Interview – A-sides

For the past fifteen years, A Sides has been pumping out a plethora of tunes. With almost seventy five releases under his belt since he started producing electronic music in 1990, it has been the last five or six years that he has really cemented his mark with his progression into drum n bass. Yet it wasn’t an instant transition from love of his previous genres. “When I first went into jungle, I liked it but I was more into the hardcore stuff, ” he says. “I got kinda fed up with that and went, alright okay, lets try some jungle and d’n’b.”

“I was working for a big insurance company, I’ve done my time,” A-sides remarks, explaining the point of departure from the corporate world to that of a full time musician. “Around 92/93 I finally gave in because id been working in the studio at night and going to work the next day, and just rebelling against the system. I finally just thought fuck it and I focused on what I was doing and tried to make a living out of it.”

A-sides is one of those drum n bass producers who cant seem to keep still. “I try to keep my fingers in a lot of pies,” he quips, citing his various projects he has on the go, which encompass everything from producing tunes, to creating sample banks and soundtracks for audio, many of which end up on many popular television channels in documentaries and advertisements. With a history of such loves as funk, soul and Hip Hop amongst others, A-sides is humble in his influences and his push towards creating music rather than just a programmed beat. “I get my inspiration from all kinds of thing. Most of the time, I’ll do something totally from scratch. I try not to use too many samples and try to approach producing] from a more musical angle.”

As an artist, A-sides doesn’t slow down, and amongst the maelstrom of his various other projects, he also maintains his record label, Eastside. After celebrating its 75th release, A Sides put the label on a short hiatus in order to focus on other things, but maintains that the presumed silence since the last release will very soon be shattered. “It has been a bit quiet lately. The last release came out six months ago, probably. Basically what’s happened is that we’ve switched distribution, and the head there has been wanting to step things up – he’s like ‘Jay, I want you to bring it back with a bang, we want some big tracks.’ I have some stuff scheduled for release, and he’s trying to get me to rework it. I’ve got a Twisted Individual remix ready to go and I’ve been waiting for Logistics to finish a release. I’ve got some other tracks ready to go, and when i get back to the UK at the end of February I’ll sit down and get everything worked out.”

Along with his side project work with NZ Musician Nathan Haines, A Sides has been busy on his own solo work. “Nathan and I have been working on a thing called Marianos dream,” he enthuses. “I’ve got a 12″ coming out on Metalheads called Destination Earth, I’ve just licensed a track called clubs in the bucket to a new hospital album – I’ve got a bit happening. me and my cousin mark have just done a track called tonight, and after that I’ve done a thing with Mokoto. Theres plenty of things going on.”

As for his upcoming Perth tour, A Sides is as practical as he is pragmatic. “I usually have an ask around, see what people are in to. I like to play a good set with nice variation – have a party, have a good time, listen to the music. Personally I just like to go on a journey right the way through – I just love my beats and my bass.”