Dave Tarrida [Sativae/Tresor] - Basterdized Interview July 2005 Right click here and save as to download his basterdized set: Dave Tarrida Basterdized Session Along with fellow Scottish producers Tobias Schmidt and Neil Landstrumm, Dave Tarrida has played an important role in establishing Edinburgh as a breeding ground for dark, quirky experimental techno with a dancefloor orientation. But years before Tarrida began producing his own tracks, he focused primarily on fostering Edinburgh's scene and helping Schmidt, Landstrumm, and others launch their careers as producers. Tarrida's prominent role in the techno community began in 1991 when he began hosting a club night called Sativa. Running until 1996, Sativa functioned as the premier night for techno in Edinburgh, with local talents such as Schmidt and Landstrumm performing live and international DJs such as Claude Young and DJ Hell gracing the decks; furthermore, Tarrida served as a DJ as well as the brains behind the legendary club. In addition, Tarrida launched the record label Sativae with Steve Glencross in 1993 after beginning to realize the success of the club night; the two eventually launched two sublabels, Drought and Penalty, and released early recordings by Schmidt, Landstrumm, and Christian Vogel, among others. By 1996, though, Sativa had grown too large, and Tarrida was ready to develop his career as not only a DJ, devoting more time to high-profile gigs across the European continent and eventually America, but also as a producer, making his debut as Pujol (the Chupacabre EP on the Scandinavia label). In 1998 he saw his first release on the globally recognized Tresor label (the Test EP with Tobias Schmidt), and other EPs followed for Tresor and other labels. When Tarrida moved from Edinburgh for the Mediterranean locale of Barcelona in 1999, it signaled the next step in his career -- he began work on what would be his first full-length album, Paranoid. Tresor released the album in 2001, and it found Tarrida moving further forward as a producer, positioned alongside fellow experimental techno peers such as Landstrumm and Schmidt, whose careers he helped launch years earlier. Now living in Barcelona we were fortunate enough to catch Dave to do a Basterdized feature and are very honoured to be able to host his first ever live set on the net.... Basterdized welcome, techno legend... Dave Tarrida _________________________________________________________________________________________________
D: It went great, just unfortunate it was my last time there... I would love to have been there at the final party, I heard there were a few tears shed. I had a real laugh, I was hanging with my mates from subhead, whom i've not seen for ages, and I don’t think i’ve laughed so much in years.
D: Yes, it is the end of an era for sure, but if they find a new location that’s suitable in time, then I think they can still use the momentum they have to really make it work, who knows it might be better than before, we all have our fingers crossed. Tresor has meant a lot to me, from being a fan to ending up being one of their recording artists, was really a big deal for me, and I’m lucky to have ended up with personal friendships with a lot of the Tresor people.
Seems the harder end of the techno spectrums had a bit of a rough time over the last few years. In Germany for example where they've always appreciated your sound we've seen the Neu Heimat scale down, now the Tresor homeless. What’s going on? How do you see the current state of techno at the moment? D: I think last year was the lowest point, as I can see, things seem to be picking up just now, for both Tresor (label wise) and NH (the shop is going good). I think we are going through one of those transitional phases, both musically and on a business level. The whole way we buy and sell music is now starting to come to the fore. I think we can almost see now, how things will go. Something we couldn’t do a year or two ago.
The German minimal sound seems to be quite popular lately. What are your thoughts on that genre? D: I like a lot of the minimal stuff. Saying that a lot of it isn’t so minimal really. For example I love some of the new sender releases, like misc, but a lot of the sounds they use aren’t your usual minimal sounds, they use hard distorted bass, which for me comes from the older styles of techno. A lot of it is just a twist on the old style under a new name...
It’s become part of techno history - in 91 you and some unruly mates started the Sativa Sound system which became the Sativa club now considered one of the best UK techno clubs ever. In 94 you along with Steve Glencross founded the Sativae record label which has gone on to become highly respected for its innovative and uncompromising take on techno. Drought and Penalty followed. Where do you see Sativae's place in the current scene and what are your plans for the label? Any new projects in the pipeline? D: I think after 11 years, Sativae will wind down slowly, we are concentrating on new projects, new labels, and collaborations. Basically along the same lines with a new twist also, hopefully exploring a few different ideas we never did before, I would like to think of it being along the same lines, but more diverse.
Sativa brought together a group of like minded people yourself, Steve Glencross, Neil Landstrumm , Tobias Schmidt , Cristian Vogel to name a few. Together you guys forged your own sound and in the latter half of the nineties provided an interesting alternative to the whole loop techno genre. Is there still close contact between all you guys? Do you still feel connected musically today? D: Yes, I still have good contact with all those guys, and we all still work together when we can, I’ve been doing live shows with Cris, released the royal ape project recently with Toby, also I was with Neil playing in Japan recently, and will hopefully have him over here in Barcelona for a recording session soon. Maybe the music we all make has meandered along different lines, but I still can see a connection to this day. I think that is because the attitude we had about making and releasing music hasn’t changed, even if the music has.
You have said in the past that you like a mixture of analogue and software in the studio, do you find that as time goes on you are finding yourself using the computer more and more (as are many other producers)and do you think that the visual focus of software can deter from the enjoyment of making tunes? D: No, I still work in the same way, I don’t like to rely on any piece of kit, even the computer. It still can be nice to work with only midi and no computer. I think sometimes we can get caught up with all the technology, even though it’s good to keep abreast of what is happening. As the old saying says, it’s not what equipment you have, it's what you do with it that counts.
Do you keep up with all the latest software coming out or do you prefer to stick with just a few favourites? D: I still use logic for writing in the studio, and every so often, try to upgrade plugins etc; I do include Ableton in my live show, as I think they really did a good job there. But I tend to use what I know. Saying that I have crossed to digital djing, I use Serato scratch, and do think it will be the future, even if people don’t like the idea.
Do you have any particular process when you make tracks.... do you find that as time goes on the ideas flow more easily or does it become harder? D: I tend to start with one idea then try to add to it, I tend to go through phases when I work well, and things seem to flow, then at other times everything sounds shit, so you just have to wait till the good phase comes back again.
This recording is of your first solo live at the Moog here in Barcelona . You've been producing for a while now. What made you decide to take things into the live arena now? D: I have been playing live a little over the years, Steve Glencross and I did a few around 94-95, and Cris Vogel and I have done 4 or 5 over the last few years together. But I just decided that doing one myself might bring a little sparkle again, which it has, and is great as it’s nice to feel nervous before you play.....
Will you be dedicating less time to djing now? D: I still love djing, but will definitely split between the two now, why not. The process of writing the live show was one I really enjoyed, and i'm in the process of writing a new set for the summer just now. I wish I had decided to go for it before.
So how’s life treating you in Barcelona ? Would you say it’s an interesting place for a dj/musician to be? Would you say moving here has had any sort of affect on the music you make or play? D: I love living in Barcelona , it’s just a nice city to be based in. I don’t look at Barcelona as a place to be musically active really, even though a lot happens here, I would have moved to Berlin if I wanted to be in a place surrounded by techno and musicians. And no, I don’t think it has changed my music, the only thing that can change your music, is the company you keep.
Another year ... another Sonar. What are your thoughts on the festival and its place in the electronic music scene? D: It is an important festival, and very important to the electronic scene, but...for me its just too popular and too busy, its almost too busy now to even see the acts you want to, and a rave for 15000 people is not really my cup of tea, but its a great way to get together with friends in the sun, and check out some interesting sounds.
D: It’s changed a lot since I’ve been here, its a big scene in Spain (lots of clubs, but lacking in producers-labels), but probably geared to the more mainstream sounds, it just doesn’t have a very big outlet for the more experimental-left wing stuff, which is a shame, something which the North of Europe still has. Sonar I think put Spain on the map in the world of electronic music.
Do you get back to Edinburgh much? Anything you miss about the place? How's the music scene in Scotland at the moment? D: I get back every 3 months or so. I don’t miss living there, but still miss my friends a lot, even after 6 years! As I can see the Scottish scene is really good just now, a good regeneration, and they tend to go for a real broad range of styles, anything goes, which is great. And I do miss the Scottish crowds, they are the BEST.
Just going back to what you said about using the Serrato scratch system for djing. Can you tell us a bit about it and how it differs from Final Scratch? As a label owner how do you view the whole vinyl vs. digital format topic? D: Big question... for me Serrato wins hands down, they use their own software, which for me is better designed, and is more tweakable than FS. So important when things don’t go right. its from New Zealand, made by an acquaintance of mike basterdized (funny coincidence!) this is the future, labels now have to look at vinyl and online sales, its how its going. I’m sure that it won’t be too long before Seratto or FS will be standard in most clubs. All you will do is show up with you laptop. I would rather go online, and spend 10 euros on 10 tracks I like, rather than go to a shop and spend 10 euros on one record for one track I like. It seems like it’s the only way to compete with piracy. Vinyl and cd are just too expensive to compete.
Any interesting sounds out there apart from techno you been getting into lately?
Not trying to make you feel old or anything Dave but you've been doing this for a fair few years now .How do manage to stay motivated, focused and a nice human being amid the craziness , the late nights and the bullshit that goes on within the dance music scene? D: I try not to get involved with other peoples business, and try to concentrate on my own stuff really. When we were doing Sativae, I always thought that we were working with blinkers, you know, just concentrating on yourself, not caring what others are doing, maybe that’s why we had our own sound, we never wanted to sound like someone else. Cheers Dave!
Interviewed by Basterdized |
