Preparing to embark on an east coast Australian tour with D-Ko, K-Oscillate are fast establishing a reputation as one of Australia’s finest live electronic acts. The tour coincides with the release of their new single release, Jerome Fandor spoke with Matt from the mighty Melbourne live act about their past, present and future.
Jerome: Firstly, the idea of a ‘live’ band playing music that was originally popularised by DJs is quite an abstract concept; so tell us a little bit about yourselves. What exactly is KO?
Matt: K-O is a band with a vision. We set off three years ago with the idea of creating a live outfit that has the ability to “jam” in the styles of your traditional jazz/blues/funk/rock, but to do it with the sounds and beats of modern electronica. It involved a lot of research and experimenting but we evolved the sound we envisioned and found that Drum & Bass held the most creative energies, although we also jam out dub and breaks. As a live 5 piece we generate the energies on stage which no DJ can muster and we present music and sounds which you’ve never heard, its definitely exciting to play and audiences across Australia are well enthused at live shows.
I’m sure most people are curious about your set up so why don’t you tell us how exactly do you bridge the gap between performance and electronica?
MIDI is the lynch pin. It’s 1970’s technology that not only holds its own today, but also allows an almost infinite medium to interact a computer with the human being. We have drums, bass, keyboards and samplers on stage, which isn’t exactly a new concept, but we use midi interfaces on the bass guitar and drums to access sound banks. Its at the point where the bass guitarist can play the drums from his electric bass, the drummer can alter parameters of effects on these drums, or play a bass line, and the keyboardist can deliver harmonies, melodies or any of the above. It’s a whole new concept of performance; you can trigger any sound you can conceive at any time, live in front of the audience.
Do you feel that there is a trend towards live‚ dance music these days? How do club oriented audiences respond to the idea?
If you go out on any given night you’re going to want to have a great time and be involved in something exciting and stimulating, it’s all about entertainment. Originally, it was live bands that people went to dance to, then DJ culture allowed people to dance to their favourite tunes anywhere at anytime, however the focus and “real” presence of a band cannot be replicated by a single man and technology so we want to meld the sounds and culture of DJ dominated genres with the reality of being in the same room at the same time with your audience.
The Life Cycle EP is an amazing piece of work. Artists often find it difficult to translate their live energy from the stage onto disc. Yet the EP sends me into a frenzy every time I hear it. How did you guys approach the recording?
It’s the age-old balancing act of technical prowess versus sincere live energy. You can record a song perfectly but it’s as dry as a salada in a jar of salt, or you can harness the magic of a live explosive performance where the chops are “unworthy” for the discerning electronica listener. We’re entering into a predominantly DJ or producer controlled domain where the music is surgically quantised and regimented to the closest 256th note. Being humans we can’t match that, however we can add the soul, which even 1000 G5s [Macs] couldn’t fathom. All our tracks are recorded as a one take with a few over dubs if necessary and the vocals added later, this gives the closest example of what it is to be in the room.
So, where do you feel KO fits into the equation as far as drum and bass in general is concerned both locally and internationally?
We’ve shared the stage with some of the dons of D&B. It’s an amazing privilege and experience but it’s just the start and we have a lot to offer. After nearly every single K-O gig there’s a geezer from the UK basically telling us to hop on a plane over there [Europe] ASAP because no one is doing what we do. Essentially we believe that with technology going the way it is, our style of musical live performance will open many doors for the coming generations of musicians.
You all seem to have musical influences outside of the styles that you play in KO. How have those influences contributed to your sound?
They’re just different ingredients that allow for strange bedfellows of music. I like the fact that one of us has composed for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, another one of us has played in it, then there’s the progressive rock bands, punk rock bands (28-Days), funk, acid jazz, jazz bands plus the steady stream of trance, dub and straight up storming D&B tracks and everything in between. We’ve each discussed our diversity and celebrate it for what its worth, however we all understand that K-Oscillate itself is fast becoming the apex for our creative discourse.
Don’t miss your chance to see K-Oscillate, touring the east coast with D-Ko this July:
Thu July 14 – The Sol Bar, Coolum – Qld
Fri July 15 – Elements:4 at 610 Gallery, Fortitude Valley – Qld
Sat July 16 – The Shack, Toowoomba – Qld
Sun July 17 – Hotel Great Northern, Byron Bay – NSW
Thu July 28 – Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross – NSW
Fri Jul 29 – Ruby’s, Belgrave – Vic
Sat July 30 – The Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy – Vic
