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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna |
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Interview with Alex Calver
Reported by K8-e
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Submitted 14-06-06 19:11
From his early love of Megadeth and Metallica, Alex Calver developed a desire to make his own music, and by the age of 15 found himself playing lead guitar in his own thrash metal band. Fast forward to 2006 and you find Alex firmly cemented in the dance scene as a respected producer and dj.
Favouring hard techno beats these days under his real name, Alex is supported by techno heavyweights D.A.V.E. the Drummer, Robert Natus, Chris Liberator and DJ Misjah (to name a few). But under his WMD guise Calver still makes hard house with the best of them. A long time hero of mine (tunes like ‘Brixton Lights’ on Subsonix, and ‘Wank-sta’ on Glitch got me into the techno crossover sound and don’t even get me started on how much I love ‘More Drugs’, with Adz & Daley on Deprivation), naturally I was excited about putting some questions to the man himself.
Alex, thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions. It’s been almost 2 years since your last HarderFaster interview — how time flies! What have you been up to?
Hi there! A lot has happened in my music career and in my personal life over the past couple of years, my sound has become a lot more varied, I think I’ve widened the threshold considerably and in doing so triggered interest and work opportunities further afield. I’ve travelled all over the world djing to places like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Finland, Austria, USA, Canada, Poland and have future bookings in Russia, Spain, Venezuela and Italy this year. On the production side, I have releases lined up on German, Austrian, French, Australian and Dutch labels as well as my projects here, so I’ve been very busy and lucky enough to see some of this big f*cked up planet!
You’ve been djing for 5 years now but when did you start producing and what inspired you to forge a career in music?
I’ve been crazy about music all my life, when I was around 11 years of age I was obsessed with Queen and Iron Maiden and that inspired me to pick up the electric guitar, so I was playing in bands from an early age. Over the years I got more and more interested in electronic music and slowly started buying studio gear replacing the guitar. Making music alone appealed to me a lot more as relying on band members was pain in the backside!
What software/hardware do you use to achieve your sound?
My main programme is Cubase, I’ve been using this for 8 years or so, back then Cubase ran on the old ‘Atari ST’ computers and you needed a sh*t load of expensive gear to go with it, it was like an arms race! The sampler alone cost over a grand, then you needed a mixing desk, that was another big chunk of change, then you needed synthesizers, outboard effects, the list was endless, I got rid of all that gear a few years and do everything on a laptop now.
Your earlier techno edged releases on Glitch, Subsonix and Yolk had a lot more laid back feel with some hard house crossover elements. I think it’s fair to say your techno style had hardened in the last 18 months(?) or so, how would you define a Calver tune these days and what made you toughen up?
Like I said earlier, I think I’ve just widened the threshold a bit that’s all, I’m still doing stuff in the same vein as I did back then, but I’ve found a whole new scene of harder music that I find very interesting and a joy to contribute to. I think the scene in the UK is very cliquey and egotistical, people seem to think we lead the world in hard music, I beg to differ. Also, when you spend as much time trying to create fresh ideas as I do, repeating yourself can be very tedious, so I like to make different styles. The harder stuff I make is very difficult to produce which I find to be a healthy challenge.
You produce hard house under the name WMD Firstly what does WMD stand for and do you actually play out under that moniker or is it purely for production purposes?
WMD stands for ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’; I use this pseudonym to keep the hard dance stuff I produce as a separate entity to my techno profile (for obvious marketing reasons). I never make these tracks alone; they’re always tracks I engineer for other people. I’ve never played out under this guise, but if someone wants to book me then gimme a shout!
What have you got in the pipeline tune wise for us to look forward to?
Glitch 12 will be out soon, it’s a remix EP (remixes of past Glitch tracks), it has one by J. Walker, (a very talented up and coming techno producer from the midlands), one by Rhythm Technologies (another bright new talent from Dublin), one by the great Canadian techno producer Patrick DSP and another by myself. I have releases lined up on the following labels also: Unknown Forces, Wired, Killaz, Sztuka-maszyna, Teknic, Club Concrete and an exciting new UK hard techno label called ‘NuBreed’. Numerous W.M.D. releases are lined up also but I lose track of those.
What’s your favourite remix (either of one of your own tunes, or one you have done)?
I’m quite proud of my remix on Tripoli Trax 100 of Zero B’s ‘Lock Up’. One of mine remixed by someone else, hmmm, there’s a nice Boris S remix coming out on NuBreed 3 of a track me and Glitch artist Mike Andrews did. (Boris S is one of my favourite producers from Germany, I had the pleasure of djing along side him recently at one of my residencies in Birmingham, top guy and very talented. Check out his label ‘Skull Tunes’.)
Moving away from your own production, which tunes and producers are currently floating your boat?
Boris S, Viper XXL, S.EWE, Kaoz, Sven Wittekind, Robert Natus, Bas Mooy, Vincent De Wit, Felix Krocher, Arkus P, Frank Kvitta, Scott Kemix, D.A.V.E. the Drummer, Dean Rodell, Glenn Wilson, I could go on all day!
Which tunes never leave your box?
I have to say that they all do eventually; I’m not one for classics personally, not when it comes to djing techno. I still listen to and love all the music I’ve listened to all my life but I like to keep my dj sets fresh; otherwise we’d never move forward would we?!
Do you still play vinyl or have you wholly embraced the digital revolution? Are you using tools like Final Scratch or Ableton in your sets?
I only dj with vinyl and cdr. The only stuff I play on cdr is tracks I’ve just finished to see whether they are ready to cut, if they are, then I stop playing them and wait for the vinyl to arrive. I will do a live pa in the future but for now it’s not grabbed my interest enough, I’d rather spend that time developing new sounds.
You must have played at some great parties, with gigs in so many different countries? Do you have a favourite memory that stands out?
Headlining an outdoor festival in Forteleza (Northern Brazil) last December was incredible and definitely stands out in my memory; I got to play as the sun came up with palm trees all around to an amazing crowd on the deadliest sound system you can imagine, good times!
Is there anywhere you’d like to play that you haven’t already?
I have some interesting trips lined up as I mentioned earlier that I’m excited about, other than those I’d love play in Japan, it seems like another world, I’d love to experience that culture.
What do you do in your spare time?
Hang out with my beautiful wife, go to the movies, I’m a huge comedy fan, I love eating out, visiting family, seeing my mates, I don’t tend to go clubbing too much as it’s nice to give my ears a rest!
Finally what’s playing in your car stereo at the moment? Anything embarrassing?
I don’t listen to music in my car much; I drive like a twat so I need to concentrate! But when I travel the walkman is usually loaded up with stuff like Greenday, Goldie Looking Chain, Metallica, Audio Bully’s, The Streets, Metalheadz, Pantera, Cypress Hill etc. etc.
PS. Check out my new web site — www.alexcalver.com
See ya in another 2 years!!! Alex
All photos courtesy of Alex Calver. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By K8-e:
The One and Only Eddie Halliwell
PunchFunk & Geushky Presents "Let's Make Rave" with Ian Void & Chris Vaux
Cream @ Amnesia - Ibiza 2010 - Reviewed
Pure Gold: Interview with Will Gold
Turning the Corner - Interview with IAMX
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Calver @ Techstyle would rule!!