Crack

Crack is at Eastern Electrics on August Bank Holiday weekend and the time is 4am.

The Resident Advisor arch in some dirty brickwork South London car park is bubbling. Heads are bouncing up and down with vigour. It’s getting to that point in the night where if you don’t have a groove, to lock you in, the temptation of soft things, soft people and dreams might get a bit much.

Scuba (real name Paul Rose) is currently in the middle of a rhythmic master class. Seamlessly sowing together records from his hugely successful Hotflush label with other gems from his remarkable Triangulation album, this man is as relevant to modern electronic music as anyone else at the moment.

He has, in the last year and a-half, released Joy Orbison’s Hyph-Mngo and Mount Kimbie’s Crooks and Lovers on Hotflush, released an altogether astounding artist album, moved to Berlin and in the process set up the German capital’s first dubstep crossover night. This has seen his stock skyrocket with considerable justification.

His album Triangulation, encapsulates his success. Without ever straying directly into the dubstep or house music territory, the sound he employs on Triangulation is a dark, warm nod to these influences, but what comes across in droves on the record is a beautiful melodic minimalism. It’s that understated sound he is dispatching tonight with precision and it’s that sound keeping bodies moving at this
night-time hour.

If other label mates Joy Orbison and Mount Kimbie have taken excess plaudits for their brilliant release, Scuba is the glue that holds the whole operation together. Both Triangulation and his performance at Eastern Electrics showcase the Hotflush boss as a dynamite DJ and at the forefront of the seemingly boundless genre-convergence happening slightly to the left of dubstep. He took time out to talk to Crack.



The Hotflush imprint has gone from strength to strength in recent times. Why do think this is?

It’s just to do with releasing great music and being persistent. Up until a couple of years ago Hotflush used to be constantly referred to as an underrated label, so it’s nice to finally be getting the recognition the label deserves.

Having released the likes of Joy Orbision and Mount Kimbie, who have both had huge successes of late, do you feel like Hotflush has been a pivotal influence in the current wave of experimental music in the market?

I think what we have been doing in the last few years has been reflected in the electronic scene more widely, which is that genres have become less important and good music stands up regardless of what category people try to put it in. Mount Kimbie are great examples of that, and it’s brilliant they’ve done so well. It shows how healthy electronic music is generally. The intention for the label since the very beginning was to be very wide ranging and not to stick to one thing, the dubstep focus happened quite by accident really. It took a while for that idea to really come out fully in the releases, but the way the label is now is pretty much how I wanted it to be when we started.

In terms of your own music, Triangulation has been extremely well received. How do look upon the album now it’s been in the public eye for a number of months?

I listened to it the other day and I’m pretty happy with it. There’s always going to be little things that you pick apart and dwell on, but generally as a whole I think it’s pretty solid. I was pleasantly surprised by the response it got, but listening to it now with a bit of objectivity I can see why people like it. It’s a proper album that you can listen to all the way through, and I don’t think see many people making those
any more.

In your DJ sets I you incorporate elements of two-step, techno and dubstep. Does the exchange of ideas between the techno and dub world excite you?

What I like about the whole electronic scene at the moment is that all the styles are blurring into one. It’s not just the techno and dubstep thing, which has been going on for years now, it’s everything else as well from house to drum’n’bass and whatever else. As a DJ I’ve always been very into playing a lot of different stuff in my set, and actually when I used to play on pirate radio in London years ago, although I was supposed to be playing garage, I always used to drop all sorts of other stuff, which was pretty unusual back then. At the moment there are a lot of things that fit together nicely so I’m having fun with it.

I read somewhere that Hotflush was named after a night you started in Bristol? How was the night and how was your time here? Were you inspired by any of the music you heard during your time here?

I spent three years studying in Bristol from 98 to 2001, so it’s a long time ago now. We did a few nights called Hotflush all of which had a room of drum’n’bass and a room of garage. The first one was at Thekla and then we moved around a bit, but they were all good fun. It was my first experiences of playing out to decent sized rooms so I learned a lot as a DJ. Bristol is a cool town, there’s always a good vibe in the clubs there. Actually a lot of people assume I’m from Bristol, which is a bit weird as I’ve lived the majority of my life in London.

What other music is inspiring you and exciting you at the moment?

Lots of stuff, but mainly pop from the early-mid 80s.

You moved to Berlin in 2007. It seems like a popular place for producers to re-locate. Why did you choose to move there?

I needed a change from London and nowhere else in the UK particularly appealed to me. I’d spent a bit of time in Berlin and really liked it, so it wasn’t a very hard decision. I just put my stuff in the car and drove over. I haven’t even considered moving back.

Sub:stance has been a watershed and a well documented change in direction for Berghain (Berlin's biggest techno club). How did the residency come about?

Before we started the night, there hadn’t been a big dubstep party in Berlin, so that was our aim. The obvious place to do it was Berghain because that’s the best club, in terms of atmosphere and also the sound system which is quality (not that common in Berlin). The people who run the club were immediately into the idea when we put it to them, and they offered us a Friday night which was pretty amazing as the Berghain room is usually open on Saturdays only – our first party was the first time it had been open on a Friday. So we did the first night in July 2008 and it was a huge success and we’ve been going ever since. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s a privilege to be able to do it there – it’s my favorite club definitely.

What is your take on the current wave of British producers making dub-crossover music? Do you think it’ll be able to retain its place in the British underground, or do you see a time when the scene will become flooded and over-exposed?

I think at the moment it’s OK because it draws more people into the music who then hopefully dig a bit deeper and eventually get into the more interesting stuff. The problems arise when everyone starts going after the mainstream angle, but we aren’t anywhere near that yet. The obviously parallel is with garage, where that exact thing happened and the whole sound imploded very quickly. But that’s not inevitable and I hope people are able to keep a sense of perspective. At the moment though, it’s fine.

What have been your previous musical inspirations that have influenced the deep sound you employ on Triangulation?

I’ve been influenced by all sorts of music, like most people. When I was younger I listened to the first two albums by Autechre constantly, as well as the early Orbital albums and all sorts of European and US techno. After that I got into jungle and then moved on to UK garage, but I’ve also always been really into 80s electronic pop stuff and also a few bands that I keep coming back to.

What is in the pipeline for Scuba and Hotflush in the coming months?

We’re currently putting together a compilation that will be split between the recent history of the label and new material from the artists we’re currently concentrating on. That should be out in March 2011. Other than that we’ve got fresh music from Sepalcure, George Fitzgerald, Sigha and others coming up in the next few months.

What annoys you the most about the state of modern music?

Money grabbers, but they’ve always been part of it.

''Do you think there has been a split in the dubstep world between producers following a more commercial path and
producers innovating?''

There’s some overlap between those two things but it’s going in that direction I think, yes. Hopefully one won’t crowd out the other entirely.

What is your musical history? How long have you been producing records and making music?

My first release was HF001 in 2003, but I’d been messing about with stuff for years before that. I narrowly avoided getting signed when I was 18, in a band which included someone who went on to play at Live 8 so that was a good thing I think!

You are clearly a massive Arsenal fan? How would assess their chances this season and are you tired of being told ‘Wenger is building a team for the future?’

We won’t win the league, but in all the other competitions we’ve got a chance. I’m encouraged with the amount of red cards we’ve been getting this season – we used to get loads when we were winning things, there’s a definite correlation there.


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http://www.myspace.com/paulhotflush

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