the Young Gods. But they’re all old geezers by now =) In the 90’s Zurich played an important role in the continental techno scene. But maybe more as a location of clubs and raves. There are a few techno and trance producers but in general there’s not a scene that I am really aware of or part of here.  

DD: Best encouragement you’ve gotten as an artist? 

It’s all the feedback we’ve had for the releases so far. The CD we published last year got some amazing reviews. The EP with Ramadanman and Simbad was very well received and the reviews of the EP we just released have also been very positive. It’s just nice to see that people out there like the tunes and playing them out.

DD: Final words?

Well, we have lined up a series of pretty strong releases and look forward to expanding the catalogue of the label this year. We are also thinking about putting together a series of vinyl releases. For that we will work together with visual artists whose work will complement the music in some way. We are always interested in collaborations with other people and artists; so people out there – ping us if you want to get involved! 

Sonar Pilot on Soundcloud 

– Jimi Jaxon 

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Courtesy of Car Crash Set label head, III Cosby 

DD: I first started seeing your name on flyers for Night Slugs and Ramadanman, that’s super dope!

C: Thank you!  Yes, 2011 has been a great year for me personally so far.  It’s been very exciting to take my DJing to a higher level and higher profile locally.

DD: Finding you guys is perfect timing for me, I’m really attaching myself to a lot of these future bass artists. How did Car Crash Set get turned onto this kind of sound? Has this always been a primary focus for the label? 

C: Bass has always been a primary focus for the label, but beyond good low end, there has never been a precise direction for the label.  I didn’t start out thinking I only wanted one particular sound, I really wanted to leave it open to any direction without limitations.

DD: Ill Cosby, you’ve recently moved to Seattle yah? I forget from where, how’s the Seattle scene compared to your past location? 

C: I’ve been in Seattle for 3 1/2 years now and it’s been really great.  I would say that a big difference in the scene here as opposed to the East Coast is there is a thriving outlet for experimental music, people are willing to try new things.  KEXP and Decibel Festival are two wonderful institutions that constantly push music forward and that makes Seattle very unique.  I think this molds the people here to be more open to new forms of music.

DD: For the rest of 2011 what’s in the works for Car Crash Set? 

C: In May, we had a compilation called “No Northwest” that documents music coming from the Northwest.  There is music from 214, Cedaa, qp, and myself on the compilation and it turned out really well – I think a lot of people will be surprised by the sound of the music coming out of our area.  I’m already in the early stages of putting together the next chapter of “No Northwest”, which will feature a more diverse cast of Pacific Northwest based producers.

This coming summer and fall, we have some really exciting music from Kid Smpl (also based in Seattle), Buck UK, Acroplex, Planet Soap, Arctic, Josif, Price, Rush’d, By Proxy, Gremino, and others.  I’ve been getting a lot of the masters in recently and I can tell you that it’s some of the best music we’ve released to date – it is very, very exciting stuff!

Our soundcloud has the most up to date tracks from our label, including 8 tracks from the forthcoming No Northwest compilation

http://soundcloud.com/carcrashset

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Thank you all who have read through this blog over the past 2 years. A lot of artists have come through here, and I respect them greatly. I’ll be working hard to bring you more deep, expansive electronic music until I can’t do it anymore. 

– Jimi Jaxon

As a special promo for this fine show, I’ve got 2 free tickets to give away! First 2 people to send me an email (iamdjphantom@gmail.com) get em, you gotta be 21! 

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– Jimi Jaxon

The music in this video was edited by Max Bent, it’s also up for listening on the Disco Droppings Soundcloud. A wonderful composer who collaborates with film and video producers. He’s got this nifty website called Max Makes Music. 

INTERVIEW

DD: Your music has wonderful depth to it, how are you Max?

MB: Thank you.  I am well, thank you.  Trying to keep it all together. =) 

DD: How’s the electronic community over in Baltimore?

MB: Baltimore is a very interesting place for electronic music.  Some important artists known outside Baltimore: Dan Deacon, Animal Collective, Rye Rye.

I mention these three artists to demonstrate the spectrum we have in Baltimore.  Dan Deacon is dope and goes wayyyy back.  He’s been making electronic music forever (I’m seriously not sure how long) and has been a major catalyst for live music in Baltimore, including events like Whartscape.  Animal Collective is a good torch bearer for the “live electronic band.” Although it might be an over-simplification to describe Animal Collective as an electronic band, they use electronic instruments in a real unique, powerful way.  Rye Rye is an artist on M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T. and she represents the Baltimore Club/Uptempo rap sound very well and if you haven’t heard of her yet, you will soon.  So basically, we have it all, from the experimental sounds of the annual High Zero event, to electronically twisted chamber performances of Mobtown Modern, to the pounding electronic beat of Baltimore Club (check out Rod Lee’s Dance My Pain Away). =)

DD: Where would you say your music is at currently? Is their a consistent sound to you? Where would you like it to head?

MB: Currently as a producer I am focusing on how music and visuals interact. I am taking all the techniques I’ve learned from years of production work and figuring out which are relevant to visual presentations. I do not have a consistent sound so much as a constant intention to bring my music to life. This is accomplished through focusing on the big picture of the overall arrangement and, at the same time, the small details (effect processing, etc.) Ableton Live has proven itself the perfect tool in this task of bringing sounds to life. In the near future I see myself using a lot more hands on manipulation of sounds and creating systems that allow the sounds to live and breathe on their own with occasional “pokes and prods” from the outside…:)  If you’re familiar with Ableton Live, I am referring in particular to the use of Racks, which are grouped chains of instruments, effects (both audio and MIDI) and associated controlling parameters.  In the past I would spend hours on programming specific intricate details.  In the future I will spend hours on discovering where sounds can go when given the chance.

DD: What’s been your best show so far? 

MB: I am only now starting to blend the worlds of production and performance.  For years I have performed as a beatboxer but I am actually bringing out Ableton Live for the first time…well, live….on March 31st at Sonar in Baltimore.  We’re using a session with the songs for the show stored as individual clips, and we’ll have an EQ and a delay on that channel, and also included in the session will be a live drum machine (a drum rack that I’ll be triggering with a trigger finger).  So I’m taking a pretty straight forward, low CPU approach, and in rehearsals we’ve had some great results even with this relatively simple system.  I hope some folks reading this will join us at Sonar and check out my man Blizzard on stage.

As far as performance spaces in Baltimore, you can actually catch live electronic music at a variety of spots…there aren’t a lot of really good sound systems, though, to be honest.  I’ve performed at a lot of venues in Baltimore, but a highlight for me was beatboxing with Matisyahu at Rams Head Live (although I couldn’t hear myself at ALL!!!) 

DD: Any last words for the readers? It’s been very nice interviewing you.

MB: Thank you, it’s been a pleasure.

Max Bent on Soundcloud 

– Jimi Jaxon 

Keeping the sexy alive while you blow things up.

INTERVIEW

DD: New mixtape from Rubix! You are a prolific fellow! Whatchadoin right now? 

Producing my next ep right now… hoping to release it somewhere in august.

DD: How’s the gigs and productions been going? 

Gigs are going really well… Going to do a tour in france in the near future

DD: What’s helped you hold onto this laidback, groovy style you’ve got going on? It sounds like a nice mindset to be in =)

I was inspired by that old skool house feeling so i’m making some more groovy stuff

http://soundcloud.com/iamrubix

http://twitter.com/IamRubix

– Jimi Jaxon