Australian DJ / producer Cubist was recently named as one of our top ten producers to watch in 2010. When not busy in the studio making tunes for the likes of Zombie, Advisory and Allsorts he finds time to run a drum & bass night in Melbourne and hold down a radio show on Australian Kiss FM. As he was kind enough to offer us an exclusive mix to promote his UK tour, we thought it was time we caught up with the man himself...
You're a classically trained musician with a Bachelor of Music Performance degree. Has this had an influence on your sound?
In all honesty I think the people with no formal musical training create the best music. People like Goldie and Roni Size. Because when you know about music theory you can't help but refer to your knowledge. When you don't have musical training you write just on vibes. But at the same time it does help with an understanding of notes and frequencies. I didn't discover drum & bass until I was at the end of high school. In Australia drum & bass and most bass driven dance music is very underground, so I just wish I'd discovered it at an earlier age.
How did you first get into DJing and producing drum & bass?
After high school I went to university and did a music degree, studying cello. At uni I found this unused music computer room with sequencing programs. I started skipping classes and just sat in there by myself learning how to sequence beats. At the same time I was going out to a local drum & bass weekly called Just Rite. Shouts to DJ Dopebeat and MC Wasp!
So I started to spend my weekends getting blazed and dancing to drum & bass. Then I'd spend my weeks at uni trying to write beats. I had no idea what I was doing. I probably spent five years getting my beats sounding pretty lame. If I'd known someone who knew something about writing beats to give me some advice I could get to the same level in about six months, no jokes.
At the same time I bought some decks and started collecting vinyl. Then a mate and I started a monthly party called Audible Level. It was pretty small key, just at a local pub.
You ran the Local Lineup parties in Melbourne, aimed at showcasing local producers. Do you think it's hard for drum & bass producers to get their tracks heard?
Well, in Melbourne it is. We don't have much public or internet radio. But the fact is not that it's hard for people to get their tunes heard, but that it's hard to get your production to a good standard. There are people writing beats, but not many mentors or people able to give advice. Also, there's not as much incentive for peeps to work hard at writing beats, as there's no labels in Australia and so not much of a scene. So over in Melbourne we see drum & bass as very much a UK thing.
Do you have any tips for aspiring producers?
The same old things: use high quality samples and try and be original. Peeps in the UK don't need my advice, but for all the Aussie heads reading this just put your head down. You've got to make some sacrifices if you want your music to sound good. More doing and less dreaming. Are there any other Australian producers that we should look out for? Personally, we've got the whole Pendulum thing going on in Perth. There are some dudes over there that are writing that type of sound. But for the music that I really like, rolling deep and dirty bass lines, I don't know anyone else in Australia writing that sound. It's weird.
Are you looking forward to coming over to the UK, and how do the crowds differ to those in Australia?
Well I've only done one date so far, in Bedford. It was a pretty rowdy crowd. Melbourne is a pretty conservative place, so I'm looking forward to getting down with the UK scene. Your current night Wobble is billed as Melbourne's top drum & bass night.
What do you like about Melbourne as a city, and would you ever consider moving?
What do I like about Melbourne? Not much to be honest. I mean the laws there are crazy. The government is getting out of control in my opinion. They need to take a step back and let people be people. I would like to get out of there some time. It's just that my night Wobble is so popular. I can't really leave at the moment.
I've got to send shouts to Heartical Hi Fi Soundsystem. It's what I use for Wobble. It's a proper Jamaican style sound system, the only one like it in Australia. Wobble has been great for Melbourne because it's the first proper party to use proper sound. It's a shame when people go out and can't experience drum & bass because the sound systems aren't moving any air.
As a radio presenter yourself, do you think drum & bass gets much coverage in the mainstream media in Australia?
Just in the last year. Since Pendulum really blew up commercial radio has started playing drum & bass for the first time. So the future is definitely looking good.What's next from Cubist? Just keep writing beats. I really think I'm starting to get my own little sound happening. I want to get in the studio and keep working. I've got about 60 finished tunes. I want to start an Australian label as releasing vinyl would lift the profile of drum & bass in Australia. It's time it happened, and I'm ready to do it.
And finally, what can we expect from your mix?
A selection of my tunes. It's definitely on more of the jump-up tip. A few dirty bits there to, and some mellowness at the end.
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