Characters: Josh Gabriel, Dave Dresden, Marquee Moon
Act One – Scene One
Curtain rises and audience sees a wall spitting the stage in two. Stage left are Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden seated at a table with a speaker phone between them. When seated together, they are otherwise known as Gabriel & Dresden. The characters’ back story is centered around their chance meeting in 2001 at a Miami Winter Music Conference. Gabriel was handing out white label copies of his track “Wave 3” and Dresden was scouting out talent for Pete Tong at the time. As these things go, Dresden eventually moved to San Francisco to join Gabriel as a production and DJ duo.
Presently, the characters have released countless high profile remixes, a number of their own tracks, compiled a mix album called “Bloom” in 2004 and had a #1 smash under the moniker of Motorcycle with the voice of an off-stage character named JES.
The Gabriel & Dresden sound must be viewed at in the light of arriving in a post-trance, post-progressive house environment where tracks are thrown out and songs are reinstated. The musicians and composers are taking over again and G&D are pushing the edge by simplifying and focusing on the heart of the song.
Seated stage right at a table is ITM’s Marquee Moon, a non-descript character who could be played by anyone. Marquee Moon speaks into a hand-held telephone.
MM’s phone rings. Offstage, a voice.
Chorus – Hi there, I’m calling for Marquee Moon.
MM – This is him.
Chorus – Ok, great. Today’s interview will be with both Josh and Dave. You’ll have 15 minutes for the interview. I’ll cut in at 14 minutes with a last minute warning. Do you need some time to get ready?
MM – Naw, I’m good to go.
Chorus – Ok, just hold the line while I connect you.
(pause)
Chorus – Alright, Josh and Dave, this interview is with Marquee Moon of Australia’s In the Mix.
Gabriel / Dresden (in unison) – What’s up, Marquee Moon?
MM (panic-stricken to himself) – I have no way of knowing whose voice is whose.
(into the phone) – Hey guys. How are things?
(A necessary and yet, completely asinine introduction into an interview.)
Gabriel / Dresden (in unison) – Good, good.
MM – Cool. Well, if you don’t mind I’d like to jump right into things. You each have released some solo work, but as the duo of Gabriel & Dresden, what are some of the pros and cons of working with someone else as opposed to just being on your own? What hurdles must one overcome? In what ways is it better?
Unknown (probably Gabriel) – What do you mean cons? If there were drawbacks we wouldn’t still be working together. We’ve spent the last year and a half solely concentrating on the duo project and haven’t done anything else.
Dresden – You know, Josh and I (MM’s eyes light up as now there is reference to voice) have really different opinions on things and the compromise between those usually winds up being the best decision.
Gabriel – Yeah, the other pushes you in a direction one normally wouldn’t go.
Dresden – See, it’s everything that’s new and outside of us, new experiences, that lead us to where we’re at. Everything is complementing of each other and we’re happy with that.
MM – In spite of what you guys have just said, did releasing “Bloom” almost a year ago change things for you at all? How were things different after the release?
Gabriel – No change. It’s all part of a continuum. It was the logical progression.
Dresden – It’s weird releasing mix albums as opposed to an artist album because it’s almost like saying it’s a sales versus a popularity contest. We didn’t release the mix very widely at all.
MM – But it’s practically a production album. 60% of the album are your tracks.
Dresden – Sure, but it’s still a mix album with all the other tracks. And mix albums get no respect. None at all. Not like a production album does.
Gabriel – In fact we’re workin’ on an album right now. We’re takin’ a break from working on a song right now to talk to you.
MM – Any specific goals with this new stuff?
Gabriel – No, no goals. We wanna try out some new stuff, but we don’t wanna push anyone away. We hate it when a DJ releases a production album and it sounds nothing like what his sets are like.
Dresden – It’s just confusing for everyone.
Gabriel – Yeah, that’s why we wanna focus on keeping the Gabriel & Dresden sound while still doing something new.
Scene Two
MM – I’m gonna switch gears altogether. You guys have often spoke of some the things you want to see change within dance music. In light of those things, what are you actively doing to bring about those changes?
Gabriel – We seriously trying get down to the proponents of the song. Things in general are getting way too filtered down.
Dresden – It’s almost like our music’s getting slower. I’d say my average BPM sits right around 122.
(Both of them laugh at some inside joke.)
Gabriel – We just need to evolve somehow.
Dresden – Evolve without forgetting our pasts. I’m always digging through my old records for some sort of inspiration.
MM – So how about physical changes?
Gabriel – We’ve completely embraced technology. 100% of our set is either on CD or on computer. The mp3 is the key. For the album we just wanted to go about it ourselves without any major label help.
Dresden – We just wanna keep the music as the music, if you know what I mean. All the promotion is indie with mail-outs and everything. Technically there’s no need for actual product anymore because you could just release the music on the net.
MM – You mentioned your live sets. What would a G&D live set look like?
Gabriel – In September of 2004, we left vinyl and went completely onto CDs and computers.
Dresden – I was unwilling to give up my pitch control, which is why we even still have CDs.
Gabriel – We used to do the versus thing and take turns DJing, but now we’re in complete control of everything at the same time.
MM – How does that pan out?
Gabriel – we just are constantly communicating. When to add or take out an effect. When to drop a particular snare or when to bring in the next song.
Scene Three
MM – With all this talk of change, how have things change between the two of you in terms of production since starting out?
Gabriel – We just keep getting better. I’ve been making music on a computer for 20 years now. Every year I’m getting new ideas.
Dresden – 2 years ago we were still making music as a wall of sound. But now we’re stripping that down. Less is more as we’re coming to find out. We’re taking a minimalist approach.
MM – Ok, so in your opinion, should music be analyzed from an intellectual standpoint or taken for its emotive qualities?
Gabriel – It should be both. There are many communication levels to music. It’s like looking at a painting. What is in the painting can be analyzed, but the colors can change the emotional impact.
Dresden – You know, I find solace in music. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane.
Gabriel – We’ve found that there needs to be underlying language within the music and it’s with this language one can be analytical with.
Chorus – Excuse me Gentlemen, we have one minute left.
MM – Ok. So is this intuitive or is it intended?
Dresden – It’s both. In many ways it’s intuitive, but we also spend a lot of time discussing it as well.
MM – You two must be connected at some seriously deep levels.
Dresden – Yeah, our bond so special. It’s so funny cause on paper we seem to have the most perfect bond and partnership, but in reality, we couldn’t be more different. Josh is married, I’m single. And we’re just even opposite types of people. It’s the love of good music that has brought us together.
MM – Alright, I’m out of time. Thanks very much guys.
Gabriel – Thank you. Oh, let your readers know the album will be out hopefully by December, but for sure before the Winter Music Conference in March. We’re gonna release the first single as soon as possible. It’s called “Tracking Treasure Down” and it features a vocalist named Molly. And send everyone to our website www.gabrielanddresden.com.
Then static as the line is broken. Both sides of the stage hang up phones and curtain falls.
Fin
You can catch Gabriel & Dresden touring Australia in September and October as part of Godskitchen, along with BT, Above & Beyond and more:
Sep 30 – Brisbane, Family
Oct 2 – Sydney, Space (BUY TICKETS)
Oct 7 – Perth, Metro City
Oct 8 – Melbourne, Melbourne Park (BUY TICKETS)
