NEWS
EVENTS
ED Rush & Optical
Drum and Bass | Sunday 7th March 2010 | Osh
We’ve been listening to Ed Rush and Optical since they’ve been playing on pirate radio since back in the day and now their legends. We sent our secret double barreled weapon Rebecca Anna-John to teef some tunes and test to see if they could withstand her super natural powers.
è Rebecca John
You're in the studio today, what are you busy doing at the moment?
At the moment we are concentrating on the Audio album project, it's blown away the few people who have heard it so it's going really well. We really wanted to give something back by bringing in strong drum and bass producers, so it's a bit of a dream come true on both parts.
We're trying to do a different sound, quite housey, I think deep and dark drum and bass is starting to get a housey tinge, it's a natural progression of what’s going on. I think it will be better than the last and I'm really happy with it so far.
How did you meet? You've worked together for so long, you must have quite a strong relationship
Yeah we do, I think we know how to piss each other off and forgive each other and also when not to know when to push it. We grew up in London around the same place, it was through a mutual friend called Duncan who was one of the first drum and bass DJs called Trace.
How would you describe the scene in Miami?
A lot of people think Miami is like a hot Brighton, full of old people sunning themselves but for that particular week it's an amazing time to go, because all the big promoters come, there are about 20 big clubs all taken over, it's like the whole Ibiza season wrapped into one week. Before people didn't know what drum and bass was but now we're official and being asked to play at the heart of the conference. Every DJ wants to play, it's a special part of the year, you can't dream of putting that line up on here, you'd only get two of those names for that money, there’s a big variety, so you're definitely getting your money's worth.
What keeps you making drum and bass
From my earliest memory I always wanted to make music, I wake up and go to bed thinking about it, when that ends then it'll end. Making a good record has to be painful, it's getting out your soul, you've got to be 100% committed, the moment I know I sweat blood for that record makes me know it was good and I really focused on it. For a while I felt there was not enough respect for drum and bass, I wish it were something everyone could appreciate rather than it being for such a niche crowd. I lost the love for it doing so many remixes but then found it again. You can’t pull art out on a conveyor belt. Someone always makes a record when I'm about to give up on it and I think ‘wow I wanna get back into it’.
You've been named a ‘pioneer of Neurofunk’. What were you influenced by to make that sound?
Wormhole was combination of rock with what Matrix was doing, it all depends on where your heads at. We we’re influenced by Ram Records and the Bristol scene and we threw in the harder element. There was a more urban environment where we grew up. Around our studio in Soho there were constantly prostitutes around, it really seedy and shady and that got brought into record, I think you have more extreme views when you’re young.
Do you feel like you always have to drop those tunes when you DJ?
We always called it drum and bass, but as there are so many styles I guess it needs a name. I actually got told off for not playing Neurofunk in a club recently, but I can't play the same records every night, it would drive me insane, perhaps people don't always realise DJing should be fun, but I do have every single drum and bass record made so I feel entitled to make these choices.
Who would you say is worth looking out for?
Mindscape, Prolyx, Audio, Icicle, I really appreciate deep drum and bass. Definitely everything Matrix made, he 100% invented the style they are following,
What do you think about music going digital and illegal downloading
I don't think the majority of people are thieves, because they don't think about what they are doing, but the public will realise that musicians have right to make a living. We can’t live on bread and water and you’re shutting down the source. I think people are realising that it’s not cool to steal, the internet needs to mature. Its giant warehouse of goodies but soon the cupboard will run bare and then you'll just be left with the enthusiastic amateurs.
Best or weirdest rave you've played?
In Puerto Rico we played in a cave with bats and 4000 people underground, Or in Shambhala in British Columbia, it was out in mountains with brown bears and crazy wildlife, like an intimate hippy festival, with naked people sleeping in teepees... I'd recommend that end of august.
Any advice for young producers?
You need commitment, not a lot of people last, they get bored or don’t make money so you need the drive to want to do something rather than settling.
It’s about experimentation and people who have amazing vision. It takes hours in the studio trying things out, it's not just about talent it’s about applying it every day and practicing. You have to be extremely computer efficient, before was more to do with ears, but now new producers are using their eyes and looking at the screen. I still keep my old gear around, ill never sell it, just to remember what is all about.
What do you think of the dnb scene today compared to how it used to be?
Better than it was for a long time. When I started felt like I was a frontier and felt older people didn’t understand but now you hear it on crisp adverts and Formula 1, it universally exists. But it doesn't have the same air of excitement of daring to be different, which is what the dubstep heads are thinking now, like how we were taking rave records and recreating it into a new thing, like taking the baton and putting in your little bit. Humans were banging on a rock and now we have this, it's taking someone’s idea and working on it. Dubstep hasn’t had enough time to develop yet but I think dubstep and drum and bass has and will last.
What do you think the next step for dnb will be?
It's always a progression onwards. One guy might do a tune with bagpipe over drum and bass. Even if your DJing every week, you never know. If it were predictable I would have given up by now.
Catch Ed Rush and Optical at the Miami Winter Music Conference 2010, playing at Viram on the 24th March at Heathrow Lounge.
