Dieselboy fuels turbocharged Blood, Sweat and Bass tour

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Photo by Jesse Pollak/Dizzy Focus.

Photo by Jesse Pollak/Dizzy Focus.

Having helped fuel the drum and bass movement of electronic music in the ’90s and 2000s, Dieselboy is one of the few DJs of his era that has been able to thrive amidst the dubstep craze. While others have been stepped over (pun intended) by this equally aggressive EDM offshoot, Dieselboy has embraced these stylistic changes and, as a result, been embraced by dubstep fans. So much so, in fact, that he now finds himself co-headlining the Blood, Sweat and Bass tour with Downlink. With several new tracks being released by his Human Imprint and SubHuman record label this year, a secretive new musical project and the Blood, Sweat and Bass tour underway, Dieselboy takes a moment to put it neutral and talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture.

You were working on some new music just before this call. What can you tell me about that music?

I have a new project I’m working on. I can’t really say what the name of it is because I haven’t decided yet if I’m really going to put my name on it. It’s not exactly what I normally do and I feel like my name carries such a stigma that if it’s not straight drum and bass I’m going to get hated on for it. So I’d rather do something under a different name just so I can put it out there and see how it gets appreciated without my name attached to it. So that’s what I’m working on right now is this new project with a friend of mine.

Care to reveal who the other person is?

He’s an unknown artist, but he’s going to make some waves this year. We’re building him up right now.

You, of course, are known for drum and bass, which in many ways helped pave the way for dubstep. Dubstep is now the popular thing in the electronic music genre and you’re one of the few people who transitioned pretty well into that scene without really changing your style all that much. How were you able to do that?

DieselboyI kind of saw the writing on the wall. When dubstep became so popular there was an overload of it. I like all kinds of music and there was dubstep that I liked. I realized one of the ways that I could help keep drum and bass alive was to incorporate ten or 15 percent of my set into dubstep. I was able to then go into these dubstep events and play mostly drum and bass and expose those kids to drum and bass. Part of the reason I did that was to help expose these kids to drum and bass who may not even know what drum and bass is. So I’d kind of Trojan Horse myself into some of these events. There weren’t a lot of shows that were just straight drum and bass anymore. Everyone was incorporating different elements of bass music into their sets. So I kind of experimented doing the same thing because I’m a drum and bass DJ, but I’m also a DJ and I like all kinds of music. It was an opportunity for me to experiment a little bit and try out some different stuff. I had been playing drum and bass my entire career and wanted to fuck around with some new stuff.

You recently emailed me a link Beyond the Back Bassline, which you described as your best mix ever. What sets this mix apart from previous mixes?

Back in the day before I was doing mix CDs, I was just doing mixtapes. When you do a mixtape, you don’t have to license tunes because you’re not making a profit on it. There’s a gray area there. Then when I started doing mix CDs all of a sudden however many tracks were in the budget to license, that was what my mix was. I was constrained by that completely and I did as much as I could within those constraints to put out the best mixes I could. So if we had enough money to license 17 tracks, that’s all I could use. Now, when I’m going back to doing old school mixes, I’m able to play 30 seconds of a song and that’s it. Being able to use whatever track I want and however much of each track I want to use, I’m able to really explore what I can do with the mix. The last four mixes I’ve done have been me going back and exploring those options again and just being able to do whatever the fuck I wanted to do with the mix. That last one really set the bar for me, but I feel like it kind of set the bar for other DJs, and not only drum and bass DJs. I feel like it’s an extremely super textured kind of mix. It’s something that if you listen to it ten, 15 times you might still pull out elements and little things in there that you might not have noticed before. It’s a super deep mix, super technical and I’m pretty proud of it.

Your Blood, Sweat and Bass tour is officially underway with Downlink, Mantis and others. How did this lineup come about?

DieselboyAbout two years ago I was in Tokyo and I played a show with Downlink. Sean [Casavant] and I have been friends for a while now and I think he’s an awesome producer, but I really respect his perspective on DJing. He kind of has the same take that I do, which is that he tries to be a great DJ. He’s just one of these guys that really embraces the old school ethos of being a proper DJ and doing shit live. I like the music that he plays, he likes heavy music like I do. We had this show together randomly and I was really impressed with his performance. Then we ran into each other a few times after that and I was just like, “Hey, man. Would you like to do a tour together?” He was down, so we decided to put this tour together. I came up with the name because it was a cool-sounding name.

I put out a release of Mantis’ on SubHuman recently. I really like their music, they’re super nice guys and they’re also guys that are trying to be proper DJs. We also have Ajapai, who is an artist from Japan who makes heavy music and also is a good DJ. I just feel like it’s a good fit. We’re trying to do a tour with heavy bass music and real DJs, which is kind of becoming a lost thing these days. 

Between this new project you’re working on, the tour and your upcoming SubHuman releases, when do you have time for new Dieselboy material?

This project I’m working on now is my focus. But I’m going to be doing a new mix in April. Downlink and I are going to do a mix that’s going to come out simultaneously under the banner of Blood, Sweat and Bass. That’s not going to be the name of the actual CDs, but it’s going to be under that banner to help promote our project and our tour. Hopefully it will be better than Beyond the Black Bassline.

www.destroyplanethuman.com/db

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje erupts onto the screen as champion gladiator in “Pompeii”

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When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it simultaneously destroyed and immortalized the Roman city of Pompeii, encrusting the city and its inhabitants in iconic ashen fixtures, many of which can still be seen today. When Pompeii erupts into theaters this weekend, a similar dichotomy of fury and affection will be on display in the form of Atticus, an enslaved gladiator champion played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Atticus battles with the possibility that the Roman’s won’t live up to their word of granting him his freedom with one more arena victory, as well as his potential defeat at the hands of the Celt Milo (though he doesn’t seem to worried about that), causing tension to boil to the surface in metaphorical ways. But Vesuvius’ impending doom casts a literal cloud of doom over the entire city, leaving royalty, politicians and slaves alike with a much larger and lethal concern. Before Pompeii floods theaters Feb. 21, Wrestling with Pop Culture talks to Akinnuoye-Agbaje about working with co-star Kit Harington, director Paul W.S. Anderson and previous films with The Rock.

The disaster at the center of Pompeii is based on historical events. Is the character you play based on anyone who actually existed or is it more speculative?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje portrays Atticus the champion gladiator in Pompeii. Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje portrays Atticus the champion gladiator in Pompeii. Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

It was more speculative. There was a lot of research done in preparation for the movie. As you’re probably well aware, the surviving relics in Pompeii were the starting point. What Paul Anderson was really keen on was to trace the possible lives of these lava-carved victims, from gladiators to servants to Roman royalty. The movie almost starts from these molten-carved figures and we see how they would have lived and arrived at that situation.

Your character in Pompeii is oddly similar to, yet drastically different from, the character you play in Thor: The Dark World. What comparisons do you see between these two characters? How did Thor possibly prepare you for Pompeii?

Actually, they couldn’t be any more different. Atticus is a captive African slave and because of his physical prowess, grows to become the champion gladiator of Pompeii. In Rome you could win your freedom by winning a certain amount of fights and he has one fight left to win before he wins his freedom. That fight is with none other than the slave he is imprisoned with played by Kit Harington. So there’s a very tense and unusual dynamic between two men who are forced to live together, but have to kill each other. The similarities, perhaps, in the characters are the nobility. They’re both characters portrayed in dire circumstances. Atticus is a man and gladiator of principle and honor, and he exudes that in the way he fights and how he treats his opponents. He also has a very compassionate heart, which is brought out in the relationship between Milo and Atticus. The marked difference between the two characters in Thor and Pompeii is that Atticus is a hero.

This was your first time working with director Paul W. S. Anderson. What was that experience like for you? What were you expectations going into this film based on the previous movies he’s directed?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje takes direction from Paul W.S. Anderson. Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje takes direction from Paul W.S. Anderson. Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

My experience working with Paul was one of awe and excitement. Paul has a very kinetic energy to his movies, which I enjoy. This was a very dear pet project for him. I like his direction style. He’s very clear about the vision of how the movie should look, right down to who he wanted to portray the characters. This movie is very physical but at the same time he still has a sensibility towards the romance and drama. He’s a man of few words, which is what I like, and he’s concise and direct. But most of all, he’s very supportive of the actors to bring their input and to really give birth to the characters themselves. It was a great collaborative experience and I loved it.

Earlier in your career, you worked with The Rock in The Mummy Returns and again in Faster. What were those experiences like? Do you have any plans to work with professional wrestlers again in the future?

The Rock is a great guy to work with. I really enjoyed both movies with him. There aren’t any times in the foreseeable future to work on any specific projects, but I’m sure our paths will cross again at some point and I look forward to that. He’s a great guy and a consummate professional. I enjoyed working with him.

You’ve been quite busy over the past few years in film, and before that you made a name for yourself on TV. Do you have any other big projects coming out in the near future?

Yeah. I have both, actually. I return to TV on the NBC pilot Odyssey … and I’m excited to be going back to TV. I’m also going to be appearing in Annie, the film version of the musical, starring opposite Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. So that’s a different side to what fans have grown accustomed to me playing. It’s more lighthearted, warm and humorous. I even get to do a song and dance and that’s a lot of fun. Those are a couple of things you can look forward to this year. We’re actually dabbling with animation as well, so there’s a particular project I’m going to come on with to do some animated voices.

Both you and your Pompeii co-star Kit Harington made names for yourself with TV shows before jumping to the big screen. How would you say TV helped prepare you for film? What was it like working closely with someone else who got his start on TV?

Adewele Akinnouye-Agbaje and co-star Kit Harington in "Pompeii". Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

Adewele Akinnouye-Agbaje and co-star Kit Harington in “Pompeii”. Photo by Caitlin Cronenberg.

TV is a great discipline. I look at it as a form of boot camp. The shoot schedules are quite rigorous because the turnaround is very quick. I like that because it trains the actors to be ready. It’s a good discipline and a good grooming tool to prepare you for movies because things move quickly. As far as working with Kit, we derive from the same family that does a lot of acting for HBO. Not only did we have that in common, but we have similar cultural backgrounds because we’re British-born actors. That helped with the bonding of two actors and the two characters of Milo and Atticus. We could both talk about the expectations and what was involved with TV, and the subsequent success. I’ve been down that road and I could give him certain pointers and he shared what it’s like now. We also had a director in common who had worked with both of us at HBO, Alan Taylor, who shot Thor and also shot Game of Thrones. So, there were many things that allowed us to bond and share experiences.

www.adewaletheartist.com

Julianna Barwick offers and ambient chill on “Nepenthe” tour

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NepentheOn her previous releases, Julianna Barwick has composed ethereal soundscapes out of loops and other atmospheric sounds with little, if any, input from anyone else. While those works are definite explorations of Barwick’s imaginative look at the world, last year’s Nepenthe takes her away from her comfort zone, literally and figuratively, as she traveled to Iceland to work with Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers to create a more extravagant album that is simultaneously deft and deeply mesmerizing. Braving the winter climates once again, Barwick takes a moment during her current North American tour to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture.

On Nepenthe, you’ve gone from recording alone in your bedroom to traveling to Iceland to work with Alex Somers. How did that collaboration come about?

Alex Somers makes music with Jónsi as Jónsi & Alex to make Riceboy Sleeps and things like that. He also mixes and records and is heavily involved with Sigur Rós, but he’s not an official member of Sigur Rós. But I got an email three years ago from Alex and it said, “I really like your stuff. Would you ever want to do anything?” I immediately responded and said, “Yes!” We talked for about a year and made plans for me to come to Iceland and make the record. So that’s how it started, with an email. I went over there twice, in February for a couple weeks and in April for six weeks. I was finishing up touring for The Magic Place in 2011 and Alex and I were talking all year. Then we made plans to work on it at the beginning of 2012.

Speaking of The Magic Place, it’s about a tree from your childhood that, in your mind, had rooms and other magical features. Your work is dominated by themes of seeing more than what is physically visible, and the ambient approach you take allows the listener to do the same thing with your music, especially on Nepenthe. Is this a sense you’re trying to convey to your listeners or is that just the way your creative mind works?

Photo by Shawn Brackbill.

Photo by Shawn Brackbill.

I’ve just always had a deep love of imagination and things that are magical, or feel magical, like that tree when I was a kid. Things that are full of wonder, I really like things like that. Maybe it comes from my love of things that are magical. I’ve always had a pretty good imagination and I think that comes in handy when you’re sort of tapped into your own world and making your own stuff.

Nepenthe is fleshed out a little more than your previous work, with a lot of additional musicians and the influence of your Icelandic surroundings. How much would you say this unfamiliar environment affected the sound of the album, given that you usually work alone in your bedroom or smaller studio?

It made a huge, huge difference. That’s why when I started work on recreating these songs live for the tour, it was pretty daunting. With the previous albums, I made them 100 percent on my own, basically bedroom style. With this record I had Alex producing, Amiina playing strings, Icelandic teenage girls singing with me and Robbie from múm playing guitar. So it was pretty much the antithesis from the way I’d made my other albums. It was completely different and it was a dream come true to go to a place like Iceland that I have always been curious about and work with someone like Alex, who just made the producer/songwriter relationship such a smooth and easy one. The record is music that I came up with while I was in Iceland. Everything was written there, so it’s very much a specific moment in time. Amiina and Robbie from múm contributed, but they improvised. We didn’t tell them what to play. It was almost like this magical collaborative thing. We had one day in the studio with Amiina doing string and they just listened and felt it and came up with the music right there. That’s just kind of the way this record was made. It was really intuitive for everyone. I could not have even come close to making the record sound the way it does by myself. It took all these other people lending their talents and their time.

On the song “One Half,” there are audible lyrics. I believe this is the first time you’ve released a song in this way. What was the reason for doing that on that particular song?

Photo by Shawn Brackbill.

Photo by Shawn Brackbill.

“One Half” is actually the only caveat to what I just said about every single thing being made in Iceland. “One Half” is the one pre-existing song. I used to perform it in a different way. I made that song up years ago off the top of my head and those are the lyrics that popped out when I sang it. I just wanted to get that song on record somehow. I thought about changing the lyrics, but it’s not too lyric driven anyway. They don’t really have a meaning, or maybe they do. They’re kind of mysterious, so I just decided to keep them.

You’re playing at museums, churches and non-traditional venues such as the Goat Farm in Atlanta on this tour. Why is that? How did you go about choosing the venues for this tour?

I’ve been working with my booking agent for almost five years. I was really interested in playing non-traditional venues for this record and she reached out to the right people and it worked out. I definitely wanted to not be playing your average medium-sized rock club. I wanted to play in unusual places. I thought it would be more interesting or me and for the people seeing the show.

www.juliannabarwick.com