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10 questions with Kid Massive
With credits on labels from Slip'n'Slide to Hed Kandi, afro-house king Kid Massive knows what rocks the dancefloor. He talks to us about 'big f**k off breakdowns', quiet monitoring and why he still struggles to make Inner City-style synth stabs.
Hailing from Denmark and now resident in East London, afro-house pioneer Kid Massive has clocked up more than 50 releases on legendary house labels such as Slip'n'Slide, NRK, Hed Kandi, Gossip, Milk 'n' 2 Sugars and most recently Roger Sanchez's famed Stealth Recordings. When he's not busy running his vaunted Audio Damage nights across the UK, he's can be found DJing in Lithuania, Russia, Holland, Ibiza and Ecuador. He's the latest producer to take to the S2S Hotseat.
Who's currently rocking your world as a producer?
Axwell, Laidback Luke and Tocadisco. They are all producers who push boundaries and try to create something new every time - be it in a remix, or original production. It’s a hard game to play, but by making your own rules the game suddenly becomes a lot easier as you're the one calling the shots.
How do you see the dance music industry developing over the next two years?
It's becoming exciting again, with artists crossing genre boundaries and mashing everything up. New styles are emerging all the time. The only thing that needs to fall into place is more robust internet rulings about illegal blogs and file sharing. Once that’s sorted, I think the club scene will be as healthy as ever.
Do you use mainly analogue or digital soft synth sources? Do you think analogue really makes a difference?
I have a few hardware bits: I love my Virus Indigo and my old Korg. But I also use a few soft synths. I think the software available nowadays is so spot-on sound wise that I don’t think there's much of a difference between hard and software. That said - I do think a lot of people end up using presets in their tracks, so a lot of material ends up sounding the same.
Any advice for aspiring producers out there?
Easy: be yourself, try not to copy anyone else and be original. That’s the one piece of advice I try to follow myself. It's fine being inspired by the trends and sounds of the moment, but trying to sound like Axwell, Angello, or whoever isn’t going to make you the next big thing. All the big players in the house music world have their own method of producing, which makes their music unique to the listener. It's a shame when you see producers jumping on the latest bandwagon and changing their sound every time the trend changes. They lack the confidence to believe in their own music, so they resort to doing the same as everyone else.
What is the key ingredient to a great track? Breakdown? Style of production? Bassline?
Definitely the breakdown. I love a massive f**k off breakdown and build. The stuff I've been producing recently has been inspired by massive mainroom breakdowns. I think there's a lack of good records out there with this element.
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the beat and build your way up from that?
I think the groove is the most important element in any track. I normally start by creating a very basic four or eight bar drumloop with kick and snare, then I start introducing new beat elements and change them as I go along,
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? Loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors?
I don’t need to monitor loudly as I know my setup so well. The only exception is for the final mixdown, when I always crank it up so I can hear how the track will work on a big system. I use Genelec and Dynaudio monitors. Both are great sets of speakers, each offering different aspects of sound.
Any arrangement secrets you wish to share with us?
Ha ha. Trade secrets I'm afraid...
Which sounds do you find are the hardest to create from scratch?
Good old synth stabs - like those Inner City stabs. I normally end up sampling sounds like that. Ah well, cant be good at everything I guess :-)
What is the secret to being a successful producer?
Believing in my music and not trying to sound like everyone else. At the end of the day, this business is about being original and fresh; that way your style becomes your trademark sound.
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More from Kid Massive: www.kidmassive.com
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