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Interview: Guy Brewer of Commix

In 2007 with their album "Call in Mind" Cambridge-based drum and bass duo Commix claim the prestigious honor of being the only act to be worthy enough to release an album on Goldie's label "Metalh...
Last updated: 2015-11-09


In 2007 with their album "Call in Mind" Cambridge-based drum and bass duo Commix claim the prestigious honor of being the only act to be worthy enough to release an album on Goldie's label "Metalheadz" besides Goldie himself. Citing Derek May among their list of influences, Commix bring a techno background to their drum and bass, and the album features a guest appearance by Steve Spacek and a remix from Underground Resistance.

Is in the midst of their first China tour, Phreaktion & Sweatshop host Commix this Saturday at The Shelter. Don't miss out on cutting-edge new drum and Bass from the UK. Also, make sure you check out the "Commix Masterclass" the next day at 4pm at The Lab, if you want a behind the scenes look at the music.

After a spate of absurd circumstances, including out of range IP cards on high speed trains, New Zealand phone reception, and exploding batteries, Ian Louisell finally caught up with Guy Brewer , one half of Commix, soon after the drum and bass duo landed in Bejing.

They talked about stolen passports, knifings, and the end of the world.

***

SmartShanghai: First impressions of China? Beijing?

Guy: Quite forlorn really. We arrived about 5:30 in the morning coming straight from Christchurch, so quite a change in temperature for a start. I mean, we arrived at 5:30 a.m. and were standing in Tiananmen Square by 8:00 a.m. I'm really enjoying it so far.

SmartShanghai: So you're playing Friday night in Beijing and then flying right to Shanghai...

Guy: We've got tomorrow night in Beijing, which we're really looking forward to, seeing as how so many of our peers have played here, then flying to Shanghai on Saturday morning.

SmartShanghai: What's been the best city to play in so far?

Guy: Tokyo. It's such an exciting and vibrant city, and there's a strong sense of youth culture there. I'd also say that we did a gig in Auckland, in Christchurch that's been one of my favorite gigs ever. Just a really rowdy crowd, there's nothing more that you can ask as a DJ than for the crowd to make a bit of noise.

SmartShanghai: What city has the best groupies?

Guy: I've got a long-term girlfriend so I can't really say anything, but probably Russia. Eastern Europe probably has the most beautiful women in the world.

SmartShanghai: What's the worst thing that's ever gone down while traveling for music?

Guy: Went to a music conference in 2006, I turned up to the airport and I got out of the taxi, got into the airport, and realized that I left my laptop bag, which had my passport, my laptop, my tickets and everything in it, and it drove off, so I managed to miss my flight home.

SmartShanghai: Be careful with that shit here, this sketchy sixty-year old Canadian dude on the bus told me that jacked passports get to Hong Kong within five days and go for 15,000 USD.

Guy: We're being as careful as possible this time around.

SmartShanghai: In England, is the dubstep scene taking over?

Guy: Drum and bass has been a really strong scene in England for a while, so it's not like dubstep is just gonna come along and kind of wipe the floor with us, but we've certainly noticed a difference. What tends to happen now is where there used to be parties where they might play hip hop or something like that in the second room, dubstep is now always in the second room at drum and bass parties. It's nice to see a new scene growing from the streets cause for a long time there's been nothing totally new within dance music, so dubstep is the first music to come along in a while and be completely fresh and different. That Burial album, Untrue, is probably my favorite dance album of the last ten years, simply because it sounds so incredibly fresh...

SmartShanghai: Do you prefer to play with an MC or straight beats?

Guy: Sometimes we have MC's, sometimes we don't. To be honest, there's about four MC's that I actually enjoy working with. Most of them I'm just not interested in to be honest. It seems to be more of just an ego exercise for themselves than give anything to the party itself.

SmartShanghai: I'm always reading about knifings and Clockwork Orange style ultraviolence in England. Does that come up in the DnB scene?

Guy: It tends to be the smaller shows outside of London. It's more of a small town mentality. There's always that element of someone who's had a few too many, but I don't think it's anything particular to England -- an asshole is an asshole.

SmartShanghai: What can we expect on Saturday?

Guy: We don't do anything cheesy; I just hate cheesy music, be it drum and bass or anything else. So we try to have it quite deep and musical, but still accessible enough for the crowd to get into it. I think if you're trying to educate people about a scene, there's nothing worse than turning up and just playing the deepest possible music out there, that people can't really relate to at the end of the day. It's gonna be a DJ set, not a live thing.

SmartShanghai: When's the world going to end?

Guy: I would hope we've got another few hundred years in us, but the way things are going at the moment, it wouldn't surprise me if it happened within the next hundred years.

SmartShanghai: Hopefully not, but if so we can just keep dancing until that hits.


***

Phreaktion & Sweatshop pres. Commix this Saturday at The Shelter. Tickets are 60rmb. Support from Abruzzi Spur, Siesta, Viceroy, MC's Chacha and Didje. Check out the Phreaktion webpage for a podcast interview with Commix.

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