Re-Drum is both a respected Torrentech Radio DJ & a serious producer, who has several releases TT's netlabel. I had listened to a few of his sets and was impressed, but it was only when i visited his Soundcloud, that i truly realized what a versatile and talented producer he is. I promptly approached him, and managed to get him to give ONEUPMANSHIP this interview
So, Re-Drum, i'm going to start off easy, what inspired you you to choose your name?
Well, when I was a kid, I had a writing problem: I was writing in mirror and to cure that problem, the doctors gave me these rhythm exercises... Also, it's a reference to the movie "The Shining" - and i do a bit of drumming
Where are you currently based - whats the scene like there, how are the locals enjoying your sound?
I'm based in Brest, France. The scene here... well i have lived here for 3 years and I don't really know the scene here. But it seems that drum and bass is pretty huge... But you know, France is not a great place when it comes to electronic music, i mean, the "night life" is a bit restricted by our laws... I haven't had the chance to do live sets yet, but I really want to!
What was the music you listened too when you were younger, who was your biggest influence pushing you into the electronic music scene?
When I was like 8 years old, the "French Touch" was pretty big... 'Homework' - Daft Punk & 'Music Sounds Better with You' - Stardust etc... these are the sounds I grew up with. Later, (around 14,) my sister gave me DJ Shadow - Entroducing and this was the moment i discovered great drum patterns, sampling and such. It introduced me to great labels like Warp, LEX, Rephlex... I think Aphex Twin is my main influence, he is the artist that gave me the passion for electronic music - Warp is a huge influence, especially Boards of Canada, Autechre & Squarepusher...
So tell us about your noise - what are the genres you are comfortable producing?
I've produced a lot of different genres. I started to produce jungle/glitch and ambient at first. Then Downtempo, Dub Techno and Dubstep... I'd say that Dub has been my biggest influence lately.
I should introduce you to our writer Graphics - you seem to have very similar influences! So tell me, in an ideal world, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Mmmm... in a ideal world, I would say, traveling around the world doing concerts and when I'm home producing music. I would like to make a decent living doing music.
You released your previous albums over Torrentech's Netlabel obviously your views on 'music piracy' must differ greatly from the average producer - give us the lowdown on your piracy opinion - you say you want to make a decent living from music but how will you with piracy as it is?
Ah, the piracy... I think a lot about it and it's normal and everybody should think about it. I like to give my music away for free because, it's a very good way to spread the love. I think most artists don't see the "promotion" side of it. I know a lot of people who download music to see if they like it. And if they like, they buy! I do that myself and I think that, without piracy, i would buy less music. Copyright is out of date but it's still the standard... things do need to change but it will take time!
How would you feel if your forthcoming EP 'Path Between Universes,' (Turbulent Calm Records) starts being shared around?
Really... I don't care. Actually, if it's shared around and people like it, I would be very happy, I'm here for the music. I decided to release it on a "classic" label to see what happens. And I have to say, when I see the Last.fm page, it's very odd. I see people listening to my music just few hours after the free release, but with the commercial one, I see nobody (for the moment)
Hopefully, this interview will bring you some more exposure. So Re-Drum, whats the most exciting thing that's happened to you recently?
I am collaborating with Josh Winiberg, a pianist from UK, living in Berlin now, he has also released on the Torrentech netlabel with "Game Over". He his very talented and right now we are working on some new tracks, I'm very excited about it because we share the same idea of music and the way we work is very interesting!
Ok last question, you are about to be marooned on a small island - what 5 tracks would you take with you?
Ok, 5 tracks, thats very hard... but I would probably say:
1 - DJ Shadow - Stem/Long Stem.mp3
(please be patient with the players, click play once and then wait)
2 - Boards Of Canada - Turquoise Hexagon Sun.mp3
(please be patient with the players, click play once and then wait)
3 - Pink Floyd - Time.mp3
(please be patient with the players, click play once and then wait)
4 - Deadbeat - Groundation (Berghain Drum Jack).mp3
(please be patient with the players, click play once and then wait)
and 5. Joker - Digidesign
(please be patient with the players, click play once and then wait)
Thanks to Re-Drum for the great interview, and for the goodies he has kindly sent over -
This is the track that made me contact Re-Drum, and we are seriously lucky to be given the 320, eerie & mellow but with a hint of funk in its deep beat - really beautiful easy listening, the video he put together is also great, check it out here!
Purple - Re-Drum (320 kbps)
He has also prepared a mix for us -
Tracklist:
01 - Deadbeat - Groundation (Berghain Drum Jack)
02 - Slam - Ghost Song (Joris Voorn Remix)
03 - Yofunk - J City (Karol XVII & Mb Valence Remix)
04 - Joris Voorn - No Revolution (Technasia Remix 1)
05 - Lukeshara - Morska Panna
06 - Neurotron - System 2
07 - Milton Jackson - Backwards Disco
08 - Joris Voorn - No Revolution
09 - Delano Smith - This Heart
10 - Soul Minority - I Get Deep
11 - Moonbootica - June
Download here
For more tracks, please visit Re-Drum's Soundcloud, or to listen to his latest album, click here
