Eighteen years is a mighty long time in everyones life and when it comes to the music industry this timespan nearly equals eternity. There ain't many artists, labels or projects out there that've been able to withstand the ups and downs of such a long period so it's defo something special that the bass triumvirate consisting of Brent Newitt, Dave Wallace and Kieron Bailey is still up and running, providing their bass vision to the world. The three of them - better known as
Aquasky to all clubbers and trueskool headz - have come a long way from HipHop to TripHop to Drum'n'Bass, Breaks, Full-On Filth and whatever bass-related you can make your mind up on so it was about time to team up with Brent Newitt for a little email interview session...
Being 18 years in the business now –
can you give us a brief excerpt on what Aquasky was about when you
started back in 1995 and what the project has evolved into when you
look at where you're at in 2013?
Aquasky to us back in the day was an
amalgamation of different genres. I use to make hip hop/trip hop and
collect jazz. Dave was into Art Of Noise and use to make old school
rave. Kieron liked rock and made early jungle and used to be in a punk
band. But we all loved the deeper sound of d&b and thats where we
placed ourselves and thats where we got our first fan base.
Intelligent, liquid, jazzy jungle, call it what you like (a mate of
mine recently told me he called the scene back then romantic jungle
as a pisstake lol!) We never thought we would still be here now
making music. We use to make it in daves bedroom and use to get
pissed on cheap cider!
With your first record released in the
early PostJungle-era when Drum'n'Bass emerged on the Breakbeat
horizon and being present in the 'ardcore continuum ever since,
albeit serving a different style range from Drum'n'Bass to
NuSkoolBreaks, even HipHop / TripHop back in the days and more Filthy
Bass recently, it's pretty obvious that you've got a thing for
classic Amen breaks and kinda oldskool'ish rave stabs and / or piano
licks that appear in many of your productions. How influential are the old days for
your productions nowadays and can Aquasky be referred to as the
saviour of what's been called UK Hardcore – not necessarily
soundwise but more like in keeping that high octane feel alive?
You hit the nail on the head when you
said HIGH OCTANE. Thats what we decided to try and obtain back in 98
I think when we wrote the track Sonix. People use to think we were
all about lush melodies and dreamy vibes and it use to bug us out as
we were original 80’s ravers. We just flowed with the scene and the
liquid sound was a progression. We then were introduced to Nu Skool
Breaks by Adam Freeland who persuaded us to make some. But what he
sent us was too ploddy, lowbrow and not really our thing. We listened
to more and realised that no one was making the serious jungle fused
breaks. Thats when we decided that we would focus on that vibe. The
music we make is a reflection of the scene and the music that we grew
up listening to. Our music continues the vibe of old school rave
where you could sample anything, make music at any tempo and mash it
up. The energy, the memory, the synergy... we are the link between
the old and the new.
Talking energy and feel there's no
chance to not talk about the dancefloor. Is there things that have
obviously changed when you go out to play a DJ show? What's the
difference between a 95 raver and a 2013 kid out in a rave or at a
club – do you see any when it comes to attitude and expectation
when people enter a party?
Yes, its not as violent as it use to
be. The raves were illegal and the drug dealers were running the
show. There was always a little tension between black and white kids,
perhaps not as much as I use to experience at hip hop jams in the
80’s and early 90’s but there was defo some bad vibes still. The
rave scene brought people together, made people happy. The commercial
club scene we have today will never have the feelings and emotions of
the old parties. Its too sterile, too structured and too much about
money. I can't bring myself to listen to the radio these days as its
full of dance music. That scene is precious to me and I dont like to
share it lol! I suppose I am from a generation when we had to search
out things, we had to put the effort in. We had to take risks and
chances and experiment. These days you have the internet, mobile
phones, radio 1 playing d&b during the day. Its not as mysterious
as it was and thats what attracted me to it. But thats just age for
you, things were always better back in the day lol... thats what
grandparents say isnt it!!!
Following you on twitter I've learnt
that you, Brent, have recently re-discovered a lot of classic Jungle
stuff and really dig that style again – how did that came about?
It never went! Those records a precious
to me and I go thru phases of what I listen to. I am lucky that I can
connect the dots from the 60’s to the present day with my record
collection. My record collection is like youtube. Ask me for a tune
and I more than likely will have it or know someone who does!
What does the near future bring for Aquasky? There's a new album to come – tell us a bit about that...
Well, not sure when the next album will
be done. Sometime next year I expect. Its finding the time now we are
dads and have grownup things to do! But the future will always be
there and we will always be apart of it.
Finally - three records that have been
influential for Aquasky as a project?
For me:
Peshay - The Piano Tune.
Mark
Murphy – Red Clay.
Main Source – Looking At The Front Door
Thx a lot for your time, Brent.
