RELOADED
Aug 1, 2002 12:00 PM, by Chris Gill
CALL TRANS OPT: RECEIVED. 08-01-02 05:05:37 REC: LOG> TRACE PROGRAM: RUNNING
Nearly three years have passed since Aphrodite, the leader of the jump-up massive, engaged the first major invasion of the Urban Takeover. Equipped with an antiquated computer, a small battery of synths and samplers and a dusty stack of vinyl records, the hacker known to the authorities as Gavin King mounted his attack via a tiny plastic disc encoded with digital data.
Seduced by the deep-flowing bass lines and high-impact drums on Aphrodite's self-titled debut CD, unsuspecting masses were unable to resist his aural assault. His army swelling to a formidable force of 100,000 followers, Aphrodite was poised to initiate a breakthrough that would lead the drum 'n' bass movement into the mainstream.
But soon after Aphrodite's victory, the dark forces of the underground resistance struck a counterattack. As the first rays of the new millennium dawned on the world, the drum 'n' bass forces existed in a divided state. Those who converted to the dark side accused Aphrodite of becoming a traitor and found new leaders to follow. Aphrodite's most loyal supporters retreated to the clubs, occasionally gathering en masse at raves to rebuild their numbers. Set back but not defeated, Aphrodite continued his worldwide bid to increase his following, recruiting ranks from the remotest corners of Asia, the Middle East and the New World.
Meanwhile, dissension among the dark forces scattered their ranks, weakening their movement. As their music became increasingly aggressive, many abandoned the scene and converted to two-step, where their chances for enlistment in reproductive missions were much more conceivable. Aphrodite, remaining true to his breakbeat roots, sought assistance from the sympathetic hip-hop tribe, recruiting some of their most devastating agents, including Big Daddy Kane, Schoolly D, Rah Digga and Wildflower. The ragga crew, frequent supporters of the drum 'n' bass massive, offered the talents of newcomer MC Deadly Hunta and Barrington Levy, a sage whose “Under Me Sensei” became the basis for “All Over Me,” the first salvo of Aphrodite's drum 'n' bass revolution.
With the assistance of that formidable crew, Aphrodite entrenched himself in the studio, furiously programming his deadliest beats, bass lines and riffs. After months of painstaking work, he emerged with his latest V2 effort, Aftershock (2002), a 75-minute simulation program that hypnotizes listeners with its breakbeat frenzy, melodic elation and badass funk over the course of 18 mind-bending tracks. Drum 'n' bass fans, critics and fellow DJs speak of Aftershock in hushed tones, suggesting that this effort may indeed be The One.
Circling the world on a never-ending tour schedule and constantly exposing new blood to the thrills of his one-of-a-kind dub plates, Aphrodite is taking no time off to bask in the glory of his accomplishment. His only concern on his mission as a DJ and producer is to bring the beats to the people, to share the joy of his music. Those who declared the death of drum 'n' bass spoke too soon. The revolution has just begun.
TRACE PROGRAM: TRANSMISSION DECODED> MESSAGE: DOWNLOADING
What motivated you to collaborate with so many different vocalists on Aftershock?
When I started making the album, I figured that I might be able to go back in time and grab a few records that I had already done. Then I recorded “See Through It” with Wildflower, and I did the Big Daddy Kane tune [“Off Limits”]. At that point, I realized that nothing I had done before would be good enough to go on the album unless I updated them or turned them into new tunes. I had to put my soul on the line and do the best job I could. I had a variety of a cappellas I recorded with other artists, so I decided to build the music around them. Fortunately, I was able to clear the Barrington Levy sample [from “Under Me Sensei,” used in “All Over Me”]. Just before Christmas, Deadly Hunta appeared out of the blue — he was a friend of a friend. He played me this tune that I loved, so I asked him to go in the studio and do an a cappella of it. I worked on the music for it over the Christmas holiday. It went off really well, and it became the icing on the cake. The only problem was, I had to remove a Lauryn Hill sample I had used. Because of that, the song didn't come out as well as I wanted. It's okay, but to me, the original raw bootleg that's in my record bag is the best version.
It sounds like you build most of your songs around vocals instead of beats.
I started off with melodies this time. I can knock out beats and bass lines until the cows come home. Finding the catchy element or grasping the feeling of a tune is the hardest part. That's why I wanted to attack that first. The beats and bass lines just mold themselves around the melody.
Were the a cappellas recorded at a certain tempo, or did you have to manipulate them to make them fit the tempo that you had in mind?
I directed most of the vocals when they were recorded, although I wasn't involved with a couple of them. Because I work at home on my own little setup and do all my own engineering, it's very difficult for me to make a track in a studio with an engineer who doesn't know what I do. They don't understand how I like my sounds. Generally, I'll record a basic groove, take that in the studio and have the vocalists record something over that. I usually know what I want to do with a vocal, but sometimes I just want to fuck around with them. I'll play the vocalist a beat to see what they come up with. I'll make a dub plate and play it out to see how it goes down. I often get a vibe for a song after I play something out.
Do you edit the vocals pretty heavily?
Oh, yeah. Most of the a cappellas were seriously chopped up. Big Daddy Kane's vocals on “Off Limits” are nowhere near what he said. I wanted that song to have a cool title, so I listened to his lyrics, and I grabbed something out of the middle where he said, “I'm off limits.” I liked that, so I pulled it out and built the song around that. I treat the a cappellas that people record for me as remixes, cutting things up until I come up with something that I like. I could spend forever working on a tune, trying to touch it up to make it better, stripping it down and starting again. At some point, you've got to say it's good enough and finish it. There is no such thing as making one small change. Once you change one thing, it affects everything else.
Do you use time stretching?
Sometimes. “Be With Me,” which features vocals by Miss Bunty, originally wasn't going to be a tune. I just wanted to do a minute-long hip-hop interlude. I found the backwards strings, which I loved, and I worked on a beat to go on top of that sample. It sounded good, so I added a bass line. I thought about adding some vocals, and I had this whole CD of her vocals that had come into my studio. She had been doing some vocals for me at drum 'n' bass tempo. I grabbed a verse from the CD, and it was in tune, so I stretched it to fit the tempo.
The album flows like a DJ set. Was that your intention from the start of the project?
I always wanted the album to have a flow. After I recorded most of the tracks, I figured out the best way to put them together and determined what was missing. For the intro, I thought it would be cool to do my own in-flight greeting because I'm always flying somewhere on a plane. I had no idea who I would get to read those lines. When I was sitting on a plane, I'd listen to the flight attendants' announcements, and I realized that what you think sounds like an air hostess is different from the real thing. I ended up getting my sister to record that part. She used to do corporate voice-over work. To everyone else, she sounds like an air hostess, but, to me, it's Emily reading my script.
A lot of ragga and hip-hop influences appear on the record. Are you trying to cross over from drum 'n' bass?
I wasn't aiming for a huge commercial hit on this album. I just wanted to record some good, solid tunes that I could play for anyone — not solely drum 'n' bass fans. I wanted hip-hop fans to get it, as well as a drum 'n' bass person. That's my vibe. I try to make music for as many people as possible in my audience.
The drum 'n' bass scene seemed to stagnate for a while because it went too far underground and didn't encourage new blood.
I'm not into that. I've made some tracks that were strictly for the drum 'n' bass massive, but I didn't think that they were good enough to go on the album. I've already alienated the purists, but fuck it. At the end of the day, I'm helping out artists who are purists because a lot of their fans were introduced to drum 'n' bass by my records. I've always had one foot in the drum 'n' bass scene and one foot outside of it. I don't pretend to be 100 percent drum 'n' bass. I'm not that singular-minded. As a DJ, I appear in front of a lot of different audiences. Last Christmas Eve, when most of the drum 'n' bass DJs were playing in drum 'n' bass clubs, I was DJing to 5,000 people in Taiwan between sets by house and techno DJs. My set was only an hour long, so I had to appeal to the audience right away. You don't want to play the latest dub plate in that instance — you want to play tunes that people can get into. As a DJ, you have to be versatile. You never know what the crowd is going to be like.
You recorded your last album using a Commodore Amiga computer. Are you still using it?
I did the whole album with it, using MED 4.0 software. I have never had that much time to learn how to use something else. When I make a dub plate, I've got to do it quickly — in three to five hours. I can't do that using [Propellerhead] Reason or [Digidesign] Pro Tools, but I know how to do it using my Akai sampler and MED 4.0. I do 20-odd gigs a month, so I hardly have enough time at home to make music in the studio, let alone learn how to use a new piece of gear. I go through phases. Some of the biggest tools in the drum 'n' bass scene are the Access Virus and E-mu sampler. You listen to all these records, and the sampler is almost defining the sound.
Have you made new additions to your equipment setup?
I've been playing around with Pro Tools and Reason, but I haven't finished any tracks using them yet. I'm still using the old methods to make what goes on a CD or vinyl. That will change. I'm starting to see some good things. A few years ago, nothing that was coming out excited me and made me want to change over. But there is now. I've heard good results come from Reason. Everyone says that it's really easy to use. I have it on my iBook, and I play around with it. But I haven't been able to really use it because I travel too much; I travel almost every day. If I had a day off here and there, it would be okay. When I get on a plane, the last thing I want to do is fiddle around with music. I want to have a glass of red wine, relax and chill out.
What is your main sound source for bass lines?
It's here, there and everywhere. I might use obscure Indian records, Eastern CDs, Brazilian music, weird house tunes, rare groove, the Virus synth — all sorts of sources. I'd like to explore some Middle Eastern stuff. When I was in Israel, I heard some wicked tunes, but I could never find out what they were. The title was a nightmare to remember, and sometimes it was all in Arabic and was impossible to read and write down. It's hard to find an MP3 when the title is written in Sanskrit.
Because you travel so much, do you hear a lot of dance music that never makes it past a particular country's borders?
I have been in places where the music doesn't even travel beyond a particular club. I'll be somewhere, and the DJ will drop a tune that you've never heard before, and the crowd will go mad to it — like some weird, jazz drum 'n' bass thing — but it's the DJ's own tune.
Where do your orchestral samples come from?
I used to lead an orchestra, so I've always been big on strings. I played the violin at the age of 4 until I was about 17. When I was hunting down string samples, I bought this massive sample library for about $1,800. It has amazing samples of a full orchestra.
How much do you dig through vinyl for samples?
When I was doing the album, sometimes I'd grab a whole bunch of records and spend a few hours going through them to see what I could find. I could use something as small as a single kick drum or snare, or it could be a loop or bass line that I like. I collect all these elements together, load up my favorite samples and play around with them. Eventually, something will come out of it. Then I might decide that I need a stab or a string hit, so I'll have to hunt one down. I may come up with 20 options, and I'll narrow it down to one.
Sometimes I'll hear a record, and I'll want to make something along the same lines. I'll kick out a four-hour dub plate to see how it goes over, and if it goes well, I'll spend a few days working on it to turn it into a tune. By that stage, I will add loads of things to it — trippy noises, stereo effects. I like to record drums in stereo. My tunes have to sound good on vinyl, but when they're going on an album, they also have to sound good over headphones. An album should be more than a bunch of great 12-inch singles. I wanted the tracks to sound as good in someone's car or on headphones as they do in a club. I look at making albums from a completely different perspective.
What is the key to getting a deep bass sound without having the bass line and kick drum's frequencies get in the way of each other?
The kick drum and bass have to sit in different areas to allow each sound to breathe. There is an area around 60 Hz that is crucial. The bottom end of the bass should sit around 30 to 60 Hz. But if it's just a tone down there, you're not going to hear it, so you have to have a lot of nice midrange harmonics to make the bass beefy. The kick drum has to sit around 60 to 100 Hz.
I'm surprised that you still produce your albums in a home studio instead of going into a big commercial studio.
Drum 'n' bass sales are not at the level where I can afford to start hiring out big studios. If I was selling half a million records, then maybe I'd do that. But I'm selling about 100,000 records, so I can't start taking risks such as hiring a string quartet. I don't have the means to do that. If I do go into the studio, because I've always engineered my own records, it's very hard for me to get used to having someone else do the engineering. I just want to get in there and, for example, get the snares sounding nice and crisp. A pop engineer may not know how to get that sound. When I want bass, I want bass! Sometimes I have reservations about taking things into a big studio because it might take the soul out of the music. At home, I can work for a few hours, hang out in the garden, go out and have a cigarette break, come back and hear what it sounds like. I can keep the same tune loaded up for three days without having to worry that it's going to cost me three grand.
You've been involved with the drum 'n' bass scene since its beginning. Where do you see the scene heading?
Every time the drum 'n' bass scene starts crossing over, it seems like there is a rebellion among the forerunners, and they take it back into a dark direction. I'm not sure why that is. The whole drum 'n' bass and English breakbeat scene has always gone in cycles. It will be really funky and commercial one moment and then go really dark. We've just had a two-year dark period, and before that, we had a two-year funky, commercial period. The American scene got into drum 'n' bass around the beginning of the end of the last funky cycle. People think that I used to be a badass, but I don't do good records anymore because I've gone into a dark period. Now people are getting into different styles again. I just see it as a style of music that should be enjoyed. Anyone should be able to get into it and take a crack at making it. Missy Elliott had a drum 'n' bass tune on her last album. It's a style of music that should be shared. What I like about drum 'n' bass is that it doesn't have to be the be all and end all. It doesn't have to be complex. It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest thing. That's not necessary.
THE VINYL CONNECTION
APHRODITES' DUB PLATE ARSENAL
Fans who check out Aphrodite's DJ gigs are certain to hear music that they will never hear anywhere else. Almost 70 percent of the records in his DJ box are one-of-a-kind dub plates, bootleg remixes or limited-release white-label demos. “I have quite a few records in my bag that will never be released,” he says. “I'll do a demo of a tune, and I'll test it with the crowd to see how they react. I have things that I've done just for the fun of it. A lot of the music that I make is for the purpose of filling gaps in my record bag when I'm DJing. That remains my prime motivation; I'm a DJ first. At one stage, I thought that the Rah Digga tune was never going to be on the album and was going to remain a DJ tune. But I adapted it.”
Some of these records are remixes or demos that he bangs out in a few hours on his Commodore Amiga 1200 computer. “I have lots of records that are only for me, like a Sunshine Anderson bootleg that I've done,” he says. “It's easy to place a rap a cappella over a jungle tune. It's a hundred times more difficult to get Big Daddy Kane in the studio and build a song around that. People have banged out dozens of drum 'n' bass remixes of ‘Get Ur Freak On,’ but the hard thing was to be Missy Elliott and come up with that.”
Even though it can cost Aphrodite more than $100 to have a dub plate pressed on vinyl, he hasn't joined the throng of DJs who have converted to CD: “I'm 100 percent vinyl. For so many things, vinyl still rules. I might burn some things on CD, but I don't like CDs. You can't see what's going on with a CD like you can with a record. I don't have the feel of it. I'm tempted to switch over to Final Scratch, but it will probably take me a while. If DJ Craze can make [Stanton] Final Scratch work for him, anyone can use it. I'm not trying to be QBert, so it will probably work fine for me.”
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD
APHRODITE'S HOME STUDIO SETUP
COMPUTERS
Apple Macintosh G3/600MHz iBook
Commodore Amiga 1200
MIXER AND PROCESSORS
Alesis Quadraverb multi-effects unit
BBE Sonic Maximizer
Boss SE-70 multi-effects unit
Drawmer compressors
Mackie 24×8 mixing console
Sony DPS-V55 multi-effects unit
TC Electronic Finalizer
SOFTWARE
Digidesign Pro Tools
MED 4.0
Propellerhead Reason
SYNTHS AND SAMPLERS
Access Virus synth
Akai S3000I sampler
Akai S6000 sampler
Korg Prophecy synth
Roland JP-8000 synth
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