Bassnectar: Uncut & Uncensored

Good day DUBliminal.COM readers! I must say that this is one of the most thought provoking interviews I have done thus far and I hope I fulfilled some of your questions and curiosities as the following is completely uncut, unedited, and uncensored. So let’s cut to the chase already….

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Lorin.

How long have you been producing? What were you doing before Bassnectar came to fruition?
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i guess technically since about 1995. Before that i was in death metal bands….grindcore, doom, black metal, and started getting geeky with FX pedals and 4-tracks in ’92 or ’93.

Besides Ableton Live, what are your favorite software plugins and effects you use on a daily basis?
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Honestly, i am commited to as stream-lined of a process as possible… the most direct path to sonic illness that i can manage. It’s not that i don’t enjoy obsessive geekery, or all the latest gadgets, but my mission is to broadcast powerful music by any means necessary. So i prefer to get really really good at as few techniques/gadgets as possible, and make every movement count. I have a sickening sample collection (unique and customized) and i squeezed Reason, Sound Forge, and Cubase for every drop before moving on to Ableton, leaning mostly on Massive and Albino for sounds when necessary.

The whole entire Ableton Studio Template is 100% customized and self-built, i collaborated with ill.Gates and we created a MONSTER. Hit him up, he is an excellent teacher!

What is your hardware setup like? What is your favorite piece of gear that you could not live without?
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A USB mouse, so my hands don’t get tired. I do most of my edits by hand.

How do you use the two laptops? Is one just running as a backup in case Ableton crashes?
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Most of the shows i am doing these days are too important to me to allow anything unprofessional to happen (within reason….ha!), so instead of making 5,000 people stand around and wait while a computer reloads, i ALWAYS have a backup machine. But since the backup is plugged in and live, it means a whole other sound source, and it can be running different things in different ways, to give options. Anytime there is a need, it’s there.
That said, last year at Summer Camp, i was jumping around while playing this mega sick Lars Moston remix of Si Begg, and my entire table collapsed. Sound cut out DEAD. We had a CDJ on stage and i threw in a CD while we got the table up and running (this was 30 seconds after the table fell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEDELxsN1Tc ). The computer crapped out the next night live in front of 3000 people at DEMF, and i had to do tech-surgery live while beat-matching mislabelled CD’s…so its always a circus.
(this is my dumb ass bouncing around while i DJ’d and trying to solve the fuckin blue screen computer all at once, finally fixed and SMASHED PROPER: WATCH VIDEO

Obviously you are a big influence to a lot of producers, who are your influences?
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That’s pretty cool! If anyone really thinks i am an influence, i’d love to hear their stuff. Please send to share@bassnectar.net that would be great!
My influences are SO VAST, because honestly i LOVE a lot of different sounds and i am influenced by everything i love and hate (i am very impressionable, and i pay attention)
Early on it was music that came off as energetic and fierce: NWA, Metallica, Nirvana. Or dreamy and enchanting: The Cure, Simon & Garfunkel, REM. Etc… in high school it was ultra brutal grind core, and then heavier doom metal (dubstep’s grand daddy) and dark, moody black metal. Then it was Early 1990′s electronic music (i called it all “techno”) and moving on progressively. Currently, there are EFF-LOADS of crazy-amazing producers (and lots of boring, uninventive ones too) that are constantly delighting me and amazing me. Literally, i would have to make a several paged “BIG UPS LIST” to name even half of them, and then i would feel horrified that i disrespected someone by leaving them out.

What dubstep artists are you currently listening to?
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THAT’s a good question:
All the innovators are obviously important (Horsepower et al, all the Ammunition artists, plus Reso, Skream, Rusko, Caspa, Joker, Doorly, etc…) as well as lots of my buddies (Jantsen, ill.Gates, Datsik, Excision, Number Nin6, SPL, Son Of Kick, 6 Blocc, etc) …i honestly cringe when i answer shit like this cuz there are DOZENS more i haven’t mentioned, and i do not want to disrespect!

Also, i am less intruiged by anything that is staunchly “dubstep”. Dubstep basically used the same heavy ass bass-illness that Nu School Breaks, Drum & Bass, and Electro House use (with current synths) at a wonderfully unique tempo. And there is so much more to it of course!!! but i am just making the point that, i love music that is ultra heavy, ultra dirty, ultra intense. but that is not ONLY 70 bpm. And that is not ONLY using the standard “dubstep” sounds. I personally think drum & bass as a genre sadly missed the boat by not being inventive enough to simply make their beats halftime (STILL FULL POWER, but at 87, or 88) and keep their basslines and vocals doubletime (170-175, ish)… Spor, Noisia, and a few did it a couple of times, but they treated it like a breakdown.

The whole genre got so Boys Clubbed out, its just disapointing. They were all stuck up there doing the double time running man dance at 175, while this ILLEST genre sat right there in their sequencers…untouched for the most part at 85, 86, 87 bpm…. Meanwhile, dubstep happened. But it happened so strictly at 70…bypassing 80-90 on its way down the tempo-slide…bummmmer!

And for the most part, that Dubstep as a genre is also in danger of being too boys club (harder-than-thou show off music, that pees on its territory and scares off the girls) and also too exclusive. But also it, like any genre, is too “Strict”

Humans move at all different speeds, to all different rythms. I would destroy myself before i decided to ONLY make or enjoy one style of music. The sound of ultra massive bass and next level synth, combined with emotional melodies, and creative vocals, all of that should happen at all tempos.

All Tempo.
Omnitempo.
Whatever they wanna call that genre, that’s what i like. And i do not give 2 shits if people wanna critique me or ignore me for that. I love it

It seems like you have captivated an entire new audience and
mesmerized them with your take on electronic music. With the amount of genres that seamlessly get blended together with your production it’s hard to not pay attention to you. On the other hand I feel that there is more to Bassnectar than just the music and visuals, it almost feels as if at your shows there is an underlying sense of community, unity, something more… What, if any, is the message that you are trying to convey to the fans through your music?
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It’s is difficult to summarize. And for that i critique myself. I am not yet good enough at speaking concisely…i ramble a lot, and am seized by side-thoughts. (obviously)
Overall, i seek to contribute to modern culture in as benevolent a manner as possible, and currently i think a good option is: empowering youth culture with un-biased non-corporate news, and encouraging them to think critically, and interact actively with their peers in constructive ways, and seize the precious moments of life before they Vanish.

aka We are Lucky To be here, let’s enjoy it.
aka “Life Moves Pretty Fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.”
aka “Time passes slower the deeper you go. The more active you are, the deeper you go. Hence, the deeper you go, the more you appreciate life.”

maybe.
i always change my mind too. and i think that is healthy as long as you are honest about it.

Lorin Ashton

How did you get involved in working with Videolicious and how big of an impact has he been on your live shows?
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I knew Boris from WAY BACK in the days of rave, and i have always been deeply irritated by “visuals” at “raves” because they try to be so “psychedelic” and they are not very psychedelic or impactful to me.

I prefer to let the intensity of real life, real light, and real context play it’s own game on the nervous system. Boris was the first VJ i met to let me basically step in, over-ride his stylistic tendencies completely, and steer the ship in terms of content.

Instead of getting defensive, or wierd, he would just take my (pretty damn harsh) criticism, and with a totally open and constructive attitude he just stuck with me, and we developed an amazing style together. That style is a composite of a million other people, but it reflects my taste a lot better than most things. Boris is crazy flexible, and totally genious at video so it was great!

Who are you really itching to work with and why?
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I like working with EVERYONE. Literally, i don’t give a flaming rat’s ass if i ever make another song again by myself. I love love love collaboration, and more than that, i love enjoying amazing music, and seeing to it that it comes to life. I am more like a mid-wife than a mother in that sense.
i do not need to make the music by myself anymore, i just want the music to be made (and PLAYED!) loudly as soon as possible (but not rushed.)

I would literally love to collaborate with thousands of people.
And to be honest, music isn’t even my goal as much as my communiy. but music is awesome!

What advice would you give to the up and coming producer?
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Collaborate! I learned to produce by taking Electronic Music classes at a university, and i went in on a studio with 2 good buddies. We were all totally novice. I bought a computer, Jason bought a Sampler (Kurzweil) and Alex bought a mixer and monitors…or maybe a JP-8000, i dont remember. But we all worked together, taught each other whatever we learned, and it happened naturally. (and before that i learned what i knew from being in bands with Ryan, Bud, Steve, Matt, Jenya, Brian, Ross, etc)

I would also say, if you do not have an easy time, or after a while if you just decide you do not have a burning need to create and channel music, as much as you just want to have fun and attention, and get up on stage and look cool, THAT IS OK. But if you realize that, then don’t beat yourself up, just explore the next thing, and pour your heart into it.
Don’t force anything.

I think a lot of people want to be what they are not, and the market is floooooooooded with mediocrity. I think there are a LOT of ways to allow your inner spirit to SOAR and be loud and proud and wild, and still make an impact, and still feel connected and involved, without being a DJ or a Producer.

That said, it’s everyone’s right to do what they want to do, so do it if you love it!

Collaborate, remix, don’t listen to any of your asshole jealous friends who insist you HAVE to do this, or REAL DJs only do that. Don’t use vinyl just because people say you need to. I stopped in 1998, and got SO MUCH shit for it. Fuck them. but use vinyl if you want to and don’t worry if people say not to. Fuck them too! (that would be me)
And don’t worry if your shit doesn’t sound like dubstep, make stuff you love and learn from others.
In 1997 i was beat matching psytrance intros with jungle records at 33, and sampling aphex twin and square pusher and essentially making glitch hop or dubstep at 90 bpm (REALLLLLY BADLY MIXED! ha!). And everyone said “oh you have to make trance at 142 bpm.” then it was “oh you have to make nu school breaks at 135 bpm” blah blah.
Just do what you want. Have fun.

(3 Fan Questions)

1. What is your favorite track that you have created?
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I am sorry, i really, truly cannot pick favorites.
Right now i am loving “Here we Go” because it is so fucking huge. I will probably start off every set with this song for the next year.

2. What would your ideal music-based community look like?
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If the community was music-based i would be disapointed. I would like music to be one of many catalysts for community, but i would like the base of that community to be about health, education, family, and increasing the quality of life for ourselves and those less fortunate by contributing energy and resources and time.

3. Have you ever witnessed the phenomenon synesthesia firsthand from your music? The visualization of sound through colors while you perform…
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i have witenssed a great many things, most of it firsthand, and much of it while i perform. usually it is a non-linguistic expression of connectivity between what i might called spirits (or ghosts, or people, or energetic beings) and sometimes visualization occurs, but i try and keep my hair in my face because i am shy, quite frankly. So i see a lot of brown.
One day, i will dye my hair many colors, and then perhaps i will epxerience this, but now that i think about it, i used to have a mixtape called “We Transform Sound Into Light”…

back in the Doof! Doof! Doof! Trance days (1996, i believe)

4. Anything else you’d like to add? Seriously, ANYTHING.
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I have said enough.
i fear i have said too much.

How about this: if i have offended you in any way with my words, PLEASE ASSUME i did not mean it, and i eagerly await any constructive criticism.

Especially about my decade-long frustration with jungle and drum&bass, because i LOVE that music, and those producers. And dubstep as well. I just wish people were less afraid to be more creative.

Good night and Good Luck

And with those last words this concludes our interview, but hey, look on the bright side, you have a free track waiting for you…