eBurban caught up with Mt Eden Dubstep (Jesse Cooper & Harley Rayner) right before they released their MEDS EP at the top of this month and talked about their joining up together to create some of the best Dubstep we’ve heard, their musical influences, and what the future holds (spoiler: there was at least one mention of a world tour!)
How did you guys (Jesse and Harley) come together?
Harley: We have been mates since we were about 13. We were going to the same school but our good friend Michael who is Jesse’s neighbor introduced us… Jesse used to come to Michael’s place and we used to make mixtapes on the weekends and it just developed from there.
Jesse spent more time on the computer making music and I spent more time on my turntables and eventually we kind of needed each other to do gigs and we just formed from there.
Was becoming a DJ your lifelong dream? Or was it just something you decided to pursue later on in life?
H: I never thought I would be able to earn a living off music, let alone get more than a box of beers for a gig… I was studying architecture but I found myself getting much more excited over music than anything else. I was up all night making beats when I had exams and assignments due the next day… then the opportunity came to do music fulltime it was a big decision to make but I’m glad I chose music. I guess architecture is the thing I want to pursue later in life when I’m too old to do gigs, but I’ll never stop making music.
Jesse: I wasn’t so much dreaming about becoming a DJ but I always was keen to learn how to mix just for the buzz of it… and yeah anyone can make music, [but] its cool to have it heard though.
With so many sub genres in electronic music, why Dubstep and DnB?
H: We grew up listening to hip hop. Then the whole electro scene started taking off and we were at that age where you start going to raves and outdoor concerts etc. At the time in New Zealand most of the shows we went to would have a mix of international and local electro house artists and some local drum and bass guys. I enjoyed the electro gigs but would always have much more fun with drum and bass. I got quite sick of electro house so I started going to more drum and bass gigs.
J: We hadn’t really heard dubstep until we saw Benga and Skream live at Phat 09 on the last night of the festival. They absolutely blew our minds and the day we got back from that we started making dubstep. To me it felt like it was a mix between drum and bass hip hop. It was rugged, deep, exciting, forward thinking music.
Who are some of your musical influences?
J: Bjork, Bat for Lashes, Concord Dawn, State of Mind, Bulletproof, Calyx, Loz Contreras, Trei, Prodigy, Shapeshifter, Tiki, The Upbeats, Alex Goose.
H: Q-Tip, Home Brew, Calibre, DJ Fresh, Netsky, Doctor P., Benga, Skream, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Burial, Sunchase, Edan, Hudson Mohawke, the Wu, Roc Marciano, The Roots, Optimus Gryme.
How is the Dubstep scene in New Zealand?
J: Twisted and fun. There is a lot of support for local acts and I don’t think I’ve ever been to an empty dubstep gig here… I think it follows on well from the huge Drum n Bass, roots and reggae scenes we have here.
H: Massive… and unique. I don’t think our artists sound like the rest of the guys doing it. In my opinion, it seems like most of the Dubstep artists came up through DnB, jungle and dub as opposed to garage, 2 step etc. like in the UK.
Dubstep has swept the United States and the UK by storm, and is even becoming more mainstream with Dubstep produced tracks like “Katy B on a Mission” going number 5 on the UK singles chart. What do you think about its growing popularity?
H: I think its good that Magnetic Man are getting the recognition they deserve. I wouldn’t be surprised if they spent many more hours getting their tracks to sound amazing on big systems than any artist in any other genre. Fine tuning and tweaking their sounds until they are just right. These guys are like scientists of music… Don’t be surprised if in the next couple of years all pop music sounds technically good as theirs. There will be more pressure on people to really get their stuff up to the high standards they are setting.
As for dubstep itself.. its already changed so much since we first heard it and it will continue to change. Its becoming mainstream because alot of people like it and maybe it has become more accessible too… I think its going to be good for mainstream music. You’ll definitely always have your underground stuff though.
Where have you toured so far? Are you coming ( back) to the United States?
J: So far we have been through NZ a few times, to Australia and we recently had a show in Texas. We are currently in Vegas and were heading to LA next. At the moment were kind of testing the water over here but expect a full-on world tour next year. Mostly in America, Canada and Europe.
Pages:
2
3
5 Comments
Leave a Reply
Chillstep…
[...]Interview: Mt. Eden Dubstep – eBurban[...]…
DubBass420 Good Dubstep Website…
[...]Interview: Mt. Eden Dubstep – eBurban[...]…
These guys make awful music and rip off other tunes. They need shooting, fast.
These guys are amazing.
[...] eBurban [...]