Po mnogima najbolji techno live act na svijetu, detroitski duo Octave One headlineri su druge veÄeri âªMoondance Festivala u Trogiru povodom kojeg donosimo ekskluzivni intervju sa samom braÄom!
Octave One su postali svjetski poznati zahvaljujuÄi hit singlu âBlackwaterâ iz 2000. godine koji je prodan u preko milijun primjeraka, a u underground krugovima cijenjeni su po brojnim izvrsnim skladbama tijekom svoje 25 godina duge karijere te po radu njihove izdavaÄke kuÄe 430 West koja je izdala brojna djela drugih poznatih glazbenika iz Detroita.
Blizu 7 godina trebalo je dugovjeÄnom i utjecajnom detroitskom techno dvojcu Octave One da nas obraduju s novim autorskim albumom. BraÄa Lenny i Lawrence Burden na tržiÅ¡te su izbacili svoj Å¡esti album âBurn It Downâ koji Äe promovirati na Moondanceu Festivalu!
Njihovi nastupi su u najmanju ruku spektakularni. Kako sluÅ¡no tako i vizualno. Okruženi desetcima analognih maÅ¡ina, Octave One svoj set up Äesto kolokvijalno nazivaju Mothership, aludirajuÄi na kokpite svemirskih brodova iz SF filmova.  Ovi predvodnici Detroit techna sudionici su najznaÄajnijih svjetskih techno festivala. Upravo su proglaÅ¡eni najboljim actom na nedavnom Movement festivalu u Detroitu.
Povodom nastupa na ovogodiÅ¡njem Moondance Festivalu, za koji upade možete uloviti ovdje, porazgovarali smo sa samom braÄom.
– Intervju za UES Magazine odradili i pripremili: Tvrtko B. i Tea Å . –
1. Hrvatska verzija intervjua:
UES: Je li preseljenje iz Detroita imalo veliki utjecaj na vaÅ¡ zvuk i na koji naÄin?
Octave One: Ne smatramo tako, jer biti roÄen i odgojen u Detroitu, takoÄer i živjeti u istom tolike godine, ostavilo je vibru u naÅ¡em sistemu. To je kultura i mi smo dio te kulture bez obzira gdje živjeli ili gdje iÅ¡li u posjetu. Možda se naÅ¡ pristup mijenja, no ritam i osjeÄaj ostaju isti.
UES:Â PutujuÄi s mnogo glazbene opreme zvuÄi kao smetnja. Koje su prednosti i mane raÄenja live svirki u tom stilu?
Octave One: Najiskrenije, putovanje sa svom opremom je velika muka, ako znate na Å¡to mislim. Al’ na istu ruku, jednom kad se popneÅ¡ na stage sve se to pretvori u jednu od najljepÅ¡ih i najsretnijih boli koje pojedinac može iskusiti. Ima neÅ¡to uzbudljivo u tome Å¡to možeÅ¡ dograbiti puce, pritisnuti tipke i slajdati fejdere na hardveru tijekom live seta koji ti omoguÄuje odreÄenu slobodu â jer su moguÄnosti, kojima sve svoj nastup možeÅ¡ odvesti, neograniÄene, i to samo s jednim predosjeÄajem.
UES: Sakupljate li joÅ¡ uvijek ploÄe i puÅ¡tate li ih?
Octave One: A i ne baš mnogo, samo iz razloga što smo fokusirani na live setove.
UES: Biti dijelom scene tako mnogo vremena je zasigurno ostavilo odreÄeni uvid u evoluciju dance glazbe. Å to se, prema vaÅ¡em miÅ¡ljenju, promijenilo s godinama?
Octave One: Ovo Äe zasigurno zvuÄati Äudno i pomalo smijeÅ¡no, no ljudi koji odlaze na dance glazbu ne pleÅ¡u uopÄe⦠smh! Možda bismo morali to nekako prekvalificirati, mogli bi reÄi da je proteklih godina veÄina postalo ‘gledatelj’, a manje ‘sudionik’. Oduvijek je bilo gledatelja u klubovima, ali mnogo manji broj, mi smo ih nazivali âtrain spotterimaâ koji su uljudno stajali postrani stagea ili dancefloora kako ne bi ometali druge i radili ono Å¡to vole i nama je to bilo sasvim cool. Ali danas se âtrain spottanjeâ odvija naprijed i u centru, i ta ekipa zbilja ne mari ako ometa vibru na flooru sve dok god slobodno mogu snimiti svoj videoclip. No, moramo priznati kako dame âdrže konce u svojim rukamaâ na flooru, nauÄile su se âprobitiâ do prvih redova kako bi uhvatile svoj groove. I to je ono o Äemu priÄamo⦠Tako se to radi!
UES: Dolazite iz glazbene obitelji. U kojoj je mjeri glazbeno znanje iz djetinjstva imalo utjecaja na vaš pristup glazbi?
Octave One: Imati petero djeÄaka u jednoj obitelji nas je sve nauÄilo kako se izboriti za vlastito mjesto u obiteljskoj zajednici, Å¡to je u jednakoj mjeri imalo utjecaja i Å¡to se glazbe tiÄe. Kompetitivni smo, ali ne u onoj mjeri da mislimo samo na pobjedu, veÄ u smislu da želimo svoj vlastiti prostor/mjesto i identitet u onome Å¡to radimo. RazliÄiti su nam utjecaji od kojih kreÄemo i svi sudjeluju kao cjelina u izgradnji naÅ¡ih ostvarenja â razliÄiti utjecaji, a jedna mjeÅ¡avina, jedan mix.
UES: Je li single ‘Black Water’ bio prijelomna toÄka vaÅ¡e karijere?
Octave One:Â Radimo to Å¡to radimo veÄ toliko vremena da smo sreÄom svojevremeno imali nekoliko prijelomnih toÄaka od poÄetaka do sada, ali posljednjih godina svakako ‘Black Water’ predstavlja kljuÄnu toÄku.
UES: Snažan vokal, Ann Saunderson, dala je bitan naglasak skladbi. Kako je na vas utjecala suradnja s Ann Saunderson?
Octave One: Uvijek nam je privilegija raditi s Annom. Ona je sestra koju nikada nismo imali tijekom odrastanja u kuÄi punoj djeÄaka, danas muÅ¡karaca. Ali ona zbilja razumije u kojem smjeru želimo krenuti kada kreiramo, Å¡to se nekima može Äiniti vrlo jednostavnim, no mi zbilja znamo biti nekonvencionalni ili djetinjasti, toÄnije neodluÄni, u onome Å¡to Äujemo, ne Äujemo, i smjeru u kojem želimo da stvari krenu⦠A ona to sve kuži!
UES: Koja priÄa stoji iza vaÅ¡eg zadnjeg albuma? Kako se dogodila te u kojoj se mjeri razlikuje od prijaÅ¡njih?
Octave One: Posljednji album je album za fanove! Kažemo zbog naÅ¡ih fanova i njihovih upita o skladbama koje smo imali za ‘Boiler Room’ projekt koji nas je i potaknuo na produkciju albuma. Napravili smo nove trake za taj nastup samo zato Å¡to smo htjeli neki novi groove, ljudi su to prihvatili i pokrenuli konstantnu ludu lavinu upita, a pritom i zapoÄeli âskidanjeâ sekcija videa tog nastupa â stoga smo si rekli kako je najbolje dati im Å¡to žele i dovrÅ¡iti album. I u tome i je razlika, nastao je i krenuo na dance flooru prema uÅ¡ima, umjesto u studiju.
UES: Kako odluÄujete je li live stvar âdovoljno dobraâ za distribuciju? Postoji li neki razlog zaÅ¡to ste puÅ¡tali âJazzoâ u live setovima mnogo prije izdavanja istog?
Octave One: Prema naÅ¡em miÅ¡ljenju, ako ne pokrene dance floor tada traku ne miÄemo u studio na snimanje⦠mora pokretati ljude! Toliko smo ju dugo puÅ¡tali prije izdavanja baÅ¡ zato jer smo ju htijeli napraviti kako treba. Ponekad je pokretala ljude, a ponekad su se ljudi pitali Å¡to mi to toÄno radimo na stageu. Znali smo da je dobra skladba, no samo smo ju trebali napraviti onakvom kakva treba biti jer je bila, i joÅ¡ uvijek je, drukÄija u usporedbi s onim Å¡to se trenutno dogaÄa.
UES: Koliko Äesto mijenjate setup? Da li stvari poput održavanja i prijenosa imaju utjecaja na vaÅ¡ odabir setupa?
Octave One: NaÅ¡ se setup mijenja konstantno, konstantno se razvija i nikada ne prestaje. Od najveÄe je važnosti, prema naÅ¡em miÅ¡ljenju, doživjeti i uÄiniti napredak. Nemamo mnogo prtljage na letovima ovih dana i transportacija sve opreme može biti dosta skupa, da tako kažemo. Stoga nije samo stvar u tome da mora biti lagana veÄ i izdržljiva. Ono Å¡to mnogi ne vide jest proces koji prolazimo popravljajuÄi zadnji tren prije no Å¡to se popnemo na stage sa opremom⦠ako je prekrhka neÄe izdržati put.
UES: Koje je vaÅ¡e miÅ¡ljenje o razlikama izmeÄu Europe i Amerike u pogledu spram elektronske glazbe?
Octave One: Jednostavno, USA je u globalu komercijalna i ne razumije se previÅ¡e u niÅ¡ta drugo, dok u Europi postoji prostor za sve i ta je kultura u Europi veÄ toliko vremena da Europljani jednostavno razumiju!
UES: Gostovali ste u Das Hausu u Hrvatskoj, mjestu koje se po mnogoÄemu razlikuje od vaÅ¡eg sljedeÄeg giga, na Moondance festivalu. UtjeÄu li prostor i postavke na vaÅ¡ nastup u bilo kojem smislu?
Octave One: Zasigurno smo eksperimentalniji tijekom klupskih nastupa zato što možeš osjetiti vibru s floora, no bez obzira na kakvom se stage-u nalazili mi smo Octave One. Stoga, budite sigurni da mislimo ozbiljno!
UES:Â Jeste li vidjeli lokaciju Moondance festivala? Radujete li se ponovnom nastupu u Hrvatskoj?
Octave One: Nismo joÅ¡ vidjeli lokaciju, no radujemo joj se jednako kao i ponovnom âdemoliranjuâ stagea u Hrvatskoj, bez ikakve sumnje!
2. English version of interview:
UES:Â Did the relocation from Detroit affect your sound and in what way?
Octave One:Â We donât really think so, being born and raised in Detroit as well as living there for so many years the vibe is in our system. Itâs the culture and thus we are part of that culture no matter where we live or may visit. Our approach may change but the rhythm and feel is still the same.
UES:Â Travelling with a lot of hardware sounds like a nuisance. What are the pros and cons of doing hardware based live shows?
Octave One:Â Quite honestly the traveling with the gear is a major pain if ya know what we mean:( Â But on the same note once we get it to the stage it turns into the most sweetest joyous pain one ca ever have. (smile)Â Itâs something so exhilarating about being able to grab knobs, push keys and slide faders on hardware during a live set that gives you such a freedom because the possibilities of where you can take your performance on a impulse is absolutely endless!
UES:Â Do you still collect records and play vinyl?
Octave One:Â Not so much anymore, just because weâre so focused on our live set that we pretty much donât do any doing anymore.
UES:Â Being a part of the scene for so long has certainly left you with a certain insight in evolution of dance music. What has changed during the years, from your perspective.
Octave One: This is going to sound really stage maybe even funny but people go to dance music but donât dance anymoreâ¦smh! Maybe we should qualify that a bit, maybe we should say for the most part itâs became more spectator and less participator than in years past. Itâs always been spectators at large when you hit the club but they were a lot fewer and far between, we used to call them train spotters and they would politely stand on the side of the stage or dance floor so they could do what they like to do which is cool to us too. But now, train spotting is front and center and folks really donât care if theyâre interrupting the vibe on the dance floor so much as long as they get there video clip (smile) But we can still say that the ladies âhold it downâ on the dance floor and have learned to push there way upfront so they can get there groove on! Thatâs what weâre talking bout⦠Do That!!!
UES:Â You come from a musical family. How has the knowledge that you learned in your childhoods affected your approach to music?
Octave One:Â Having five boys in the same family taught us all to probably fight to have our own space in the family unit, which in turn probably has had the same effect on us musically as well. Weâre competitive but not that we want to win but because we want our own space or identity in what we do. We all have different influences that we draw from and we contribute those to the mix to come out with our creations as a whole, different influences one mix.
UES:Â Was ‘Black Water’ single breaking point in your career?
Octave One:Â Weâve been doing what we do for so long now that weâre fortunate to have had many breaking points in our time span from our beginnings onwards, but in our latter years sure Blackwater has been that career pivotal point.
UES: Ann Saunderson powerfull vocal gave a big sign to the song.  How did   cooperation with Ann Saunderson affected you?
Octave One: Well its always a privilege to work with Ann. Sheâs the sister that we never had growing up in a house of all boys now men:)  But she really understands where weâre trying to go when we create which might seem easy to some but we can be quite quirky in what we hear or are not hearing and the direction we want things to go intoâ¦she gets it!
UES:Â What’s the story behind your latest album? How has it come to pass and in what way does it differ from the ones before it?
Octave One:Â The latest album is the fans album! We say that because it was because of our fans making inquiries from songs that we had did for the âBoiler Roomâ project that pushed us to produce this album. Â We had done new tracks for that performance just because we wanted some new grooves and people dug it and made mad inquirers constantly than started downloading sections of that video performance, so we told ourselves weâd better give them what they want and finished the album. So thatâs the difference, it came from the dance floor to the ears instead from the studio first.
UES:Â How do you decide that a live piece is âgoodâ enough for a release? Is there a reason that âJazzoâ was played in your live sets for so long before the release?
Octave One: For us now, if it donât move the dance floor then we donât move it to the studio to record it⦠it has to move the people! We played it for so long before releasing it because we really just wanted to get it right. Sometimes it was moving people and then sometimes people wondered what we were doing on stage and we knew it was a good song but we just had to get it right cause it was and is so different compared to whatâs going on now.
UES:Â How often does your setup change? Do things like maintenance and transportability affect your decisions regarding the setup?
Octave One: Our setup changes constantly, its constantly evolving and is never ending.  Itâs at the âhead of the classâ in our decision making process. We donât get much weight on flights these days and transporting all this gear can be quite pricey say the least. So it has to be not only lightweight but durable. Because what a lot of people donât see is the process we go through making repairs before we even hit the stage with the gearâ¦if its too fragile it wonât make the road.
UES:Â What are your opinions on the differences between Europe and America regarding the electronic music?
Octave One:Â Simple, the US as a whole is quite commercial and donât understand too much anything else, in Europe thereâs room for everything but the culture has been in Europe for so long so europeans get it!
UES:Â You played in Das Haus in Croatia, a place which differs from your upcoming gig, at the Moondance festival. Does the setting affect your show in any way?
Octave One:Â Weâre probably a lot more experimental during club shows because you can feel the floor more, but regardless we do Octave One on whatever stage we are on. So you can know for sure that weâre bringing for real!!!
UES: Have you seen the location of the Moondance? Are you looking forward to playing in Croatia again?
Octave One:Â No we havenât seen the location yet, but we are looking forward to seeing it as well as smashing the stage in Croatia again, no doubt!!!