features

	18/9/2003
	Excerpt from noise magazine

�It�s great being able to put a whole lot of music and ideas into a computer with a final vision in mind, then chip away at it until it has become exactly the way you hear it in your head� says 22-year-old Stu, aka Bass Kleph.

After bravely putting �El Questro� up public dissection as part of the first round of the triple j/noise Remix project, Downsyde sifted through over 100 entries and chose Bass Kleph�s �Shake Your What?� remix as their favourite.
Of his methods, Stu explains, �I originally did a very Neptunes-influenced hip-hop remix, but after much umming and ahhing, decided to pick the tempo up a bit. I tried to blend my breakbeat style with Downsyde's Latin flavours, and a sprinkle of techno. I wanted to change up the parts a little to give the track a similar sound but different rhythms/melodies, and to have a final track that started somewhere and evolved into something slightly different.�

So Bass Kleph�s �Shake Your What?� gets the tick of approval, but what else makes for a good remix in the eyes of Downsyde�s MC Optamus? �The best thing to go for is originality,� he tells us. �These days anyone can layer loops or replace a live drummer with a drum machine. We did our first album on a $300 PC and a $200 microphone. It�s how you use what you�ve got � you don�t need a $10,000 Mac set-up to do create good music.�
�A good remix would get across the remix artist�s ideas and feeling for the original song and the remix,� Stu concurs, �while also representing their style and personality. I find it hard to remix something I really, really like, because to me it�s already perfect. Actually, I've always liked Downsyde, and am definitely a fan.�

Check out Bass Kleph in clubs around Sydney, with tours to Melbourne and Brisbane around the corner. On a regular basis you can catch him DJing and/or singing sea shanties on Thursday nights at his home turf - Kerfuffle @ Aqua Lounge in Manly.

noise remix: head to noise.net.au to catch remixes of tracks by Silverchair, Downsyde, The Waifs, Magic Dirt, The Herd and many more as part of the noise remix project. More great tracks will be available to remix during October, including Frenzal Rhomb�s cheeky number �Russell Crowe�s Band�.