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Hardbeats HQ
Average Member
United Kingdom
156 posts
Joined: Jul, 2011
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 Posted - 2011/11/09 : 20:43:23
Back in the room - Cube::Hard
After some careful negotiation involving flavourless jam and monkey's trumpets, the I Love Hard Beats crew have been able to coax the legendary Cube::Hard out of his five year hibernation to play a very special set at their first event. On Friday 3rd February, the rock solid cube formation will be taking control at The Lightbox in London for an incredible journey through his back catalogue with a history of Stargazer/Cube::Hard set!
Since the announcement of the first event from the Hard Beats Collective the FREE entry codes have been flying out! To give you a little taster of what is to come from this elusive hardcore genius we have tracked him down for this very special interview:
Tom, it has been a long time - what on earth have you been up to?
I've.. hmm. Well, all sorts really. Making music is just one of many pies I've got my grubby little fingers in. A few years ago I stopped trying to make a living from music and started actually making a living from what is as close to a proper job as I'm likely to find myself getting (which happens to be web development).
The one downside is it's a total time sink - my long term pet project has been going for over seven years now. It's a lot of hard work and needs constant care and attention. That said, when free time does eventually pop up I can make music just for the enjoyment of it; there's no pressure to pay the bills, it's a pretty cathartic experience.
Some of you will know I managed to squeeze out an artist album at the end of last year called The Lighthouse under my not-so-hardcore pseudonym Stereo Wildlife (http://www.stereowildlife.co.uk). I've also been toying with writing, animation and making computer games, among other things. I guess with all that going on I just let time slip a bit. I really need a clone or two, it would make things much easier!
You've recently done a couple of wicked remixes, what has re-ignited your passion for writing freeform/hardcore?
I've been in and around this music for so long, I don't think it will ever go away entirely. I tend to pop my head around the door every now and then to see what's happening and occasionally someone will have written a track that gets under my skin enough to make me dust off the keyboard and make something of my own. Incidentally, this time around it was Douglas's remix of Solas An Lae. It's a peach. I just have to be careful to avoid the mindless dross that's always out there, there's nothing that will sap my enthusiasm faster.
Since the announcement of your main room set at I Love Hard Beats the crew and event attendees have literally not stopped talking about your hour behind the decks; what can the ILHB crowd expect from your much anticipated set?
Massive clangs! I haven't played out for years, I don't know what you were thinking booking me! Seeing as it's billed as a history-of kind of set, I think you can probably imagine roughly what kind of thing it will be! There are however a few remixes being done and a bunch of VIP rehashes of older tracks to make it all a bit more interesting. The difficult thing now is deciding which ones to pick - if I played everything I've been asked to play so far I'd need about 3 hours on the night.
Your tracks are renowned for their epic, euphoric wonderfulness, how do you do it?
How do fish swim? I just do what sounds right and it seems to work, at least most of the time. To be frank I've always been more confused how some producers can keep chucking out boring and repetitive rehashes of the same track template over and over again. It would bore me to insanity. Every time I sit down to write something I just try to come up with at the very least one little thing I haven't done before.
For a more technical answer, see below, re: monkey trumpets.
What started off your adventure in hardcore/freeform?
I heard a tape my brother had bought way back in 1993. It was a recording of Slipmatt playing some of the best tracks of that era at a local rave, I was eight years old and it blew my fragile little mind. Soon after my brother bought himself some decks and I would quietly "borrow" them when he wasn't around.Many years were subsequently spent hanging around the local record shop soaking up all the new music until some time around 1999 when I picked up a bunch of recording software and started noodling on my own stuff. It was mostly rubbish but you have to start somewhere.
What are your main musical influences?
The Wurzels. Every track I've ever made has been some kind of improvisation on the classic, Combine Harvester. Really... impossible question, I listen to a lot of very different music and I take influences from all corners, so long as it's creative in some way. I'm a massive electronica slut.. if you really wanted a name, Blu Mar Ten's recent track Five Summers hits the nail on the head - I'm all over that kind of stuff right now. Ask me next week though and I'll probably give you a completely different answer.
Have you got any projects on the go at the moment that we can look forward to?
My project between now and February is to get all the remixes and remasters ready for my set. There's quite a lot to do. You'll have to be at the event to hear most of them, they're probably going to only ever be played the once. Past that I really want to get another Stereo Wildlife album done. You'll know about it when it happens!
If the freeform fox had you on his knee, what would you ask him for?
For the love of all things good and pure, I'm a grown man, put me down! And then I might casually enquire about whether it's really necessary for it all to be quite so fast. Really, slow it down just a little bit, it sounds so much better. Of course I'd probably just get looked at as if I'd asked for a hat full of haddock. But it's worth a try.
If you could deposit anything into section 4 - what would it be?
Monday mornings. Enough said.
Would you ever consider using a monkeys trumpet in one of your tracks?
Honestly, I don't know if I should be sharing industry secrets but I've been using monkey trumpets for years. It's the only one true way to make epic power trance. I controversially experimented with squeezing cats for a short time early on in my career; it didn't end particularly well - I accidentally invented speed garage.
Why the ::?
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Hindsight can be a bitch can't it. Oh well.
Is the reason that no one has seen you for the past 5 years because you're secretly a hard cube instead of a human?
I was actually hired to play the part of the Companion Cube in the Portal computer games. I got bashed around a bit but they were good times.
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Questions from Morris Piper:
----------------------
As a large investor myself in puzzling cuboid games, your knowledge would be priceless in our market research campaign. If you could please answer the following questions to the best of your ability Mr. Cube, we will send you a free indulgent luxury pen* and also keep you up-to-date with all of the latest Incestazoid Corporation product news, by email, fax , telegraph or pigeon post (telegraph preferred).
a) How did this happen?
What, that doesnt happen to you all the time? I quite often find myself and my belongings inexplicably trapped inside impossibly inaccessible spaces. I got a 38 plasma TV stuck inside a Kinder egg the other day. It wasnt even mine. The owner was livid.
b) Is this cube inside out and upside down, right side up and back to front, or possibly even a.n.other way around?
Yes.
Thanks for your time, please tick here ✓, here ✓, not here ✓ & here ✓ if you do not wish to receive promotional information from Incestazoid or one of its many partners.
*Please allow 85261 working days for delivery of the pen.
This set is literally an opportunity not to be missed...the dance floor will be bulging, and the roof will lift off with this set of absolutely epic proportions. See you on the dance floor people!
By Dark Angel (and Morris Piper)
For your FREE entry to this event all you'll need to do is head along to http://www.facebook.com/hardbeatscollective?sk=app_190322544333196, 'Like' the page and enter your details and we will email you your exclusive FREE entry code. Simple as that!
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smythy-endemic
Junior Member
United Kingdom
93 posts
Joined: Jan, 2009
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Posted - 2011/11/10 : 09:05:47
Really looking forward to hearing all of these remixes and updates =) Love the fact you will have to be there to actually hear them!
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http://.soundcloud.com/endemicharddance Check our shizzle here
Or check out my DNB alias D.R.O.P.S here http://soundcloud.com/d-r-o-p-s
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Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2011/11/10 : 14:14:11
I would love to hear the cube hard set. Hopefully it is recorded and made avaliable to download.
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nearly in line....
.....strange continuity problems
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Dante
Advanced Member
Vatican City State (Holy See)
1,185 posts
Joined: Dec, 2009
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Posted - 2011/11/11 : 01:50:15
****! why am I in Norway when thing like this happen? :< that's going to be the best hardcore set ever, probably. Tom's got the right idea, turn the speed down just a little bit! ;D
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The "artist" formerly known as Nakk(enboro)!
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http://soundcloud.com/bballs
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D-tor
Advanced Member
United States
1,145 posts
Joined: Sep, 2009
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Posted - 2011/11/11 : 03:58:36
Great read. I find background on Cube::Hard one of the many mysteries of Hardcore.
Please don't ask me what the others are.
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rAmen Break / rAmen Dream Owner
linktr.ee/djdtor
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Ken Masters
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,447 posts
Joined: Feb, 2007
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Posted - 2011/11/14 : 13:37:01
That Stereo Wildlife album is immense!
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Future State Music
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Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2011/11/15 : 11:40:28
what style is it?
__________________________________
nearly in line....
.....strange continuity problems
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