NOISIA
(their MySpace site remains one of the most ritually battered in the scene, everyone so that it would completely blow away whatever was played
and their sales on both Beatport and Trackitdown are second to none). As a before it – wherever it was played, whoever was playing it. But after
result, they now DJ exclusively on CDs after a short-lived relationship with ‘Exodus’ (with Mayhem, featuring KRS-One), there was really no louder
Final Scratch (“Laptops just don’t like nightclubs,” says Nik, closing his eyes we could go. There was no more bass per second that we could physically
and going slightly pale at what is obviously a very painful memory), and as cram into a tune that would still be beautiful in our eyes. And that was a
such understand first-hand how easy it is for unreleased tunes to find their real wake-up call; it forced us to take a step back and consider where we
way into nightclubs in ways they never could during the vinyl age. could realistically go from there.”
And it’s not just in DJing that the boys are single-mindedly focused. DJ The answer, in one sense, has been to start looking outwards as well as
Fresh once told me that Noisia listened to no d&b except that which inwards for inspiration. Some of Noisia’s most memorable tunes in the last
they produce themselves, an accusation that Nik says is outdated, if not couple of years have been more cerebral numbers like ‘Moon Palace’ (with
entirely unfounded. “It was like that for a while, but we’ve been listening to TeeBee); quirkier, more light-hearted cuts like ‘Cannonball’ (with Phace) and
more and more stuff recently. There was a time when I felt as though we’d ‘Diplodocus’ (the former opening their FabricLive mix, the latter dropping
opened the floodgates for a whole generation of bedroom producers to in with filthy jump-up energy a few minutes later); and almost nonsensical
make empty, techy d&b that had all the effect of a Noisia tune but none of experiments in noise evolution like their remix of Amon Tobin’s ‘Kitchen
the soul. And that made me feel as though the music we were making was Sink’. And, of course, there are the breaks: tracks like ‘Yellow Brick’ and
cheap and meaningless, just because so much of that music felt cheap ‘Gutterpunk’, which have been atomising dancefloors not only at breaks
and meaningless.” nights around the world, but – thanks to a forward-thinking approach to
DJing spearheaded by the Noisia boys themselves – d&b nights too.
“But it’s definitely getting better,” says Thijs. “There’s a lot of interesting stuff
being made at the moment. I think maybe it’s the influence of dubstep, but “We quickly got a reputation for playing ridiculously fierce, upfront d&b sets,”
I’m really feeling the moodier, sparser stuff that artists like Alix Perez and says Thijs, “but if you’ve seen me play a two-hour set in the last couple of
Icicle are putting out. We sifted though a lot of those tunes when we were years, then there will almost certainly have been a section of deeper d&b
putting this mix together, and some of them are really outstanding.” in there, as well as half an hour of breaks and electro. [The FabricLive mix,
incidentally, is no exception.] Some people are more open-minded about
The mix in question is Noisia’s contribution to the ever-swelling rank of that stuff than others, but it means a lot to me to keep varying things and
FabricLive CDs. This one, number 40 (where does the time go?), is a typically changing the tempo. And hopefully that’s something that promotes itself as
relentless blend of the boys’ own back catalogue, a handful of their dubs it goes along; the more of that stuff we play to d&b crowds, ideally, the more
and cuts from friends like Spor, Phace and The Upbeats. Save for a reverent they get used to it, and the more of it we can play in the future.”
and always welcome airing of Matrix’s stone cold classic ‘Medicine’ remix,
it’s a mix that strides boldly into the future – so upfront in its double drops It’s a fiendishly crafted plan, and one that Thijs envisions culminating in
and switches that the first three tunes have come and gone within the first what he calls “the perfect set”; an hour of electro and breaks ending with
two minutes. But for all that, it’s a mix characterised by depth as much as half an hour of tearing d&b. “I’ll always end with d&b,” he says. “It’s the most
density; by mood as much as full on, spine-squashing basslines. Noisia, high-energy music there is; there’s simply nothing in the world like it for
once the crowned kings of all things dark and destructive – deliverers of getting a crowd going.”
such unrepentant slices of horror as ‘Lost Cause’ (with TeeBee) and the
aptly-named ‘Hideous’ (with Black Sun Empire), black-winged messengers of All of which is mighty reassuring news for those of us whose admiration for
doom deemed disgusting enough to remix the mighty ‘Messiah’ – appear to Thijs, Nik and Martijn rests primarily on their ability to create tunes that are
be having what some might call a moment of clarity. – in Nik’s own words – “shock and awe bassline monsters”. Those of us who
recognise that Noisia are far too talented to limit themselves to dropping
“When we first started putting out records,” says Thijs, “every tune was nothing but d&b, but who will always be at the front of the dancefloor holding
darker and more disturbing than the last, and we deliberately made up a lighter when they do.
www.kmag.co.uk
|
26
K24-26_Noisia.indd 26 4/7/08 16:43:34
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65