#lighta!

Taal Mala - White Label Renegade

MM004. In the wake of impressive releases from West Coast artists Sanctums, Michael Red and Monolithium, Modern Math breaks into the vinyl realm in style with this killer 12" from Vancouver artist and Undone neighbour ;) Taal Mala. Uniquely bold, 'White Label Renegade' perfectly harnesses the frenetic energy present in his varied DJ sets. Raucous pitched vocals cut through punishing kick drums while a slowed bass rhythm grounds the track beautifully. Classification is pretty unimportant here, and Taal Mala is completely at home on his own plane of dance music, much like artists such as Tessela. Overall, 'White Label Renegade' is a nicely focused, immediate statement, lending much excitement to Taal Mala's trajectory. Grenier on the remix here too, so make sure you grab the vinyl. Limited copies!

Oh my! Ruff.

my boyfriend is being lazy and the only people I know that are going are people that I only kind of know and not people I want to get drunk with

Second 90's gaming console theme interview we have this week. Gameboy, a Vancouverite making waves with the Wepa! crew bringing a little much needed variety and latin flava to the scene. Read on.

Who's Gameboy, where's he live and what doe's he do?

Gameboy is Dustin Zwaryck, Who lives in east vancouver, Doing art.

The name Gameboy, is there a story behind it?

Yes. I was born in 85, And my first love was the NES, I lived in the glory days of console gaming, Ive always loved and cherished the Gameboy portable system, And when i discovered chiptunes it was a natural synchronistic evolution of a silly yet key part of my experience as a kid into my current self as an artist.

How do you explain digital cumbia to someone hearing for the first time?

I usually let people just get there own impressions, But when people ask about digicumbia and i cant give them an audible example, i usually say something about its south american folk roots and the fact that lots of people currently in south and central-america (and to a lesser extent globally) are taking classic cumbia as a sample source or reference point, And bringing the style into the present in their own unique ways.

Give us the deets on night of the minotaur.

The Minotuars Lair is a very ambitious series of art events, Showcasing local artists, With a focus on artists working in the DTES, Who work outside of the traditional commercial art community, Kind of like a Guerilla art society. Its a monthly show where we pair artists of many mediums together in an attempt to blend cliques and communities that wouldn't dare go outside of themselves and give everyone a chance to see what we are all up to. In essence to create and nurture symbiotic relationships in the art community.

List up your top favourite 3 parties in Vancouver.

1. Ben ulis/Self Evident throws the best one-off shows at the astoria, Always an amazing cutting edge headliner backed up by select Lighta crew and his friends. Always a great time. The shows are not too frequent, But always worth waiting for.  2. Thursday ting also at the Astoria is always great.  3. W2 Lights New Years Eve Party, There has only been one so far with the sequel in a few weeks but the lineup is always massive and full of local talent

Whats the appeal of DJing for you?

I love and hate Dj'ing. I worked an entire summer for my dad to buy my first turntable setup, Beautiful SL1200's and a vestax PMC-05, It was even more fun than Nintendo pushing around the vinyl, scratching etc. 

As a kid who started out with drums and bass and guitar it was a whole new world of musical possibility, But the more i got into music production and engineering as well as having a profound respect for musicianship, More and more Dj'ing seemed to me like the most lazy form of music performance, And many experiences working in clubs made me very scornful of the lazy self-aggrandizing Dj Douche.

Thats not to say that there are not any hard working and musically skilled dj's, Its just less common.

Digital DJ setups like Serato, Traktor, Ableton, whats you take on them? Do you use them?

Scratch live is great, I mourn the death of the vinyl, But i am enthralled with where digital audio technology is headed, Traktor is great too, i like the easy effects setup and midi mapping in traktor, I think scratch live should be more configurable like traktor.

Ableton is my baby, Version 7 all the way. I cut my teeth and ableton 7 and know so much about it, But im still finding new potential all the time. Ive personally been trying to use ableton exclusively in my sets, Doing basically a hybrid dj/live set. So i have the potential to perform original material live or stick to the security of a dj set. Im trying to replace the decks with my novation launchpad and so far so good. But i still have scratch live and itch and other programs to fall back in emergencies.

Drink of choice?

Warm sake, if anything. Trying to reduce my alcohol consumption, Its all to easy to go overboard when the drinks are free.

What's the funniest pre-show ritual you've seen or heard of?

Rituals by their nature always seem a bit funny when viewed objectively, but i cant say ive heard of any specifically funny ones.

Whats your take on the EDM scene in Vancouver/ What does it need more or less of and who's pushing it in a forward direction? Granted EDM has such a broad spectrum. 

The scene in vancouver is strong but erratic. The style and culture I think is well supported, but it needs to branch out and evolve. There needs to be more cross-pollenization between electronic music and other realms of art and expression.

I think everyone is pushing it. From the bedroom DJ's to the local artists who have earned international acclaim. But we are not necessarily pushing it forward, we are pushing in many different directions.

Which i think is a very "Vancouver" way of doing things. Independent and diverse, which is why you can have something like a fledgling digital cumbia scene in canada a long way from colombia.

But the downside of that is, people often forget that artists mutually respecting and supporting other artists is the cornerstone of real artistic community. You dont have to like everything that everyone else is doing but you have to be honest about art, and how you interpret the work of others.

Without that honest dialogue there is very little growth.

What has been your connection with East Van Digital?

Ive been a fan of quite a few of their releases and i am really appreciative of their community-level focus, They represent a lot of talented east-side artists and there is a forthcoming album by myself and Self Evident available in the new year.

Do you have a selection process for tracks you remix/ how do you select a track to remix?

Just by intuition, Ill just hear a track or remember one and think to myself "i have to remix that"

Are you in the production game and what are you working with?

Yes.

A late 2008 15" macbook pro that has taken a lot of abuse, Event TR6 monitors which I love, this old technics synth/organ (with bass pedals) that i found in a warehouse on powell, Audio Kontrol 1 sound card (seriously need to upgrade), Soundcraft 4 channel mixer, 2 original DMG-01 Gameboy units (one has a few mods), a few mics and various bits and bobs.

What was your favorite album in 2011? Favorite song?

Nobody makes real albums anymore, But the song Eisbaer by Grauzone has been my fucking anthem. Its hard to explain why.

When all the partying is over how do you like to chill out?

Anime, blunts, more sake, good people.

What do you do outside of the dance music scene?

Restore vintage japanese motorcycles, Tailoring and fashion design mainly in leather, Leather tooling (making art/images on leather hides) Art in general.

Shambhala 2012?

Basscoast 2012 for sure, Hoping to be on the bill.

Anything else you'd like to put out there?