Ex-pat Welsh DJ and producer Steve Good has a few musical alter egos: Double Dragon, Sativa and Puff Dragon. An old school psytrance officianado, Double Dragon released “Continuum” on Phantasm records in 2000, followed by “Transparent” on Plusquam in 2002, to rave reviews around the globe. He is playing in Melbourne for Earthdance 2005 this Saturday September 17th. ITM caught up for a quick chat.
Tell us a bit about your early years…when did you decide upon music as a career?
Ever since I can remember really. I don’t think there’s ever been anything else that I wanted to do. I’ve always been into music. My Dad’s a music teacher, so there was always music around: instruments, scores, musicians. I had my first record player when I was 6 years old, and I used to nick my Mum’s Tupperware from the kitchen and make a drum kit. I think it used to drive my parents bananas, so maybe that’s the reason they decided to buy me a violin: to keep the noise down. I played that until I was about 13, when I begged for a guitar.
How did you come to land in Japan? Is it home? How does the Japanese culture and music industry nurture your creative self?Well, the simple version is that there was a woman involved (haha).
The first time I got here I just thought it was the closest thing to living on another planet without actually going that far. I decided then that this is where I wanted to live. It’s my home, and I’ve been here for 10 years now. There’s a strange kind of gravity with this place, that makes it easy to get here and very difficult to leave. I don’t really know what effect this has on the music I make.
One thing I do know is that Japan has one the best outdoor party scenes in the world.
How do you describe your style? How has it developed since you first started playing with sound?I suppose Double Dragon is basically “psychedelic trance”. When I first started making and listening to this kind of music, there wasn’t really a name for it.
Recently, there seem to be millions of little genres, so I’m not sure where I’d fit there. “Psychedelic trance” probably sounds a bit old fashioned, but I’m from the old school…J Recently, it’s much more progressive, and deep psychedelic rather than twisty-turny psychedelic. Haha … it’s very difficult to describe music.
You’ve got a few alter egos (Sativa and Puff Dragon) – how did these develop and how does the work you do under these names differ from Double Dragon?
Well, I wanted to write different kinds of music, and it made sense for me to split these things up, as the styles are all different and wouldn’t really work together.
Sativa is a project with DJ Steve (aka Big Cheese), a great mate, and really fun to work with. It’s more towards the progressive side of things, kind of in-between trance and house. Puff Dragon is the slower stuff I make – still psychedelic, for sure, but down-beat. I’ve just finished the Puff Dragon album, and it’s going to be released on Dakini records in November. For the last year or so, I’ve really been concentrating on that, but I’ve also just started writing with DJ So. We haven’t come up with a good name for that project yet… One of the candidates is “Shiva Space Security”.
Who are your biggest influences?For trance? Well, I think there are a couple of people who really pioneered this sound and, honestly, no-one else has ever topped it. Simon Posford, obviously, plus Koxbox and X-Dream. There may be people with better production, more “killer” kick drums, whatever, but no-one even gets close to these people in terms of innovation. The people who’s sound had a big effect on me were the old school UK crew – Dick Trevor, James Munro, Mark Allen, Nik Taylor, ‘cos the first time I heard this music I was living in London. But probably the biggest influence of all was Pink Floyd (my Mum bought me “Dark Side of the Moon” when I was about 7 years old) , and I had this hippy uncle who used to have this mad record collection.
What do you like to listen to in your spare time?Spare time? Well, as I spend the majority of my time listening to or making music, sometimes it’s nice to listen to very sparse stuff like Brian Eno & Ishq. Things that don’t try and grab your attention so much. It’s the closest thing to silence. But, I listen to all types of music; I’d get so bored listening to the same kind of music all the time. Classical, ambient, rock music. Like, lately, I’ve been listening to this insane Mongolian throat singing and Chinese folk music.
Tell us a bit about your production set up at home. What equipment do you use?
For years I had loads of keyboards, samplers and rack units, taking up loads of space and looking like a mad professor’s laboratory with wires all over the place. Now, it’s got super simple. I just use a Mac with Logic Audio, plus a little controller keyboard, a mixer and a nice pair of Tannoy monitors that I’ve had for years…I can make just about any sound I can imagine. It doesn’t look quite so impressive, but does the job much better. It used to take me hours to save all of the sounds, and all of that kit used to get very hot in my tiny room!!
What about your routines? When is the best time for you to work and be creative?
It can be any time, really. Probably the best time to write is when you get home from a particularly inspiring party or experience. At one stage I did try getting up early and starting writing at 9am, but it felt too much like “work”.
I prefer to wait for inspiration.
How do you make your ideas come to life?Hmmmm…I’ve been making music for so long that I know how to make the sounds I want to hear. Now, getting the original ideas in the first place, that’s the tricky part…
Tell us about your involvement with Earthdance. How did this happen?
Very simple, really. Brendon from Modulated Monkey e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to play. Sounded like a great idea, so I said yes!
What does Earthdance mean to you?
Well, I think the idea of a world party for peace is amazing. We certainly need more of that around.
Finally, tell us about your trip to Melbourne. How long will you be here for? What treats do you have lined up for your gig at the Benefit Night on 17/09?
It’s a real shame, but I’m only going to be in town for a few nights. I’m going to have to try and squeeze as much fun out as possible. About the set, well you’ll just have to wait and see…
Double Dragon plays Earthdance 2005 this weekend:
Saturday September 17th at the Colonial Hotel (Brown Alley). Check ITM whatson for more info.
