In Conversation: Zed Bias & Marcus Intalex Discuss Their Comfort Zones

In the weeks coming up, both Zed Bias and Marcus Intalex will be taking over our Room Three space for an entire Friday night, with each of them set to dictate the pace for a full six hours. Both accomplished and established artists - Zed with his decades of dancefloor hits like ‘Neighbourhood’ and his work under numerous names, including Maddslinky and Marcus with his Soul:R label, his drum & bass production and his excursions into house and techno as Trevino – we’re understandably excited at the prospect of both sets; but for completely different reasons, though it's mainly for the scope of opportunity each set provides and the possible tangents each DJ could follow considering their individual heritage and back catalogue. So, ahead of both events, knowing full well that Marcus and Zed both share a home city as well as a friendly kinship, we asked if the Manchester based pairing wouldn’t mind getting together and having a remotely prompted chat for us. Luckily, they both obliged and what they delivered to us is a positively glowing conversation that sheds a lot of light on numerous topics unique to their experience. Given their relationship, it turned out pretty long, so we've chosen to split the full conversation up into three parts which we'll publish in the run up to Marcus' appearance in Room Three on 14th November. This first section includes the two discussing their personal motivations for stepping outside of their musical comfort zones and contains a timely correction to addreses the slightly misconstrued interview that led to a lot people assuming that Zed Bias' was retiring... Zed Bias: Ok, look: I’m not retiring. In fact, I never actually said the word ‘retirement!’ Marcus Intalex: What did you say then? ZB: Well, I had a chat with Joe Muggs a while back about the launch of my new music academy, Bia:Sonic – which I’m now going to launch next year - and somehow my retirement found its way on to FACT. The truth is, I’m not retiring but I am going to stop DJing as Zed Bias. MI: Are you going to rule it out forever then? ZB: Well I’m going to be doing a live thing but not sure if that counts as Zed Bias. I’ve been doing the same DJ sets for a while and I keep getting the same requests. I appreciate that there’s a place for that and I do have to respect that it’s my job. Kids want to go out and they want to listen a bit of garage with a bit of house, old school and a bit of rave and some jungle classics and so on… and that’s what they expect from me and I don’t have a problem with that. I would like to still do something that excites me on a creative level though. Which I think basically means me just doing something new. MI: You fancy a challenge…? ZB: Definitely, mate. Right now it’s too challenging though as I’m just looking at a blank canvas [laughs]… MI: So you’ve never done a live show before? ZB: No, I’m starting this at the age of 40. This is your archetypal, definitive, mid-life crisis happening right before your eyes! Some people like to spend their money on a new car, but I’ve just got a machine that I’m going to take on the road with me… MI: Do you need to learn the machines then? ZB: Yeah I do but I know I’ll pick it up easily. It only took me 17 years to learn how to use CDJs! So yeah, it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge. The difference is I’m going to be doing my Boss album live which means I’ve got a kind of head start as I don’t need to write an album for the purpose of a live show. MI: Did you write Boss with a live show in mind? ZB: No, but luckily I wrote it so simply with so few elements involved that it will be pretty easy to slap something together. You know, if I take one sound out of the mix you’ll be able to really tell it’s come out within the dynamics of a club environment. MI: What about effects? You going to elaborate on those a little? ZB: Yeah, well this is why I’ve got all of this because with each sound you can add a different effect or trick too. It’s all about the arrangement, those sections that you or even punters wish could go on forever, breakdowns that can be stretched out to create a bit more tension. MI: What about your keyboard? ZB: Oh yeah I’ve been practicing that. That’s one part I’ve definitely been practicing. Three note bass lines I can do, they are within my capabilities [laughs]. I’ll just filter the shit out of it. It’s going to be grand! MI: So you’re almost in that same frame of mind that I had with drum & bass going a few years a back when I was making that transition to Trevino. You know, it was pretty much about trying something new and putting myself in a situation that was out of my comfort zone. You’ve got to reward yourself in a way and make sure you don’t feel like you’re not just doing the same thing over and over again. You’re going to get bored of it at some point, no matter how exciting it is. I think that’s the whole point. That was part of it for me; I could pretty much do a d&b set with my eyes closed and with one hand behind my back. I wouldn’t need to think about the forthcoming set mid-week, I’d just turn up and play. I think, in the end, I just wanted a bit more out of it. It’s like, in any other DJ career you work up that step ladder and you learn different skills but in terms of DJing, it’s pretty easy to not learn anything more and I just don’t think that’s particularly great for the mind. Marcus Intalex © Nick Ensing 2014 ZB: You get into a rut and when your whole vibe depends on what you’re doing in studio. Being in a rut with your DJing is like the precursor to being in a rut in the studio so I can see why you made that transition. I’ve got to say though mate, it’s worked out pretty well for you! MI: I’m really enjoying it. I’m enjoying making music more than I have ever done and that’s probably because I’m doing something different. I was writing drum & bass for 15 years solid and it just drove me a bit nuts. ZB: Yeah, I clearly remember going to your place and you were basically ground to a halt production wise. You were like, right something’s got to happen and you had written something like one tune every few months but then you got his new software, what was it? MI: Ableton Live… ZB: That’s it and I remember the next time I came round you just played me track after track after track and I thought ‘someone’s got inspiration again.’ MI: You know, it’s never been a case of not being in love with the music; sometimes you just need try different things. I don’t know if it was luck but it certainly helped not having to think about the day job. I kind of treated drum & bass like that y’know, with house and techno as the hobby. I just needed something to get excited about again and it’s really hard if drum & bass has been your day job for so long it’s hard to get excited about it still. You need to find something that inspires you and gets you off your ass and involved again. ZB: But house and techno is actually more about how you got involved with music in the first place right? MI: Yeah, originally during ’88 or ’87. I was into New Order and Depeche Mode so I think it was realistically the next step for me to take. I was hearing artists like Derrick May, Juan Atkins making machines talk and that was it for me. It’s always been there but just to hear that sound coming back to me, I thought was just perfect. It’s almost like these Trevino tracks have always been here but were just waiting to come out so I think, for me, it was the perfect time to make that transition. Better still, it just made me enjoy music that much more, even drum & bass. I’m enjoying writing d&b so much more, and I’m hearing it differently because I don’t hear or see it as a career. When you do so, you listen to it with a specific purpose in your mind like, ‘is it going to work on the dancefloor?’ But now I don’t have that certain demand with it like I used to. ZB: I suppose it takes the pressure off a little bit. I’ve tried to do that; specifically when garage went down the tubes and I tried not to pull all my eggs in one basket. If you over invest in one area and if whatever reason like you’re not inspired by it anymore or the rug has been pulled from underneath you and there’s no industry any more, you’re still left to hung high and dry aren’t you? MI: You’ve seen it with garage. It’s not necessarily your fault; it’s the music you love but it just loses popularity for whatever reason and it’s a time for another form of music. And it kind of happened to drum & bass in a similar way. In truth, it lost some popularity and disappeared a bit but there’s nothing you can do about it so it’s just wise to make sure you are always connected and doing more than one thing. These days people are into more than one genre but if you go back 15 years before iPods and free downloads, people were just into one type of music and if you were into more you were seen as somebody who was “underground” but these days it’s not even an issue! If you like drum & bass but you also like a bit of house and techno, no one even cares but before it would have been interpreted as you weren’t dedicated enough to the cause! ZB: It’s so tribal to think about how we got into music. Back in the 80s and 90s, through school, you had to pick one tribe to be devoted to. The devotion was the only thing that got you the music! It had to be passed from one person to another whether it be on a cassette or them telling you where you can go buy the record. Now, all that information is divulged in a second with one tiny click. Now, in 2014, it’s all on a platter for you. Kids don’t feel the need to be part of a tribe, they can just dip in and out. It’s a different world and we are just two old men sitting front and centre. MI: But I am excited about it you know. ZB: Yeah I’m grabbing it from both ends. Looking at my machine and sitting here thinking that’s going to be me next year. Part 2 of this interview is here. Part 3 of this interview is here.