Category Archives: Artist Highlight

In The Shadows Vol. 2: Camu

Posted by Bassweight Society on

Happy Friday everybody!  And for all the weed heads out there, happy 420!  I’m sure you’re already knee-deep in glass jars and an assortment of delicious snacks, so I think I’ll just move along to today’s feature as I don’t think many of you will have much of an attention span, haha 🙂
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Over the past few weeks I’ve have  befriended a young producer who has turned out to be a great influence of mine.  The sheer energy that this kid has for life, his friends, and his family really makes you think about the things you are grateful for.  His enthusiastic dedication to his music is something that I believe to be an absolute necessity to success with your music.   I mean, obviously there is no correct/incorrect way to make music but, the way that each of his songs reflects a specific journey or interaction is just very fascinating to me.  When he describes the influences for each of his songs to me, and then I listen to them, the songs seem to perfectly portray his words, but in an audible fashion.  I am very confident that this man is on  a path to great success with his music.
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It should come as no surprise that I am an absolute nut about the “tribal” style beats.  Layers upon layers of hard-hitting, deep, and rythmic percussion.  Maybe it’s the fact that it has been instilled in us over thousands of years of tribal culture, as Killawatt stated in his interview with us earlier this year, but, there’s just nothing else like in my book.
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Today’s feature is on 16 year old Dutch producer, Camu.  I first caught wind of his music after one of my routine scans of Trusik a few months back.  Instantly, I was HOOKED.  It was the tunes ‘You Are’ and ‘Asmat’.  I will never forget it because I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “this is the it!”.  Camu’s incorporation of tribal vocals, spacious soundscapes, and powerfully taunting sub-frequencies is something to really watch out for.  His music perfectly embodies one of the most prolific phrases among deep heads, “meditate on bassweight”.  Every tune is a story, and you can really hear/feel the story progress into each of  it’s different states of emotion.  As he is still quite young, I am very anxious to see the ways in which his sounds evolve and begin to really blow people away.  The man has been generous enough to giveaway THREE of his songs to you, the readers.  I have listened to all of these songs, and they are absolutely beautiful, all of them.  You guys should feel lucky too, as two of the songs have only been heard by myself, Camu, and MAYBE a handful of others.  It was really a shock to me when he came back to me saying that he has three tunes for us, as I was only expecting to do a giveaway of one tune.  It was nuts!  I feel truly blessed and all of you should too.  Please show the man some support by checking out his pages and shout him a personal message or something!  Anyways, enough of my rants, let’s get to know Camu!
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BWS:  Let’s get the formalities out of the way, give our readers a quick rundown on yourself.

Yo Kinman, I’m Shawnee from Amsterdam. I have produced music since 2008 and I focus mainly on Bass and percussive music. I’m a very peaceful person and I’m really honored to be interviewed by you!

BWS:  16 years old.  Not going to lie, you seem to have a much deeper consideration for the spiritual side of life than I would expect.  You mentioned visions that have inspired your songs in your Trusik interview not too long ago, can you tell us more about that?

Well I dream and think a lot, and the last couple of months have been very busy for me. So many things have happened and I’m not really good at expressing my emotions so I close my eyes and I just dream, think about what has happened and what’s going to happen. And with those things in mind I make music.  The past few months have been very hectic, a lot of bad shit has happened but luckily  things are starting to get better now. Much better in fact.  I can finally find peace with the things that happened and put all the stuff behind me, which is something I could never really do before, and I could never do it without my girlfriend. She has helped me get through a lot of the difficulties in the past few years and she’s always very sweet to me. I truly love her with everything I got. She always supports me and always is there for me, and that means much to me.

BWS:  I’m sad to say that I’ve never had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam, although hopefully soon!  How much influence do your immediate surroundings have in your music?

Well in a certain way it does.  When it is busy around me, for instance, my music is always a little harder and more filled with drums. And then at times when it’s quiet my music is more soulful, more emotional.  The city itself also has and influence on me, there’s a lot of great architecture and a lot of creative people and there’s always something going on. Never a boring day here in Amsterdam.  I love to walk and discover new parts of the city with my girlfriend, there are a lot of beautiful places here that many people don’t usually visit.

BWS:  What is the “dubstep” scene like in Amsterdam?  Are there a lot of good opportunities to see and hear the artists you love?

The scene here is mostly bro, of course there are a few good nights, Sonic Warfare, for instance, but unfortunately they stopped after 5 years, which is truly a great loss for the scene here.  I personally don’t really like to go out that much though, so I don’t really have much information about the scene. I just don’t like being around all of these angry, screaming and moshing kids. I really prefer to stay at home and just relax.  If there’s a night with really good artists I might go though, but overall I’m not much of a party person.

BWS:  How did you first get into the 140/dubstep arena?

It came out of the blue to be honest, I had never heard of it before until one day, after my brother came home from a long holiday. He was in his room and played Bar 9 – Triple Drop, I had never heard anything like it and I was hooked instantly!  After that I started listening to artists like Excision and Datsik and so on. Later on I discovered Dubstep Allstars vol. 4, and that completely changed my perspective on the genre and I started getting more into the original sound. Artists like Burial and Kryptic Minds became instant favourites of mine.  Then in December 2009 I went to my first gig, which was Sonic Warfare, and DJ’s such as Youngsta, The Bug and Jack sparrow were performing and I didn’t know any of them until then. Was truly an amazing experience!

BWS:  Each of your tunes is it’s own journey man, straight up.  You have really created your own sound.  Where or how do you see yourself progressing in the near future, as far as your sound?

Thanks a lot man, that really means a lot to me!  Well I hope I get better at doing mixdowns and at making soundscapes and such.  I just basically hope my sound will get better and better over the years, I want to leave people stunned when they hear my music, create a certain vibe that will make people happy and I hope my sound will always stay original. I don’t want to sound like anyone else haha.  It would also be great if I could someday expand my sound to other kinds of music like Hip-Hop, Techno, Drum & Bass and Ambient music.

BWS:  What is your primary means of production?  Laptop? Hardware? Live instruments?

I use my laptop with Renoise and a lot of samples, basically.  Then for the synths and the sub I use Massive, and sometimes I use my microphone to record my own samples. A bit of fieldrecording.

BWS:  Do you any rituals that must be taken care of before you can hit the studio?  If so, what are they?

Well, before I start any serious tune I always make sure it’s completely dark in my room.  I have a nice big glass of water and I burn my favourite incense. (Nagchampa Agarbathi or Vidwan) That is all really.  Before I start producing I usually read or watch something that is very inspirational to get me into the mood, to forget about this place and travel to the place I am going to create.  I start a lot of tunes every day though, like when I’m at school or get a sudden burst of inspiration.  But most of the times I end up leaving those tunes after a while.  My best tunes really come from concentrating, being in the dark and being relaxed.

BWS:  Now, you’ve been generous enough to give us a song today for the readers to download and enjoy, can you tell a little bit about the tune and how it took its form?

I have decided to give away three tunes, since I have reached 100 likes on FB, 200 followers on soundcloud and, of course, because of this interview. All of this really means a lot to me and I would like to give something back in return to all of you!  The first tune is called “You Are”, I made it in December last year. I basically wanted to make something melodic and I found that vocal sample and just had to use it. It’s been one of the best samples I have ever found, really. I had thought for a long time for what I could have done with the second part of the tune, but after trying so many different things I finally made something that sounded good and that made me happy.  The second tune, “Lying Entombed” Is a tune I made early march. I read an amazing book about the Aboriginal people and that gave me a lot of inspiration. I actually made a couple of tunes based on that book but this tune came out the best and I would love to share it with everyone. Nobody has heard it yet and I am really proud of the second drop.  It was really so much fun writing this tune.  Finally, the third tune I’m giving away is called “Visions Of Wings”.  Monday last week I experienced something very unique and that is the whole idea and inspiration behind this tune.  The tune runs at a 174 bpm, something I hadn’t really done before,  but it really turned out great and I’m very pleased with it. This one is also brand new and only a few people have heard it.

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If somebody wants the WAV’s of these tunes feel free to get in touch with me!

Much respect to Bassweight Society and Kinman, I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this and are enjoying my music.

Peace and Love for my Girlfriend, my family and friends.

Take Care,

-Shawnee Camu Alltmann

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Many thanks out to Camu for this interview and, most importantly, his generosity!  Be sure to stop by his pages, drop him a “hello”, and keep your eyes on this one, he’s going to be making waves very soon.  Below you will find his contact info/pages. You will also find all three of the free downloads below, hosted on the BWS Soundcloud page. We all hope you enjoy the music and enjoyed the read.  Until next week….

Camu Soundcloud

Camu Facebook

AIM: camusounds

Skype: camu_dj

Email: Shawnee_altmann@hotmail.com

Camu – You Are (FREE DOWNLOAD)

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Camu – Lying Entombed (FREE DOWNLOAD)

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Camu – Visions Of Wings (FREE DOWNLOAD)

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One love to the gods, ya’ll.

-Kinman

Fresh Cuts: Proxima, PanLeft and Epoxy

Posted by Bassweight Society on

What’s good fellow bassweight champions? Welcome back this fine Thursday morn. Today we’ve got a couple brand new bangers we’d like to feature from some up-and-comers surely to watch. Don’t sleep on these guys, read on and check out the treats from Proxima, PanLeft and Epoxy.

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Gonna start this one out heavy with the insta-nod jam, ‘Formal Junction’ by Proxima. Released on Tempa in late March this tune is honestly a mind melter. For those who don’t know, Proxima is Icicle’s cousin, and well let’s just say, it runs in the family. With a slammin’ debut release on Tempa of all labels,  Proxima is someone to surely keep on your radar. Don’t forget the flipside either. ‘Grunge’ delivers some hop and bounce while still maintaining the bassweight depth we’ve grown to love . Check out both tracks below, and purchase them here.

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Right, so next up is a club-promoter turned sound designer, PanLeft. His debut release via Blah Blah Blah Records has been in the works for a bit now, but just got unleashed on the public last week. The track that caught our attention, ‘Electrika’, is simply great. It’s epic buildup, snaps back right before the moment of truth and makes for an epic drop. Shying away from the traditional dungeon sounds, PanLeft takes deep in a different direction. The flip, ‘HRTS’, literally will HURT your chestplate, so be careful. Beatport.

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Last up are some straight-forward bassweight slumpers from newbie, Epoxy. Rather than spray you with adjectives about this free release, I’ll let the tracks do the talking. Make sure to like Epoxy on Facebook and stay posted on his Soundcloud. Make sure and download both ‘Cut Off’ and ‘Prec’ and give some love to Autopsy Audio for generously releasing such a nice, free, EP. Thanks!

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Download the EP here.

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Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy these releases as much as we did!

Peace.

Shice

Exclusive Interview: TMSV

Posted by Bassweight Society on

Blessings, friends.  Welcome back.  We have a truly amazing feature today with, in my opinion, one of the greatest producers in the circuit right now.  Tomas Roels, aka TMSV, has been kind enough to give us a few words about his influences, his plans for 2012, and some thoughts on the US dubstep scene.  It is really an honor to have the opportunity to work with this guy as I’ve been a huge fan ever since I first heard his sounds on Box Clever in 2010.  Being creative as a youth with things such as painting and drawing acted as a catalyst into Roels’ adoption of music production.  The idea of “creating something out of nothing”, as he put it in his interview with FatKidOnFire/MakeItGood back in August of 2011 (Check it here). It wasn’t until he was around the age of 15 that he began the journey of forming his own ‘sound’.  While things didn’t necessarily take off in the beginning, as soon as he was introduced to jungle and drum and bass, things began to come together.  After gaining the satisfaction of creating his own music, “something from nothing”, his passion and dedication exploded.  After becoming bored with producing “hard and repetitive” dnb, he was introduced to dubstep by his cousin.  He was hooked on the space and endless amount of possibilities that the space provided for his compositional creativity.  The rest is history.

Fast-forward to 2012 and TMSV is receiving support from Mala, Youngsta, DJ Thinking, DJ Madd, J:Kenzo, and the list could go on for days.  It’s no surprise that this is the case with the sound versatility that he brings to the table.  There are purely meditative tracks like ‘Myth’, hard-hitting rollers like his recent collaboration ‘Difference’, and dub influenced jams such as his latest remix of “Lay Down My Burden’ which is set to release sometime soon on the label Foundation Sound.  Whatever the style is, he seems to be able to hit the nail on the head.  Since 2010 he has earned himself a number of top-notch releases on labels like Tube10, although the majority of his signings are by Black Box/Box Clever.  Releasing music almost exclusively with Black Box/Box Clever, label owner Thinking has got to be a pretty happy man!  2012 proves to be a very successful year for Tomas as he gives us news of many upcoming collaborations and new sounds to be conquered, so be sure that you keep your ears on this guy!  So, without any further introduction, let’s see what this true badman has to say:

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BWS: Quickly, can you give the readers a little back round information about yourself?  

TMSV: My name is Tomas, 23 years old and I’m from the Netherlands. I’ve been making electronic music for a couple of years, mainly dubstep.

BWS: Where did the moniker TMSV originate?

TMSV: When I first started making music I was really into jungle. One night a friend and I were joking around and he called me Tomassive (or at least that’s what I remember), so I just started to use that as a production alias. After a while I thought it was a bit gimmicky, so I changed it to TMSV. I guess it doesn’t mean anything anymore, but I urge people to have fun imagining what the letters could possibly stand for.

BWS: In your interview with Kmag last year, you stated that you think very highly of Mala because of his carelessness towards the expectations of others and money.  It’s really great to hear things like that.  What do you take away from your own music?  By that I mean what sorts of fulfillment do you get from it, psychologically or spiritually?

TMSV: Well, I’m not a spiritual person, but I guess I am emotional. I tend to use music as an outlet. I always feel the need to make music to express myself in a way. I’m not sure if the tunes themselves describe my emotions directly, but the way I feel definitely determines the way my tunes sound.

What I take away from my own music is more of a psychological fulfillment, as you put it. The fact that I can make the music I want to make, and the fact that people really seem to like it, is fantastic.

It’s been a bit tricky for a while. The more people liked and played my tunes, the more I felt pressured to make tunes that sound a certain way. I’ve made some pretty generic tunes recently (that probably nobody has heard), but I’ve realised that I should just keep making my music. It’s supposed to be fun.

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BWS: Sadly, I have never had to chance to visit the Netherlands.  The pictures I’ve seen of the geography are really astounding, though.  The amount of green in the countryside is magical.  The architecture of the cities is something to marvel over as well.  How much inspiration, if any, do you gather from your surroundings?

TMSV: I really like this country. There aren’t many exotic or amazing things to see nature-wise, but it’s never ugly. I like the cities as well, old Dutch architecture can be really beautiful, and luckily there are lots of old buildings that are still standing.

I guess I gather inspiration from the relative serenity of the area where I live. One of the best things about this place is that you can almost always escape from the chaos of modern city life. I live in a quiet neighborhood as well, and it’s a 15 minutes’ walk to the centre of the city, so if I want to see friends and have a drink, I can choose to leave my quiet house and go to the slightly more busy city. I think the fact that going out doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re jumping into a city full of chaos and noise is calming in a way.

BWS: Furthering on influences and inspiration, how did the track ‘Myth’ come about?  Hands down one of the best tunes that was released last year.  I listen to the tune almost everyday when I get off work and every time it sounds fresh.  Seriously, big up for that production.

TMSV: Thank you very much! It’s actually very reliant on samples, as you can hear from the lead sound. After using the sample(s) I made a bassline and a beat, added some atmospheres and other sounds, and that’s all there was to it, really. I have to say that the tune was already at least 2 years old when it was released, so I can’t really remember too much about how I made it.

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BWS: Do you see yourself going in any specific direction with your productions in 2012?

TMSV: Definitely. As I said, I’m focusing on making music right now. I’m trying to avoid being boring and predictable, to a certain extent of course. At the moment I’m making more than just 140 BPM music: I’m working on dub, house, garage, hip-hop, downtempo, all kinds of stuff.

BWS: What are your feelings on the 140 jungle tunes that have been getting hype lately?

TMSV: There’s definitely some great 140 jungle around at the moment, in fact I just got some today that sounded sick.

It seems to be difficult (for me as well as for other producers) to really ‘get it right’ and not sounding like a parody of the typical jungle sound. Jungle was never about quantising and getting your samples to sound just right; it was about the groove of the breaks you used, the simple but effective basslines and the vibes of the blatantly sampled sounds that were scattered around the tune. Modern music production software makes it much easier to make a really well-produced tune than the old samplers the jungle guys used to have, and I think nowadays you actually have to put effort into balancing a nice mixdown with getting an ‘authentic’ sound.

BWS: You have been collaborating with some really sick artists recently, like DJ Madd and June Miller.  Can we expect a lot more collaborations to come?

TMSV: Yes, definitely. I’m working with loads of people right now, but I’m not going to tell you who they are, because you never know if a collab is going to work or not.

I’m also looking for vocalists to work with me. I’ve had some responses already, but I’m always open to singers and MCs who would like to work with me. Please don’t hesitate to send me a message through Soundcloud or Facebook.

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BWS: What are your views on the US dubstep scene, as a whole?  Do you see yourself making it out this way anytime soon?

TMSV: Hopefully, yes. I’ve only been to the US once, about 9 years ago. I’d really love to visit again at some point. You can count on me flooding Facebook with spam when someone books me to come play in the US.

I don’t know much about your dubstep scene, but I do know that the deeper sound has gained popularity recently, which is great. It’s a huge country and very musically diverse, so I can’t see why the dubstep scene couldn’t be great.

BWS: If you could collaborate with any US based producer, who would it be, and why?

TMSV: When it comes to dubstep (and related genres), DJG (Grenier) or Matty G. Their tunes are very musical and diverse and the production is always sick, so collaborating with either of them would be cool. I’m probably missing ten thousand other American producers in my head right now. Sorry, you know how it is.

There are so many US based producers of other styles, it would be impossible to choose one or even ten. I do think I should name Dr. Dre and RZA just in case they Google themselves while looking for Dutch producers to work with.

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Serious amount of respect out to TMSV for doing this feature for us, it was truly an honor.  All the heads reading this that are new to his sounds, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do!  Be sure to stop by his Soundcloud and Facebook page and show him some love and support if you’re feeling his vibes.  You can find links to both below.

TMSV Facebook Page

TMSV Soundcloud Page

Alright people, that’s it for today.  Now I’m off to Coachella with the homie Lowkey to check out some very diverse musicians/bands out in Indio, CA.  Really stoked to see Machinedrum and Sbtrkt, among many many others.  Pretty stoked to see Sub Focus’s new “live” set as well.  Anyways, hope everybody has a great weekend filled with good vibes, good people, and good music.  One love.

To the gods.

-Kinman

SPREP009 – Fornax’s ‘Absent Referent EP’

Posted by Bassweight Society on

Yes I. Today we wanted to take the time to showcase Sub Pressures forthcoming release from Fornax. The ‘Absent Referent EP’ is a collection of four originals from Fornax and a remix done by the badman Promise One. Fornax comes hard from the start with the self-titled ‘Absent Referent’. Bouncing percussion and spacious atmospherics taking you through a vortex of soulful stabs and pads. A perfect way to bring the listeners into the heart of the release. The following tune, ‘Zodiac’, is another fine display of space and rhythm, following suit nicely from the opening track. The third tune, ‘Kepler’, really starts to bring the energy levels up with its sci-fi drenched soundscape and stomping kick drums that get you in the chestplate. Don’t know if it was all part of the plan but I like the way the EP takes you on this gradual evolution of sounds, starting off with slower more spacious tunes and slowly progressing from there. Fornax’s final tune on the EP is called ‘Genocide’ and it’s my personal favorite from the release. A pounding half-step abyss of dusty pipes and an array of reverb blessed production. The finishing track is Promise One’s take on ‘Kepler’. Definitely another gem for Promise One to put under his belt. A roller meant to make the heads bounce. Definitely a man to keep your eyes on, this Fornax fellow. If you never caught that bit we highlighted with him and Content then I suggest you take a listen to that beauty! The ‘Absent Refernent EP’ is set to release April 23rd, so mark your calenders!

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If you haven’t check out the releases from Sub Pressure I strongly suggest taking a peak at their roster! Releases from the likes of Biome, Kelly Dean, Promise One, TZR, and now Fornax. Mad love to the boys at Sub Pressure for pushing the sounds over here stateside. It’s nice to have a friend in our backyard holding down the deeper sounds, no doubt. Show them some love if you haven’t already!

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Alright people, that’s what we got for today. Stay blessed, and support your local artist.

To the gods.

-Kinman

Depth Charged By Legend4ry, Inkarv, Kaiju, and More!

Posted by Bassweight Society on

What up fam!  It’s your boy Kinman back with some fresh bits that I know will tickle your fancies.  If you don’t like them you should probably just delete your Facebook page.  I’m hoping a few of you get that one, haha.  Anyways, the weather is starting to warm up over here in California (As if it’s not warm pretty much the entire year here) and I got to say, I love California.  One of the most gorgeous places on this earth.  Anywhere where you have plate activity you’re going to have jaw-dropping natural beauty.  Too many people take their surroundings for granted and it bums me out.  Just take a few minutes out of your day to really look around you, this earth has so much beauty contained within its borders.  I don’t care where you live, there is wonder.

The first tune up today is one from Inkarv.  This jam is pure vibes, so it’s not surprise that it was a runner-up for the Outlook Festival producer competition.  Honestly one of the more beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard lately.  From the inspiring vocal samples to the groovy drum sequencing, this tune is one for the lovers no doubt.  Some true eyes down business.

Inkarv – I’m Falling (Outlook Festival Entry)

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Now we’re going to progress into some more head-nodding jams.  The latest release for Osiris Music, coming from the hands of Kaiju.  We’ve highlighted some tracks of this guy previously so hopefully you’re familiar with him, if you’re not, then get on it!  The A side of the release, titled ‘Close Break’ fully displays Kaiju’s ability to concoct heart-stopping sub-frequencies.  The vocal’s that are layered over the track give you a very reassuring vibe.  The second tune, ‘Belcanto’, is priceless.  Honestly, there really isn’t much I can say about this tune because you need to hear it for yourself.  No surprise that KM signed both of these tunes, they’re golden!

Kaiju – Close Break

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Kaiju – Belcanto

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Next up we got another one from Percept.  The man is just making tune after tune.  This one is on the mad bouncy vibe, I’m loving it too!  The kicks on this keep your body bouncing while the cinematic ambiances grab your mind and plummet it into the underworld.  Big up to Percept on this one and all of his recent accomplishments!

Percept – Hedorah (Widowmaker on Rood FM)

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To close things out for the night I have two MASSIVE tunes from different artists, Killawatt & Quantam Soul, and Legend4ary.  These tunes are madddnesssssss, both of them.  To see Killawatt and Quantam Soul on the same track made my stomach erupt with butterflies because I knew it was going to be something just off the charts massive, and it was.  I can’t imagine this tune going unsigned and if it does I will be quite disappointed  because this is definitely a platter that I want in my crates.  The other bit from Legend4ry is another roller that can set the dance off HARD!  Legend4ry is one of the most underrated producers, in my opinion, so spread this guys sounds around!  A straight badman on the buttons.

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Legend4ry – That Was Yesterday

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Alright fam, blessings upon all of you, can’t express how grateful we are to have such a dope community (you guys) that we can share all of this great music with.  Until next time…

To the gods.

-Kinman