In this age of ephemeral hype monsters and talent-free knock offs it’s refreshing to be reminded that artists like Freq Nasty still dot the landscape of electronic music. For those not in the know, Freq Nasty a.k.a. Darin MacFayden (which is really just proof that the name ‘Darin’ or one of its many variants need not be an impediment to ultra-coolness) has been a pioneer and furious proponent of various breaks and bass movements ever since ‘Boomin’ Back Atcha’ redefined bass heavy beats way back in 1999.
Linking in with the likes of B.L.I.M., Adam Freeland, The Freestylers and the Plump DJs, Freq was at the forefront of the then emerging nu-skool breaks scene, touring constantly and pumping out single after single of massive, hip-hop and ragga tinged breaks. After the release of his much acclaimed second album ‘Bring Me The Head Of Freq Nasty’, Darin decided to take things up a notch and unleashed upon the world his ‘Video Nasty Soundsystem’ – an all-in politically charged assemblage of MCs, VJs, and animators, tied together with Freq’s own inimitable sound. Having seen it twice, I can safely say that it ranks up there with the Daft Punk pyramid in terms of sheer intensity and visceral impact.
However, after this things went a little quiet in the Freq Nasty camp. It’s probably no surprise that this coincided with the quiet implosion of the nu-skool breaks movement and the steady profusion of genres that accompanied it. All of a sudden there was a lot of new musical real estate available and people needed to work out where they stood. There were hints as to where Freq might end up when ‘Creator’, his dub-heavy collaboration with Santogold and Switch, hit the web last year, but now we can put our curiousity to rest, because FABRICLIVE.42 has just been released and Mr. Nasty is at the helm, whipping together a furious and intoxicating mix of dubstep, bassline, fidget, ragga, hip-hop and a whole suite of tracks which don’t really seem to have a genre yet… He’s described it as a “breaks mix without a proper breaks tune in it”, and that sums it up pretty well – genre-spanning as it may be, all the tracks are unified by the heaviness of their beats and the intensity of their bass. It’s like little else I’ve ever heard and without doubt the best mix I’ve listened to this year.
I was fortunate enough to have a chat to Darin a couple of weeks back, and we talked about making a FABRICLIVE mix, the state of breaks, the death of the mono-genre DJ and the rise of dubstep amongst other things. It was awesome, and I don’t think I came off as too much of an adoring fanboy… You can catch the interview over in our most recent TheHype.fm broadcast, or else I’ve attached the MP3 below, bookending the interview with ‘Viva Tivet’, one of his tracks off FABRICLIVE.42, and a scorching tune off ‘Bring Me The Head…” called ‘Sil Num Tao’.
One of the cooler things that Freq Nasty mentioned though, was his new project Giveback. Basically, Giveback functions like a not-for-profit record label, giving artists the opportunity to tie tracks they’ve made to particular causes. Freq himself has just put out a blisteringly heavy remix of Michael Franti’s tune ‘The Future’, which he’s released to raise awareness of the plight of kids in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point area. The tune is available for free, but you know, if you want, you can totally make a donation to very worthy cause. What a sterling idea. Hopefully more artists get involved in the very near future.
Michael Franti & Spearhead – The Future (Freq Nasty’s ‘Otto Gives Thanks’ Remix) (Giveback Link)
And as a final note (yes, I know this post is fucking ginormous), when pressed to name his favourite track and artist of the moment, Freq came up with a man named Reso for both. Having a browse through his Myspace, he very much seems a man after Freq’s own heart, pushing a dark and heavy dubstep and bassline sound. He’s been reasonably prolific of late and a lot of his tunes can be found over at Beatport, but if you’re after a sampler, here’s a briliantly nasty remix he did of ‘Horny’ by TRG. Just wait for the drop at 3:30. I can hear nu-disco crying from here.
-luke
2 Comments
one of the best posts on ANY site that i’ve read in a very long time. thanks for this. seriously. freq has impacted the electronic music world in so many ways. glad to see this fresh of breath air in this period of blog house nu disco mania (which i’m growing quite sick of). much much love from atlanta. <3
I second that, excellent post. I’ve been to several of Freq’s shows lately in San Francisco, and I must say the music and energy he brings is unlike any other DJ I’ve seen save maybe Bassnectar.
In addition to producing some the best new electro-glitch-ish breaks via the dubstep route, he is currently taking on projects much larger than the DJ scene such as the Tibetan struggle for independence, and is using his music to promote that cause (see viva Tibet single done with bassnectar, among other tracks for giveback.org). He did a show in colab with cyphertown productions that all procedes were sent to Tibet. It was on a Sunday night and the both stories of the club were PACKED and ROCKING.
Good job on the post!