One of the drum & bass scene’s most prolific young producers, if Jon Gooch (aka Spor) has his way he won’t be tarred by the DnB brush for too much longer. His latest production project sees him collaborating with house music’s latest golden boy Deadmau5, and when you consider the success each artist has had in their respective scenes to date it’s surely a good sign of things to come.
So far in his career Spor has released his music through some of the most respected labels on the scene including Renegade Hardware and Subtitles. He’s also launched his own label with the help of Chris Renegade, Apex, Evol Intent and Ewun called Lifted Music, and this month he’s touring Australia for the first time.
Starting with the obvious; what are you up to right now?
I’ve been working on remixes for Teebee & Calyx and Bad Company. I’ve also got a pile of new D&B in progress, as well as a side project Feed Me in conjunction with Deamau5.
What are your feelings surrounding your upcoming trip to Australia?
I can’t wait really – it’s been a long time in production and to be able to tour an amazing country with Jake Ewun is going to be fantastic, adventures abound…
What are your thoughts on the dubstep fad currently sweeping the globe?
To be honest I’ve not been exposed to a great deal of it… some I like, [but] as a new genre I think it needs time to develop. I can see it changing rapidly over the coming years.
I remember in the 1990s drum & bass occupied a similarly exciting position as the latest dance trend. What’s it like being a drum & bass artist now that the genre has been established in people’s minds?
I think drum & bass has reached a point recently where people are forgetting part of what it was originally about. For me it was attractive because of the extremely forward thinking, fun and experimental aspects. It was ‘anything goes’, you could bring influence from anywhere, create different moods, re-invent yourself. Lately there seems a fair bit of negativity from a certain percentage of listeners who almost want it to stay a certain way. For me that’s forgetting why we were drawn in to begin with. I’m not too interested in musically repeating myself.
One thing both cultures share is a strong sense of community. You’ve been involved in collaboration throughout a large part of your career, most recently Lifted with Chris Renegade. How do you balance forging your own style and career as a solo artist while belonging to a community of artists, particularly such an esteemed collective as Lifted?
I don’t see it as a balance really. I love working alone – but when friends come through it’s always refreshing to get together and make a track, I find the two go side by side easily. There’s plenty more people I’m looking forward to working with, it’s always a learning experience.
How do you approach creating your own style as a producer and as an artist?
I would imagine if you actually tried specifically to ‘create’ a style it would become transparent. I’ve never really felt like I’ve had one but I get told otherwise… obviously some artists achieve this well through having signature samples or beats that they use. I like to change as much of that up as possible, regularly, so hopefully any style I do have just comes through in the way I work I suppose.
Your music traverses some quite challenging territory, but I’ve read some interviews where you emphasise that the dancefloor is a priority in creating tracks. Is it difficult to balance the two impulses?
Not really, I’d say the tension between creating the energy needed for the dancefloor, and giving the depth needed to make an engaging piece of music, a big part of what I enjoy in writing.
In a recent interview you mentioned an urge to explore a more varied sound, but didn’t specify in what way. How would you like to expand your sound in the future?
Feed Me is basically a manifestation of that. It’s something I feel is separate enough to warrant a new moniker – I feel differently when I make house-orientated music. Aside from that, I’ve been working on non-D&B Spor material, also I did a Radiohead remix, which was down-tempo. I think that caught people out a bit, some people expect everything I make to have a ‘drop’... it’s not always about that.
Many drum & bass artists have strike me as having an intrinsic drive to advance and develop, even more so than artists in other electronic music genres. Do you feel any pressure to adhere to your current sound at all?
Not at all. Perhaps in the past – but I’ve had some great positive reinforcement through DJing. Over the last year I’ve played a lot of things I thought might divide or confuse a crowd, but getting positive reactions in situations like that has really made me feel open about what I want to do.
How much control do you feel you have over your sound?
I read a good article by Squarepusher that argued production is a collaboration with your computer and so is beyond your complete control, but for me being able to achieve exactly what I want and manipulate every element to my satisfaction has always been my main goal. It’s impossible to do completely, I guess, but fun to try.
I noticed that you haven’t released an album yet, in spite of being one of the leading lights on drum & bass globally. Is there any chance of an album in the future? Is there any pressure associated with such a maneuver? Loefah once told me he wouldn’t release an album until he was absolutely certain he had something special to offer…
I’m weighing up material for it now… don’t want to go too much into it though!
How much of a role does technology play in the development of your music and style? While electronic music is considered a technologically focused medium, answers tend to vary; Rennie Pilgrem told me he frequently bought new samplers to compete with newer artists, while Ronan Harris from VNV Nation told me he’s used the same keyboard for over fifteen years. Where do you stand?
I think evolving with the times is essential to avoid becoming stagnant or obsolete. I enjoy changing up equipment or my workspace just to present new challenges, I feel like the day I get too comfortable is the day I’ll get boring.
Spor tours Australia with Ewun this September, you can catch them in the following cities:
Sep 5 – Adelaide
Sep 6 – Perth
Sep 11 – Brisbane
Sep 12 – Sydney
Sep 13 – Melbourne
Citizen says...
Dubstep fad?