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Bless up everybody! Today I have a special feature for all you readers consisting of Bassweight Sessions #4. I’ve been lucky enough to grab a few words with District of the Chestplate Records crew. With his debut release on Chestplate in 2011 it has been an eventful two years for the Coventry based producer. With a production style that embodies heavily-charged sub-frequencies, twisted mid-range basses, and staggered drum patterns, the Chestplate imprint seems nothing less than a perfect home for Dan’s sound. He now holds a total of three releases on the label, including a collaborative EP with Sleeper and another solo-single released a few months back. As Dan progressively asserts his sound as an integral component to the Chestplate aesthetic we can rest assured that 2013 will see the release of many District beats. I was able to catch his set at SMOG Sundays last month and caught wind of some really great tracks that he has hidden in his arsenal. Check below to see what Dan had to say…
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BWS: Since your debut release last year, ‘3.5 Grams / Haymaker’, you carved out a very distinct sound for yourself, incorporating what seems to be a significant deal of industrial and nuerofunk influences. Your sound fits in so perfectly with the ‘Chestplate’ aesthetic, I have to ask, did you have your eyes locked on Distance? Or were you just sending tunes out to everywhere and happened to get swooped up by Distance first?
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To be honest, I originally set out with the intention of sending tracks to Distance to feature in his ‘New Talent’ section on his Rinse.FM show. At the time there weren’t many people pushing the darker sounds so it was a natural thing to pass music to him rather than anyone else. I was just lucky that he heard something in those early tracks and encouraged me to make more.
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BWS: As far as I know this is your first time in the states? What are your impressions thus far of the US? So far you’ve stopped in Houston, Denver, and Detroit, what’s been your favorite stop so far? Any crowds that have topped the crazy Belgians you spoke of in your AMA a few months back?
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It is! I’ve been blown away by everything I’ve seen so far (and eaten), especially how polite people are over here. We’ve had some great crowds already who know the classics as well as the new tracks which is really good. It’s made the whole experience a lot more fun because I’m testing new tracks as well as playing my favourites.
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BWS: Regarding the current state of file sharing and its obvious impacts on the artists records sales, what are your thoughts about people who argue that the artists make plenty of money touring and selling merchandise? From your own experience, and from what you’ve seen with friends, does touring actually provide a realistic/sufficient income?
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It’s true that touring and playing gigs makes the artist the most money but I think as a whole, all areas of the industry are scratching their heads a little bit and trying to work out where the money is. I’ve watched a lot of four-piece and five-piece bands have to give up playing and touring because it just costs so much, especially now that some venues are putting caps on selling merchandise. For DJ’s its not so bad because you don’t need to take as many people or as much equipment but its still expensive for promoters. None of us are millionaire rockstars. We are just normal people, file sharing stops people like Distance from being able to put out new music and support new artists like myself, Sleeper or Razor Rekta. Thats the real side of it.
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BWS: If you collaborate on a tune with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
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I’ve been listening to a lot of drum and bass on the tour so far, I’d love to work Phace or Misanthrop. I’m very fond of the level of detail that goes into their tracks. Awesome producers.
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BWS: What are your thoughts on being exclusively signed to a label, just as you are to Chestplate? It seems to be something that is becoming more common of the late, what are some of the things that you find advantageous about artists sticking to one label? Do you ever fear that it could potentially pigeonhole your sound or limit your exposure? Or do you think that the ‘branding’ that comes along with that approach is more beneficial than hopping from label to label?
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I think it just looks better for all of us being part of a team together. we all have our sound and support each others tunes. It will only pigeonhole us if we carry on churning out the same stuff which I don’t think there is any emphasis on.
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BWS: What are you thoughts of the Los Angeles crew?
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Los Angeles was sick! Proper fun going back-to-back at the end with Distance and Tunnidge, thats the sort of thing that only people who were in the room at that time will be able to experience. vibes.
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BWS: Can you let the readers know of anything as far as releases, tours, etc. to keep an eye out for?
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I’m currently looking at my next Chestplate release as well as a couple of remixes for when I get back home. I have a collaborative track with Sleeper called ‘The Risk’ which will be out on Osiris just after Christmas I believe.
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BWS: Who shot Biggie and Pac?
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Hologram 2Pac did it.
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Out to Dan for taking the time out of his schedule to answer these questions for us all! Unfortunately he wasn’t able to record a mix for you guys due to a busy schedule but hopefully we can get one out of him in the near future 🙂 Be sure to stop by all District’s pages to show him some support if you’re feeling his sounds. Be on the look for that Osiris release with Sleeper due out anytime now. Below is a mix that was recorded a few months back as promo for his booking agency, so give it a listen if you haven’t already! Still plenty of dubs inside!
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DISTRICT:
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CHESTPLATE:
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I’ll catch everybody next time around. Got some new features coming to the website for 2013 so hold tight with the improvement massive. Hope you guys have a dope New Year!
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One love.
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– Kinman
Bassweight Society 