- Published on
RAM Records Interview
- Authors
- Name
- Obeisant
Following his 'On Time' EP which was released on Ram's sister label Program, we caught up with Obesiant to chat all things drum & bass. Take a look at the interview below to find out why this newcomer has become such an exciting prospect. Sebastian, glad you could make it. What you've been up to lately? Hey, my pleasure, thanks for having me! Having had a handful of releases come out around the same time, I'm taking a wee break from DNB and soaking up some of the New Zealand summer, the weather’s been beautiful lately. I've been getting into cooking again as a creative outlet and at the same time refocusing on health and nutrition. My interests can be obsessive, all or nothing at times, so at the moment my attention has shifted to that while I get refreshed for music. What got you into music? Has it been drum & bass since the beginning? DNB came to me when I was 13-14, music's been there since day one. Both my parents are music enthusiasts with vastly different tastes that intersect here and there. My father played sax and harmonica when he was younger; he's into blues, rock and electronica mainly I’d say. He was listening to Apollo 440, Chemical Brothers, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Portishead when I was a young whippersnapper. Mum sang in competitions in her schooling years and is into Abba, Steely Dan, America, Crowded House, various electronica; the scope of both my parent's music interests go beyond the bands mentioned, those are just some I can think of right now. Music was always around as a kid, I was exposed to it a lot, from pop to heavier, darker progressive type of stuff. I just heard DNB at the right place at the right time when I was a young teen. It was introduced to me by a best friend of mine, Simon, who's 9 years older and those interests were nurtured by him and other older friends around me. Getting into a DNB gig when I was 15, being highly captivated by the creative and technical production side of it, coupled with smoking weed and being exposed to sounds I'd never heard before, it all just clicked. You've just released a new EP 'On Time' on PROGRAM. Is there any hidden message behind it? I've heard the track Apiaka has something to do with the original people of Brazil? I mean as far as DNB goes, yeah, there generally are meanings in the titles or somewhere in the tracks. On BINARY09, Dreamcatcher was a statement about my debut DNB release on Critical, each track off 'Twin EP' relates to my ex-girlfriend, 'On Time' expresses the feeling of me being where I'm meant to be at the exact time and place. All that's probably not obvious to people and it's more just for myself. To me it at least feels like a tune has more substance and meaning, otherwise it feels like I'm just working with numbers and technical skill void of emotion or self, that can be boring, a lot of the music is cathartic...