DENVER DUBSTEP

Encanti just hooked us up with an hour long mix with tons of originals and unreleased material. Highly recommended. Subscribe to the Sub.mission Podcast on iTunes or download the mix straight from the Podcasts tab of the website.

After Encanti's performance at the Other Side last month, I had the chance to pick the producer/dj/vj extradonaire's brain: 

Coleman: So I just wanted to start off with you giving us some background on yourself in general.

Encanti: Sure... I'm originally from Alaska, and moved to Boston in '03 to go to Berklee music school. I took the name "Encanti" because for a school concert I was asked to shorten my name "Ben Cantil" to be printed in large font on a flyer.. I just dropped the first and last letters, and the space between. I graduated in '07 and moved in with Zebbler. At the time I was very interested in IDM and breakcore. At school my heros were Richard Devine and Aphex Twin. It wasn't until I started going to actual dance parties in the area when I learned an appreciation for dance music, and then dubstep caught my ear in '08. The genre seemed to have enough room for my glitchy weird sounds, so I began producing bassy 140bpm tracks, and I've been at it ever since. Zebbler also made the migration from being focused on undanceable IDM/breakcore, in to the dubstep/ glitch hop realm. We started playing out as "Zebbler Encanti Experience" with his visuals and my audio, and eventually began building sets for dance parties. By 2010 we had enough material to play all-original material for an entire set.

C: When did you first start producing electronic music? What was your musical background before that?

E: I've been interested in all kind of music since beginning to write my own songs at about 14 years old. Industrial music (NIN and Marilyn Manson) really fueled my interest in electronic music, and Napster gave me a gateway for downloading electronic music that otherwise would have never made it to Alaska. I would write angsty songs on guitar and program a drum machine to play a beat along with it. There was no scene or audience for this activity.. it was for my own amusement. Plus, there were not a lot of musicians in the area. I knew literally every musician in a 100 mile radius of Kenai, Alaska. By the time I graduated high school in 03, I had about 20 singing+guitar+electronics songs... kind of downtempo industrial feeling... and continued that in to Berklee until gradually they became all instrumental, and really IDM influenced.

C: In a lot of your productions you can definitely hear that industrial influence that gives your sound that harder edge. I feel like that is definitely very prevalent on your new track The Final Sign. It's spooky. But before we get to the Final Sign... i wanna ask you a bunch question about that... i wanna get some more background. What were your first shows like in Boston? Were your first shows live performances? or dj sets?

E: Before ever performing live electronic music, I was playing guitar and singing in garage bands. I did metal, funky grunge, and jam rock mostly. Also, I would play tons of solo acoustic shows at coffee shops and house parties. This is how I got used to performing and connecting to an audience. When I saw my first electronic music shows was about the same time I discovered Ableton Live, and it was so fun to me that I would take little bits and pieces from every songs I liked and mash them up... My first dance parties were all about live remixes. Meanwhile, my electronic music productions really weird... like totally undanceable, more modern art than electronic music. I didn't actually make real dance music until 2007, shortly after I went to a breakcore show and got my face melted off for the first time. It still wasn't until 08 until people actually started dancing to anything I made... lol. So, I feel like I'm still new to dance music. I'm still learning. By the way, if you're curious, i released all of my "undanceable" electronic music for free in 09, on a compilation called Glitchography: http://www.verminstreet.com/music/encanti-glitchography

C: So when did you play your first show as Encanti? Have you been playing out as Encanti on Ableton Live since the start? What were those first Encanti shows like? Were you playing Encanti tracks? Or mashing up other people's production?

E: 05 - 07... I was doing mashups and learning to DJ. In the studio, I was making weird music out of my own sounds. I would use lots of circuit bent noises, and home brew sound design with Max/MSP. Around that time, I only played a couple of gigs where I dropped my original music... but it was noisy and intense. Not the best dance floor music unless you were extremely high.

C:  I'd love see people try and dance to your early productions. So was there a scene in Boston at this time for your shows?

E: Totally! Breakcore was really hot in Boston in 06 and 07... there were a couple of legendary underground breakcore parties that changed my life, with Dev/Null, Duran Duran Duran, and Aaron Spectre dominating dance floors. It feels like in 08 or so, dubstep and glitch hop came along and completely paved over breakcore... haha. And practically overnight, it was over.

C: How do you feel about the death of that scene? Were you quick to make the transition into dubstep and glitch once it started taking over?

E: I really loved dubstep as soon as I heard it, and I allowed it to influence my style immensely, but I don't think that I ever truly made the transition. My take on dubstep is extremely inclusive of my past influences... IDM, breakcore, industrial, jungle, even jam rock and metal. Michael Travis from EOTO said I should stop saying I make dubstep and try to make up a better description for it, because my musical formulas tend to veer pretty far outside the box while keeping it bassy and at 140bpm. Techno and psytrance has also been a huge influence on my choice of sounds, and build ups. Lots of my tracks revert to a 4-on-the-floor feel with trance-like melodic loops. I would say it took me a long time to make the transition in to danceable music in general. The transition is still happening, and I'm still being influenced by things. I would say it took me a long time to make the transition in to danceable music in general. 

C: Yeah I'd definitely agree. I feel that the word "dubstep" is used to describe so much music that is far from that. I'd definitely agree with Travis on that. We just totally lack the right words to describe these new sounds. So you said earlier that you moved in with Zebbler after you graduated in 07. How did you guys make a connection?

E: I was watching one of his performances in an altered state, and his show, called GLITCH 2, melted my brain. It was in surround sound with three screens at once. My girlfriend at the time introduced us after the party and said "this is ben, he makes music that sounds like your visuals." So a little later on, we happened to reconnect at a regional Burning Man event, and we improvised a surround sound set, which was so dark and noisy that we completely cleared the dancefloor! We've been collaberating ever since. I feel like we still have that same intense energy, except now we're speaking through a psychedelic bass-driven (and better produced) audio/visual medium that our audience seems to really take in and understand.. this has been an incredible year of connecting with people, and it's given both of us such a high and a drive to make more.

C: Yeah you guys are definitely not clearing dancefloors any more... rather filling em up. So were you completely new to the VJ scene at this time? Did Z introduce you into the VJ realm?

E: Yes, I'm still completely new to VJing with my only experiences being with EOTO and the Shpongletron. Zebbler trained me to be his replacement, so both EOTO and Shpongle could have a Zebbler visual show while touring at the same time. I've done about 40 gigs with EOTO on my own, and I've developed my own style at this point, but Zebbler's really pulling all the strings and producing the visual content. Zebbler Encanti Experience has really turned in to a full blown A/V multimedia outfit this year.. the goal is to eventually train one another to be one another's replacement. He's getting pretty good at Ableton Live

C: Oh wow thats really exciting news. The two of you are really pushing your whole project into completely uncharted territory. I'm really excited to see where you guys will go next. How was touring with EOTO? Those guys don't stop... ever.

E: We really love EOTO. Zebbler Encanti Experience opened for them 23 times during their spring tour, and our styles were so perfect for eachother. Plus our personalities work really well together. Touring together, we did like 56 shows in 60 days... it was an incredible trip and we met so many amazing people around the country. Zebbler's with them now for their fall tour, they're doing 40 shows in 40 days.

C: Yeah I don't know of anybody who tours that intensely. ZEE and EOTO are a great combo - and Zebbler's visuals fit perfect for EOTO. I bet that tour was a blast. How did you guys get connected with them?

E: Zebbler's been doing visuals for Shpongle for the last 3 years or so. Shpongle is managed under Coast II Coast entertainment, who recently started managing EOTO, so when EOTO said they were interested in having a visual show, the connection was made.

C: Ah well there you go. Speaking of Shpongle. You recently played your first show with Shpongle Live at Camp Bisco and you are planning with them on Halloween as well in New York correct? As well as doing some VJing for the Shpongletron on the summer tour. What were you doing in the live set up? And can we expect to see more Shpongle live shows in the states after halloween? *inteview done before Halloween

E: Yes, I'm playing in Shpongle Live for the halloween concerts in NYC and SF on Oct 28, 29. I'm controlling an Ableton Live set with all the backing tracks for Shpongle's music: over 200 stereo channels, which are routed in to a 26 channel sub-mix, and from there I have control over volume, panning, and FX in real time. It's pretty awesome being a part of these legendary performances, but I'm still pretty low on the totem pole so I don't know what Shpongle's plans are for upcoming USA gigs. One thing I do know is that Simon, Raja Ram, and the rest of the band really love doing Shpongle Live, and there is lots of enthusiasm about doing it more in the USA.

C: Yeah they definitely have to fan base to play a full U.S. tour here. I bet it is amazing to be apart of those shows. Especially the first U.S. appearance at Camp during it's first sold out year. Exciting stuff! So now I wanted to talk to you about The Final Sign. Really love the new EP. The video and music are fit perfectly together and are somewhat disturbing and unsettling... in a good way. Can you talk about the making of the video and the production of the track? What message are you guys sending it? Seems like there are a lot of underlying themes.

E: Glad to hear you're digging the release! This track took a long time to produce because it had a lot of unusual elements. Zebbler had a vision.. he wanted the track to have vocal bass sounds, to feature his Russian poetry, and to have the sound quality reflect deep apocalyptic darkness. I went to work on it, using a lot of circuit bent sounds from a speak-and-spell to add little vowels to the drum parts, and mangling his droning poetry so it sounded like a demonic voice. In previous videos and performances, whenever we get to a scary section, we have these blacklight-reactive masks we put on that Zebbler made. These masks are featured in this video, and I think this song was really about the voices of these mask characters: utterances from ancient tricksters. The video features Brian Kane, the forefather of digital VJing, walking around some urban ruins and discovering the mask demons... I think the theme here is that, underneath the cerebral multi-media we use for self expression, there's a lot of intense mystical energy trying to burst out the seams... like everything we're doing with art and music is just a new kind of ritual to prepare for the end of the world... The Final Sign is riffing on that vibe: intense psychedelic energy breathing beneath our modern means of expression "...or something like that." I don't like pinning down conceptual meanings... The song and the video is really just meant to raise your vibe to our level. The video was a playground for trying new sound-reactive ideas that Zebbler was developing with Aftereffects. Basically, you can play 5 videos at once, the loudness of a sound would decide which video was playing at that moment. There are parts in the video where the sounds in the song will change the amount of paint on our faces, and our body positions... this was a calculated effort to synchronize sounds and visuals in new and interesting ways. Since diving in to some of these techniques with The Final Sign video, Zebbler has really mastered the audio-controlling-visuals thing in a bunch of different programs. You should see his new visual package for the EOTO fall tour... the sound-reactive synchronized video tricks are ridiculous.

C: The EP features remixes by some huge up and coming producers... Elfkowitz, Freddy Todd, Stephan Jacobs, Pysmbionic, Dice Motion. How did you choose these artists? Can we expect to see more EPs from you and Zeb following this format - One big release with video along with it and lots of remixes?

E: I've been a psymbionic fan all year, since his release on the "Mind Elixer Presents: Repeat Business" compilation. I got the pleasure to meet him at the Orange Peel while touring with EOTO. Later on in the tour we went to the midwest and I got to hear Elfkowitz and Freddy Todd. Once I got back to Boston, Nick from Vermin Street asked me who I wanted on the album, and these were the artists I were impressed with while travelling. They all agreed to make remixes for the album, and Stephan Jacobs got on board through Nick. Dice Motion is a local Boston duo that have wild live shows, and make excellent original music. They were really stoked to make their remix, and they turned it around in a week. Of all the remixes, this one really stood out because I think it blends with my music very well, and it's a banger. You'll be seeing more Dice Motion in the future I expect. For future releases, I think ZEE will continue to release videos along with our tracks, but not necessarily in any order. One day, we plan on releasing a physical artifact: something that contains our music, visuals, plus a ton more design, words, and visual candy. Our codename for this album/artifact project is "Psychic Projectors".

C: "Psychic Projectors" - definitely a very appropriate name for your duo. You guys are really takin it up a notch with each new creation. Can't wait to see what the future of your project has in store. Now i want to talk about your live show. You have some really crazy energy. I love seeing that in artists. You are really interactive with your audience. Climbing on shit. Bringing out labia pictures. Just freaking out in general. How important do you feel this element of interaction is to your performace? Have you always been such a nut (in a good way) during your shows? Oh and not to forget the diapers

E: Haha, ok let me tell you: Bass Diapers are a concept that I created with Michael Travis from EOTO the night before playing at Sonic Bloom in Colorado. We were talking about bass that was so nasty that you'll poop a little... how you should probably give out diapers for that show. The next day I couldn't resist passing out diapers right before my heaviest drop. Me and about 25 festy goers wore the first batch of bass diapers and danced in them. It was pretty epic. Every time I perform, it's an exciting opportunity for me to experience my creations in the context and format they were created for. These moments bliss me out, and I let myself feedback off my audiences. With music and lights and projections, we seek to overload the senses and share our visions. I want every one of my shows to be an experience. Zebbler wants the same out of his shows, and that's we work so well with creating a unified experience. When I say experience, I mean a fully immersive experience.

C: The bass diapers. I love it hahaha. Definitely a theme that should be continued. I think one guy in Denver had the wrong idea. He was wearing one his head the whole show haha. Idk if you saw that but it was hilarious. And yeah I love you guys are all about full immersion. When i go to a show, i don't wanna see just another dj rockin his head behind his computer. I wanna get captured by whats goin on and not be able to leave it for a moment. I feel like ZEE definitely does that. While we are on the subject of your live performace, I know you are using ableton, but what are you doing on ableton?

E: Right now, I'm spinning whole mixed tracks like a DJ, but I have an FX channel which I can cut to at any point. Right now I'm using pretty simple classic glitch, filter, and delay FX with Ableton's Effects Rack. When I play in ZEE, I have another channel that takes Zebbler's audio input, because some of our tracks have audio embedded in the video. 

C: Fully immersive... So alright im gonna wrap it up. Just got a few last questions. When is ZEE coming back to Colorado??? And how long have you been growing your beard... its pretty serious

E: ZEE will hopefully make our debut appearance as a duo in Colorado next year. I plan on coming back as soon as possible and doing more Encanti shows because I absolutely love playing in Colorado. My chin has had hair on it for about 10 years, and it took about 3 years to grow it to be long.

Thanks so much! Looking forward to coming back!!

Keep up with Encanti at: http://www.facebook.com/zebblerencantiexperience

Watch the video for the Final Sign here: http://vimeo.com/18967392

Support Encanti's latest release here: http://www.beatport.com/release/the-final-sign/673968

EZ - Coleman - Sub.mission