Recently Thawobbler got a chance to talk with FreQ Nasty, and find out a little more about the man under the dreads. Below the interview at the bottom of the post be sure to grad the free DL from FreQ’s new release “Dread At The Controls”.
Born in Fiji, raised in New Zealand and formed musically in the dance music revolution of London in the late 90’s, FreQ Nasty started his career on the seminal UK label BOTCHIT & SCARPER in the late nineties, moving to SKINT Records in 2003. He went on to release a slew of cutting-edge records, collaborating with and remixing a diverse range of artists Iincludding FATBOY SLIM, KELIS, KRS ONE, ROOTS MANUVA, RODNEY P, and Reggae legend JUNIOR DELGADO. 2008 saw the release of ‘Creator’, his crossover hit collaboration with MIA producer SWITCH and NYC hipster SANTOGOLD, and the ground breaking FABRICLIVE 42 mix CD, which was picked as DJ Magazine’s compilation of the month. He is one of BURNING MAN FESTIVAL’S most loved DJs, where he brings his signature mix of Drumstep, GlitchHop, DubStep, DrumStep, and all things Bass heavy every year. Early 2011 saw the release of DREAD AT THE CONTROLS on California’s cutting edge bass music label MUTI MUSIC, which launched the 17-CITY MONSTERS OF BASS tour with MARTY PARTY and OPIUO On December 6th, FreQ’s latest LOW FREQUENCY PURELAND EP dropped, and was selected by DJ Mag as the MONEYSHOT release for December, receiving a 10 out of 10. With the cutting-edge re-design of his website and worldwide release of his new EPs, FreQ is making a powerful entry into 2012
1. Since you originally started producing Electronic Music, how has your sound changed? Why do you feel your production-quality has turned into what it is today?
Over time as an artist you develop your scope and ability to bring your imagination to life, and your technical skills develop too. With electronic music which moves really fast and is very functional in terms of a tune sounding good on a big system, I think those two things are key. I try and stay eclectic and not get pinned down too much, whilst retaining a thread of a ‘FreQ Nasty’ sound or vibe that runs thru what I do regardless of the genre or style I am making.
2. In your bio we saw that you have worked with many notable producers, what was your experience working with Fatboy Slim being that you both producer electronic music but in different genres? how did this experience then compare to working with Bassnectar and other electronic producers closer to your same genre?
Norman (Fatboy Slim) is one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet in the music industry and we have friends in common and have played together now and again over the years. His records always seem to straddle the underground/overgound and obviously he has been hugely successful in bringing electronic music to the masses so it was awesome to get to do an official remix for him.
Lorin (Bassnectar) is an old friend and I have known him since I first started coming to play in the US so our collabs are pretty casual. It’s awesome to see him blow up so big in the US . We have another collab on the way.
3. We have noticed that you frequent the Bay Area a lot for various shows and tours. Being a Bay-area based blog we have to ask if there are any shows or venues in our area that were specifically fun to play?
I have so much history with 1015 and I love playing there , It is like a home away from home for me in San Francisco J. I did play at Public works a few weeks ago in SF and had an AWESOME time. I love clubs with a warehouse feel and when you add their intimate vibe with a proper Funktion 1 system it is a hard combo to beat.
4. In your music career of over ten years what have been some of the most memorable moments along the way?
Playing all the amazing out door festivals around the world, and the clubs too, and getting to meet so many people that are passionate about experiencing music and that believe in music as a force for good for all us dancing monkeys that we call humans. Promoters, other artists and DJs, and of course the fans who, maybe for a short window in their life, get to put everything down and come out and lose themselves in the beats and bass with me. I am always humbled by the great love and enthusiasm fans have for the experience of music and it’s a big part of what inspires me still.
5. You are a Dj/ producer with ties all over the world, where is home for FreQ these days?
Right now I am in a small town in the forest in New England on the East Coast of the US. There are bears in the forest behind the house and sometimes the power will go out for days when a big storm rolls thru so it’s an new experience for the urbanite I have been for so long. Before that I was living on the beach on the West side of LA, and previous to that I lived in London, UK.
6. At symbiosis you will be giving a “Yoga of Bass” presentation, can you go into more detail about what this will entail?
Yeah it’s about the parallels between the peak experiences that people have on the dance floor and the peak experiences of the Yogic meditational path. We never really stop and ask “Why the hell am I so drawn to throwing my limbs around to organized noise?” “Why does it make me feel so good?”. I have been into my Yoga and Buddhism for while now and those systems give us some insight on why this might be and how to extend that goodness off the dance floor.
7. Could you also give our readers some insight into yours and David Starfire’s side project?
David and I started working together years ago as we are good mates and play at many of the same gigs around the US. Dub Kirtan All Stars is kinda related to the Yoga of Bass talks in that it is a fusion of South Asian traditions and 2012 Bass music. Both of us believe there is a deeper reason that us humans feel the need to throw shapes to whacky bass noises than because we’re off our heads. (That reason is actually related to the reason why we like to get off our heads too, but that’s another story J). The traditional music of the Yogic tradition is practiced to bring on the same states that music brings us to. So we took the power of heavy Bass music and fused it with music from the South Asian chanting traditions by adding 4 singers and a bunch of live instruments.
8. We know you have deep ties to Burning Man, how do you feel about the way the festival has changed over the years? musically and socially? and can we expect to see you out on the Playa this year?
I don’t have a ticket so far this year, so I’ll have to see how it all pans out. They did a new lottery system and my number didn’t come up so, like many people this year, Symbiosis Festival was my ‘Burning Man‘. Which isn’t to say that I won’t still go to BM if tickets do appear from some where. Never say Never with Burningman J. It’s obviously gotten bigger over the past few years but, because of the lack of payment for performers, the mandatory participation vibe, and the barter system, it’s pretty hard to corrupt. People still come for the love of art, music and community and to participate in bringing each other an awesome experience so It’s a pretty difficult thing to corrupt with out seriously changing those ground rules. So it maintains and encourages a really high degree of creativity, passion, friendliness and community vibe that you can’t just throw money at to make happen. It remains a unique and life changing experience for many who go there and I find it hard to believe it will be become shit any time soon. Who knows tho…..
9. After the success of Bon Merde and all of it’s remixes ThaWobbler is extremely excited for the release of “Dread at the controls.” How excited are you about this original track and what was it like creating this gem in the studio?
It’s the first tune I had done for a long while after taking some time off studying. I just did whatever I wanted to without worrying about genre’s or sounds, what’s hip or where I would fit in after being out of the musical loop for a few years. It has a little Detroit strings in there, some sped up Moombha style beats, and a Dubstep half time break down. Consequently it is a little unusual and sits between obvious genres. Altho these days I’m trying not to cut off my nose to spite my face as my Ma used to say, meaning that I’m trying to do something different from what’s currently the most popular genre to make, while at the same time making it fun and high energy enough to make sure even those wall flowers will feel like busting a move to it. I’m having varying degrees of success with it but enjoying the ride!
10. With you music career, your network of musician is sure to be notable. How did you decide which artists to have on your remix release of “Dread at the Controls”?
Dov (of Muti Music) and I wanted to rep the future sounds of California right now which is why Low Riderz and Sugarpill are on the mix, and then bring something harder but still leftfield (ie not Dubstep) which is why we enlisted Greg Reve from South Africa and Culprate too. I’m really happy with the way they turned out.
Here is a freedie from FreQ Nasty brand new Release “Dread At The Controls” and a couple of videos on Youtube to listen to.
FreQ Nasty ‘Dread At The Controls’ (FreQ’s Get Yer FreQ On Edit
FreQ Nasty - Dread At The Controls (Radio Edit) VIDEO
Freq Nasty - Dread At The Controls (Culprate RMX) VIDEO
If you like what you hear grab his whole release on beatport HERE. And lastly to stay up to date with all things FreQ Nasty be sure to like him on FB HERE and follow him on soundcould HERE.
Tha Wobbler is a collective of Electronic Music enthusiasts coming together to share experiences and a passion for quality sound and events.
