So there’s going to be a strong visual element for each song? “There always has been but I’ve never been able to trigger it myself before. It’s mostly been sound and content, kind of like a collage that a VJ will play while I’m playing. We’re trying to integrate it as much as possible. A lot of current DJs today will basically play a pre-scripted set that syncs to the video because they’re not deviating from the set. The more that the music syncs to the visuals, the more pre-scripted the set is. My aim is to stay as improvisational as I can and as flexible as I can, yet still have the syncing happen. That’s what we’re aiming to do with Abelton Live and this patch that my friend Matt developed.”
That’s cool. So you’ll play a sound and a certain image will pop up on the screen? “In theory, yes. As you’re developing a custom video you map it to the time code of the song. And because I jump around on the time code of a song – like I might jump to the outro, then jump to the middle, then jump to the beginning, then back to the end – and move around, it will trigger those moments in the video as well.”
You have a lot of diehard fans called Bass heads. Do they really follow you around on tour like the Grateful Dead? “I can’t say really what they do. But I do know that there is an ever growing region of extremely fanatic and, um, strange and wonderful people, who have somehow gravitated toward my music and this community. But yeah, they’re travelling with people and doing ungodly amounts of shows. There’s lots of participation with art and even people getting tattoos. That whole bit. I think it’s less about that stuff and more about passion and enthusiasm. I think that at certain a point in your life, you get struck by that bolt of synergy where you find something that feels so right but it existed before you. Yet now that you’ve found it, you
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feel like you can’t exist without it and that you’re better with it. That’s how I’ve felt several times when I’ve discovered different kinds of music. It kind of took over my life. And I feel that somehow I’ve been able to tap that nerve with certain people. Fortunately, it’s easy to share and network with the Internet and everything else. It seems like wildfire.”
Is there a lot of partying on the road? “Not for me. I have the most boring backstage in show business. I’m really into health and I love a good diet. I love sleeping a lot. I love exercise. I view touring as this amazing opportunity and amazing job but I really love – I dunno – just feeling good. I never go to after- parties. I always get eight hours of sleep. I do a lot of yoga and stretching. We goof around and but I’m not there to party. “I did my experimenting early on but I’ve just never been into getting really high. I always feel so insanely high on a natural level at just being awake and having another day to play in this universe. I don’t feel the need to take myself away. So mental clarity, and mental and physical health, is a big priority for me. My crew, they’re pretty much pranksters. They’re pulling a lot of shit on the road. I usually try to stay out of the way so I don’t get caught in the crossfire.”
Do you still have a beer or two? “Oh yeah, absolutely. My dad is a winemaker and I love drinking wine. I’m not rigid at all about it. I just don’t really party much.”
Are you looking forward to Orion Music Festival this June? “Every single festival on our run is insanely exciting to me. We have two weeks of Coachella, the Hang Out at Gulf Shores. We’ve got little festivals and big festivals. To play alongside Metallica and to support them; they’re one of the two bands that started it all for me. When I talked about tapping that nerve, as a kid it was Metallica.”
We feel like the rock community has been grudgingly accepting EDM. “Probably, but I’m not really EDM. EDM is more like a guy clapping behind a pair of CD players for an hour playing electro house and shit. I think there’s a big difference between EDM, as it’s being branded, and what I do. Because I tackle the whole thing like I would for a rock band. It’s very creative and interactive. There’s a good mix of forward momentum and paying homage to, including the classics. It’s like the fucking playground for me, you know, it’s raw. I’ve always had a great time playing, whether it’s Black Sabbath or Jane’s Addiction or Primus or Gogol Bordello, even into the hip-hop world. Early on, I was often paired up in creative ways with unlikely collaborators. That’s always been something I’ve enjoyed and is definitely something I planning on continuing to do.
“For Orion it’s pretty cool because Metallica’s had this festival concept for a while. Now they’re bringing in this whole electronic stage. But I don’t feel any pressure to play anything, I can still be creative. It’s cool to be blurring the lines. Because I don’t think there are many people out there that only like one style of music. I think that was something really prevalent in the nineties. People were always talking about one specific style, myself included. Now it’s like, let’s be real, I like so many different styles of music from so many artists from so many eras. How could I say I only like one? It just doesn’t compute to me. Whether it’s Lauryn Hill and the Fugees or Metallica or Cannibal Corpse or Mozart; wherever the direction, I think human beings have the ability to relate to a diverse spectrum of music. Celebrating that is one of the things that I love about DJing.”
For more on Bassnectar and his Spring and Summer tours visit
bassnectar.net.
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