Page 38 - Zone Magazine Issue 015

You are a partner in the UK based brand Krafted, how did that come about?
Redux Saint’s first EP “Rebirth” was signed to Krafted Underground. In the process of working with the planning of the release, I worked closely with Paul Sawyer and Darren Braddick (Krafted Music Label Owners). The EP project was a success and quickly after the project, I was asked to join the label as a partner.
You played at Burning Man last year, how was that for you? Will you be returning there this year?
Burning Man was an amazing experience for Redux Saint’s last year. Seeing the time and energy everyone puts into making it an enjoyable experience is inspiring. I was amazed at some the art carts like the Mayan Warrior. It’s like a mobile club.
I performed on a few art carts, specifically the camp’s air ship we stayed at called Airpusher Collective. I do plan to head back this year and looking forward to catching up with new and old friends and fans and hopefully having more opportunities to perform for additional camps.
Last weekend you played at Airpusher’s Collective’s Steampunk Masquerade festival. For those who have never been to Airpusher, can you explain what their parties are like and how did your set go?
The Steampunk Masquerade is an annual pre-party for burning man. This was the second year I performed at the event. It was held on a former Alameda Naval Air Station near San Francisco. The party had many different live acts and talented DJ’s.
The dress code is steampunk, so everyone tends to dress like Mad Max. I wore my Sargeant Pepper Lonely Heart’s Band jacket and top hat. Of course, you require goggles to complete the outfit. What I love about the event is everyone continues the 10 principles of Burning Man so you almost feel like your there (but with a little less dust!!).
What’s your favourite ‘go to’ plug ins when producing music?
For mixing and mastering I use several waves plugins. For effects and saturation, I use Soundtoys (decapitator, filter freak, echo boy, pan man, DevilLocDeluxe) and Output’s Movement. For synths and bass I
really like Output’s exhale and substance. Exhale adds some layers of harmony with it’s vocal engine, and substance provides some modern mid-bass sounds. For Analouge bass I like u-he’s Diva.
I attended Brighton Music Conference recently for Toolroom Academy and saw how Ben Remember, Josh Butler, and D. Ramriez use processing on their buses. It was great learning experience to see how you achieve the full thumping of Toolroom sounding drums.
We hear that there’s a new album in progress?
Yes, I am very excited as the pieces are starting to fall into place after several months of planning. The next EP is more than a just a release for Redux Saints - it’s a launch of a brand, identity and events around a concept called Krafted DTLA (Deep Tech LA).
Living in Los Angeles we are bearing witness to a transformation of the urban downtown area. With that transformation, I see a music scene transformation taking place as well. The city is ripe for something different than top 40 and hip-hop. Hence is where I see Deep Tech LA coming into play to range from Deep to Tech House dance music.
DTLA EP has three originals that have taken my progressive style and the arrangement and tech house drums to create a unique style of Deep Tech House tracks. I’ve worked closely with Toolroom Records through their academy to fine tune the production, arrangement, brand and launch the EP. There are three exciting remixes as well, by Dom Kane, Ben Remember, and Paul Sawyer.
Following the EP, a DTLA compilation is planned to be released around end of August. This compilation brings together scattered producers in the Los Angeles area. We’ve had several successful feedback sessions with producers on compilation reviewing one another track. Not something you see that often in today’s producing environment.
If you could choose one producer to collaborate with, who would that be?
There isn’t one specific artist, however I do really see the value in collaborating from a creative point of view. One of my aims in building the DTLA brand is showcasing the community of producers in the underground scene of Los Angeles who are already working together. We hold regular listening sessions, where we get together and give feedback on each
other’s tracks. It’s a real collective of talented producers, so you can expect some collaborations from our group over the coming months.
You’ve been spending some time on the Toolroom Academy recently, how has that benefited you as a producer?
Toolroom Academy program was a choice I made when I was looking to step up my production through continued education. I was out of ICON Collective for about six months and had some specific goals in mind. My primary goal was to learn how to program Toolroom sounding drums. Second goal was to understand UK tech house. Third was to get an original track signed directly to the label.
I recently got to spend two weeks at Toolroom HQ and there is a reason the Toolroom brand is successful with music is only one component of it. The people who work for Toolroom are genuine and authentic and it shows through brand.
Benefits are that my production has improved drastically. I got work with experts in the area of Marketing/Branding (Miles Shackleton) , A&R (Pete Griffths), Production (Brian Rojas/D. Ramirez). So everything from my social media, arrangement, and production have improved.
Krafted regularly host events at Egg in London and we see that they are back there in July; do you plan to fly over to represent the brand this year?
Yes I hope to be able to make it back to UK a few times this coming summer to perform.
Being based in LA, which club would you say you love attending the most in the City?
When the big names come into town If you’re looking to see a big name DJ, I would be heading over to Exchange LA or Sound Nightclub.
Connect:
www.facebook.com/
reduxsaintsmusic www.soundcloud.com/reduxsaints
Pic By Creative Squeeze, LA Words By Tristan Sundae
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