On the day his amazing debut album Shadow & Lightning released we had a chat with one of the most influential DJs moving in Austrian circles right now. Mainframe Recordings is fast coming to represents the heights that European drum & bass has achieved in the last few years.
So Daniel/Disaszt! Tell us how you first got into drum & bass? what kind of producers/labels were you listening to at the start?
It was the summer of 1995, my friend DJ Combo and me were listening to a CD called ‘100% Jungle’ and Shy Fx´s ‘Original Nuttah’ was on that CD, and since that moment we both where addicted to drum & bass.
There was not much dnb in Vienna at this point so it was hard to grab some serious vinyl’s, but it all started with Joker Records, Prototype Rec, Formation Records, Renegade Hardware and Ram Records.
But one artist was outstanding, and that was Shimon from Ram Records.
Your mix for the Drum&BassArena podcast was massively popular, were you going for a particular vibe or style or just showing what you can do?
To be honest, I hate to record DJ mixes. I am a perfectionist and it’s hard for me to decide which tune to play and how I should do the mix It took me 3 months to make the mix CD for the album.
But this time I just chose the tracks that I love to play in a club and didn’t listen to the mix afterwards and sent it straight away.
Your first LP Shadow and Lightning is out 20th June, 16 tracks cut down from 24 contenders. What were the main factors that made you keep the ones that made it to the album?
Most of the tunes where written 1-2 years ago. It was not really a mission to pick the best of them but it was hard to throw the rest away.
People call you ‘the don of Austrian dnb’. Did you actively decide to make the growth of drum & bass in Austria your mission, or was it something you achieved naturally?
A lot of good people at the right time and at the right place made dnb so huge in Austria. There have been a lot of really motivated crews, DJs and producers and the competition set the standards for everything quite high. I’m just a small part in a big and still booming scene. I wouldn’t call myself the don, I just do a lot of stuff and, thankfully, after all these years, still love DJing or organizing parties or running my label.
Who are the Austrian producers that you think drum & bass fans across the world should be paying attention to right now?
Fourward has some massive Tunes coming up and Rob STP from Body & Soul (we teamed up for a few tunes), but there is one young gun.
His name is Mefjus, he could be one of the rising stars of tomorrow.
What does Mainframe Recordings stand for?
The focus lies on bringing the biggest tunes from all around the world to the dancefloor and only the best cuts will be released, drenched in the freshest and heaviest basslines.
What production software did you start out on, and what do you use now?
I started with Cubase 1 and Reason, now I produce in Ableton and some parts in Cubase 5.
You’ve said that as a perfectionist you really go into the details when you manufacture a record, what do you think is the best technological aspect to Mainframe’s releases?
Well, engineering and mastering always has to be top notch, obviously. But seen from a technological point of view, in every Mainframe release there must be something special and unique – that’s why we put them out!
Do you listen to any music that you think would surprise your fans?
I like Sting hahahahaha I don’t know why but I like the attitude in his voice.
Have you got a routine or any particular habits when writing music?
It depends on the track but chords come first.
What is your vision for you and Mainframe in 10 years time? World domination?
I have done nearly everything if it comes to dnb. I had my own club for years and it was the biggest monthly party outside UK but there are still a lot of things such as a festival, monthly Mainframe parties outside the country and our own Radio channel. There are a lot of ideas ; )
Disaszt’s Shadow & Lightning LP is available to buy on the Drum&BassArena Download store here!