profiles: pariah

Pariah interviewed by Mia Poirier & Jordan Hare 7/99

We started Djing about five years ago, we (Sean and Phil) just kind of ended up into it. We started making music about four years ago originally when we were messin' about.

We started with an Amiga computer and found out that it was easier than we had thought it would be to make music. We thought we could probably make as good if not better music than what was coming out at the time so we just gave it a go. It took us a few years to save up enough money to get things going and Rob helped put in the initial investment. From the time we first thought of the idea it took about two years to get the money together and then literally just went and spent it all on equipment.

We first had an article published about us in Muzik magazine when we won a Djing competition they had called "Bedroom Bedlam". Of the 20 winners, they chose the top 6 and we were chosen as one of the best. As a result of that, they wrote a four page article about us in the magazine saying that we were starting to make tracks. That's also how we came to know Terry, who runs Funk 21, and is friends with Blame. Around the same time we also got a call from Blu Mar Ten. So we got to know most of these people through the magazine.

We're all 24 and we've been listening to this music for about the same period of time, since about 91. Well actually a bit before that since we went to our first rave in 89… So it's been 10 years…

Phil: I actually used to hate music. Couldn't stand it until I was about 12 or 13. Then Sean had me listen to some reggae, which I started to get into. I sort of moved away from that into the early rave stuff.

Rob: I deviated for a while into house. But I came back. I still like it along with some trance.

Phil: I listen to a lot of different types of music when I'm searching for samples. I'll go to the library and get a lot of CDs to listen to and sample.

An EMU 64 sampler. Definitely.

We pretty much always work together, but occasionally one of us can't make it. We prefer working together because a lot of it is about trial and error. It's not as if one of us does something and the two others do something else because that's not really constructive to us.

Rob: We start out with the listening part of it but if the tune's got a club feel to it then we try to go with it. I think we go for both.

Phil: I think the main objective is to do something different, but it has to be good enough for a DJ to play.

Rob: Sometimes you don't want to do something too mad with the beats, because you might lose the dancefloor part of it. You don't' want to go too far as to throw the DJ off.

Sean: Sometimes it's really difficult to strike a good balance.

Phil: I think that's one of the hardest things to do because sometimes you can go a bit too far ahead, and it doesn't sound like a drum and bass tune anymore. But we try not to use the same beat. We make our own beats now and we'll use different parts of them for different tracks. I don't think we've used the same break in any of our tracks so far.

What do think about the long breakdown that generally takes place in mellower drum and bass tracks? Some people argue that it's not very conducive to keeping the crowd dancing because the beats drop out. Do you have an opinion on that?

Phil: Well you've got to keep the crowd interested, you've got to have a structure where there's something new coming in every 16 bars or at least a nice groove in the tune.

Sean: …and sometimes you have to have the beat drop out to have it come back in again with more emphasis.

Phil: A breakdown is good, but if it's too long, you're going to lose the crowd. You've got to keep sounds comin' in and out.

Sean: Also if the tune was good enough before the breakdown then the crowd will stay and listen to it.

Phil: Yeah that's if they're musically aware. If they're there just to sort of dance and have a good time, which is what it's all about at the end of the day, sometimes it (long breakdown) can be bad. It's kind of difficult because sometimes as a producer you're not looking at it as a punter. Instead you're always analyzing it .

Sean: So it kind of ruins it in a way when you start making music because you're listening to it too much.

Phil: So you're not really there for what the music is intended to do. We've put ourselves in a position where it's always going to be that way. But the most important thing is the people on the dancefloor, and you've always got to give them a reason to be interested. It's as simple as that.

What do you think makes a good DJ set? Progression? Crowd reaction?

Well, if you have about an hour or 2 hours then every tune has got to be good and it has to have stages. Basically it's just a matter of being put together properly.

The most important thing we've learned from Blame is that you should play a set that's preprogrammed. We will get the set prepared and not stray from it regardless of the crowd's reaction. Because we put that set together the way we think it should be put together. It's probably a bad thing to say, but if the crowd doesn't like it then they can go into another room and listen to another style. It's our job to put it together the way we think it should be. That's what we're getting paid for. But a lot of people will say to me that if the crowd's not going with what they're playing then they'll change what they're gonna play, and to me that's wrong because you should stick to what you think is best. Someone has got you in the club to do a job because they believe that you can do it. If the people there don't appreciate that then that's not the Dj's problem. But it's understandable why people would think that's a bad way to look at things.

It's only the up-and-coming people who seem to believe you should change what you're playing according to the crowd's reaction. That's what Blame has always said, " Stick to what you think is best, Stick to your own style regardless of what anyone else thinks".