- MIX UP -

Here's a really cool mix that I found a little while ago. It's a double up with What So Not and Koan Sound. 

Enjoy! 

- BASS LINE UP'S HITTING SYDNEY -

Australia is about to get hit with some of the biggest bass line ups I've seen hit our shores within a two month span... It's starting to feel a little bit like London. 

Here's whats coming

- KOAN SOUND - BILLAIN -

One of the biggest DnB remix I've EVER heard

Yes this is a big call... but its true.

Just listen... and if you like it. Here's the download link.

Koan Sound & Asa - Tetsuo's Redemption(Billain Remix)
 

- KOAN SOUND DOES AMERICA -

To all of our North American readers, we haven't forgotten about you. 

We have noticed the high numbers of readers from North America and we are going to start catering to you guys a little more by updating cool tours and music releases that we notice through our network.

 So lets start with this one!

The worlds favorite Glitch-Hop producers have started their American tour.

If you love Koan Sound as much as we do and you live in one of the cities in the above list, you must catch these boys!

Or if you already know them but you'd like to get to know them a bit better, then please click HERE to read an interview we did with them a while back.

- DYNASTY EP -

Prepare yourselves for Koan Sound's Dynasty EP.

These guys release amazing album after amazing album. To follow the hype from their last two EP's will be difficult but I think they have what it takes!
----------------------------------------
COP THE ALBUM HERE

- THE WEEKLY MIX SESSION -

For this weeks mix session I've got two freshies!

The first is the new Owsla mix, mixed by Koan Sound.

And the second is a smash up 30min Drum n Bass and Trap mix from Blog Wars

Enjoy, and send your mixes to dubstepdemocracy@gmail.com

- SANCTUARY -

KOAN SOUND & ASA - SANCTUARY EP

Formally known as the gods of the genre Glitch-Hop, Koan Sound have now proved that it's not only Glitch that they are amazing at. Teaming up with Asa who is know for making some amazing IDM style music.

Tomorrow they will be releasing the Sanctuary EP. This time the EP is some of the most beautiful sounding IDM we've heard. We are actually mind blown with the depth of layers they have PERFECTLY balanced together from various instruments. 

This album really is a masterpiece!  

 

- DUBSTEP DEMOCRACY'S INTERVIEW'S -

Dubstep Democracy has been doing interviews with our favorite producers for quite a while now. We feel that some of our bigger interviews got overlooked because those specific artists weren't huge at the time of the interviews.

So here is a list of some of our most proud interviews for you to look back at and learn more about.

Corrine Zawaduk (Creator of Shambhala music festival)

NOISIA

KOAN SOUND 

NEOSIGNAL

DOWNLINK 

TERRAVITA

LIQUID STRANGER

BALKANSKY

DOCUMENT ONE 

Interviews confirmed and coming shortly are:

  

Posij and Joe Ford .

Thanks for reading!!! 

- CATCHING UP WITH NEOSIGNAL -

NEOSIGNAL INTERVIEW

This time I was able to chat with the two guys behind Neosignal. 

These two German guys are producing a very new sound of Bass Music and in my opinion they are pushing the world of EDM into places that it hasn't yet seen.

Ladies and Gents, Neosignal!!!

--------------------------------------

1.    How did Neosignal start? Give us a bit of history on what you guys are all about and the direction that you see yourselves going.


Florian: The idea to build up the musical identity called Neosignal came up at the end of 2008 when both Michael and I were tired of working in the framework of others in terms of releasing our music. First it was a label and a brand for audio/sound-design jobs only, but at the end of 2011 we realized that Neosignal means more to us and decided to call our collaborative productions Neosignal as well. We wanted to create a sort of new digital two man band, away from the pure Drum & Bass sound we have been doing the past years.

About the direction we see ourselves going, I honestly cannot really give a name or label to what we are working on atm. I also do not know where it will lead us to…. All I know is that we absolutely enjoy working on music again, writing different stuff, free from any limitations and expectations. We felt the need to step away from the music people would expect when we do something as Phace & Misanthrop to keep our excitement in music. We knew this might be something critical to do for the fans of our past music, but it was just a frustrating thing if you only do the same thing over and over again till the end of your life just to keep the momentum going. For us music never was or is about the success that might come with it, but about the music. Surely you got to pay your bills and life won’t get cheaper. But life is just too short and multifarious, and even though our sound is quite techy and digital I am not a machine but a human being who loves to progress and to experience new things. So it was essential for us to find a new name to put it all under. To also name this project Neosignal was just a logical thing to do, even though people might confuse it with our label Neosignal recordings and might expect us to only produce the music we started the label with. I must “warn” you, the music we produce as the Neosignal digital band is way different in terms of tempo, grooves and styles to the stuff we have released before. No risk, no fun.


2. How would you sum up your sound in three words?


Florian: Neo Digital Krautrock



3. Neosignal isn’t only a Production/DJ duo… Tell us about your other projects.


Michael: I´m producing and DJ’ing drum and bass under the name "Misanthrop" and I also work as a freelance video editor and sound designer (commercials...) for several years. I try to combine my musical background with the visual domain, which adds variety to my daily routine.

Florian: Yea, like mentioned in the first question, we also run a label and do audio / sound-design jobs on the side. Our Phace and Misanthrop aliases are our other musical projects one need to look at as something separated from the music we do as Neosignal two man “band”. 


4. You guys have a really different sound compared to most other bass producers in your category, can you tell us what program and plug-ins you’re using to write your music?


Michael: At the moment we are using Ableton Live and the usual plugins everybody uses. Nothing really spectacular, besides some various outboard analog gear and synths we use while jamming without a computer. In my opinion hard- or software does not make any difference for the neosignal sound. I guess the difference is that we try to use sounds we really like and we´ve never heard before, instead of doing music by the genre rule book. We want to make new things, that´s why we call us "neosignal".


Florian: Like Michael said, we use a little of everything we feel I'd say. For me it isn't all about the tool or instrument that does the sound,  one need to spend even more time on the creative process and on trying to educate yourself in production methods, song-writing, sound-design and harmonical matters. If you want to sound a little different to the rest you got to find your own way to express your ideas and you have to move on with the progress. A program or Instrument won’t make the difference, but only the way you use or mis-use it.



5. Tell us about your most memorable gig…



Florian: To me must be Phat 08 in New Zealand and this year’s Dirty Dancin' at Toulouse's Bikini Club.


Michael: It´s hard to choose one, but as a DJ it was always great to play at "the end" in London. The " uuuhs" and "aaahs" by the crowd when you played a new tune was memorable.
 

6. Tell us about your typical DJ setup for your live shows.



Florian: As for Neosignal live performances we do not really have a setup yet, as we are not performing as Neosignal yet, so I can't really say how it looks like. Surely our setup will be Ableton based and minimal. We are no real instrumentalists but producers, and Ableton for us offers the best solution for an audio/video performance. To me a true live performance doesn't really exist in electronic music anyways, as you always just trigger something. I also think that complex electronic music is impossible to perform live in comprehensive and pure form, as within the actual production process of a track there were so many decisions and modifications taken you won’t be able to simulate live and real-time. This surely is different if you do more minimal music or something similar, when the sources of your sounds are reduced and limited so you are able to control everything live.




7. What genres of music do you think are going to take off this year? Which genres are going to fade away?



Florian: Personally I don't really know. To me music comes and goes but only good music stay’s timeless.


Michael: To be honest, I don´t really care about trends. I might be influenced too much by other artists if I would do so. Nevertheless it is very inspiring what is happening in the music scene nowadays and it is positive that you are able to play sets across all genres.
But as I said before, I don´t really pay attention to media hypes, I stick to what I like and not what others think I have to like because it is new....



8. When can we expect to see a Neosignal show in Australia?


Florian: Hopefully at some point in 2013 when we plan to take the Neosignal project on road.



9. Which artist, dead or alive, would you give anything to see live?


Michael: Allman Brothers live at Fillmore East in 1971. I love it.


Florian Harres: Kurt Cobain, Peter Steele and Jim Morrison.


10. And finally, what’s next for Neosignal???



Florian: We are working on an LP in terms of our Neosignal digital band project since January 2012, but everything is still undecided at this stage. We do not want to rush things but make it right for us in every aspect. Expect something to happen, we just do not know when, what, where and in which context. We practically disappeared into nirvana and are stuck into our studio wormhole.

Noisia - Stigma (Neosignal Remix) by NOISIA

Rockwell feat. Kito + Sam Frank - Childhood Memories - Neosignal Remix - on Shogun Audio by nΞosignal™

KOAN SOUND - Eastern Thug (Neosignal Remix) by OWSLA Official

- KOAN SOUND + HALO -

If you are a lover of Koan Sound then you will know how diverse their style is. Producing heavy Dubstep, Glitch and Hip Hop style beats. But also really beautiful chilled stuff like this brand new remix they did for the new Halo sound track!

Also be sure to check out this amazing chilled remix that Vexisle(Asa and Kursa), did of Koan Sound's track "Introvert."

Introvert (Vexisle Remix) by KOAN Sound

- NEW GOODIES RND 3 -

3 more from the Dubstep Democracy mixtape!!!

The first is from Noisia's new album "Motorstorm Apocalypse" 

The Assembly - Noisia by dubstepdemocracy

The next is one of my fav's at the moment - a new remix from Culprate 

Funk Blaster - KOAN Sound (Culprate Remix) by dubstepdemocracy

And finally(by request from New York) an old remix from Culprate! 

Calypso(Culprate rmx) - Datsik and Excision by dubstepdemocracy

- SHAMBHALA 2012 -

SHAMBHALA 2012

The legendary Shambhala 2012 line-up is released!!!

Over 40 internationals + over 100 over all acts on 6 different stages, one of which has the legendary PK sound system for all you folks that love that extra little bit of BASS.

Check it out below or at the website HERE

- MORE HITS FROM THE HARD DRIVE -

It's been a while since I put up some random good music. So here's a few tracks that I have been listening to and playing on regular rotation in Sydney. Some are free,  some have buy links and some are available in the near future.

Enjoy

- CATCHING UP WITH KOAN SOUND! -

 

(Pic Source:DJ C)

KOAN SOUND

This week I had a little chat with two of my absolute favourite producers from the UK.

Enjoy. 

1. How long has KOAN Sound been together? And how did you meet each other?

We met back in 2003 when we started secondary school, and formed a band a couple of years later; writing and playing all sorts of music. Gradually as our musical tastes gravitated more towards electronic music we began to explore producing music, and have been together as 'KOAN Sound' for roughly three years now.

2. Has it always been heavy Bass music for you guys or is this fairly new?

We've been into electronic dance music since around '05 when we first discovered Drum & Bass, and in particular artists such as Noisia and Spor. Fast forward a couple of years and a lot of people in Bristol were getting into Dubstep; our local record shop at the time was really involved in the scene so it was quite a natural progression to make.

3. Tell us about your experience as producers, how did you get to where you are now?

When we were around 13 or 14 we got hold of a copy of Reason and for the next few years we had a lot of fun messing around with it making all sorts of weird stuff but nothing too serious. It was when we were offered our first release (Blessed b/w Clowny) that we started making a real effort to improve production and expand our sound. After that we had a series of releases with small but really supportive labels including Screwloose Records who played a big part in shaping our sound. Over time we've built up trust with labels by doing our best to improve with every release and things have gone steadily up hill. We're at a great point where we have the freedom to really experiment on EPs so we can push our more experimental tunes and 100bpm tunes, which have been really fun to make. Now we’re being offered some really exciting things such as remixing big artists, so look out for more remixes in the near future.


4. What programs and plug-ins are you guys using?

Reason 4 is the main program. Bass, synths, percussion and anything melodic runs through reason but we rewire it to Cubase where kicks, snares and long recorded parts are arranged and processed. There's a few plug-ins we use to beef up the drums. The 'Classic Compressor' is a really simple but powerful compressor which is also a free download. We use the Oxford Limiter because again it’s quite simple but does the job well. Also the Transient Shaper plug-in can be a useful tool to make drums really punchy. In Reason 90% of the sounds are done with the Maelstrom and bass is resampled with the NN-19. All the strings and guitar sounds are done with the NN-XT sampler which has loads of really nice sounds.

5. How does the British scene compare with other places you've played?

We’ve yet to play in a wide range of cities outside the UK so it’s hard to generalise, but from our experience the British club scene is probably the most diverse compared to any other country we've played; you will often see artists from lots of different genres billed together and some of the biggest events tend to be fairly eclectic.

6. Tell us about your craziest experience while behind the decks...

Probably at a gig in Falmouth a while back; we played on a boat party and afterwards ended up going back to a Redbull-sponsored house party where they'd set up decks in someone's front room, filled with far too many bodies. Ourselves and a few of the other artists went back to back and drew for some UK Garage classics; needless to say it went off.

7. You guys seem to mess around with different bpms throughout your tunes. What drives you to make a song at a different speed to regular Dubstep?

In all honesty it's not a conscious decision; it seems natural to want to make music at different tempos and not be tied down to a specific BPM. We've found that lower speeds such as 100bpm can work really well in a live setting as a switch from 140bpm; there’s a lot of room to experiment with different groove patterns at another tempo.

8. What artist/band/musician, dead or alive, would you give anything to see live?

Jim: There’s far too many to mention, however Amon Tobin is someone who I’d love to see but haven't managed to get around to as of yet. Also lots of artists such as The Prodigy/Led Zeppelin who would have been incredible to see live during their heyday.
Will: The band would be Incubus. The producers/DJs would have to be Phace.

9. Top 5 tracks to play at the moment...

Ed Sheeran - The A Team (Culprate Remix)
KOAN Sound - Funk Blaster
Zanetic - Destiny
Culprate – Ono
Jayglo – Rope Closer

10. And finally, what's next for KOAN Sound?

We've got another EP coming out in early November on Skrillex's new label 'OWSLA'. There's probably going to be around 5 tracks on there, building upon some of the ideas in our most recent release, the 'Max Out EP'. Asides from that we have a Kasabian remix which should be released in the coming weeks, and more remix work in the pipeline. We have a whole load of dates up until the end of the year too so make sure to come and see us live!

Max Out EP by KOAN Sound Funk Blaster EP by KOAN Sound The Adventures of Mr Fox by KOAN Sound

-KOAN SOUND-

(Pic Source: Music for Morons)

A little update on KOAN SOUND

If you haven't heard yet, Skrillex has officially started his own label called "Owsla."Koan Sound has found himself in the first 4 people to be on the label alongside Porter Robinson, Alvin Risk and M-Machine.

Head over to the direct website so see when "Owsla" officially opens by clicking HERE

But more on Koan Sound. Here's a personal favorite of mine, a track that's pretty fresh.

Loko - Keep Rising (KOAN Sound Remix) by dubstepdemocracy 

And of coarse the AMAZING new "Max Out" EP.

Max Out EP by KOAN Sound