ADJF Interview: JaseFOS (by Jaz)

[Cupe]

Let me Start by welcoming Jason Hearn to the ADJF Experience.

Now you're also known as JaseFOS - where did that name come from?

In the early 90s, I was one of the members of Perth's early live purely electronic bands, Sensory Overload, with fellow band members, Brendan Slaven and Jamie Side. Because Jamie didn't drive, Brendan and I kept our gear all set up together with Jamie's rig in his parents' garage. Whenever I'd come for band practise, Jamie's rather elderly father used to greet me at the front door "awwww Jamie, Jase from Outer Space is here to see you". Without realising it, Jamie's dad had actually created the name I'd later use as my moniker for when I left the band to pursue solo endeavours in the mid to late 90s. I later adapted it to Jase from Outta Space, giving it a uniquely Aussie misspelling. I did find it a little cumbersome sometimes because it was lengthy, so it was abbreviated to JaseFOS (a unique string which really worked wanders for Google rankings). I've often contemplated creating new aliases to allow greater flexibility with which genres I wish to produce under however I didn't want to dilute my promotional efforts in establishing additional aliases and so it has stuck with me to this very day.

You've been in the industry for over a decade now, what made you take up music?

I moved on from a child hobbyist in the mid 80s to "semi" professional around 1994 with my first electronic band, so yeah, it's been a quite a while now.

In a nutshell, as a child I was absolutely fascinated by synthesizers and the unique sounds they could produce. The concept of an instrument which could be programmed to sound like all manner of instruments was a profound lure! Whenever I had the chance to see a band play that had a keyboard player, after the show you would inevitable find me trainspotting the stacks of synths at the side of the stage, hassling the poor keyboard player with numerous questions. I was the kid that terrorized music instrument shops, disappearing for hours into the keyboard department on headphones, tweaking away, and only sometimes buying something!

I was also a computer geek and got into programming primitive games on the Commodore 64 back in Primary school and so, once computers started to work their way into the set ups of Keyboard players in the form of computer-based sequencers, getting involved in music satisfied both of my technical and creative sides. It really was inevitable I get into music (although I wasn't aware it was happening at the time).

I actually started tinkering around with synths and sequencing back when I was around 8 years old when the Commodore 64 was *the* ubiquitous home computer. Although I started out with a Casio SK1 sampler (which sadly lacked MIDI ports), later I bought a Casio CZ101 phase distortion synth when I was in year 9. It was there I met my future collaborator, Brendan Slaven, and we formed a high school band together playing covers of favourite pop and rock tunes of the day. Both Brendan and I were awkward geeks back in our early high school days, and so music was a great pursuit to bury ourselves in every lunch time and recess and gave us some kind of means to be cool.

What came first for you, the Producer or the DJ?

Actually it was always the artists, the musicians and the keyboard players, which came first for me. DJing as a performance concept was something I was not exposed to until I began raving in the early 90s.

On a more macro level I believe DJs and Producers were a symbiotic happening: Without dance music producers, DJs would have little to spin aside from mainstream music; without DJs, dance music producers wouldn't have for the conduit for the music to be experienced in the context of dance parties or clubs.

Although a majority of producers started their careers as DJs, I started the opposite way - I discovered the addiction of DJing around 2008. It's done wanders to reinvigorate my ideas-pool for production and I wish I had started DJing many years earlier!

Your studio is literally a Concrete Bunker correct? I hear it's Called "The Space Cave". How did it come about that name?

I guess I'm lucky enough with my current shared living arrangement to inherit the smallest bedroom in the house (almost akin to sleeping in my wardrobe) in exchange for having my production studio, DJing rig and Laser system set up in a lengthy sunken concrete garage at the rear of the property. My house mate, Tania, nicknames me "Space Boy" and so she coined the title "The Space Cave". It's my creative space where almost anything goes and allows me to work unrestricted to some degree however I have to be considerate to my very tolerant neighbours. The nicest part about it however is the over head trussing built into the structure which has been excellent for rigging my laser gear, projection screens and so forth.

But you have recently Taken a 2-3 year stint out of the studio to focus on DJing, what pushed you to make such a decision?

The Space Cave still has plenty of productions in the works however it's just not my focus at current. There were two big motivators.

First of all, I had a reached a stage with my production that I was really tired of hearing my own tunes on loop constantly while I tweaked and tweaked until dawn (often falling asleep to find the same loop still going - I sleep through *anything* when I do sleep). I was in a creative rut and needed new inspiration. Also traditionally my music has never been particularly DJ and dance-floor friendly, since not being a DJ, I didn't really have the understanding of how to structure pieces to suit that context. So what better way is there to get a feel for the needs of DJs than to get my hands dirty? What I wasn't expecting was how addictive it can become and how much of a buzz you can get when you come across combinations of tracks which sound like they were made for each other!

Secondly, the technology for digital based DJing really came of age in recent years, with features and functions which were normally reserved for the Live PA. For me that was Traktor and its derivatives. I began experimenting with the DVS version of Traktor and from there have moved on into pure digital DJing using control surfaces and just recently settling on Traktor Kontrol S4 in conjunction with a pair of Kontrol X1 and Maschine.

Over your many years, which artists have been your major influences?

My uncle, a bass player, gave me a copy of Peter Gabriel's immaculate album, So.

I think I was around 8 years old at the time. From there, I developed a thirst for synth-laiden pop and rock music. In the pre-internet-world, a kid could really only consume what music and artists being promoted through Video Smash hits and similar shows and so I became a huge fan of bands like Icehouse, The Rockmelons, INXS, Pink Floyd, Underworld, U2 and then later (I'm ashamed to admit), 1927, Roxette, Prince, Mel and Kim, and Madonna ... OK I'd better stop there!

As I reached my early teens and developed the beginnings of life-long insomnia, I discovered the institution that was RAGE. RAGE really was the first conduit to discovery of non-commercial music (and long may it live on!) and in my humble opinion, an essential part of the Australian music landscape. Almost immediately I became enchanted by artist such as The Cure, Ministry, Max Q, The Pixies, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, New Order, Souxsie and the Banshess, Severed Heads, Bauhaus, Primal Scream, Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. I went through a phase of repeatedly watching seminal Australian film, Dogs in Space, which had an amazing soundtrack featuring bucketloads of Alt Rock and 80s Electro from the Melbourne underground, in addition to some amazing collaborative projects between Michael Hutchence and Olly Olsen.

But my ticket to rave really began when buying a CD walkman from Cashies one day on the way to university - the salesman let me pick two CDs out of the rack to test it with which turned out to be The Prodigy's Experience and Itchee and Scratchee's Irritable EP. It goes without saying that I just HAD to have those two CDs thrown in the deal! Then around 1990, RAGE began broadcasting the beginnings of the acid house movement with artists such as Gary Quail and the On-U Sound System, Third Eye, MARRS, Technotronic, The Shaman, The Chimes, The Grid and Soul II Soul, and Beats International. Around the same time I recall watching an episode of 21 Jump street, where the cops raided an Acid House party and some intoxicated girl fell through a plate glass window and a controversial episode of Melrose place where protagonists, Brandon and Emily, attended an illegal rave party. TV stations at the time started running news reports on the emerging culture of illegal underground acid house parties, where dis-used warehouses would be turned into makeshift spaces for people to dance all night. The mystique surrounding rave culture was irresistible however first years of clubbing in Perth saw me fall for the Goth/Industrial/EBM scene focusing on seminal underground music clubs of the day such as Amnesia, The Firm and The Loft.

When I started raving it was all about early 90s Trance, Hardcore and Gabba at gigs and then chilling to ambient house and dub at the after parties. Artists whom would forever remain etched in my consciousness during that period: The Orb, The Grid, Paragliders, Oliver Lieb, The Prodigy, Underworld, Orbital, Itchee and Scratchee, Speedy J, Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, Shaolin Wooden Men and Juno Reactor.

In the mid to late 90s I needed a break from the repetition of 4-on-the-floor beats and found a fascination with the beginnings of Perth's Jungle and Drum and Bass scene. I developed a taste for artist such as Photek, LTJ Bukem, Jonny L, Ed Rush, Optical, Dom and Roland, loving the frantic pace and interesting beat programming that fuelled the genre. When the Nu Skool Breaks phenomena hit Perth around 1999, started getting into artists like Dave Tipper, Bargecharge and BT. Once again interesting percussion was the initial attractor however I really loved the way the genre was open to blending sounds of other genres such as (the better) elements of Trance, Electro and House and HipHop. Then I spent some years getting into more Glitched up IDM artists. I guess I chilled out a bit in my early 30s!

Then I headed back into dancefloor territory after being introduced to the rough and raw flavours of Indietronica, NuDisco and Electro House. Nowadays the sounds you'll hear seeping out of the Space Cave are as diverse as ever since getting into The Field, Dizz1, Format B, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Joris Voorn, Umek, Grum, Bibio, Bookashade, The Space DJz, Opiuo, Trentemoller, Netsky and Fever Ray.

You're a bit of a tech head when it comes to lighting, lasers in particular - what draws you to them?

When I was a kid I remember being fascinated by the concept of laser light - I remember one of the first science books I had which explained how lasers worked and I was obsessed! Back in the 80s, lasers were inaccessible to the would-be hobbyist, particularly a kid, and were always the realm of laboratories, medical facilities and special FX departments on film sets. I guess the inaccessible nature of lasers back then build the mystique that would later give way to my obsession. I always found the concept of a coherent beam of light to be amazing, regards of application.

I was always frustrated by the physical limitations of moving-mirror lighting fixtures back in the 90s - often they were large, heavy, fragile devices which required building substantial trussing infrastructures in venues, heavy energy consumption and often they would shut down due to overheating mid-show. To achieve enough impact, several moving mirror fixtures were required at a bare minimum which was costly and required several hours of construction. The real challenge was to mimic laser-like effects however the inertia of the large moving mirror lights and slow stepper motors would prevent scanning at speeds that would approach the persistence of vision and the DMX protocol and control equipment was all quite primitive. Also without a coherent light source, any kind of true laser effect is impossible.

Head 10-15 years into the future and lasers have become affordable, compact, and highly energy efficient largely thanks to DPSS (Diode Pumped Solid State) technology. You no longer need to hire in generators nor dedicate a completely separate power phase or provide a water cooling feed like one would require with Argon lasers and similar technologies. The manner in which I view a laser projector is that it's a lighting device capable of projection of any "gobo" (beam shape) you desire (making "rotating gobos" in conventional robotic fixtures seem prehistoric). With good scanners (or Galvos as we call them), a laser can potentially re-trace up to 30,000 points per second allowing creation of more complicated designs with a minimum of flicker.

What I love most about lasers is how you can put up a couple of comparatively smaller boxes in the corners of the club, and completely fill it with a high-impact light show capable of not just lighting the space and putting aerial effects above the crowd's head, but to also act as a massive "vector" display when used in conjunction with some netting fabric.

What was your most memorable gig?

The most memorable gig would be playing a Live PA lead up set to Darren Emmerson and Carl Cox at Delirium's Science Fiction on Boxing Day of 1998 at the Embassy Ballroom in Perth. Seriously it flipped my lid playing to some 3000 people on a ridiculously hot Perth summer night. It was so inside the venue that perspiration rained down on the crowd and everyone was sick for the days that followed! Back then I was doing Live PA with nothing more than a few hardware synths and samplers MIDId up to a PC sporting a Pentium 233mmX processor with 32Mb of RAM. I was running the "pre-audio" version of Cubase (THE most reliable Cubase for live performance) and Rebirth slaved to Cubase with on a SoundBlaster AWE32 - ahhh the shame! Anyhow about 50 minutes into the set the mouse stopped responding to movements and I was stuck in a loop ... I continued playing, tweaking synths and playing with the mix to create movement while I called for the next DJ to take over - Darren Emmerson. Then following Darren, I had the pleasure to watch the masterful Carl Cox, from just a couple of meters behind the booth, whom I swore almost tore that building apart with the intensity he created. An unbelievable night, and one which changed my opinion on the art of DJing forever.

Do you have anything coming up that we should be keeping an eye out for?

Brewing in the DAW since around 2003, there are literally hundreds of JaseFOS gems slowly growing toward some kind of state that I feel comfortable playing them to people (thanks to my lack of discipline in finishing tunes) however many of them probably will not be released simply because they were done at a different stage of my growth as an engineer, or simply, that I'm not "into" them any more. Who knows, perhaps I'll do a Trentemoller and release a Chronicles style collection of the best pieces which reached a stage I'm happy to distribute.

I have recently embarked on a new collaborative project producing hard-edged, Acid-infused Techno with my new production partner, DJ Neo. We will be labeling this project, PHOTON CULTURE which will be a part studio creation and a tag-team DJ/LivePA/Laserist performance. Within just a few sessions, two really strong pieces are in progress with the view to releasing an EP of material within the weeks ahead.

Its been a pleasure Jason. We'll end it on a more casual note; the final question: Chicken or Beef?

Definitely the beef.

With mountains of chilly please.

[Cupe]

Epic read

[pulsebeat]

insane interview djaz

thumbs up

[AaronStatic]

noice

I'd just like to mention how much of an influence Jase was for me growing up in the Perth rave scene. I can't count the amount of times I saw Sensory Overload or himself play while I was front and centre with my jaw on the ground.

Big ups to Jase, really looking forward to seeing him play tonight for the first time in a really long time.

MELBOURNE, MEET PERTH

[Jaz]

Woo! been waiting for this

[J0rdz]

Great interview!!!

Saw Jase bust it out on Friday @ Prognosis... was IMMENSE! Live AV Laser Set... cant get over how awesome it was

[Hobberz]

Nice interview Jaz, well done mate.

[Jaz]

cheers lads