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Interview by Joshua Glazer
If you attended this year’s Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago, there was one performance that had folks talking — and it wasn’t the helicopter shining a spotlight on the crowd during Jane’s Addiction’s first song. Rather, it was the set by Lorin Ashton, aka Bassnectar, the socially conscious hero of the growing bass-heavy electronic sub-genre that is currently captivating American audiences. Lit by a mutant cascade of projections and LEDs, Ashton threw down a seismically rumbling set for the manic dancers who’d packed themselves elbow to elbow into “Perry’s” (aka the festival’s dance area) in order to catch one of the hottest names in dance music.
Playing to this capacity festival crowd represented a sort of mainstream coming-out party for the San Francisco-based producer, who began making music a decade ago in the city’s warehouse rave scene before going on to build a stellar reputation through decidedly underground networks like the hippified Burning Man community. But there’s nothing “jam band” about Bassnectar’s sound, a genreless mash-up of hip-hop, drum ’n’ bass, dub step, grindcore and just about any other music you can think of that focuses on the sounds found at the low end. In fact, Bassnectar — who just released Cozza Frenzy, his eighth full-length album — doesn’t even like jam bands, as he tells ShockHound in this exclusive interview.
SHOCKHOUND: People are struggling with your new album title, Cozza Frenzy. It's meant to be pronounced "cause-a-frenzy," but everyone keeps saying "coze-a-frenzy."
BASSNECTAR: My tour manager was like, "name me one word where the single o is a soft aah.” and I'm like, "mom, pop, spot, pot...cozza." But everyone wants to say cause a, and I don't know how to help them. I don't care. They can call the record Bob. I think names are semi-irrelevant.
SHOCKHOUND: What came first — the spelling, the word, the thought? Was it the song, the lyric, the album?
BASSNECTAR: I love spelling things phonetically. I'm not trying to be hyphy or something. Ever since I was a kid, I loved misspelling things the way they sound to me. I do it all day long, and it's gotten worse since I'm texting all day, or on Twitter. The title is about constructing sound systems and how sound is a form of energy, in terms of how weight can effect the human body. One of my first musical influences was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. That was the first time I sensed the sensation of sub-bass. I was in the car and my mom was yelling and trees were bending and the car bouncing around and I just feel this sensation. Ever since, I've been fascinated with the concept. It was also a response to a tour last year, when we did 48 nights and 45 were sold out, and it was just night after night of complete frenzy in these random towns where I would never have expected to visit, much less play on a Tuesday night. I guess that's the meaning of the song.
SHOCKHOUND: You're a very socially conscious artist. How does that inform what you do?
BASSNECTAR: Music for me is the means to an end, it's not the end. I don't identify myself as a music producer or a DJ so much as a participant in life. Instead of getting political and choosing sides, I wanted to focus on humanistic means of inspiring people, particularly in youth culture. I've chosen very carefully to focus on groups of people in America that are often ignored in favor of European markets. I so often hear, "When are you going to Europe?" But what about Mississippi and Montana? If I was going to these places and nobody was showing up, I wouldn't go back. But we're selling out on Tuesday night. I'm really attracted to the concept of communities within a smaller geographical space.
SHOCKHOUND: Can you convey these messages within the music alone?
BASSNECTAR: [My track] "So Butterfly" is a nine-minute song with a Noam Chomsky's speech over it. If I have something that I feel is important to express, I wouldn't hesitate to put it in a song or say it on the mic. I've done that before. Now I'm more interested in using the music as a lure to attract people's mind. We have dozens of volunteers working on this project called the Bassnetwerk. It's basically a way for people to get involved on a grassroots community level. I just want to create a place so, if someone is out there thinking “I wish I could get more involved,” we can offer ideas. The music is the road to that. I would just as soon have sounds on a CD that touch people emotionally rather than needing to convey a message.
SHOCKHOUND: Sound is a very big deal to you, so much that you have a custom soundsystem for the road.
BASSNECTAR: "Cozza Frenzy" is about the impact of sound on human beings and the sort of frenzy that can result. A lot of the venues I’m playing are beautiful theaters and whatnot. But they're rock 'n' roll venues and I make bass music. So we bring a perverse amount of augmented sound. Years ago, we were renting in different cities, but now through my relationship with [Canadian sound company] PK, they're custom-building a sound rig that we can bring on the road. I have a whole sound crew that comes along. Some places don't need a whole lot, and some places we just shut off the house system and use our own rig. It's really important to protect people's ears, so we buy tens of thousands of earplugs and pass them out at every show. And we want to broadcast the sounds thinking in terms of weight, not just volume. So it’s not about how loud is the show, but how heavy is the sound? How much of a full body experience is it?
SHOCKHOUND: You did a tour last year with Z-Trip, who won DJ of the Year recently. Do you see your style of music gaining traction in the US?
BASSNECTAR: My favorite thing about Z-Trip is his disregard for genres. I don't like being stuck in one genre, which is why I'll play a remix of the Beatles or the Cure, or I'll play the original and not have a remix — just as quickly as I'll play some filthy hip-hop or glitch-hop or an Aphex Twin remix or anything mixed with anything. Z-Trip has a totally different sound and style than I do, but the same attitude of “Fuck it, I want to make music freely,” and people are loving it.
SHOCKHOUND: You're well known as a Burning Man attendee. Did you go this year?
BASSNECTAR: It was my 12th year, and it was probably my favorite year. Just being off the grid for six days, no cell phone or Internet. I played a couple shows, but the focus for me was just hanging out with friends. I don't care that much about the festival. I think the back world of whoever runs it is pretty weird. I just go there for the collection of crazy people and crazy art.
SHOCKHOUND: And there's a scene building around your own tours. Do you get kids who follow you city to city?
BASSNECTAR: It blows my mind! People will show up with a Bassnectar tattoo and they'll tell me “this is my 12th show.” At that moment, you know it's not about you; it's about the community. No one wants to go see a musician 23 times. They want to go experience that group of people and that energy 23 times. I was never a Grateful Dead fan — I don't like jam band music as an art form. It doesn’t' appeal to my ears. But I am amazed at the way a community forms.
