Southwild – Interviewed ahead of Earthdance Cape Town 2016

When Southwild was announced as an Earthdance 2016 headliner the excitement online was palpable. Taking the path less traveled these days, the good folk at Good Times Events, who host Earthdance Cape Town, have picked out two far less predictable and mainstream international headliners for this year’s show and judging by the excitement when both Southwild and Martian Arts were announced, it’s a good move by them.

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I mean really, how many more proggy internationals do we need to come and play here… again!

But this is not a rant about progressive psytrance, it’s about being different – one of the key elements to being a psytrancer… being challenged by the music and hearing stuff that’s not caned on the dancefloor every week at your local psy hangout.

Southwild is one such artist that offers something different.

Here we’re talking psychedelic night time – proper styles!

In fact if one looks at the complete lineup for Earthdance Cape Town 2016 (pictured below), it looks like it’s going to be a serious psychedelic affair. Less pop, more trance!

I chatted to Jay aka Southwild ahead of his visit. He’s been around the block for some time. Psychedelic trainspotters may know the psy act Rastaliens; he’s one half of that duo too.

Last time I was in Cape Town was some years ago now, but I remember the level of music production was already super high and the parties were full power…”

Usually the international artists booked to headline Cape Town psytrance festivals tend to be fairly mainstream. The announcement of Southwild was a refreshing change and one that has been very well received. Were you aware of your following here in South Africa? People are really, really excited…

Wow that’s great news and honestly, no I wasn’t aware of that, but thanks for pointing it out… now I’m even more nervous [about the gig]. 🙂

Last time I was in Cape Town was some years ago now, but I remember the level of music production was already super high and the parties were full power, so yeah, after all these years I am excited to come back with new tunes and it’s good to see some old guys from back then on the lineup too.

Wildthings Records have maintained a steady flow of crazy, trippy psychedelic trance output for many years. How did you hook up with them and how has the ride been?

I played Wildthings music way before I started the Southwild project as a DJ in every set. It was always my favourite type of U.K. psytrance that never disappointed me and worked great on the dance floor. Several years ago I played a gig together with Alex who does E.V.P and Reality Grid, probably some of the most inspirational music I ever heard and we became friends for many years. He was there when I played one of my first Southwild sets and listened to it and wanted me on the label; from then on I felt I found the perfect home for my music.

I am just tired of running away from the dancefloor when I’m high because I can’t deal with another remix of some bad 90’s Euro pop song psy rave remix…”

I love the comment under Band Influences on your FB profile: “Get rid of all the fake psytrance :)” – What’s fake psytrance to you?

If you check out “Psy-Trance“ on the internet these days you will find many times that there is absolutely no feeling of Psy in the music. So all I wonder is why this music is advertised on leading online music stores in the same genre as psy-trance. It really disturbs me Not because I hate Rave music or EDM or whatever it’s called these days. I used to play at super commercial raves myself in the early 90’s before any psy-trance was available in the record shops. But it’s clearly not rocket science to hear the difference between some Mickey Mouse rave track and psy-trance music. It’s not even about my personal taste of style or bpm or what box you want to put it in, but the difference is so obvious. My concern is that It will give some people that are new to our scene a completely wrong picture of what great, real psychedelic trance music is out there.

And then also I am just tired of running away from the dancefloor when I’m high because I can’t deal with another remix of some bad 90’s Euro pop song psy rave remix… I guess 🙂

Rastaliens were an awesome psy act in the 90’s. Is the project defunct now and if so, what made you guys discontinue the act?

Thanks for that but no, we are still doing music together and pretty much have enough material for a new album which we want to release in the near future. We have never stopped the Rastaliens project but for sure we are both really busy with our solo projects plus we have a wife and kids these days so things take a little longer. But expect a funny new album from us soon because that was our main point really, to do this project together again.

You’re a mastering engineer too. They say one should never master one’s own music; a) do you agree with this in general? b) Do you master your own material?

I do my own pre-masters and would say it’s good to get your head around it so you learn about the industry standards of music production but in the end the main reason why someone else should do it is that most of us don’t have all the high end equipment which is what it’s all about. We are lucky to have our geeky Alex (EVP) Wild Mastering; he does a great job for all of us to get our own kind of label sound.

I think the key should be to use everything that you can get your hands on which sounds good…”

Your 2015 album, Space Cat is a cracker. Which track on the album has surprised you the most in terms of the dancefloor and from fans who mention their favourite tracks to you?

Thanks for that. Many people told me they really like the Attachment Error track from the album .It definitely has its moments. Also many people told me they like Grainbuster which is a bit rough sounding to me, but some people appreciate that side of it I guess.

Which track from the album is your favourite?

I like State Of Mind a lot because of its extra wobbly bass line mostly

And which of your tracks finds its way into all your live sets?

Well that depends on the time I play but for a long time it was my first track Dr Feel Good which I have actually stopped playing now because it was played so much …..Maybe it’s time for a new remix!

Having deejayed since the new millennium do you think the global psy scene still has the magic you first experienced at your first few parties?

To me everything gets better and better in general and I will not be one of those people who talk about the “good old times“…..we had them and yes it was great but let’s keep going further and raise the bar. No point in looking back. It’s what you make out of it in the end.

Do you still use outboard gear when producing or are you an inside the box kinda guy nowadays?

I would if I had some, but honestly I don’t own so much hardware myself anymore. One thing I’m really happy about is that I have learnt a way to make music that keeps me happy without having the most incredible studio situation. I think the key should be to use everything that you can get your hands on which sounds good to you and find out new ways of making that music.

Outside of WildThings which labels and artists float your boat in the psy scene?

I have been hearing some amazing music this summer during the festival season in Europe. Highlights have been Headworks and Aardvark, both new acts on Bom Shanka records. Zzbing, Antonymus, Tromo, Confo, Kaos, Kabayun, Simiantics, Sprocket and Spectra Sonics, they have all been off the hook and have come up with fresh stuff with killer quality. But also the old-skoolers like Parasense, Ajja, Grouch and Rev! They are always super doing it for me and it’s a pleasure to hear these guys playing or even to work with them in the studio. Also some great versatile “out of the box” DJ sets by Lucas from (TIP), Beardy (Wildthings), DJ Hatta (Grasshopper rec.), Regan(Nano) and Earthling (Zero1).

The absolute burner for me at the moment thogh is Fagin’s Reject but sorry, he is on Wildthings too, he-he.

And outside of psytrance what are some of your favourite artists to listen to?

I’m a total 90’s Bitch so I’m still addicted to Chill Peppers, Rage, Old Sepultura, and for sure I like psychedelic rock music like Gong, Sweet Smoke, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin!

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Southwild – Interviewed ahead of Earthdance Cape Town 2016