Terravita
If you’ve been paying attention to round one and round two of our Shambhala Music Festival must-sees, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a lack of drum ‘n’ bass (DnB) in my picks. The fact is, I don’t get DnB. It’s like algebra; it makes my brain stop. When I’m on the dance floor and a DJ drops DnB, my body doesn’t know how to react and I revert to being a statue, except for some very gentle head nodding.
In an effort to not neglect this massive part of the Shambhala lineup, we enlisted the help of west coast producer/DJ Rough Child. Known for dropping some of the most savage DnB and dubstep coming from the west coast, Rough Child has garnered the attention of heavy hitters like Pyramid and Excision, the latter whose Rottun Records released Rough Child’s The New World EP in 2012. Here, Rough Child takes us into the heart of the beast with three tracks from three artists from three countries (UK, Canada and US, respectively) who will be appearing at Shambhala.
And while we’ve got him, Rough Child (who’s not appearing at the festival, but will be attending) also gives us a glimpse into his future with his Afrowhitey collaboration, “Woodgrippin’,” which is thankfully and mercifully not DnB!
Andy C – “Workout”
Andy C is looming over this Shambhala like a horrifying DnB spectre for me. I knew he would come up on this thing. Why did you pick “Workout?”
Rough Child: It’s one of his newest ones. He isn’t so much known for his production, but more for just being an incredible DJ and doing things no one else seems to be able to do with mixing. Triple drops, mixing three songs at once; his double and triple drops are just so much better than anyone else. Plus, he runs one of the top two DnB labels in the world, RAM Records.
He’s considered a DnB originator-type, right?
Totally. He made RAM because he was having trouble getting these kinds songs released on any label. He started RAM and signed Sub Focus and lots of other sick artists. He built up and created this RAM sound, which is now kind of the predominant sound in DnB. Definitely, as far as sales go, they’re up there. Recently, he’s really started released some pretty sick tunes and “Workout” has been one of my favourites. It sort of embodies what his sets are all about, which is a combination of uplifting, positive feelings, but with that dark, twisting, crazy DnB and really high energy. I think this song really emodies that. That uplifting vocal going, “Oh yes!” It’s a really feel-good song with hard elements that’s going to get the dance floor fired up.
Chris Lake feat. Jareth - “Helium (Rene LaVice Remix)”
So, what’s up with Rene LaVice?
He lives in Toronto, which has the strongest drum ‘n’ bass scene in Canada.
It seems like people who get into DnB become very dedicated once they’re immersed. I think this is the most DnB-y of the songs you’ve brought me.
It’s got the really nice, soulful, old-school sounding intro and the really uplifting female vocal. That’s going to make everyone on the dance floor happy, pretty much. Then it builds up and drops into something really hard and heavy that’s going to get everybody moving. I think that’s why it’s a huge hit, because it’s got the massive impact with the drop, but it also has that sensitive, feel-good breakdown with nice sounding vocals. That breakdown really has that warmth of real instrument sounds going on.
Terravita and Obsidian – “We’re Here”
So, this is a pretty dark one. You say it’s not DnB, but it is DnB…?
It’s a drumstep track. Drumstep is basically half-time DnB. It tends to use a lot of similar sounds as dubstep guys like Excision; that harder, heavier dubstep stuff. That’s why they call it drumstep, because of the fusion of those two genres. It is the same speed, same tempo as DnB, just half-time.
This just sounds completely different to me. Like, I understand the idea, but it just doesn’t sound like DnB at all. It seems like a cheater’s way to get into DnB. Without all those extra drums in between the main beats it feels way more like hip-hop and my brain can process this.
The thing about this track that’s extra sweet is that it’s got this heavy vocal in the intro, which would be great for mixing with another song, then it drops really hard with that dubstep/drumstep feel. Fairly quickly it goes into the second breakdown and then it builds up again and gets to that twisty middle section that sounds like a super distorted slap-bass. It’s like you get two crazy drops in one song. There’s this whole other bit, and I think it’s awesome they were so creative with that and gave you that bridge section. If it didn’t have that funky middle section I wouldn’t be as down with it. It really made the track for me.
Rough Child and Afrowhitey – “Woodgrippin’”
Rough Child (photo: V Photography)
So, this song of yours you brought me is definitely not DnB. What’s it all about?
I did it with Afrowhitey, from Tampa, who are sort of a hip-hop/dubstep fusion group who are just killing it right now. They’ve been remixed by big names like Specimen A and others. They’re just smashing it and I was lucky enough to get them to work with me on some tracks. We’ve done three so far and that’s the first one that’s come out on their label, Static System Music.
You said this was the longest you’ve ever worked on a beat, or close to it?
Yeah, it was a long time spent working on it. It went through a lot of iterations. We put a lot of time into thinking about the track and how we wanted to build it. We’re super stoked on the results. They’ve also formed a live band and we actually used a lot of the live instruments in the track. They’ve been touring and performing the song with the band and apparently it’s been going off. It’s been their show opener.
Rough Child’s latest can be heard on his SoundCloud.
Shambhala Music Festival takes place August 8-11, 2014 in Salmo, BC.
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