Featured Artists Interviews and Features
ASHES
BIO- Ashes began producing back in '99 after experimenting with an odly named program, Fruity Loops, for the first time. Excited by the prospect of being able to produce music he was eager to learn all he could. He began writing Trance and started building a foundation of knowledge and experience that would carry into his future projects. After attending a rave and hearing Freeform (Trancy Hardcore) he bumped the BPM up in his productions from 140 to 175 and started DJing. Noticing the breakbeat breakdown in Hardcore, Ashes began stumbling upon new hard and dark Drum and Bass. DnB had the same hard bass and grimey leads but with beats that could be twisted and mangled into all kinds of amazing patterns. The switch from Hardcore to Drum and Bass gave Ashes a new appreciation for breakbeats and he was hooked - producing anything from hip hop to big beat to dubwise.
As good as Drum and Bass was Ashes was starting to get bored and needing something new. Dubstep was all the rage but he couldn't stand 99% of it until he heard the smash hit Drumstick by Giant. After hearing it he decided he would try his hand at a remix/cover. Once finished, he had a new appreciation for Dubstep and slowly started finding more and more tunes that he loved. Now he regularly DJ's and produces both Dubstep and DnB many time combining both genres into the same song or DJ set.
Ashes is a graduate of T.A.R.A. (The Audio Recording Academy) Ottawa and offers mastering services at affordable prices. He also runs an Ableton production workshop teaching both new and experienced producers the techniques he has picked up over the years.
INTERVIEW-Here is the first Music of Manny interview. It's with the Canadian dubstep producer/DJ, Ashes. The first Ashes track I heard was Dubvine (a Marvin Gaye remix) and it still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. So here's the down low on the next big dubstepper. Cheers.
Dubvine by Ashes
What programs/hardware do you use for DJing and for producing?
Production Software: Ableton, Massive, Sylenth, Vintage Warmer, Ozone, Toraverb, Camelphat
Production Hardware: MacBook Pro 2.4, KRK V8 Series 2 monitors, KRK 10S sub, Saffire LE, Novation RemoteSL25, Korg padKontrol
Dj Hardware: Pioneer CDJ-350's, DJM350, Sony MDRv700's
What do you enjoy making more remixes or original songs? How does the process differ?
It all depends on my mood. I find remixes are typically easier to finish quickly which is what I'm all about. I have a really short attention span so getting things done quickly is the most important thing to me. Plus when you have great material to work with you're not struggling to find ideas - they're already there and you just need to expand on them.
On the other hand I find writing original tunes to be more rewarding in the end. You can sit back and say "I did all of that" and not feel like you were just riding on the coattails of a good tune.
You mentioned in another interview that most dubstep annoys you. Why is this? What specific aspects are annoying?
Most of it is just squelchy, repetitive, emotionless shit. I like chord progressions, melodies, huge loud bass, 80hz kicks and 200hz snares, splashy high end and a drop that makes the girls toes curl.
Are there any dubstep artists you enjoy/respect?
Absolutely. I would say that Nero best exemplifies the kind of dubstep that gets me going. Flux Pavillion, Bar9, 16bit and 501 have also been putting out some bangers lately.
What is it about dubstep that attracted you to start making it?
I was listening to my buddy Losh spin a dubstep set and he dropped Giant - Drumstick. It was the first dubstep track I heard that I actually liked. I liked it so much that I wanted to see if I could remake the sounds in the tune so I did a remix/cover of it. I had a lot of fun making it and I got a lot of good feedback on the tune so I just kept making dubstep.
How is making dubstep different from making drum and bass and other types of music?
I don't approach making dubstep any differently than I do Drum and Bass. The process always changes so that tunes don't all sound the same (hopefully).
When I make music I try to think of a specific place, mood and action (like a scene out of a movie) and write a soundtrack to go along with it. My goal is to put the listener in that space.
When you are about to begin making a song do you envision what it’s going to sound like before you start or does it just take form as you start working on it?
Sometimes I have a very specific theme that I want to follow. Other times I just start messing around until something starts to develop.
How do you decide what songs go into your DJ sets. Do you mostly play your own music?
The goosebump test. If it gives me goosebumps it goes on the shortlist. Once it's on the shortlist I try mixing it with a few tunes and if it sounds good I keep it. Sometimes I have to bring the tune into Ableton and fix the structure of the tune so it's mixable. For some reason dubstep producers like dropping tunes at the most random times so double dropping can be very difficult.
I recently started learning how to use Ableton live, what advice do you have for a beginning DJ/producer?
Watch YouTube tutorial videos. There are some really good ones out there.
What music have you been listening to lately? Any artists people need to know about?
I discovered Pretty Lights recently. Seriously epic music. I listen to a lot of indie rock type stuff too. Broken Social Scene, Foals, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, Empire of the Sun, etc.
Favorite Artist and why?
If I had to pick one I would probably say Pendulum. They changed the face of Drum and Bass. They definitely dropped the ball on that Rock and Bass album they did. Absolute shite. That aside though they do incredible work.
What’s the next step? What do you plan to do? What music do you want to make in the future?
The next step is making music full time. Money is starting to roll in from commissioned remix projects so it's becoming a viable option. I'll probably stick to broken beats (dnb, dubstep, breaks) but I'd also like to work as a producer with a rock group eventually.
Grimey by Ashes
Down and Dirty Vol 1 by Ashes
