Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

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  • simonr
    Transitionator
    • Jun 2004
    • 8796

    Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

    I stumbled across this great interview that Rowan Blades gave : http://definitive-culture.co.za/post...an-blades.html

    Always candid and honest, his viewpoint and insight is (as ever) refeshing, and goes against the grain in commercial terms where some of the newer batch of post-Guetta DJs are coming through, and the likes of everyone from Paris Hilton to Mario Balottelli trying to get in on the act with newer clubs being about VIP, bling and bottle service !!

    Row is a real music-head, pure and simple. From his work with Breeder and Pariah, to collabs with Quivver, Chris Lake and Omid 16B to RowDent and latest Sirenize project, this is someone that just wants to make the music he wants to, without compromise.




    Interview - Rowan BladesFriday, 06 Jan 2012 - 5:00 pm by Johan De Kock


    Career Rowan Blades is best known as half of the massively successful Breeder. Breeder's first two singles, 'The Chain' and 'Twilo Thunder', have sold in excess of 25,000 copies world-wide, having first come to prominence on Sasha's near-legendary 'Global Underground - San Francisco' compilation. Pulserusher catches up with this dance music dynamo in this exlcusive interview.


    You’ve been a major player in the EDM scene for well over a decade... What was the first Gig you ever played?

    The first gig i ever played was at a house party, probably where most dj's first experience a non bedroom environment. I turned up with 20 records in a tesco carrier bag. Luckily everyone was too out of it to realise my fade in and fade outs. The gigs i did prior to breeder were all local, in my regionin the UK. It is probably the worst region for electronic music in england, and always has been, so gigs were mostly forgettable. it was when breeder began that the great gigs started, and it all came as a bit of a shock. Suddenly being thrown onto the global stage with only local experience was quite daunting.


    Long before being the man behind legendary acts like “Breeder” and “Pariah”, you were a teenager promoting some of the UK’s best known parties... tell us a bit about how you got in to the “scene” and how that eventually led to DJ’ing and production?

    I was in a cafe in the town i went to school in one day, and some older guys were talking about a party they had tickets for. It was called Energy and it was at the london docklands. This was my first experience of electronic music in a big venue. Needless to say i fell in love with the whole thing instantly. Soon after i started going to a party called raindance, which was at the bottom of my nearest motorway. My obsession grew, and soon i was calling the organisers telling them we needed a ticket agent in cambridge. I was not involved in the organisation of the parties but i did help them check the site for any illegal substances that were buried the days before to avoid detection on the door. After a few months i had a large tape collection, after a year i bought vinyl and after 2 years i bought turntables. I did not have any paid gigs for a few years, and i did not get involved in any production until i met a guy called luke stidworthy. we did stuff on whoop under the rather shit name zanzibar. A while later i met simon in a pub , via a mutual friend. He was doing cash work for djs, getting tracks together, so i asked him if we could try something together. At the time he was into piano stuff and was working with a guy called pianoman who made cheesy anthems, and also had a wooden leg. We had our first session and the chain happened, in the second twilo thunder. At the time simon just wanted to be paid a fee for his work, but i insisted it was better as a team. He said 'theres no money in prog'. Eventually we worked regularly, as a team, until it became impossible. I can be very intense, and simon did not have much patience, so it was a real love hate relationship . We were either jumping around the room or head to head shouting at one another. In the end the shouting was more frequent than the jumping.


    So is jumping around more frequent than shouting with Dennis in the Studio then?

    We dont have any shouting matches, the odd moody silence is the grand total these days. By the same token, dennis is not much of pogo merchant. If you get an expression of emotion from him you've done well. germans ehh.


    If you ask your average DJ what influenced them as a teenager growing up, you might be quite surprised... has electronic music always been your first love, or has there ever been a moment where you would have traded your synthesizers for an Electric Guitar?

    For me it was the other way around....i liked rock before electronic music, but it was a phase which soon passed. prior to electronic music , i was into new order and jean michelle jarre. All of this paled into insignificance once i first heard illegal radio stations playing acid house. That grabbed me by the balls unlike any other sound ever had. ( The drugs probably helped) I believe genres only serve to separate and divide. Good , long lasting music, often defies genres . How its made is irrelevant, how it sounds at the end is what counts.


    Much of “Breeder’s” marketing and fame has come from major support by Legends like
    SASHA & DIGWEED, what was it like... going from you being a fan of theirs to them becoming such a huge a fan of yours?

    It really was a strange time for me, it was an obsession which became reality. I can only say that it was a dream come true at that time. My heros enjoying the music i'd been been involved in shaping was a real buzz. Sasha was particularly nurturing at that time, which is a rare trait. usually djs are a little insecure and paranoid, and tend not to help one another so much. I was young and stupid however, and did not know how to deal with such interest, but i will always remember how Sasha went that extra 9 yards to encourage others. A lot of other big djs only helped those who were clearly never going to threaten their own perceived status. Sasha never gave a fuck about that because he believes in his own ability.


    I think there's a whole new generation of "Ravers" who love the commercial stuff... but will never know the deeper side... never even know who
    SASHA is... do you find that sad...or is it exactly that, that makes DJ's like him so special?

    The collective feeling of todays youth is what shapes tastes, what they like is down to them. I'm sure guetta is a god to them as sasha is to many others. Change is the only sure thing. One mans floor is another mans ceiling and all that. As the majority of the human race strives more and more for materialism, influenced by marketing and trends, its obvious its going to result in this mass , sheep like behaviour. Its easier to follow the crowd than to think for yourself.


    It has always seemed to me that your work has been huge among the cream of the crop, and has built and inspired much of the “scene” as we know it today... yet it is almost impossible to find in the mainstream... like a very rare very sacred treasure...have you ever considered “selling your soul” and heading towards a more poppy sound or do you feel the “underground” is your home?

    There are two paths when it comes to art. Doing it to express and because you love it, or doing it for money. While everybody needs to survive,in my opinion, art is not something that can be warped into a money making scheme, at least from the artists perspective. in my experiences, as soon as other factors cloud the creative process, the juices can dry up a little. I would not be happy being involved in creating, if the objective was purely financial, but then being a producer has never been my job. This whole thing is a passion, thats how it began, and thats how it will end, when the passion dies.


    Are there any DJ's or Producers that you still look up to and any up & comers that you think will be the next big thing?

    If i have a good feeling when hearing a mix, a live set, a track, it influences and inspires me. Anyone who is trying to move forward is an inspiration to me. With the highly disposable nature of electronic music, the rewards(of the dj/producer life) need to be balanced and maintained with a little effort towards keeping the scene moving forward. The comfort zone drains creativity, as were seeing with a lot of the once hugely popular djs out there... no longer tuned into their soul or what's going on, the sound becomes boring very quickly. letting go of the past and becoming a bit more humble is a good start. This is why the conveyor belt is constantly moving. New people have new ideas and inspirations, which often surpass the old.


    Do you prefer being in the Studio or on the Stage?

    I have had equally amazing moments in both environments. However, there was a long period when i believed that djaying could never match writing, simply because tracks start from nothing. one moment there is silence, the next there is a new vibe. With djaying the creative process often relies upon others to supply good music, with the studio, its all down to the people who are there Once we made a track in the bedroom studio, a few weeks later i was watching my favourite football program and the track came on and I thought ' this track came from upstairs a few weeks ago, via my speakers, now its coming out the TV downstairs'. It was the same media coming back through a different medium, to the same place. It was quite surreal. Both the studio and stage have their highlights, but i always prefer hearing my favourite djs play our tracks than i do playing them myself. That is the biggest buzz of all.


    Tell us a bit about your new project “Rowdent”?

    I was fortunate enough to meet a very talented young producer called Dennis White. He was already on the road himself, making tracks and mixes regularly. For the first time in many years, i had met someone that primarily i liked as a person, and secondly had immense talent to boot. Whats important is that you can actually bare each other, and understand the different roles one takes. Dennis doesn't need anyone else to make amazing music, he can do it alone, however, he was short on experience and just wanted to move things on a little. Since knowing Dennis I have learnt a hell of a lot and he has influenced my direction and tastes vastly. Rowdent has already released 11 tracks, with the next 4 months of releases ready. Our last single had very favourable reactions from a lot of top djs but Its a slow process these days, especially when releasing on our own label, but eventually, quality music makes its own statement.


    It is pretty obvious how the title "Rowdent" came about... but why "Breeder" And "Pariah"... oh and then There's "Zanzibar"?

    Breeder was simons idea..'because we bred tunes'. We could have been called cock rot and still have been popular, because the music was good(at the time). Pariah was a little window into my inner world back then.


    My experience is that the "scene" today has lost a lot of what made it great originally... and also obviously improved on a lot since then, for yourself having been part of the original Acid House scene ... when wharehouses, factories,butcheries,barns and parties like Energy & Raindance were becoming popular... is there anything you miss from those days, and anything you never want to see again?

    Nothing is permanent, however, im sure if you asked a load of young people at todays popular festivals, they would argue that todays parties are as special(to them) as the early parties were(to anyone old enough to have been there). It is difficult to encapsulate and describe those heady days. It was new, it had never been seen before. The collective consciousness of the mid to late 80's is what manifested the acid house scene. Today there is a new generation and a different collective idea. I often think 'if only we could go back'. It was a very exciting time. What was so good about then was the lack of DJ worship. Almost everyone i spoke to in those days, had little care or knowledge of who was playing, it was all about the music and only that. I'd like to see some of that innocence come back.


    Now I’ve heard a few rumours floating around... that have made me quite excited... any chance of a “Breeder” comeback in the near future?

    We tried on 6 tracks and there was some nice elements but things have changed since then. Trying to hold onto the past is pointless, everything has its cycle and breeder already lasted longer than it should have. Some things are best left as memories. One only needs to listen to Sasha's san fran cd ,which was one of the best mix cds that ever came about, to see how fast electronic music sounds dated. Todays news is tomorrows fish and chips wrapping.Electronic music is particularly disposable, and has a short shelf life. Trends are always shifting, and so they should.


    Tracks like “The Chain,Twilo Thunder and NYFM” were and still are tracks that defined a generation... looking back it’s hard to believe that the first “Breeder” Single is now already 12 years old... how much has your approach towards production changed since then? What did you use then and what are you using now? Software...Hardware?

    There was a lot of expensive analogue equipment then, now so much is in the box, and anything else is a bonus. Its not how you do it, and i'd like to reiterate a point regarding that. Many producers ask 'what do you use?', the truth is, its irrelevant. Its only about ideas and enthusiasm. If you have those, nothing else matters. I watched Andy page go beyond what anyone else was doing (with lots of equipment) with just a laptop, when just a laptop was used only for sequencing and a few basic fx. Forget how full your studio is and what you don't have, it doesn't matter. what matters is that you are feeling the music and have the focus and burning desire to express that. Im not saying that its not good to have lots of nice toys, only that its not essential.


    With track names like "Twilo Thunder" and NYFM? any big Ties to New York? or is there another meaning to the choice of track titles?

    No they were named so to make sure they had maximum impact, and because I was obsessed.


    It’s a little known fact that you do enjoy a good deal of Breaks and Breakbeat... do you think it’s that influence that makes your “Progressive House” Sound stand out from the run of the mill 4/4 “Progressive House” track?

    Rhythms are what make people dance , and have done for many thousands of years. A variation in those rhythms is important, and breaks are a great way to embellish your groove. Cut them up, slap them in as they are or just steal the idea and recreate it. Dennis is always going on about the importance of rhythms and originality where possible, after all, progression and forward thinking are what keeps the scene alive. Variety is the spice of life.


    Any embaressing DJ Stories?

    The usual drunken, or otherwise intoxicated behaviour , results in plenty of those, and the rest are probably not so apt to relay here. However, i did once eat a large curry prior to a gig . It was in maidstone at club class. The dj booth was very empty that night once the food started to digest and repeat.



    What are your current top 3 Tracks?

    I have just had a 2 month rest due to a very hectic few months prior to that ,so i'm not back on the hunt yet. The rowdent alternative project with a vocalist called inja are really pushing new boundaries. Im very excited about those. Look out for fade to black, when the wind blows , made me and piano war (working title)



    Is there any track that you never go to a gig without... something that just works every single time?

    I think if any dj was playing the same tracks as 15 years ago, they may get tomatoes thrown at them. Production quality is always improving, and therefore, there are not many tracks which still fit into a set of new music. I have did start playing trisco again last year for a few gigs. Its all about the moment and being prepared.


    What would we be really surprised to find out about
    Rowan Blades?

    That im really a lizzard and David Ike wont leave me alone.


    21.From what I understand you're a football fan and now live in Argentina... who were you routing for in This World Cup?

    My biggest passion, as far as football is concerned is Liverpool. The world cup has been a welcome distraction, but there were few(real) expectations about who might win the WC. I did wake up one day, about a week before the WC and have a feeling Holland would win it though. Sadly i put money on England, out of some warped sense of support for my home country. Biggest waste of a tenner ever.


    Lastly tell us what the rest of this year and 2011 hold for
    Rowan Blades?

    If i knew that i would be charging 10$ for fortune readings. The collective spirit is where its at for me. my hopes for the future are that people open up, a bit and stop trying to protect their own little patch on this planet. Its outdated thinking that will only further the problems faced by the human race. Peace love and harmony.
    sigpicSimonR

    This release was mastered direct from vinyl at the request of the DJ and as such features natural sound characteristics of this medium such as record surface noise.
  • Garrick
    DUDERZ get a life!!!
    • Jun 2004
    • 6764

    #2
    Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

    thanks for sharing. i haven't heard anything from rowan in years. digweed's kiss 100 show waaaaay back when got me hooked on him for a while. i wouldn't mind hearing something more recent from him.
    Should I fuck you at that not until the ass, inject then tremendously hard bumschen and to the termination in the eyes yes?

    Comment

    • dusk
      DUDERZ get a life!!!
      • Jun 2004
      • 7266

      #3
      Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

      ^^^ Gosh my sentiments exactly... didn't even know that he was still a DJ.

      I did enjoy his stuff from way back though.
      ~ You are what you think you are ~


      Comment

      • simonr
        Transitionator
        • Jun 2004
        • 8796

        #4
        Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

        Row DJs less these days (time spent in the Studio with Sirenize) - when he does DJ its usually in Argentina, he was playing the likes of Pacha, Bahrein and (more recently) at Warung in Brazil.

        Sirenize opened Digweed's lastest Bedrock_Underground_Sounds_of_Miami release, this track also features on the forthcoming Cordoba CD. Dark, twisted & dubby



        More recently he was part of RowDent (now Sirenize) who had a couple of tracks on Bedrock 11 amongst others:

        http://soundcloud.com/rowdent/rowdent-dj-mag-e-s-dj-podcast

        http://soundcloud.com/rowdent/rowdent-ibiza-voice-podcast
        sigpicSimonR

        This release was mastered direct from vinyl at the request of the DJ and as such features natural sound characteristics of this medium such as record surface noise.

        Comment

        • Ace
          Getting Somewhere
          • Aug 2008
          • 202

          #5
          Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

          True to the soul this guy.

          Comment

          • hulkhuss
            Are you Kidding me??
            • Jun 2004
            • 3699

            #6
            Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

            Thx for posting, I have always thought Rowan was a very underrated DJ He is part of Faciendo Tribe now with Desyn
            http://www.mixcloud.com/RMasie/

            http://soundcloud.com/r-masie

            https://www.facebook.com/R-Masie-117851198318029/

            Comment

            • Garrick
              DUDERZ get a life!!!
              • Jun 2004
              • 6764

              #7
              Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

              simon - thanks for posting those sets, man. is there a t/l for that first set you posted? the dj mag one... i can't access soundcloud website from work but i can listen to the set. looking for the song title 38 minutes in. LOVELY TRACK. good set too.
              Should I fuck you at that not until the ass, inject then tremendously hard bumschen and to the termination in the eyes yes?

              Comment

              • unkle
                Someone MARRY ME!! LOL
                • Mar 2007
                • 10174

                #8
                Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

                Definitely "Breeder" has produced some of the best
                tracks I have heard in my life. classics at his best.

                Comment

                • AchtungBaby!
                  DUDERZ get a life!!!
                  • Feb 2009
                  • 7299

                  #9
                  Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

                  Besides his undeniable talent, i remember myself on this sunday afternoon (no afterhours involved lol) couple of years back eating an argentinian "asado" with Ricky Ryan, LucasAbadi among other friends who are Rowan's friends.. funny and simple guy he is... Don't like his recent mixes that much (there is not much either though) but this is a good read..


                  Thanks Simonr



                  "vision over visibility" Paul Hewson

                  Comment

                  • GregWhelan
                    Are you Kidding me??
                    • Jun 2004
                    • 2992

                    #10
                    Re: Must Read Rowan Blades Interview

                    The 'area' he refers to early in the interview is Cambridgeshire, UK. A lovely part of the UK, but he's right in that it's the worst part for EDM music! I did a couple of nights here in Luton (about 35 miles away) and it never took off

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