Wicked Beat Sound System Interview

Wicked Beat Sound System

It’s tough life continually producing popular electronic albums, as well as taking time to tour with a full band setup. Just ask Damian Robinson of Sydney act Wicked Beat Sound System. Wicked Beat has been somewhat silent in the last year or so, quietly recording a follow up to 2005’s 4ormation. Hidden in the NSW farming community of Lake George, Wicked Beat Sound System has put together what Damian believes to be a soul-cleansing album.

“I’ve wanted to get a record up and running (and since our last album) it wasn’t really a break. I wish I could take a break – it may have been a break from the limelight a little bit.”

The result of this break is Hydromajestik, a familiar Wick Beat hybrid of genres (jazz, hip hop, dub and electronica) but with a much more chilled demeanour.

“I suppose this record was a way of escaping some of the previous stuff. It was nice to do an album that was just laid back a bit. Chilled. Put in the bottom of the fridge.”

The previous stuff that Damian refers to is the fallout that Wicked Beat saw with MC Kye following the release of 4ormation, a fallout that resulted in a limited live promotion of the record and a lot of heartache.

“(MC Kye) left just as we were finishing the last record, just as we starting promoting it, so we sort of stopped and we didn’t have a lot of shows before it all fell apart. We decided to get straight back into the studio and do a new album, to try and shake off the drama of the past. And the result was Hydromajestik.”

Being comfortable with his surroundings was another element that Damian feels aided the tone of the album, with the CD cover giving us glimpse into what surrounded the Wicked Beats crew. It was also important that equipment reflected what Wicked Beat wanted to get across to listeners.

“I live on a sort of farm thing in near a place called Lake George which is about three hours out of Sydney – I started life with a home studio at the foot of my bed – so I’m always much happier recording at home. In the past in Sydney we’ve had various studios and spaces but I prefer to be out of a lived-in feel rather than a studio.

“I do everything on a Mac, a G4 and with various plug-ins and microphones when required. I mean technique wise you use similar techniques (between albums) but I try not to get too precious over any particular piece of equipment otherwise you tend to be sad when it breaks.”

But Damian stresses that one of the most essential parts of Wicked Beats is the vocal talents of Linda Janssen, whose parts on Hydromajestik compliment the songs so well it’s hypnotising to listen to (Make It Up particularly). According to Damian, it’s Linda who has the say in what is used.

“My role is basically to put it up and say this is what we’ve got and I generally let Linda pick and choose. She mostly wants to do the new stuff so we do quite a lot of the stuff off Hydromajestik.

“Obviously people need to hear the I want to’s and I don’t want to know’s and songs that they know – we’re knocking that stuff in there as well but we’re trying to sort of concentrate on doing the new stuff.”

With the album ready it’s time for Wicked Beats to hit the road again, something Damian says has been on the cards to remedy their last experience.

“We’re going on tour in April and we’re coming down to Melbourne, but we’re more of a band and there’s the electronic stuff that I do. I’m not a DJ but I drop stuff in the mix and muck around and fiddle knobs, and Linda sings.”

With international shows possibly on the horizon, I wondered if there was anything specific that Damian could remember happening on the road that stuck in his memory.

“We’ve played some pretty funny places. We played at a place down below Perth called Margaret River and there was a brawl in the carpark and it was girls fighting and all the boyfriends were standing around cheering. Pretty full on.”

Wicked Beat Sound System’s new album Hydromajestik is available now.

--Choppy Chopstein