The boys from State of Mind know what it’s like to pump a little bit of bass. The scene in Auckland, believe it or not, is burgeoning. “We actually met up through the drum and bass scene here,” chimes Pat.
The boys from State of Mind know what it’s like to pump a little bit of bass. The scene in Auckland, believe it or not, is burgeoning. “We actually met up through the drum and bass scene here,” chimes Pat. “We were both going to the gigs, and met through friends. We were both making music already, and I think one morning at the after party we decided to have a go at making a tune together. It worked out pretty well, so we just kind of kept at it!”
Likewise, their sound is their own, “for better or for worse” he describes. “Generally speaking we don’t really get influenced much by micro-trends. I remember hearing an interview with German group Booka Shade, and they said something like ‘Well first there was minimal, we are still here, then there was electro, we are still here, now there is dubstep, we are still here’. That’s kind of how I perceive us within drum and bass. We just do our thing and roll on. The current trends like ‘drumstep’ or ‘minimal’ will come and go. Sometimes we make big dance floor things with kind of commercial elements, that’s to pay the bills, other times we make really moody progressive stuff but whatever we do I think it always sounds like us.”
The lads are also keeping busy with their label, with a new album coming up, along with two vinyl EPs, and even more 12″s planned for release this year. “We are putting out more stuff from artists like Black Sun Empire, Nymfo, NC-17, who have all been on SOM before, plus some material from new artists to the label. We are also looking at a Dose LP,” says Pat. For us, it’s basically a simple philosophy: “don’t put out shit music!”
“Don’t put out music that has no emotional content. I think even a tune you hate is better than a tune you don’t care about and forget after two minutes. Chances are if you hate a track, someone else absolutely loves it. So yeah, we focus on releasing stuff that has that little spark, not just something that might sound fat in a mix in a club on the right sound system. Basically, we just love making music and couldn’t imagine doing anything else to be honest. I also love the technical side of modern production. I have subscriptions to three different production magazines, read interviews etc online for fun, and am a total gear nut. I practically live in the studio; I’m always losing track of time much to the frustration of my girlfriend. I think it’s fair to say I love my job.”
Their second great love outside of the studio is of course travelling the world and spreading the drum and bass message – and they don’t mind pushing those boundaries a little. “We have always been prone to playing a bit of stuff outside drum and bass,” he says. “I was playing a couple of Justice tracks in my sets for a while there before they took off. If I hear a track I like and I think it will work in a set, then I’ll play it. That might be some breaks, some smashy electro, some house, just whatever. We don’t really play any dubstep though. There are enough other drum and bass DJs riding that gravy train already. We also produce tunes outside drum and bass. There are three on the new LP in fact. One is breaks, the other two; I don’t know what kind of genre they are. Maybe we should make up a new genre, but I think you have to be from the UK to do that don’t you?”
Jest aside though, the lads are primed for their return to Australia and as always, are preparing a few on stage antics! “Yeah we have had a few incidents over the years! For the most part in Melbourne we’ve been well behaved so far. However I did play one show where a punter spilt a full handle into my laptop when I was using Serato. That was a bit of a downer, since it ended my night about four tunes into the set. But anyway, I think this time we will be playing loads of our new tunes, some of our old tunes, some remixes and VIPs of our old tunes, and loads of wicked new tracks from other producers. I hope that keeps the fans happy!” No doubt.
State of Mind [NZ] plays the City of Lost Children with Bassnectar [US], Consequence [NZ] and more on Saturday March 26 at Brown Alley.
