Dub FX
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So how did life in music begin for this superhero? “I started off playing in loads of different bands all over Melbourne; then I decided to go travelling and had always dreamt of busking so I combined the two. I started making music with a guitar and a backing track, then over time I started using the loop station and the sound just grew and changed while I was on my travels. I was never looking for fame or money, which in my opinion is why those things came to me. I think folks on the street saw that it was something pure and raw and that’s why they bought my CDs or filmed me and put me on YouTube.”

After about a year of doing this, Standford saw the potential in what he was up to so kept at it – and this is where it has brought him. Interestingly, he answers with this when I ask why he isn’t more famous? “The reason I think is that no major label has invested interest. Therefore the only thing pushing me forward is word of mouth or word of mouse!

“I’ve also just spent some time building my studio which took a lot longer than I thought. The plan was to finish a new album before this tour began but it doesn’t look likely. The songs are there but I just don’t have the time to smash them all out, mix, tweak and finalise them. I’m also working on some new collaborations and a live CD and DVD. I love collaborating actually. For live stuff, I love working with solo musicians. I just made a new video in India with a guy called Mahesh and Cade – it’s on YouTube as well. In the studio, I still work with Sirius and another guy called Shadow Breaker. Those two are pretty much brothers. I have some other Melbourne musicians I love working with also and there is plenty more to come. Another thing I’m super excited to be working on is a collaboration with Stamina MC!”

Which says a little about just how innovative Standford is armed with his gear. “I had a vision of what was to come very early on,” he says. “I could see people getting that crazy look in their eye when I was busking in the rain in all those tiny cities all over Europe.” Which begs the question, why do people like his music? He reckons he has the answer: “people don’t necessarily want to see talent, they want truth. It’s me creating art; I don’t think too carefully about how I structure my songs but I do try to make my chorus catchy and respect the art of making music.”

And as he said, there is talk of an album to follow up Everything’s A Ripple as well as his original release, Live in the Street. Then of course there was the 2010 magnum opus titled A Crossworlds, with partner-in-crime Sirius. So there is plenty to come from this champion of the dirty beat and heavy bass line, the puzzle seemingly coming together, as it were. “I had a vision of what was to come very early on. Why do peeps like my music? I think it comes from doing something you connect with. If Ricky Martin hated the music he made he would never had been successful. The Beatles and Michael Jackson are huge influences for me. But I think that if I hadn’t done so much street performing for so many years, those videos wouldn’t have got so much rotation.”

Finally too, he adds that he is looking forward to his forthcoming performances. “I will be performing with my fiancé Flower Fairy; it will all be live looping, beat-boxing, dirty beats and heavy bass lines. It will be rounded off with some soothing melodies and conscious lyrics! There will also be a special jungle and drum and bass set at the end of the show for good measure!”

So stop sitting around and understand why one of Australia’s most underrated artists is on the cusp of hitting the big time. You read about it here. 

 

BY RK

 


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