Up and Comers: Liquid Stranger

February 8, 2012 By 892 Comments

Liquid Stranger, a base heavy electronic musician has been described by Generation Bass as “the epitome of Transnational Dubstep covering anything from Latin, Asian, Eastern European, and Jamaican Dancehall Dubs”. Touring with Excision and Lucky Date in their North American tour, titled “The X Tour”, the shows are advertised with having a 100,000 Watt PK Dubstep Sound System. How about that for some wobble? In an exclusive interview with Techibeats, come take a closer look at Liquid Stranger.

 

 What and when was the initial interest in electronic music that led you to produce Drum & Bass? Inspirations, influential artists?

I grew up listening to Kraftwerk, Data, Wendy Carlos, etc. and was fascinated by the synthetic sonics that did not resemble any acoustic instrument, but sounded like music from outer space. The music from the computer games on my VIC-20 / C-64 was another big influence. However, my interest in producing music was mainly sparked by meddling with my parent’s piano. According to my mom, I used to sit in her lap and play back when I was just a baby. When I got a bit older I took piano lessons, and continued playing the piano until the age of eight when I got my first synthesizer. I was exposed to the rave scene in 1989, and the rest is history.

How did the name Liquid Stranger fit with your style of music? What is the origin of the name? (At first wasn’t the Liquid Stranger project supposed to be your anonymous alias? tell us a bit about that)

Yes, it was a side project for my more experimental output. I wanted to remain anonymous, and the plan was to have a group of people (both men and women) playing shows as the Liquid Stranger. That way no one would ever know my true identity. The idea didn’t work out so well in reality though, since there was no way for me to ensure the quality of the performance.

 2011 was a huge year for you. How have recent trends in the electronic music scene influenced your productions? In what ways?

I don’t really know. I’ve always tried to do my own thing, and to stay varied as a producer. I have a hard time concentrating on one specific thing for too long. Some people think of me as a ‘dubstep producer’, since that genre is getting so much attention these days…but most of my output has nothing to do with dubstep at all. I’ve been producing since the mid 80′s, so I’ve had plenty of time to experiment with different styles/techniques. I started making various form of bass music (including dubstep) while the scene was very small. Right now there are so many talented people making massive dubstep tunes, and I honestly feel that it might be time for me to move on to something different for a while.

Being signed to Rottun alongside other artists such as Excision and Datsik must have been very exciting. How has working with other producers made an impact on your work?

I’ve learned so many things from other producers that I’ve worked with over the years. It’s always interesting to observe the work flow of fellow musicians and share tips and tricks. Having said that, the biggest advantage for me is probably that the producers/labels I work with are very serious and driven. They push me to reach for something bigger. Personally, I don’t really care much about my tunes once they are finished. If it wasn’t for my friends and followers, I probably wouldn’t release the tunes at all. It’s a true blessing that I’m surrounded with people who are willing to invest their time and money in supporting my art.

 What is your take on the drastic change in the Dubstep sound over the years since it first emerged in the UK?

Change is inevitable. Music is a living, breathing art form, and will always mutate and grow.

 What do you find to be the most difficult part of producing music? (mixdown, composition, drum processing, ect…?)

I have so many ideas and not enough time :)

What kind of DAW do you use for your productions? What synths, plug ins, or software do you find the most useful?

I run Cubase, and I mostly work with analog, hardware synthesizers for all sound designs. I mainly use software for effects and post processing.

 What do you believe your strengths to be when performing live shows? What are you currently trying to improve on?

My strengths are my passion for music, my diversity as a producer, and the fact that I respect and honor my audience. What I need to work on is to take myself a bit more seriously, and develop a better mindset / tactics in order to reach a bigger audience. This doesn’t come naturally for me, so there is plenty of room for improvement on that front.

 What are some of your favorite venues/countries to play at? Do you have any specifically memorable shows you’ve played that have stood out in your minds? Why?

As long as the energy is good, everything goes. I played around 80 shows last year and enjoyed every single one of them.

Where do you see the EDM scene going in relation to the Dubstep/Drum and Bass scene? How can you compare it to where the scene was just a few years ago?

 

It can go one of two ways: Growth resulting in life, or stagnation resulting in death. I’m confident the scene will continue to evolve and the boundaries between genres will most likely dissolve even more.

Hype and trends give people an opportunity to identify themselves, and feel that they belong to a community of like-minded individuals. The current EDM hype has brought people together and exposed them to something new, fresh, and exciting. On the downside, the hype has also given birth to certain communities that suffer from ethnocentrism, and dogma. The people who are too caught up in the hype are so busy hammering their opinions down others’ throats that they forget to listen.

Music, on the other hand, transcends hype since it’s not bound by conformity or social conditioning. When the hype blows over, the music will still remain…pure, good vibrations.

 What was your most significant moments as a producer in 2011? Can we expect big things in 2012?

I really enjoyed producing the “Cryogenic Encounters’ album. Working with Interchill gives me freedom to go in any musical direction I desire, which makes the process a lot more spontaneous and easy.

For 2012 I have an upcoming banging release on Rottun planned, and I will do another quirky album for Interchill.

I just launched my online store for Liquid Stranger clothing/gear. Kosiina did an awesome job with the designs!

link: http://www.facebook.com/liquidstranger?sk=app_190322544333196

I’m also recording material for my video blog, working on collabs/remixes, and I will have a bunch of secret surprises for my followers as well ;)

 


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Kristy Hawkshaw & Liquid Kaos – Back In Time (John Dahlback Remix) Up and Comers: Stereotronique
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