When walking through the doors of the Alliant Energy Center Friday night, I couldn't help but pause and say, ""holy shit."" Many others likely had the same reaction as they were greeted by the pulsating, sweaty mob of bodies occupying the center of the room at Bassnectar's sold out show, a thick cloud of smoke hovering above them. Even from the back of the huge warehouse venue, I could feel the strong bass and yells of the fans in the soles of my feet. Two days later and my ears are still ringing.
Lorin Ashton, the trailblazing DJ who goes by Bassnectar, was of course, the center of attention. Although he refuses to define his music's genre (it's electronic/dubstep), his set list kept the audience moving as he played relatively unaltered versions of his more notable songs, but also mega mixed heavy metal and hip hop songs, with a Beatles remix thrown in for variety. Throughout the night, Ashton's songs ranged in style from melodious instrumental tracks to darker, tech-filled numbers, all with their own variations of ""dirty"" bass.
Ashton's set was well accented by the simple, yet psychedelic lighting and stage production at the venue. The huge screen behind his constantly moving shoulder-length hair (fittingly as dirty as his drops) featured a constant stream of multi-colored kaleidoscope-type images to a clip of tribal people moving in and out of a circle, combining to make a truly enveloping live-music experience.
Whatever your opinion about dubstep as a genre, you can't deny that Ashton knows how to work a crowd. Bassnectar fed off of the crowd's energy and periodically took time to tell the audience just that. Needless to say, it was an evening filled with a lot heavy bass and trance-like dancing.
Concerts like that of Bassnectar's rely on a freewheeling audience that is entirely willing to become hypnotized by the DJ's base drops and sound mixing. The crowd on Friday was as large as it was diverse in character, featuring people from various walks of life who most likely otherwise wouldn't have a reason to convene together.
That's the best part of dubstep concerts—people tend to lose all of their inhibitions in favor of enjoying the wobbles of the bass. The dazed crowd was divided between an amalgamation of pulsing bodies toward the front of the stage and individuals in the back of the venue who were content swaying and gyrating alone.
In addition to giving his fans accolades, he took a moment to comment on the political climate in Madison. He said that he isn't very political but emphasized the need for everyone to be ""fucking educated"" about the issues. This digression once again had the audience ecstatic.
In a Q & A with the Daily Cardinal, Ashton showed that his music moves him in the same way as it does his audience. Mentioning a spectrum of emotions that go into his work, it is no wonder that his music turns from simple listening to an all-encompassing experience for the audience.
However ambiguous Ashton was about his hopes for the future of the dubstep genre, it is clear that he takes orders from no one. The infusion of more and more electronic beats into popular music leaves him unfazed, and maintains that he will continue to create music regardless of the current mainstream obsession. Doubtless, there is more original bass, more filthy drops, and more absolutely-ridiculous-but-also-incredible live experiences in store for the hundreds of ""Bassheads"" that flocked to the Alliant Energy Center Friday night.
What new things can we anticipate about your new EP coming out this summer? Where is your inspiration coming from on this EP?
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Expect further experimentations in the bassnectar sound. The theme is ""divergent spectrum"" and it exalts the voyage between extremes, along a spectrum of sound that includes the raw & the nasty as well as the beautiful & the deeper edges of melody... I am just delving deeper and deeper into re-combining various styles i love, and letting them mutate and form bizarre babies of wildstyle sound. I am not trying to make hits, or to earn respect, or to impress anyone. I am making music for Bass Heads, people who love bass music, appreciate the subtleties, and want to hear more. So this next batch of songs is an extension from Wildstyle, which was an extension from Timestretch… constant touring means i do not have 3 months in a studio to create an album, and i have learned to love this process even more. It is basically whatever i am most currently working on, although this next EP features a remake of an older song, which was fun as well. Also there is a NUTSO remix i did for Gogol Bordello.
In your bio on your website you describe the
transition from being in a metal band to DJing and making techno
music as a kid. Have you ever thought of going back to metal? How
have your early musical aspirations shaped your style of music
today?
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My influences are a part of everything i do. Referencing classics is something i love doing partly because it enriches the cutting edge, and also because it helps forge new progress. There are tons of death metal influences in my music, and they may not be what you expect. but i just wrote a blog on this, with a video clip i found of my band playing a show back when i was 16, if you want to read more about it, its at bassnectar.net
What would you say is your overall driving force for
what you do? Why electronic music?
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Two different questions.
First, the overall driving force for what i do is some mythic, unfathomable sensation inside me…it is similar to enthusiasm, passion, rage, gratitude, and awe. Watch 'American Beauty' …the scene where the guy says ""sometimes there is so much beauty in the world; i feel like i can't take it"".
Second, ""electronic music"" really does not mean anything specific any more. Most music is electronic now, at least most hip hop, most pop, and a lot of rock and metal. It is produced or embellished using state of the art tactics and techniques that make music better, louder, larger, heavier, and more intense. Just like how film is improving with HD or with 3D. I do not actually think of my music as 'electronic music' exactly, because that label doesn't mean anything specific to me.
Where do you see the American electronic/dubstep
movement going in the next 5 years?
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The possibilities are endless.
What direction do you see your music heading
in?
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The road less traveled.
How do you feel about popular music artists such as
Britney Spears including watered-down dubstep in their music?
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I was not impressed by that song. But i am not moved by most current pop music. Let her make whatever she wants. She does not have the power to destroy something as beautiful as music. And she has the right to make anything she wants. Music isn't something you tarnish. Glen Beck couldn't ruin rock and roll by forming a rock band, you know? It would just be, in that bizarre scenario, some pathetic right-wing nut job prancing around half naked and gyrating at the audience and then singing about how much he loves gold. It wouldn't make the Beatles or Hendrix or Nirvana any less epic.
Do you agree with people who say that electronic
music has become too top 40? Do you view it as a bad
thing?
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Again, ""electronic music"" is simply too vague. But i know the general question you are asking and basically, i think people need to understand that CULTURE EVOLVES> Nothing stays the same. Elvis didn't make rock & roll. If you are an optimist you can say he was influenced by the originators of the sound and put a white face on it. If you are a cynic you would say he stole it and ripped off the originators. Basically anything good will make its way though culture, charting it's own unique course, and different humans will apply different meanings to it.
Black Sabbath was at one time an extremely hardcore threatening demonic horror band, that nowadays is cute, and retro. There are amazing aspects of 'electronic music' that will appeal to tons of people, and that just is what it is.
As for ""Top 40"" or ""Mainstream""….Beethoven is mainstream, so are The Beatles, so is sex. Yet all three of those things are completely delicious still and will continue to be for many moons.
If you are worried about the purity of things you loved being tarnished by popularity, my advice is this: never compromise your heart, your vision, or your integrity. ""RAGE against the dying of the light"" is the old saying. If you do not compromise, but your popularity grows, then embrace that as the natural flow of culture. The only problem in my opinion is selling your values out in exchange for popularity. If you alter yourself SPECIFICALLY to gain mainstream appeal, then that is where trouble starts.
For me personally that's a non-issue, i am focused on what i am doing and creating, and everything is straight from my heart. Hope you enjoy it.
