WHO: Farj Fader
WHAT: DJ, promoter, founding member of Sydney's legendary Garage Pressure crew and co-owner of Australia's leading dubstep label Aquatic Lab Records.
WHY: Garage Pressure and, more recently, Aquatic Lab have been two of the leading forces in introducing dubstep and garage dance music to Australian audiences. Farj has been following the development of the so-called New Bass Movement since its earliest incarnations in the mid to late nineties. This interview is a revealing insight into the development of the much-hyped (but often misunderstood) genre of dubstep. It also provides an illuminating perspective on the nature of promoting Australian music. The interview itself was conducted via email a handful of months ago in the lead up to the now-released compilation Aquatic Lab Sessions Volume One but Farj's comments are still valid and his insights similarly accurate. This interview was initially published (in edited format) in Brisbane's Time Off Magazine and, later, Melbourne's Inpress Magazine. Enjoy.
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Matt O'Neill: How’s the Aquatic Lab compilation CD faring? How have you gone about assembling the CD? Is it just a compilation of previous singles or…?
Farj Fader: Aquatic Lab Sessions Volume 1 is currently with our global distributors ST holdings and will be released mid June. The compilation is a collection of 5 previously released tracks on Vinyl and 7 unreleased tracks. There will also be a limited edition triple vinyl pack to cover 6 of the unreleased tracks for vinyl lovers. Artists include both local and international producers such as Moving Ninja, Seven, Zed Bias, Caspa & Rusko, and Spherix amongst others. More details will be announced as we get closer to the release date.
MO: How has life in Aquatic Lab been over the past year? What were ambitions you had in mind when establishing the record label?
F: Paul Fraser and I started Aquatic Lab as a natural extension of our involvement with music. This year we celebrated a musical partnership that has so far lasted for 10 years. We always dreamed of launching a label managed from Australia but realised it needed to have a global outlook. We wanted to push Australian music but not just “for the sake of it”, and we thought the best way to do so is to showcase it alongside the best of the music from around the world; that way people would notice and it would put Australia properly on the map. It has been a year of highs and lows; highs as we have released 5 successful singles as well as signing a stack more which are on the way. Lows because our good friend DJ Twitch who has a track on the album passed away in January.
MO: What are your thoughts on Australian dubstep/bass culture at the moment? I’m vaguely frustrated that we seem to have so many great DJs and promoters but not as many producers – though that’s only from my limited vantage point. Who/what are you excited about in Australian dubstep?
F: There actually are a lot of local producers and many with numerous vinyl and digital releases. There are also a lot that brand their electronic music as “dubstep” to try and gain sales or notoriety. We have always had a different outlook, we don’t think “who are we excited about in Australian dubstep?” BUT “who we are excited about in dubstep everywhere?” We lift the bar to an international level, where the artist should be recognised for their music, and not gain their fame from the simple fact that they are from certain geography.
MO: Have you any intention of venturing into the production realm personally (assuming you haven’t already, of course)? I noticed you’ve done the occasional remix but you seem to be mostly renowned as a DJ/promoter/label-owner. What are your plans for the future?
F: I used to produce in collaboration with Paul Jabanasam (Jabba) as Moving Ninja, however I decided it was best to leave Jabba to go solo once he moved over to the UK. He now works fulltime for Tectonic records amongst other labels managed by Multiverse music. I enjoy production; however, I am not sure if I am happy with the quality of my work to date. I hope to keep improving and learning over time. I have started a few joint tracks with the likes of Cotti for example, but I don’t have any immediate plans to release my music.
TO: Is it a difficult process juggling your various interests as promoter/broadcaster/DJ? I’d imagine it has only gotten more difficult as dubstep gets more popular. Are you surprised at how successful the genre has become?
F: Definitely trying to focus on what is important – and henceforth decided to stop promoting events of my own back in mid-2008. Radio is a passion I have had for over 12 years and have dedicated much of my life to so far. I see community radio as a way of sharing my love of music with others.
I am not surprised by the success of dubstep. Every genre has its time in the sun and the way Paul and I look at it is that we were there “before, during and we will be there after”, even if trends and the followers move on. We see it as an extension of the garage dance music genre we started with all those years ago, which has had its own share of highs and lows.
MO: It’s almost become saturated – where do you think the genre can go from here, if that’s not a weird question?
F: Saturated compared to what? If we compare to 2step, its earlier cousin, dubstep has a long way to go before it becomes saturated. The good news is that the sound is no longer a UK only thing, despite it being rooted in the UK scene; it now has the scale it needs to survive. Also the roots in dub/reggae are important, that’s a sound that has lasted the test of time, over many generations. The alignment with dub/reggae is a great strength of dubstep. The injection of soul (through dub/reggae) creates a contrast to the cold post human electronica that defines dance music today.
MO: Have you detected any backlash against dubstep in recent years? There seems to be an undercurrent of ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ sentiments in some dance communities I have found.
F: It’s the same putting down of garage music that as been around from day one by people who don’t understand it or have poor speakers and can’t hear the bass. The sub bass is meant to be one of the loudest sounds you hear and most speakers and headphones don’t play it properly. You really must experience it on a proper sound system to understand how the music moves your chest and makes you feel. Space in sound design is important too. If people think this is an invisible outfit, then they are really missing out. I wish I could make everyone understand this ethic, but as kode9 termed it back in the day, it’s like a “virus”, once you have experienced a proper dose, you will catch the bug.
MO: How did you originally get drawn into this music? My understanding of dance music history places the majority of it deep within the underground circa 1999. What were your expectations (if any) when you first started Garage Pressure? What came before Garage Pressure, if it’s not a weird question? I’m always curious how DJs get into their chosen profession.
F: Paul and I were not the usual DJ wannabes when we were younger. In the mid 90s we used to go and buy all these ‘house and garage’ sometimes called ‘speed garage’ tracks from second hand stores, we listened to mix tapes from the UK and followed a scene that didn’t exist in this country. We started ordering tracks online before there were sound clips and became addicted to the UK dread bass sound. We had no where to play, so we decided to start a night called Garage Pressure in March 1999. The term 2step wasn’t even invented then and the people at the top of the dubstep scene today, producers like Skream and Benga were just 12 or 13 and were being strongly influenced by the same pirate radio sounds we listened to on tapes.
We call our radio show on FBI the Garage Pressure show for historic reasons, but to be honest we have tried unsuccessfully a few times to retire that name, but promoters seem to keep using it! We prefer to work under the Aquatic Lab banner today as it’s what all the work from previous years has culminated to. I don’t think Djing is a true profession in Australia, nor is promoting small parties (i.e. we do normal work too). We are hoping our record label will be our true legacy and what people will remember us by.
MO: Perhaps an obvious question, but have your tastes broadened over the years? I just know a lot of musicians who often need an escape or outlet when they’re surrounded by similar music for a long time. Do you share that need at all?
F: This is an interesting one. The magic of the music we follow and where it’s come from has changed so much over the years. From 125-130 BPM four four house sound, to a 135 BPM broken 2step sound, to breakbeat bassline 138 BPM and more recently the half step 140 BPM. No doubt this evolution will continue to happen, keeping us interested and captivated. Only one thing has really stayed the same– the unique strong bass, which is very hard to get bored of, in fact everything else sounds thin without those frequencies covered. It’s also worth noting, we don’t just play dubstep, but also grime and everything in between, which keeps it fresh.
MO: Are you a gear head, so to speak? How important is new technology to you as a DJ? I’m genuinely interested about how dubstep DJs use technology because the genre seems to unite really modern programs like Ableton (or even Playstations, at times) with classic concepts like dub-plates. It’s a really intriguing mix of the old and the new.
F: Personally I am a technology freak. Today our entire set and its originality is driven by Serato, which allows us to play unreleased and forthcoming music as Wav files using turntables. A new version of Serato has just come out which apparently bridges the sound gap between vinyl and digital even further, which is exciting for us as cutting dubplates is expensive and difficult from here. Vinyl always sounds better, so as true collectors, we continue to buy and support vinyl!
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I apologise for the stilted nature of the interview. It was conducted as an email interview which means I sent away questions and Farj returned the answers and that was the end of our transaction. There isn't much room for spontaneous improvisation. I posted this interview as my first content-based entry for a variety of reasons but mainly because it reveals a lot about the still-mysterious genre of dubstep while also discussing some interesting peripheral issues such as the promotion of Australian music (and if you want to see how effective Aquatic Lab's plan has been - check out their excellent compilation CD).
This interview, furthermore, is a fine indicator of the kind of artists and personalities I want to approach for this blog. Farj has been instrumental in shaping the Australian dance music underground over the past ten years but he doesn't get the credit he deserves because we tend to focus on DJs, producers or musicians and not on promoters or label-owners. This interview was actually only conducted when Farj DJed in Brisbane earlier in the year. I'm hoping this blog will help shine a spotlight on forgotten areas and personalities of the music industry, like promoters or curators, as well as promoting interesting creative works.
Yours,
Matt O'Neill
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