Acid lord D.A.V.E the Drummer speaks: “…all the new sounds and creations from younger producers, it’s been inspiring.”

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Acid lord D.A.V.E the Drummer speaks: “…all the new sounds and creations from younger producers, it’s been inspiring.”

D.A.V.E The Drummer is coming to town. This is something that any techno fanatic should be excited about as the man himself played a very important role in bringing out the acid techno sounds of London during the 90’s. He’s also the owner of one of the most renowned techno labels to ever hit your ear with a sonic force; Hydraulix

D.A.V.E, real name Henry Cullen, shall be putting one some of the toughest sets that Melbourne will year all year at the upcoming earthcore festival and a side show at the Royal Melbourne Hotel. Before he blasts your eardrums into oblivion, we shot across a few questions to the pioneer.

S: Its great and very fitting that Earthcore is bringing one of the classic techno killers down to Australia this year. What’s something that you’re looking forward to about the upcoming Earthcore experience?

DTD: I’m looking forward to catching up with some old friends of course, plus getting away from the cold winter will be nice. But mostly the two parties I’m playing took like great fun and I’m looking forward to meeting some of the other DJs on the line up and catching up with some of the crew who I haven’t seen for a long time. It will be great.

S: As well as your earthcore set, you’ll be playing alongside Sam Paganini and Oskar Offermann at the Royal Melbourne Hotel. What’s the difference for you between playing at a club venue and a festival in terms of your approach to a DJ set?

DTD: There is more attention to the general vibe in a club as time is limited and the sound tends to be more in one style for each room. Festivals tend to be more “start stop” as far as individual performances go so it doesn’t matter so much what happens before or after your set, but a club needs nurturing and all the DJs will normally try to work together to make the sound work overall for the night.

S: What was it like hearing the sounds that would become acid techno for the first time? How did it draw you in and made you realise it was something you wanted to contribute to?

DTD: I was caught up in the CD generation, when vinyl became unfashionable and CDs came along with this crystal clear sound. Electronic music just got me from day one and I haven’t looked back since. Once I heard the 303 listening to old Hardfloor records I realised that was where I wanted to go. Orbital were another very influential band for me.

S: The techno you produced in the 90’s and what you continue to play today has a far more intense pace compared to what you might regularly hear on the techno scene these days. What draws you to that high intensity style and pace?

This is a hard question to answer because I actually don’t play 145 bpm+ Acid Techno so much these days, and I have slowed down my sound a fair bit. Maybe it’s a bit of age getting in there, plus Acid Techno tends to be a bit of a one trick pony sometimes, so I wanted to broaden my musical horizons,  I guess I just started getting into different sounds. The techno  I play now is more around the 130+ bpm mark, which is often faster than most of the new guys, but slower than before, with less acid and more emphasis on drums, synths originality and hard pounding beats. Still bits of acid in there of course, but I try to steer clear of playing all the old classics because to me they are just a bit old and I’m bored of them… after you’ve played a record for 15 years it gets hard to be enthusiastic about it and I want to enjoy my sets myself, not just trot out the classics for the fans, thats not what I’m about at all. ” One Night in Hackney is 10 years old for example” So I’m playing the Angy Kore Remix these days. I understand people might be getting into the old stuff for the first time, but I can’t help the fact that I am getting older as a person as well.

S: What is one of the fondest memories you have from when acid techno was peaking during the 90’s? Is there something you’ve learnt about the music industry from those days which is still true today?

Fondest memories are probably feeling like we were riding a bit of a wave with Myself, The Liberators, Lawrie Immersion, Geezer etc. I learnt that what you did in the past does stick with you and thats not always a bad thing but can be a rope around your neck and the industry is still incredibly hard to work in and make a living. But its fun.

S: You’ve seen a culture of techno grow from the underground to a more connected world wide scene. What have you enjoyed the most during this evolution of a genre? As a contrast, is there something that you haven’t enjoyed?

DTD: I think listening to all the new sounds and creations from younger producers, it’s been inspiring. I love the way that new equipment has influenced production.

I think the creation of pointless celebrity superstar DJs and the creation of the new “EDM” scene in order to make rave music marketable and acceptable has been something I’ve found pretty tough to swallow.

S: What has running the Hydraulix label taught you over the years? What did it mean to you to start a label then and what’s changed since?

DTD: Running Hydraulix has always been a labour of love. We did make a bit of cash in the old days and I do make a little sometimes now but in comparison it’s not much at all. The label has a decent reputation and I should push it harder to be honest. I’m working on that. But it’a hard to fit it all in sometimes. The new website will be pushing the label much harder. and I have some great new releases on the way.

S: Since  you first started DJ’ing compared to now, the number of artists/producers/DJ’s has exploded. What are your thoughts on the vast quantity of music which is being pumped onto the internet these days?

DTD: Most of it is pretty shit. Sorry but it is. Lot’s of quantity, low quality control, Not because it’s badly made or produced, but because it is formulaic and does not even break a sweat to be different. The latest generation of producers are the worst for copying each other and rinsing it but the older chaps are bad too. Although they are all prolific and talented, they are wasting their talents on reproducing and re-working the same tired old cliches that weren’t very good the first time round, and the music industry in it’s wisdom is straight up hard selling it to the kids with mega festivals, ultra marketing, and tons of Radio and streaming. It’s very sad that music has gone this way. All the secret fun has gone, all the searching for a great track, now everything is in front of your face.

There is a very healthy underground scene though I must say that, lot’s of techno Hard Tek, Ragga Tek Acid, SP23 etc loads of great new styles coming through, and recently in the mainstream there has been a UK Bassline/Garage revival which has been great. It’s not all doom and gloom at all, just to often tainted with music industry safe-ness.

S: You would have seen a thing or two during your time as a traveling DJ. What’s one of your favourite stories about something crazy that happened at a gig?

DTD: Oh god! Whenever someone asks this my mind goes blank, obviously gigs are a perfect time for things to go horribly wrong or amazingly right. I think the time a girl came on stage with a troupe of dancers but then stayed on stage and performed an impromptu striptease was one of my favourites. It was my birthday which made it even more surreal. It took a while for bouncers to realise she wasn’t actually with the dancers, she’d got all her kit off by that time and was prancing about! God knows what she was thinking.

S: A hypothetical, you’re in the studio and the beat you’ve made it too hot to handle and starts a fire. You can only save one piece of equipment. What would you snag from your studio?

The 303, it’s my dads, can’t lose that!

You can be completly blow out of the water by D.A.V.E The Drummer at earthcore and the Royal Melbourne Hotel. 

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