13 years deep into the game and still CZA, Optiv and Stu remain one of the most exciting trios in D&B. Whether they have their production, DJ, label-owning or Marmite-loving heads on, Cause4Concern run a tight trans-continental unit.
Need evidence? Look no further than last week’s release Alchemist. A four track EP bursting with all manner of sonic shades, it’s C4C at their sharpest. We thought we’d send them a few questions… They came back with tales of their complex studio communication set up, big love for ketchup and a slamming mix!
Props on Alchemist! A super solid EP. You’ve covered a lot of ground over four tracks. Care to give our readers some highlights and inspirations?
“For us the title track Alchemist was more of a traditional dance floor orientated track that C4C is known for, we just wanted to write a tune that we knew would work well on the dancefloor. However, we also wanted to take people on a deeper journey so as you progress through the tracks on the EP the music develops a deeper ending with the sonically diverse Creatures Of Habit.”
Does the vibe of the track depend on which one of you started it? Or do you work more in unison?
“We all write ideas to start with, but they are really just sketches of an idea, usually a 16 bar loop. We listen through the ideas and choose which ones we are getting a good vibe from. From there we pretty much work in unison whether that’s all together in the studio or online. CZA & Stu live in England but Optiv lives in Switzerland so we can’t always be together in the studio, when we do work online together it is done in real-time and we can all control and hear the studio at the same time. We achieve this by using Skype and Team Viewer along with a bit of creative cabling, it’s not perfect but it does allow us to communicate and work together from long distances apart.”
Obviously the biggest moment on there is Alchemist. What inspired the title and who is the best alchemist in history?
“We were watching a documentary on the BBC about the development of science through the ages and alchemy featured heavily on there. We liked the fact that it was considered a dark art a few hundred years ago and we thought that would be a good concept behind the track. We think Simon Cowell is the biggest alchemist of all time as he has an uncanny knack of turning what is essentially shit into gold.”
Outland sounds really similar to a techno record I’ve heard. Stephan Bodzin, I believe. A coincidence or do you know the record I’m talking about?
“No we don’t know the record but we are really inspired by techno from artists like Underground Resistance through to Jeff Mills and you can hear that in our music, especially in our earlier work.”
The last production of yours we heard was Dead Planet on Rise… that’s a while ago! What’s been the hold up?
“We’ve all had pretty busy DJ schedule and with the studio being moved to new premises it’s taken us a while to get back into making music but that’s all sorted now and the production is as busy as it’s ever been.”
This year has seen you remixed by all manner of producers. Do you enjoy hearing yourselves remixed by others?
“It’s great; we love to hear other peoples take on our sound. It’s interesting what some producers can do when you give them a bunch of our samples and it often inspires them to do something a little different to what they are used to.”
So what’s coming up next for you guys?
“Well, after this EP comes another single from us with the tracks Jinx and Lowlife. After that comes a single from Maldini, Bionic 1, Optiv & CZA and an EP from Task Horizon featuring the massive Control Freak remix. We are also sourcing new remixes for our second instalment of the Remix E.P. series.”
Does running the label get in the way of studio shizzle?
“It’s not really a problem, we just allocate different tasks to each other. We are quite disciplined and the key is just to keep on top of things. We usually spend the morning sorting our administration out and spend the afternoon in the studio.”
Thanks for the mix! Please guide us through it a little and acknowledge any exclusives we might hear!
“This mix consists of music that’s featuring heavily in our Dj sets at the moment. We kicked it off with three tracks from our Alchemist EP followed by exclusives from Break, Maldini, Maztek & Optiv.”
How does it work with the three of you DJing… b2b2b or 3 tunes on, 3 tunes off kinda thing?
“If we play all together we just play 4 tunes each, quite often we are booked to play individually which is great as we can cover three venues in one night but on the downside it’s not as much fun as playing all together.”
Big question I’ve wanted to ask… What does cause you to concern in these crazy times?
“Well apart from the global economic crisis and the increasing lack of natural resources it’s really just about running out of Ketchup or Marmite these days.”
And the question I’ve started asking everyone in these interviews…. Please tell us something you’ve never told any interviewer before!
“Optiv is becoming a dad this Christmas.”
Congrats to Optiv! Let’s celebrate by downloading this exclusive Drum&BassArenaBlog Cause4Concern mix!
Tracklist
1. Cause4Concern – Creatures Of Habbit.
2. Cause4Concern – Jitter Bug.
3. Cause4Concern – Alchemist.
4. Break – Slipstream.
5. Maldini – Sphere
6. Mob Tactics – Relapse.
7. Prolix – Third Act.
8. Maztek – Limbo.
9. Audio – Leech.
10. Ed Rush – Brain Broker.
11. B.T.K – Drop it (Optiv RMX).
12. Silent Witness & Break – The Hills Have Ears.
Alchemist EP is out now. Listen and download