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'This Is The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done' - A Conversation With Lorca.
House | Tuesday 2nd December 2014 | lenjibong
Sam Cassman, aka Lorca, has been tipped as ‘up and coming’ ever since his first releases around the tail-end of the dubstep era, dating back to 2011 with ‘Moments’ on Live Ones. A string of solid releases and three years later, Sam is beginning to reap the fruits of his harvest. Amidst the pressures and volatility of the music industry, Sam has always retained a quality over quantity ethos, which has seen his music praised by those at the peak of the profession; Bonobo, Maya Janes Coles and Rob Da Bank to name just a few.
With his second release on Breach’s Naked Naked label having just come out and a handful of impressive shows under his belt including one at Panorama bar, 2014 has been a big year. With the A-side, ‘Calcutec’, Lorca has an undisputed, heavyweight track for the dancefloor. The B-side versions of the Afro-infused track ‘Ndlamu’ are full of texture and interesting drums patterns, and have already received support from the likes of Ben UFO. Just after his EP launch in Soho, we managed to catch him for a beer and a chat before he dashed off to play a set in Hackney.
Hi Sam, thanks for joining us!
No problem mate, always a pleasure.
First thing’s first - What would your dream breakfast consist of?
Eggs on toast, classic…
Any particular type of egg?
Poached, with some really crispy bacon & ripe tomatoes.
Free range or battery?
Has to be free range, obviously. Always!
We love an ethical DJ... On to the music, is there a record you couldn’t live without at the moment?
The remix of Daniel Avery by Roman Flugel – All I need. Just played it at the launch always goes down a treat.
So 2014 is coming to a close- What’s been your highlight of the year?
Definitely playing at Panorama bar. It felt like a special one.
Is it all it’s cracked up to be?
I think so yeah, everyone’s there for the music and that’s it really- they really appreciate being there. You can definitely tell the difference between that crowd and one in England and even anywhere else in Berlin from my experience.
So you’ve got a new EP coming out on Naked Naked – we’re loving the sound of it. Was there anything in particular that inspired it? Did you have anything in your mind you wanted to achieve with it?
Not really! It just happens over a long period of hard work, and then it finally comes to something in the end.
So this is the second release of the year- do you ever feel pressured to put out music? Does it get in the way of your creative liberties?
Yeah definitely, and it has got in the way. Only recently I’ve just stopped worrying about it - I’m just gonna do it when it comes, and not worry about getting a certain number of releases out a year- just gonna take it at my own pace and enjoy it rather than stressing over it.
Your tunes are known for their rich sound and textures aren’t they? I can understand how these must take longer to finish…
That’s true - a lot of people have mentioned that my music sounds complete and often they say it's layered!
Do you find it difficult to find the balance between a musically driven tune and one that’s good for the dance floor?
Definitely. This one I definitely had in mind for the dancefloor. I struggled with it a bit at first, it’s a lot different with the production - you have to make sure the kicks and snares and claps are basically huge, so people get smacked in the face when you play it in a club. That’s what I wanted to do with these to be honest. Go for something 'Big Room'.
Track entitled 'Calcutec' is the A-side of the new EP
Sure. So house and techno are still going strong, do you see the scene moving in a particular direction? (is it here to stay?)
Now I feel as if the internet is fully in its prime – things like scenes might not form anymore. It just seems like everything’s becoming house and techno now in underground dance music- I mean there’s niches of dubstep and other stuff, but I can’t see any new scenes like dubstep coming out again to be honest.
I guess it’s quite difficult to see. Do you feel everything’s been done?
I don't know if that’s true. The thing with dubstep is that it was created by a group of mates in Croydon when the internet was still in its early stages. It was a natural thing- word of mouth played a big part. Now everyone’s on the internet and they hear everything… it’s hard to have brand new ideas when you’re bombarded with so much music all the time. I might be wrong! But that’s what it seems like to me.
You feel like it's less organic - is the scene more saturated?
Yeah – that’s why you see all these big Youtube channels, like Eton Messy. It’s just basically loads of people copying each other.
Do you feel like because house has become so ingrained in pop culture at the moment the underground scene is suffering?
I still think the underground is thriving and there’s so many talented producers that are making new music that sounds totally different to everything else. But I think it's gonna be more label based as opposed to new scenes - you could have one guy in Australia, one guy in France all making dubstep – and now you’d have a pocket of producers all making a certain sound for a label.
Do you think promoters carry too much weight – do they affect the audience too much?
Yeah there’s stuff like that- you go to gigs and there may only be a few people who are interested in the music- you can definitely spot them, they’re watching your every move! It’s not necessarily a bad thing though - it means that more people can make a living off DJ-ing, which is a positive thing.
What can we expect from you in the future? Any plans, collabs?
I think just take stuff at my own pace, I’ve gotta remix coming out soon but I don’t know when so I can’t say anything about that. I’m just working on new music at the moment.
More dance tunes?
Definitely so – dance music is what I'm enjoying at the moment so I'm going to stick with it for a while to come. I still feel like I have plenty more to experiment with so we'll see what happens!
Cool. Think we've talked enough about real things now... Time for word association!
Jeremy Paxman - University Challenge
Donuts - Jam
God – Fucking hell... Jesus
Chicken – Wings. This is the stupidest thing I've ever done!
Bass – Mentjaxx!
Tea- PG tips
Table – Chairs
That's a wrap!
By Benji Long
@lenjibong
