Exclusive Interview with Sabre

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Sabre, shortly before his performance at Glow Nightclub on 5th July.

You have spent your earliest years in the Seychelles, but moved to the UK in 1989. You initially started with Hip Hop, but UK’s music scene got you into Jungle and Drum & Bass. Do you still remember how you got in touch with bass music and electronic dance music in the first place? What made you want to start with DJing and how did you learn it?

I had a cousin who owned a lot of the seminal electronic LPs of that era. “U.F Orb” by the Orb, “Places” by Joey Beltram, Mastercuts compliations – that kind of stuff. I’d copy my favorite tracks from his CD collection onto “pause mixtapes” along with the Hip Hop I already loved so I could rock them on my walkman around school. I connected with a couple of other people at my school who were doing the same thing and we used to dub and swap mixtapes. Eventually a couple of us made the natural progression from dubbing cassettes to buying a basic bedroom DJ setup.

Your style was initially dancefloor-oriented Drum & Bass, but over time evolved to include experimental electronica as well. What motivated you to not only focus on the dancefloor anymore and how would you describe your music in your own words?

It was mostly a reaction to being commissioned to make an LP. I wanted to make a body of work that was more than just a collection of singles, and in DnB terms that meant freeing myself from the shackles of the dancefloor formula. I’m not an experimental producer per-se, just an electronic producer with a fondness for experimental music. I guess if there is one thing that describes the music I make, is probably ‘somber’. I like dark music with a bleak undertone to it.

You have released tracks on DJ Friction’s Shogun, Goldie’s Metalheadz and your debut LP “A Wandering Journal“ and all most recent tracks on Critical Recordings – all of them highly respected and trusted record labels. How did you get in touch with them in the first place and how was it to collaborate with Goldie, an artist that has been part of the Drum & Bass scene since day one?

I was throwing big parties in London at La Scala and a couple of other venues, so I was meeting a lot of people in the scene and the backstage area at my events were full of contacts. One of the business partners I was throwing parties with was MC Lowqui who is Goldies MC. He brought us together and it was an amazing buzz to be on his radar. Goldie pushed me a lot in those days to try things out. He understands the structure of music like nobody else I know and through watching him work I found myself being a lot more methodical.

Out of all tracks you have made, which tracks would you recommend to someone that is not yet familiar with your music?

I’d say a track like ‘Oxygen’ on the Future Thinking record label reflects my outlook fairly accurately. It was a small release on a small label but it probably my best track.

What are you currently working on? What’s on your agenda for the near future?

I have a new collective I launched in January called the Ivy Lab that is going to take up a lot of my time going forward. Its consists of Stray, Halogenix and myself and we have a lot of music we need to get completed before the end of the year, probably enough to make an LP and a couple of singles so that is a pressing concern. Thankfully I’m going to be back in the UK for the foreseeable future so we should be able to make a lot more progress than has been made so far with us being spread across the globe.

You held residencies across Europe including London’s legendary Ministry of Sound, and currently at the Fabric Nightclub. What are your personal career highlights, fondest memories, and what were the best and the worst gigs you ever played?

I think the worst gig I ever played was in Rijeka in Croatia. It was outdoors on a sea dock, and a huge storm hit just as I went on the decks. Within 5 minutes a crowd of 3000 was down to about 15 people as 40ft waves started crashing over the seawall - after 10 minutes a gust of wind had blown the entire DJ table off the stage, and 20 minutes later the entire stage collapsed after being taken out by a freak wave. I think one of the roadies got washed out to sea and they had to call the coastguard!
Highlight I think would have to be a night I played in Basel (Switzerland) in a venue called Kaserne. It was the only time I’ve had a really big crowd of thousands at an event where I was the only headline DJ. It was a massive buzz to see so many fans all together just for me and me alone.

What was the funniest thing ever occurred during any of your performances?

I once saw a fat chick on acid running around a squat party spraying breast milk at random people in the crowd. This girl had like a 3ft spray range! Nobody was safe.

After having lived in Bangkok for over 3 years you will return to the UK in the end of July. Your performance at PHATFUNK’s 3rd Anniversary at Glow Nightclub will be one of the last opportunities to see you spin here in Bangkok for now. What can Bangkok expect of your performance?

A healthy mix of exclusive unreleased tracks, some challenging new music from the emerging drum’n’bass / glitch hop crossover scene that’s blowing up in London right now - and some underplayed classics that deserve more airplay!