B. Kun, how much time do you spend in your studio? It looks like a pretty dope hangout. Anything crazy happen between those four walls?
I spent a lot of time in my studio. It’s my favourite place to be. I’ve been buying instruments for years and don’t think I’ll ever stop. I’ve got everything I need to express myself how I want to. For me playing music for real means touching the music by hand, transmuting emotions from the brain to the hands and into the instrument. It’s like making a thought real without 1s and 0s using what only an instrument can give you. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be honest, so I consider myself to be lucky and happy. Everytime we rehearse Beat Inc. material in the studio something weird and crazy happens, even if it’s just the two of us zoning out and having ourselves a little, private live show.
HED, correct me if I’m wrong, but is there a jazz influence to your drumming? What other influences do the both of you draw from during songwriting?
Yeah there is a jazz influence, but also dub and hip-hop. At the moment we’re working on stuff for the live show which is more at a dubstep tempo and style so the groove is more rigid and I try to play drums in a way that replicates the electronic rhythms of a computer but with a human feel to it.
When we write we tend to really go from a lot of what the machines in the studio give us. Each machine has its own potential from which we can draw inspiration and go from to write something. Once we found something good to go from we refine it with more intent and generally work towards writing something that’s also got potential for a live rendition.
During the beginning of “Primitive Fire” there is some spoken word from what sounds to be a very spiritual tribesman. Is that sampled from something, a movie maybe? Where is that from?
The sample in “Primitive Fire” is Babatunde Olatunji (known as Baba) speaking. It’s taken from a video called Drums on Fire, which you can find on youtube and which we sampled for the intro. We’re big fans of his musical vision and it seems like a perfect vision for people who want to make music today. You just need to keep your brain open and be willing to learn from those who are wiser and transform their teachings into applicable actions for the reality in which we live in. Or basically you should keep looking ahead but make sure you’ve got a lot to draw from in your backpack.
“Just Remember” is a smoked out weed track. What are the politics like in Italy concerning marijuana these days? It seems to fluctuate in the states but more and more politicians are pushing for fewer restrictions. How high were you guys when you wrote that track? Isn’t smoking weed and making music great?
Yeah I guess you could say it’s a track dedicated to smokers. To be honest neither of us smoke, though it wasn’t always like that. In Italy smoking weed is illegal and carries hefty penalties. Personally I think the penalties are too high and the mentality within the mainstream is still that weed is a gateway to hard drugs, which means that misinformation is as much of an issue as the rest. I also think that hemp has plenty of, well documented, uses beyond smoking. But yeah smoking weed and making music can be great though ultimately right now our buzz is just music, and the adrenaline you get from playing is just as great a high as any. We do make some music for people who like to smoke, and we know what it means to them, but times change just like habits! I do love smokers though.
Are there any producers in the states you would like to collaborate with?
I think it’s quite obvious we’ve got a lot of love and interest for American producers. So many of them. Maybe this is a good time to put in a call? Anyone who wants to collaborate with us, the door is open and this offer is dead serious!
What can we expect from the next Beat Inc. release?
We don’t know yet. The next thing is to get a video done for our live show which we’re trying to get more bookings for. We really think the live angle has legs so we want to let people know about it.
Are you touring anytime soon?
We’re trying to get something off. The problem is that in Italy doing ‘underground music’ isn’t particularly easy and we haven’t yet got someone handling any bookings abroad. If somebody wants to help though!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks to all the guys at Original Cultures for their support and the love, all those who’ve bought the vinyl too – thank you. And if you want more, keep up with us on Facebook. Much love.