Hi-Tech In The Low Frequencies
By: Jason Sneed |
Monday July 23, 2007 |
 |
Bassnectar Interview |
| DJ Lorin aka Bassnectar represents the wave of DJ success. Playing amazing sets to dancefloors throughout North America and beyond, Bassnectar's shows have the future-primitive feel of all-out revelry resulting from the tribal unity of audience involvement. The latest album Underground Communication mashes frenetic-style beats and melodic overtones with undulating sub-bass - peppered liberally with the amusing yet distracting lyrics of hip-hop MCs. Hugely popular among download-friendly listeners, Bassnectar's online presence touts his social involvement, activism and political conviction - a theme which few artists truly integrate into the entertainment side of music. Bassnectar recently headlined Lightning in a Bottle, a three-day Green Music Festival in the mountains near Santa Barbara, California. Event producers The DoLab have been creating the socially-conscious LIB festival for six years, mixing underground music, Vaudeville theater, forest camping, and daytime workshops into a feel-good party concoction that attendees remember all year long. This proactive crew is unafraid to roll up their sleeves and take on the added thoughtfulness, effort and expense to power the event with alternative energy while keeping a mindful watch on the event's affect on the environment. After days of edutainment bliss on the DoLab's sexy eco-planet, Static Multimedia went in for the e-mail interview to query artist-activist Lorin about his inspirations. Static Multimedia: I recently caught your set at a three-day Green Music Festival campout. What are your thoughts on the "Green" movement? Bassnectar: I'm completely mesmerized by it. From left-wing environmentalists, to right-wing corporate investors, across the board it makes so much sense. It feels a bit like a gold rush, with a myriad beneficial side effects. Of course it is essential to invest our energy into protecting our habitat (a selfish reason) and of course to sustain the Earth merely for its own sake (slightly less selfish)…but it is amazing to see people like Arnold Schwarzenegger jumping into the fray because he sees huge financial payback potential for investing money into the rush as well. If you were to attend any five of the workshops offered at LIB this year, which would they be, and why? Bassnectar: "Greening the Home," "Wind Power," "BioFuels," "Sustainable Community," "Solar Energy." Why? I guess because I'm currently less interested in learning about artistic concepts and more interested in functional 3-Dimensional 'get-er-dun' facts. You have described your musical style as a merging of the angelic and the demonic - what are your thoughts on spirituality and religion? Bassnectar: I think I said "bestial and perverse" not 'demonic.' If I said demonic, I was probably trying to get a reaction out of someone or trying to get an extreme point across. What I meant was, I channel as many points of a spectrum as possible...the extremes of both opposing forces merged into one. I like music that is gorgeous and heartwrenching and vulnerable, but also utterly strong and massive and fearless. I am more spiritual than I am religious (I am not religious) but I am absolutely NOT spiritual in a dogmatic sense (I don't personally resonate with human attempts to define god…I feel that if anything god is definitionless due to the eternal multitude of possibility and the mysterious unknown. If humans can understand/comprehend god, than god doesn't seem THAT powerful.) I do however highly value my own personal moral code, and I think it is wonderful for each human to cultivate that special sense within themselves. What they view as wrong or right, and why. I don't think we can ever be too thoughtful. And personally, things mostly boil down to a mix of empathy, compassion, vulnerability, depth, and the golden rule. How are you merging music and social activism at the moment, and what sparks your creative fancy today? Bassnectar: Well most of what I do on a creative level is either inspired by (or in honor of) my thoughts, and the deeper the thoughts, the deeper the reflection of inspiration. I happen to be immensely inspired by witnessing injustice and flabbergasting abuses of power. I am also inspired by the thought of wellness and enrichment within the core of my fellow human beings. There is a lot to do there, and I tend to focus specifically on encouraging people to think critically, communicate actively, research regularly, and discuss, so as to formulate educated perspectives. Once that happens, once an individual gains knowledge, that knowledge reflects off one's internal sense of right and wrong, I think people automatically rise to action. Apathy only exists in a population that is bought off, undereducated, under-challenged, and uninvolved. To pick an issue, I would say defending each person's ability to learn, and defending their access to un-biased information. Protecting the internet, and our access to it, is so core, so NET NEUTRALITY is something that needs to be defended right now. Check out savetheinternet.com Finally - what question would you like to pose to Staticmultimedia readers? Bassnectar: Hi. :) Would you like to get involved? Check out savetheinternet.com Much respect. Lorin Preliminary reports from Shena Turlington, the DoLab's Greening Director, indicate that about 52% of waste generated at the event was diverted from landfill; 35% was recycled, and 17% composted. An onsite solar array produced about 10% of all festival electricity; 8% was saved just by swapping out the regular bulbs with compact fluorescents. When the biodiesel generators are taken into consideration, a predicted 50 to 60% the total energy used was generated by alternative sources. For a look at the forthcoming environmental report, log in, educate yourself, and get involved - before it's too late. And be sure to bump those bass-heavy Bassnectar beats while you're at it. |
|
|
|
|