The Red Bull Music Academy is a multi-layered conference / marathon studio session / festival / all-out musical extravaganza, celebrating the pioneers of club culture and showcasing those who will be soundtracking our summer nights for years to come. With the 15th edition of RBMA currently underway in New York City, we teamed up with them for a series of exclusive mixes by graduates from their stellar roster of graduates, covering the full spectrum of electronic dance music and beyond. For the first edition we present a live mix by UK maestro of all things house and bass xxxy, captured live at the RBMA Stage at the renowned SónarSound Tokyo festival. No ordinary things for sure.
It was pretty intense. I got there at Saturday morning and left on Monday. I basically just went to sleep when I got there and then went straight to the festival. There was a massive typhoon and they actually had to stop the public transport for a couple of hours or so. The rain was just hammering down. The festival itself was great. The rain cleared up after a little while and people were really getting into it. The main venue was enormous. The smaller RBMA stage in the back was really cool as well, so it was good fun and the set went down really well. I just wish I could have seen more of Tokyo.When you're playing somewhere like Tokyo, do you approach sets any differently than you would in, say, London?
It really depends on the crowd when I see what their reactions are, but I tend to play a lot more of my own stuff than I would normally. Because maybe people haven't heard so much of my stuff or they have specifically come to see me. But I'm pretty headstrong anyway, so I usually just play what I wanna play.You just released a new 12" on Ten Thousand Yen, which is the label of fellow Academy grad Doc Daneeka. But your two's connection goes back further than 2011, doesn't it?
Yeah, we've been friends for a little while before that. He put my record out at the start of 2011. So we've been talking on and off since 2009. It's always good to put records out through people you know. You can be more honest and more trusting with them.Then again, you're known for the wide range of labels you work with. Is there a particular reason for that approach?
I think initially, the labels that I worked with were trying to be diverse and they would sign up a lot of artists and therefore their rosters were packed. If I went back to it, I'd have to wait quite a long time for my record to come out. But now I'm actually happy to just settle on a couple of labels. I'm gonna do another record with Rinse and probably another one with Ten Thousand Yen, so I'll stay with the same two labels for a while. The TTY release did really well in 2011. They've got a plan and they know what they're doing, and there's a structure there for really developing artists through releases. The same with Rinse. they did such a good job on that last single that I will continue working with them. It's basically about me being comfortable with what the label can do for me and what I can do for the label.Are you generally a fast worker when it comes to making tracks?
No, I go through long periods where I don't really make anything that I like. There's this massive project graveyard on my computer. If something happens, then it will happen really quickly. I'll be able to get the basis of a track done in a day and then I can go on to mixing and finishing it off. But sometimes I go weeks without making anything.What can we expect to hear on this SónarSound set?
A fun festival set with a couple of my own tunes on there.
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One look at Rupert Taylor's discography will ensure you: The London resident is a restless worker. Recording under his xxxy moniker, Taylor continually lights up the release board with singles on a plethora of acclaimed boutique labels such as All City, Ten Thousand Yen, Halo Cyan and Rinse. Mining the fields of house, garage and bass music without subscribing to a particular trend at any given time, Taylor's dynamic approach to drum programming and his consistent quest for re-invention has his name firmly locked in the UK dance music elite. Earlier this week, Taylor realigned with his pal Doc Daneeka, for whose label the native Mancunian released the breakout double-A-side "You Always Start It / Ordinary Things" just about two years ago. "Progression" reeks of paranoia, with its frantic synth line and gnarly bass, while the intricate percussion work on "Thinkin Bout" turns heads just as it makes feet shuffle. Prior to the release of his new record, the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy graduate took his first trip out to Tokyo to play SónarSound. We had a quick chat with Rupert to find out about his Japan experience, his working mode and his purpose-driven release strategy.Tell us a little bit about your SónarSound experience. What was it like over there?
It was pretty intense. I got there at Saturday morning and left on Monday. I basically just went to sleep when I got there and then went straight to the festival. There was a massive typhoon and they actually had to stop the public transport for a couple of hours or so. The rain was just hammering down. The festival itself was great. The rain cleared up after a little while and people were really getting into it. The main venue was enormous. The smaller RBMA stage in the back was really cool as well, so it was good fun and the set went down really well. I just wish I could have seen more of Tokyo.
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It really depends on the crowd when I see what their reactions are, but I tend to play a lot more of my own stuff than I would normally. Because maybe people haven't heard so much of my stuff or they have specifically come to see me. But I'm pretty headstrong anyway, so I usually just play what I wanna play.You just released a new 12" on Ten Thousand Yen, which is the label of fellow Academy grad Doc Daneeka. But your two's connection goes back further than 2011, doesn't it?
Yeah, we've been friends for a little while before that. He put my record out at the start of 2011. So we've been talking on and off since 2009. It's always good to put records out through people you know. You can be more honest and more trusting with them.Then again, you're known for the wide range of labels you work with. Is there a particular reason for that approach?
I think initially, the labels that I worked with were trying to be diverse and they would sign up a lot of artists and therefore their rosters were packed. If I went back to it, I'd have to wait quite a long time for my record to come out. But now I'm actually happy to just settle on a couple of labels. I'm gonna do another record with Rinse and probably another one with Ten Thousand Yen, so I'll stay with the same two labels for a while. The TTY release did really well in 2011. They've got a plan and they know what they're doing, and there's a structure there for really developing artists through releases. The same with Rinse. they did such a good job on that last single that I will continue working with them. It's basically about me being comfortable with what the label can do for me and what I can do for the label.Are you generally a fast worker when it comes to making tracks?
No, I go through long periods where I don't really make anything that I like. There's this massive project graveyard on my computer. If something happens, then it will happen really quickly. I'll be able to get the basis of a track done in a day and then I can go on to mixing and finishing it off. But sometimes I go weeks without making anything.What can we expect to hear on this SónarSound set?
A fun festival set with a couple of my own tunes on there.