Filter Dread
Filter Dread is one of those producers that is forever pushing, evolving and experimenting with his sounds. Within his tracks you can hear a wide range of club based genres, from the past, present and future, all chopped up, melted, chopped up again, then stuck back together using mind boggling low frequencies, and galactic exploration synths. Armed with a heavy arsenal of releases, he continues to wonder into the unknown.
CD_
For those that haven’t heard your music, could you describe your sounds and where you draw your inspiration from ?
FD_
My dad used to listen to a lot of the early rave tapes in the car and I started writing my own piano stab riffs in my head when I was about 7. In the late 90s I got my hands on a few drum and bass packs, most notably Grooverider at helter-skelter 97 which I still listen to to this day. Around 2004 I basically lost the plot due to too much partying and had to live at my mum's house for a year in the countryside, but I started producing loads of music and decided to study music at university in Ldn. When I arrived I immersed myself in the sounds of Dubstep and Grime, going to the raves and listening to pirate radio. That's where I met some key people who were thinking about the next steps in music in terms of what was happening around us at the time.
CD_
Could you tell us a little bit about the ‘Flash Speeds’ EP with Acre that was released on CODES ?
FD_
That was an ep to kick start Visionist's Codes label in collaboration with the Pan label. Acre and his project13 gang booked me, Visionist and Dark0 to go up to the soup kitchen in Manchester and do a rave there and we all met up and it built from there. Acre and I collaborated over the web and got the first release together. It all flowed pretty well and we're looking to collaborate on more in the future.
CD_
You’ve recently put out the ‘Turbo Drones 001’ release, what was the aim of the project and for those that haven’t heard it, what can they expect to hear ?
FD_
I started discovering interesting forms of musical thought going on which focused on the ghosts of raving genres, and how they could be used in extended formats. This focus then turned to narratives based on dimensions of underground rave culture straight to CD-R, combining styles such as jungle and drone, both of which focus on very different spectrums of technique ( I.e the fast and technical data of jungle and the large and minimal patterns of drone ). Time is quality and I wanted soundscapes to fill out the time, both as a database of sounds for myself and for anyone else who wants to enjoy it.
CD_
Do you have a strict approach to production? For example do you set out to make a specific genre or do just go in freely and see what happens ?
FD_
I search out the sounds that I enjoy and that I am inspired by, and this relates to the music that I grew up listening to, but I often want to push these sounds further into a new system. I work offline and online. Offline is when your recording and processing sound in a leisurely way. You grab a synth or a drum machine and you jam on it. You try and go as deep as you can and find new corridors to explore. Then you process it with different set ups and record it into sound banks. Online is when you have the sounds ready and you compose the tracks. This is more about the time that you spend making the track and the mind frame in which you do it. Sometimes you make something very quickly and this becomes the finished track, and sometimes you spend days creating one file, trying things out and sequencing, until finally you discover something new.
CD_
What impact do you think raves like Fantazia, Helter Skelter and Dreamscape etc had on the UK music scene ?
FD_
I reckon they took the function of raving into the future and offered the platforms needed to deliver the sounds of hardcore through to jungle and beyond. But they also created a whole style and vision. As well as a way of life for people all over the uk and beyond. So I reckon it was massive for those that went. The tape packs also created a new way of listening to music. The fact that all the tracks were mixed into analogue cassette with MCs chatting over the event about real life created a myriad of information and this has redefined how we listen to those tracks.
CD_
How do you think jungle and hardcore have changed/evolved since the early 90’s ?
FD_
It goes in circles but we build from our past. The genres are all merging together but people maybe are moving too quickly and are not appreciating the creative process, as it is now so easy to make a tune, you can miss the process of exploration, making happy mistakes and allowing yourself the struggle needed to create classics. It's easy to hear the sweat, blood and tears that went into making something and this can be great. You can also make something extremely quickly with total passion and this can be great, but you'll always hear whether the track was inspired when it was made.
CD_
How important do you think your environment and surroundings are to your creative output?
FD_
It's hard I tell but I think it does play a big part. Sometimes locking yourself away In a shed in a forest can be amazing for creativity. Sometimes it can also be great to be in the middle of it all, to play at raves and meet other DJs and producers and hear what people are playing, because that's when your at the cutting edge in terms of what's being made, by experiencing the latest tunes on the best possible sound systems, and then talking to those individuals who made the tracks.
CD_
You also put up visuals as well as music. How important do you think it is to link artwork with the music ?
FD_
I do it all on my phone so it can be in weird formats but this also offers high-speed creativity. I think it's cool though because it creates an exterior for the vessel, which is the music. I want to explore it more but I've always kind of done it in different ways. I just enjoy it as another creative outlet. The creative process doesn't stop and it's fun to use whatever programs you can get your hands on that give you the look that your after.
CD_
What producers do you think we should keep an eye on and why ?
FD_
In terms of bass music I'm loving the new-school hardcore vibes in London at the moment. Loom is on that tip at the moment and his new beats are banging. I always like Sully and the insane jungle tracker techniques that he uses. I'm looking forward to the stuff visionist has coming out on Big dada and I reckon Acre has been busy working on some interesting new stuff. The new bits that Etch is putting out is wicked and new Brighton lad Atlas is busy building some good stuff! There is also the weird left field stuff that Broshuda and labels like Videogame music is doing which I always enjoy. I also think that the grade10 crew are developing really interesting sounds with classical, hardcore and bass music styles combined. In the noise scene i’m loving Klein and Hype Williams.
CD_
What label has always ticked all the boxes for you ?
FD_
I have to say I'm a sucker for good graphical interfaces on a label, as well as the music. The labels that appreciate the diy aesthetic of a lot of underground music. I like the labels that I'm on, as well as those that are pushing innovative computer beats, but you can't forget the classic jungle, hardcore and grime labels and the culture and atmosphere that they built.
CD_
Have you got any more projects coming up that we’re allowed to know about ?
FD_
I’m working with some wicked labels and artists at the moment. I don’t want to go into too much detail but things should be happening soon.
Check out Filter Dreads work here. Thanks for taking the time to do the interview!