Bassnectar's First AMA

PRETTY LIGHTS COLLABORATION?! An entire album? hell even just 1 song. ANYTHING......

Derek and I have been MAD-SLACKING on finishing a tune together. i've got tons of love for him and his sound, we definitely plan to collab in the future

I'd rather see the Bassnectar & ill.Gates EP come out.

Dylan and i live right next to each other, and have over a dozen unfinished projects together, one of which will be finished in time for Ultra this year ;)

Lorin. I'm an elementary school teacher in Kansas. I asked you over a year ago to please send our kids an autograph because I was using "Upside Down" to teach the kits pitch direction and 16th note rhythm patterns. You then sent me an LP single that was SIGNED to my students. I'm forever indebted to you for that.

SO my question is this: Why not get your music transcribed (primarily the rhythm) into drum line cadences and sell them?....Better yet! BRING a University drumline to perform with you!

Too Kanye? lol

hahaha! You have my dream job. lucky!

:)

I used to teach music a lot, i wish i had more time for that, so maybe you can transcribe them? ;) And i've worked with a lot of drum choruses before (marching band, batucada, samba, etc) ...nothing it "too kanye" i dont pay attention to pop stars, and nobody can really own an idea.

keep in touch!

:)

You drew a pentagram on a CD you signed for me and there are several meanings...what does the pentagram mean to you?

i've always loved circles, and i've always loved stars ;) the pentagram marries two wonderful shapes together AND scares bible thumpers, so its a win win

What does happiness mean to you and what do you do to maintain it?

That's a really big question! One of my main goals/passions in life is helping people lead happier/healthier lives. I have had the odd fortune of experiencing so much joy in my life that I truly just want to give back. I've felt this way since I was a kid. I certainly have my sad moments, and my challenges, but I am just literally "OVERJOYED" to be alive. I think this existence is so magical and mysterious, and I feel so lucky to be a part of it. If I had one wish it would simply be more time to enjoy life. that's what makes me happy.

What's your opinion on the drug scene at EDM shows?

well for one, I can't really speak about "EDM Shows" with authority, because that's not what I do. I see "EDM" as Avicci, Tiesto, Afrojack, Skrillex, etc. there is certainly crossover in Bassnectar Land, but i choose the road less taken. I come from a different place, and have different ideas, and so a lot of times the standard/classic EDM SCENE is irrelevant to what I do. But of course there is a crossover. In general with drugs, I did some experimenting a long time ago, and I know there are potential positive experiences to be had for SOME people. Unfortunately, I have seen so many horrendous tragedies (death, ruined lives, ruined relationships, ruined careers, ruined nervous systems) that I just do not wish to encourage drug use. In fact, I have a lot of problems with legally sanctioned Pharmaceuticals as well (not all of them of course). But pushing meth onto kids, getting them addicted, but calling it Adderall, that's fucked up. Why criticize Lance Armstrong for using performance-enhancement drugs, but then all the kids in college (who aren't diagnosed with ADHD) take it to do better in school. I think drugs is just such a loaded topic, it's hard to respond quickly.

give us that collabo with diplo. noww

haha :) he and i have studio time booked next week: February 12 & 13!

I have been an active amBassador since Bass Center 2, and although I don’t feel as intimate of a connection with the recent Bassnectar sound, I’m still highly invested in the surrounding community and social movement. So I have a couple questions I would love to see you dig into—

-What happened to the socio-political meditations and musings during your sets? I understand that Twitter/Facebook have revolutionized the channels available for spreading such a message, but your thoughts on the crazy aspects of global society were really a defining and distinguishing characteristic of your SHOWS for a long, long time. I miss that.

-Do you plan to expand the Amorphous label to other up-and-coming artists?

-What are your ideal pizza toppings?

-Not a question, but I’d love to hear Heads Up 70bpm ORIGINAL Mix on this wham-bam bonkers spring tour. That particular song really captures the force/sound/weight/oddfunk that embodies Bassnectar to me.

EDIT: shameless plug-- if you're looking for some bassy goodness to jam while you're reading through Lorin's answers, I'd be honored for you to take my 808%-Bassnectar-inspired mix for a whirl

questions that start with the words "what ever happened to" are difficult to answer… everyone and everything constantly changes, reacts, adapts, responds. The only thing i truly know in life is that change is constant. That said, I am excited about constantly growing and changing. For many years I have felt personally drawn towards the emotional/magical/visceral/abstract end of the spectrum, less to the political/concrete. As an artist I focus on creating the most immersive and provocative atmosphere as possible, and I focus on contributing to people's experience. I think my methods will always change form or shape, but my vision still feels 100% ;)

That said, I am so interested in current events, hot topic issues, critical thinking, etc. I love learning, and I love finding ways of filtering the constant onslaught of information into the most important pieces possible. Can i just say it is not easy for me to give short answers :)

And yes, thank you for being an Ambassador!

Where is electronic music going?

backwards & forwards & upside down

When and where did you last get your hair cut?

Up until this month, I hadn't cut my hair in 15 years...not even a trim. A few weeks ago I let my friend cut off about an inch that was all dreaded and terrifying. It is now gone for ever. I don't wear my hair long as a style, i wear it as an anti-style... i don't wanna be That Guy with the hair do, trying to worry about how im gonna comb it or style it...it's either there or i tie it back if it gets in the way. I did just find a REALLY SICK shampoo though...wow

Lorin, thank you for all that you do! I love that you are so outspoken and that you seem to truly care for your fans! I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to shake your hand and thank you in person.

• What do you enjoy doing the most apart from music? Do you have any other passions?
• Were there any pivotal twists of fate or lucky breaks along the way that helped define your career?
• What guilty pleasures do you have on your iPod?

Again, thank you so much for this AMA and if you find yourself with some down time during your Fillmore Silver Spring shows I'd love to say hi! I'll definitely be at both shows!

At many points in the past ten years I have been so immersed in Bassnectar that there is little room for anything else. Working nonstop 7 days a week (80 hours plus each and every week without any break) for over ten years, traveling constantly, etc… its hypnotic. But this past month i've unplugged for the first time, barrely touched my phone or computer, and I spent most of my time enjoying california, hiking, exploring, catching up with my friends, watching cool movies, exercising a lot, learning and thinking :)

Lorin I've got a pretty quick question for you here, before I ask I wanted to say thanks for doing this.

Who is it laughing and talking in the beginning of one of your songs, I'm pretty sure the person say's "It's all like WAAAAHHHHH!" and then you mixed it and it went back to "It's all like" and then you put that on repeat and started the song. I wish I knew the name of the song but I don't :/

HAHAHAHA "West Coast Lo Fi Rides Again" hahaha...i think that was me laughing like a lunatic, and my buddy Ash (Seasunz) who said that into the mic

IAmA Laser, AMA!

I was an AmBASSador at Red Rocks last summer and let me tell you it was a BLAST. Who came up with the idea for the AmBassador program? I think it's brilliant to have people going around making sure everyone is safe, hydrated, and having the best time they possibly can be.

Speaking of AmBASSadors, how'd you and Hasan start working together? He's an awesome dude and works so hard pretty much 24/7.

So I had the pleasure of meeting you last summer, got a hug, and began asking a question as we were hearded out of the room... I asked "Hey, Nishant (numbernin6) told me about a collab than you and he did, but you never released it and he told me to pester you about it!" You started saying "Oh, nishant! Shit... are you from... uhh--". I'm guessing you were gonna say Richmond, but I was literally forced out of the room before we could finish the conversation. 2 questions:

-Do you remember that short interaction?

-Is the Numbernin6/Bassnectar collab ever going to see the light of day? If not you should just, you know.. ^{email it to me or something.} :)

Thanks so much for doing an AMA you are GREAT.

Haha! Nishant is a maniac! med school + sicko beats! I think we started that song back in 2006 and never finished it. I have a bad habit of this. I love collaborating, but I also get mad hectic and many ideas never get finished. As for Hasan, i remember seeing him front and center in the crowd at one show, making like… REALLY insane faces and thought to myself "what the fuck". Then later i saw him in one of the Family Photos and remembered him as that guy with the really wild faces. Next thing I knew he was just helping out a lot and busting ass. He is now an integral part of our team, we trust him with mucho :)

A few:

• Why do you use two laptops at your shows?
• A while back you posted a pic of your parents at one of your shows. My parents hate any type of electronic music so I'm wondering what your parents think of yours.
• How the hell do you do it? I mean, you are seriously unreal.

Two Laptops is never enough! The more the merrier (there are five laptops in my studio right now)... If nothing else I run the second laptop as a mirror-image backup in real time, so if there are any technical emergencies on Laptop A, i can switch to Laptop B without any hassles. I'm adding more laptops to the show in 2013, one for video, and one for other effects/noises ;)

As an old fan that’s been following you since your Mesmerizing the Ultra days, I can’t thank you enough for doing this AMA.

1. When/Where was the “Body Beat” for Kyrian Bee Bop recorded?
2. Have you ever considered collaborating with any of the guys over at Circus Records? I’m sure a lot of people would agree that you guys’ sound would fuse together beautifully!
3. Why on earth are we not going to see you at Electric Forest this year :’(

AWWWWW :) Thank YOU. :) 1. That was recorded live at the "Ewok Villiage Stage" at the Shambhala Music Festival, i think in 2005 2. Yes of course! I trade tracks with all those guys regularly. Flux actually asked me about helping him raise his jellyfish recently, but i decided not to get involved! ;) I have several Dr P tracks which he claims no other DJs want to play, so i've enjoyed playing them exclusively, which is a thrill! all those guys are great. 3. As for Festivals: Artists don't pick which festivals we play. Instead, the coordinators of each event decide who they want and then make an offer to the artist's agent. Most large festivals simply do not repeat headliners (Lolla, Coachella, Spring Awakening, Bonnaroo, etc) and Electric Forest is the same. They simply said they would love to have me back in 2014, and this year they are having PL (whom they did not invite back last year). If it was up to me i would play every festival every year, haha! As it happens we have so many festivals planned this year, i am bursting with excitement! I wish I could announce them all right now!!!!! ;)

What's up with you and Primus?

i fucking love Primus!

when i finished the remix for "Here Come The Bastards" last week, Les texted me "JEEEEEZE Little Fella! I thought my speakers were going to explode. I'm putting on the pig mask and going on tour with you"

hahaha so i think he liked it.

Nothing to ask. I just wanted to say that I love you and your work. Your consistency in good songs is fucking amazing. Usually when I find an artist, I like a few songs and hate a couple. With you... you're something special... I love everything. Please continue your endeavor of continuous orgasmic ear fucking. Thank you.

wow thanks!

that's how i felt about Nirvana and Metallica when I was 12. :) I don't know if every song i make is good or not, but it's definitely a part of my personality :)

What was it like working with Lupe Fiasco on Vava Voom?

Working with Lupe was an absolute thrill! I was kind of fan-girling at first, but he is enchanting to work with because he is like completely on another planet, and at the same time wide awake on this one

Lorin, I saw your Spring tour announcement today, why no love for the Midwest? Detroit would love to see you again. There are plenty of small venues there that I know you would just rumble the roofs off of! St. Andrew's Hall, The Majestic, The Magic Stick. And we all know you love the LC Pavillion in Columbus, OH. You gotta come back sooner, I can't wait till fall to be absorbed an your amorphous spine tingling bass madness.

hi :) let me assure you it is not EVER about "having no love" for a place or an area. We plan our tours carefully: A short/tight Spring Tour, a Summer full of festivals, a big/bananas Fall Tour, and a few one offs, as well as New Years. Its been like this for years. Each city we play in the fall, we PROBABLY won't return to in the Spring. Last Fall there were all kinds of people complaining that we weren't in Atlanta, or Philly, or Rochester, etc. So we spread the love. Also, most big festivals have radius clauses, so for example by deciding to play Spring Awakening, we cannot play in Chicago in the Spring. And that makes sense to me :) Anyhow, if you notice that your city is missing from our schedule it either means we have a huge festival nearby coming up (possibly not yet announced) or it means we have big plans for the Fall Tour 2013 in your area.

I want to start by saying I'm a huge fan and love your work. now onto business...

what advice do you have for someone who wants to start producing music?

i advise you to find a few friends who share your passion and learn together. Start with the basics, listen to a lot of stuff, and decide what you like and what you don't. then start remixing or tweaking/customizing songs, and exchange notes with your friends.

Lorin,

The first time I saw you, you played in Charleston, South Carolina in 2008 at the Pour House.

You literally changed my life that day, and I have been a music freak ever since.

Two questions:

• Why aren't your earlier albums on spotify? I own them, but I wish I could listen to them at work!

• What is your favorite track that you've written?

Maybe one more:

• What are your favorite electronic and non-electronic albums?

Thanks for taking your time to say hi to the fans! There are tons here :)

i love The Pour House! that room blows UP!!! And i love Charleston as well, we had to end early last time due to that psycho storm, but we'll be back i promise :)

as for your question: i don't pick favorites. of anything. it's like me asking you "what was your favorite strawberry" or "what was your favorite breath of air"? ;)

Lorin- First, thank you so much for your music, as well as your love for your fans. I was at the Lake Tahoe show a couple years ago when the subs seemingly exploded near the end of the set, and you stuck around meeting fans and signing stuff instead of bouncing immediately which speaks volumes of your character. Also, thank you for your frequent visits to Reno! Can't wait to see you for the 5th time at Coachella this year man- keep up the great work. I guess my question is this: What producers/musicians have had the greatest influence on you recently (like on the Vava Voom and Divergent Spectrum albums)? Finally, what other artists do you recommend checking out in the EDM world? Cheers man!

hey!

That double show in Tahoe was intense. partly because Tahoe is so special to me! But also because of the ungodly pain in the ass of that Fire Marshal. Nobody on my crew has ever encountered someone that insane (he told me he was religiously opposed to everything i stand for! hahaha) ...and the subs did not blow there. The system "shut of" and then "could not be turned on again"...it was hella suspicious. They told me i could not say anything about the Fire Marshall or they would arrest me for starting a riot. It was such a strange experience!!!! As for other artists i recommend, I cannot say it enough: EXPLORE THE CLASSICS! There were universes of artists and micro-scenes in the 1990's (and before) who were creating insane music, and now it's as if nobody remembers. Check out entire sub genres like how techno started merging with 'breakbeat' and became 'hardcore' and became 'jungle' and became 'drum & bass'...find some crazy ravers who kept their record collections and let them school you!!!! i do that regularly. :)

Hello! I don't really have a lot to add other than that my friends and I really enjoy your music, and were totally stoked to see you when you came to Palladium in Dallas last year.

On that note, we had a question - Not sure if you can answer, but what the hell was up with the fire alarm that night? I've been to many many concerts in that venue that were much more smoky than yours, and that was the first time I'd ever seen the fire alarm go off - much less 3+ times in the same night.

that was total chaos. i was losing my mind! I was so high on music I could'nt think or see straight, and all the facepaint was in my eyes so I literally couldnt see. They kept dragging me into the back, and i had to sit there listening to my head go "WOMP WOMP WOMP WOMP WOMP" waiting to go back on :)

it was an elevator that kept triggering the system.

Hey Lorin thank you for doing this! I've always wanted to know if any of your songs are love songs? Thanks, and I hope to see you in Colorado this summer!!!

i suppose all my songs are love songs... in a way :)

Congrats on a wonderful year last year. You killed it and I'm looking forward to seeing you this year. I have a few questions.

What track are you most proud of? My favorite track is timestretch..... Wub wub wub

What festivals are you planning on attending in 2013?

Finally what are your thoughts on phycadelic drugs? Have you ever played a show under the influence of a phycadelic and if so what substance?

I appreciate you doing this AMA because you are by far my favorite artist. You have changed te whole EDM scene. Keep it up!

thanks for your kind words :) I can't really announce all the festivals we are doing yet, but the ones i can are: Ultra (both weekends), Coachella (both weekends), and Spring Awakening. Folks wondering why we aren't hitting the Midwest in the Spring: that's so we can KNOCK IT at Spring Awakening ;) ...and same thing with our West Coast friends: Coachella. We passed on Coachella last year so I could go down to South America for Lolla, so this year I wanted to make sure we are there (and a week in Palm Springs to work on my tan o jeez)

Will you be coming back to Canada anytime soon for a tour? I have been to two of your concerts in Edmonton and both really opened my eyes and changed my life. The first show I went in not knowing your music overly well as I was just transitioning into the scene but I felt nothing but positive vibes that night which at times can be hit or miss at the shows I've been to here locally over the last few years. Your second concert was just as unreal. I would love to get the opportunity to see you for a third time because I want to relive that energy and magic feeling again.

we are SO overdue in Edmonton, and we are in fact coming to Canada for ONE SPECIAL EVENT, and all i can say is you're gonne be really happy when you find out where it is.

Hey Lorin! Much love from me and my friends in Sweden, we saw you last time you were in Stockholm, and good god it was intense. We hope it wont be too long before you come back! I couldn't think of a single question, so I just figured I had to express some gratitude towards my favorite producer :)

thank you!

i had the craziest fever that night, i was so dizzy i felt like i was floating! i literally had to keep checking to make sure i had not fallen down. A wise man would have probably just stopped headbanging but I was excited to be in Sweden for my first time, after growing up on so much Swedish Death Metal ;)

Hey Lorin! You are simply amazing, and sorry if my question is redundant, but what was the driving force behind your decision to follow the electronic scene and become one of the most phenomenal DJ's of our generation?

thanks!

i never made a decision to "follow the electronic scene". When i was 15 i was obsessed with death metal and black metal, and by 18 i was hearing lots of early techno and electronic ambient. I just naturally felt enchanted by it, and as a musician wanted to learn how to incorporate it. I started studying it formally at University of California, SC in 1996. But i never thought I would be a DJ, i didn't really care about DJs. I wanted to MAKE EVENTS HAPPEN for people. I wanted to recreate the magical experiences I had felt for other people. And i wanted to chase the sounds in my head and make them real. I've been chasing some sounds since then, and "i'll probably be chasing that feeling for the rest of my life".

I've always wondered what was the exact moment where you realized this career path you've taken was what you wanted to do in life?

there are so many different directions i want to go in life...so many different "things" i wanted to "do"...different careers, hobbies, etc. I went to school to essentially become a teacher (wanted to teach US History) and a guidance counsellor (wanted to help people, basically) and I never really thought of music as a career, more like an obsession. I am not only obsessed with music, but also with "Community"...bringing people together, interacting in meaningful ways, giving, exchanging, and contributing to culture...

i'm not really sure what I would want with a "career"

:)

I don't know who you are, so my question is if you wanted to both define yourself and deliver an important message all within one sentence, what would that sentence be?

like i said, i am happy to be alive, and i like helping other people lead happier/healthier lives.

I saw in one of our interviews that one of your biggest motivating factors is to "expand your sphere of influence". Elaborate on your agenda

Read "Hannah Arendt"...she writes about ways that an individual can 'expand their influence' (or their "Space of Appearance") so as to make a larger/deeper impact on society, culture, current events, other people, etc.