bass junkie interview from coolbpm.com

How did you start the bass junkie project? What were your motivations at first?
Well, "bass junkie" was originally the name I used when DJing and the recording name was "cybernet systems", (an album under this name is awaiting release) this name was used for my first release on "dynamix II records" in `94. When the dynamix label finished I released an EP in the UK under this name and another EP under the name "final dream" for the dark techno/electro stuff, but I had so many trax awaiting release at this time that I decided to release the more retro sounding "miami bass" style trax as bass junkie on "parallax" (my sister`s label) and some of the harder edged stuff on my "battle trax" label under various other pseudonyms. As for my motivation, that came from hearing music from dynamix II, the unknown DJ and various other electro producers who were doing there own thing in the late eighties when everyone else with a drum machine and computer was making boring repetitive generic 4/4 beats. They inspired me to have a go myself, so I did, and here I am.

You have released music under different names... What would be the difference of approach between these releases and the original bass junkie sound?
bass junkie _ retro styled miami bass electro with of old skool electro/hip hop samples and BOOMING low frequencies... funky!!
cybernet systems _ similar to bass junkie but harder & more experimental, less sample orientated and more futuristic/robotic
final dream _ dark acidic techno/electro, very moody and hard.
battle systems _ hard edged industrial bass, just trying something a bit different at the time.
industrial bass machine (IBM) _ electrobotic bass with scott weiser of dynamix II. Hard, fast & furious (distortion & vocoder).
kronos device _ coming soon and picking up where IBM left off.

Most of your tracks have this particular "urban" approach filled with technology... Why is that?
I just make trax that I like to hear, it`s as simple as that really.

Tell us more about your label battle trax...
As I mentioned earlier battle trax came about because I had too many trax and not enough outlets for them. Sometimes it can take years before a finished track finally sees the light of day, as was happening at the time. So to aleviate this problem battle trax (and parallax) were launched. There were 5 releases on battle trax between `96 -`98 and then I stopped, mainly because the bass junkie stuff was taking up most of my time, and also because I didn`t have very good distribution for it. Having said that, I am re-launching it this year with the new kronos device EP which is a collaboration between myself and "the dexorcist" (simon brown) who also creates electro bass.

What are your thoughts about the internet? Does the web influence in some way your music?
I`ve recently, in the last 6 months, had my own website up and running www.bassjunkie.com and personally think it has helped raise my profile considerably. It`s amazing how many people have responded positively once visiting it and how much interest people like yourself have been in doing interviews since it went live. As for it influencing my music.... no, not a bit.

Do you like remixes? What about people remixing your own music? Do you believe that mixes are just a promotion tool or a real creative attitude to be consider seriously?
I love doing remixes, I just don`t get enough of them. There are 3 awaiting releases and one I`m working on at the moment. When remixing someone elses music I sometimes end up making something that I never would have done myself. I may only use a small part of the track I`m remixing, but it can send me into a whole new direction musically. So far know one has remixed my trax but I`m thinking of getting that sorted soon.

How come there are only a few bands around doing "electro bass" music? Are newcomers scared by the dark side of low frequencies? :D
Who knows, maybe you need to be of a certain breed, half man/half machine for instance, ha! ha!

In these days of technology, do you still believe in a music "physical" support like cds or vinyls? What about the online distribution? By the way do you like vinyls?
You`ve got to have vinyl at the moment there`s a whole culture that comes with it and CD`s are always good for albums. Until they come up with something a lot better I think it will be around for sometime to come, which suits me fine as I prefer vinyl to any other format available.

Any artists/tracks/web sites you'd like to talk about?
If you`re into electro in a big way I`d suggest a visit to www.electroempire.com they cater for the electro enthusiast old skool & nu skool. Also Dead Silence is well worth a visit for the baddest broken beat elektronika

What about your forthcoming projects?
KRONOS DEVICE and the amalgamation of all my other styles under the one name of BASS JUNKIE. Keep checking my website for updates.

If you had to keep on doing music without bass... What would you do? :D
Become the treble junkie and blow peoples tweeters!

bass junkie official site http://www.bassjunkie.com other links: dead silence _ motion review _ dj agency bio _ breakin' records _ dynamix II _ bass junkie interview at electro empire _ review at short cuts