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CALYX
    DOA: What particular event influenced you to move from Jazz into Drum and Bass, from Guitar to Sampler?
Calyx: I wouldn’t say there was any one particular event, more a transition over a couple of years. I’d been into DnB for a while before I got the urge to produce, but I was first inspired to make my own tracks after hearing tunes like Krust’s True Stories, Optical’s Moving 808s, Goldie’s Sea of Tears & Dillinja’s Silver Blade… a whole load of tracks that emerged in a short space of time that were creating sounds and music that just blew me away. The transition from Guitar to sampler was also gradual…. As the demand for tunes and gigs rose, I started reducing the amount of Jazz-guitar work I was doing, until ultimately DnB took over everything. I really miss the marathon sessions & gigs, but I know I’ll have more time to immerse myself back in it later on in life.
DOA: Most people know that Calyx is a one-man project, but it hasn't always been like that. How did the collaboration with Chris rush go on, studio and vibe-wise? Although you frequently collaborate with heads, do you miss having a stable production partner?
Calyx: I’m sure I wouldn’t be making DnB today had I not started out with Chris. Aside from enjoying making tunes with a good friend, there are massive benefits to sharing the experience of learning engineering techniques & developing knowledge. I can imagine that doing it all on your own from the start would be so much harder…. rarely having someone in the studio with you to discuss what you think or are trying to understand. After Chris gave up production in 2000, I certainly felt lost for a year or two, and I’d say one of the main factors in finding my feet as a solo artist was to start collaborating with others. The buzz of doing tracks with other people then carries into my own solo tunes….. so I generally try to alternate collabs & solo tunes with the aim of keeping an inspired mind and fresh ears for both.
DOA: The scene is buzzing following the release of No turning back. how much effort did you put into that? Is it a milestone in your career, a journey through your actual sound, or merely a collection of tracks that were aching to be released?
Calyx: For me personally, I would say it is a milestone as it’s my first album after seven years of endless 12”s and E.P.s. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily a journey through everything that I’m about, or everything I’m into, but it certainly reflects the spectrum of sound I wanted to explore that year & in that collection of tracks. I agonised over having a wider variation in genres & styles for the album, but when I look back at my favorite DnB albums down the years, they all have an identifiable “sound” to them that gives them a recognisable character and identity, and in the last couple of years I have been striving to feel & create my own identity and sound, so that’s what I wanted to project onto the album. I certainly plan on continuing the evolution of my production, knowledge & what I’m into, so I’m sure my music will be completely different by the time I do another album.
DOA: How is the sound of drumandbass today compared to the early sounds of NoU Turn and Audio Couture, for example? There are kids out there who weren't around those times. Are they missing an important part of dnb history? What would you recommend they listen to from that era?
Calyx: The sound is profoundly different! Whilst I miss so many things about the sound and feel of the music back then, I am loving the diversity & variation that can be found in DnB now (even though that diversity occupies less of the mainstream than it used to), and I suppose the sounds of early Audio Couture & No-U-Turn are also completely different to the music that spawned them. My recommendations for tunes from those labels would be the legendary collaborations between the No-U-Turn regulars, Nico, Ed Rush, Trace, Fierce & Dom, and from Audio Couture I’d recommend some of the first releases by Teebee, Polar & myself ;-) Tunes I would recommend from that era are so many I wouldn’t know where to begin. If I had to pick one release that sums up what I loved most about those days it would be the Prototype Years album…… So many mindblowing tunes.
DOA: Your studio setup pics send shivers up producers' spines...which particular piece of equipment are you most fond of and use everyday?
Calyx: My Soundtracs mixing desk. For now, at least, it is my most indispensable piece of equipment and I never tire of it’s warm analogue sound!
DOA: What's the single most important studio advice you'd give out to upcoming producers?
Calyx: Cross reference your tracks with tracks by other procducers whose mixdowns you like & respect. That way it isn’t so important what your monitors are or what the acoustics are like in your studio space, simply flick between your own track & the track you’re cross-referencing with, and compare different aspects of the mix….. the overall loudness, the tops in the hats, cymbals or shakers, the frequency range of the breaks, kicks & snare, the level & frequency content of the bass, etc…..
DOA: What's a typical day in the life of Calyx?
Calyx: Last year most days would involve locking myself in the studio & working long sessions….. some lasting a few days. Then I’d recover for a couple of days & repeat the process. This year I’m really stepping up the Djing again, so my days & weeks have become a lot more structured. The first few days of the week are spent entirely in the studio. Minimum sleep, maximum graft! Then as the weekend approaches, I go into AIM-whore mode in the hunt for new tunes. Then it’s gigs at the weekend & back in the studio on Monday.
DOA: You're constantly quoted as alongside Teebee, Klute, Photek, Calyx. What do you think you have in common? Your music is also often labeled as tech. Are you comfortable with that?
Calyx: I think that what we have in common is a we are all still driven by a love of the same aspects of DnB that got us into the music in the first place….. back when the music was often heralded as an eclectic future music…… we still want the Drum and Bass we make to be more than just “dancefloor” music (even if we don’t always make it more than that). As for being labelled ‘tech’, that’s fine by me. It’s definitely not how I would describe my tunes, but definitions are subjective, so people can label them however they want.
DOA: In a recent interview, Teebee spoke about starting a sort of medialab in conjunction with Photek and yourself. What would your role be in the company? If the actual scheme isn't so clear, what are you supposed/would like to do?
Calyx: The scheme is so unclear to me that this is the first I’ve heard of it! Big up Teebee for wanting me to be involved, but I reckon he thought that up & forgot about it in the space of that interview!
DOA: There's a host of young, talented producers emerging these days. Who do you rate as the biggest breakthrough in 2005-2006? Who of them would you like to collaborate with?
Calyx: I don’t know who the biggest breakthrough is yet, but I’m almost certain they will be from outside the UK. There are so many talented producers coming through from abroad, and for me that’s the most promising thing about the state of DnB right now.
Q&A by: TRG
1. Calyx & ill.skillz – Thru Your Eyes
tease ====> The Baby Nambos – Ancoats 2 Zambia (Dillinja Remix)
2. Teebee – State Of Unrest
3. Optical – The Shining (Ed Rush & Optical Remix)
4. Break – Void Dweller
5. Calyx – Illusions
6. Kontrol & OB1 – Angels & Demons
7. Calyx & Teebee – Follow The Leader VIP
8. Drifter – She Gives Me Forever
9. Teebee – Catch My Breath
10. Skynet – Broken Law
11. Ed Rush & Optical – The Medicine (Matrix Remix)
12. Gridlok & Rymetime – Don’t Hold Back
13. DBridge – Love’s Ugly Child
14. Fierce & Break – Reigning Hell
15. Martyn – Next To You
16. Optical – To Shape The Future Remix
17. Noisia – Meedoen
18. Konflict – The Mummy
19. Calyx & Teebee – Cyclone
20. Break – Spirits
21. Ed Rush & Optical – Sicknote – (ill.skillz Remix)
tease ====> Konflict – Fucking Hostile
22. Goldie – Say You Love Me
23. DBridge – Without Answers
24. Optical – The Bounce
25. Echo – Out Of Time (Calyx Remix)
26. Skynet – Carbon Shock (Noisia Remix)
27. Calyx – Are You Ready (Hive & Gridlok Remix)
28. Chase & Status – Menace
29. Noisia – Concussion
30. Konflict – Startrails
31. Calyx – Get Myself To You
32. Optical & Rymetime – We Enter
33. Calyx – Killa (Dom & Roland Remix)
34. Calyx – Tearing Us Apart
35. Quadrant - Tantrum
36. Calyx & Gridlok – Dead Ringer
After all that I suppose you want the link?
Here you go then ;]
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Dogs On Acid > Comments > CALYX
06-01-2005 10:54 PM
