Hey Ded Sheppard! Thank you for answering my questions for drum+basics. Let’s start with the obvious; your name. What’s the background to this?
The name comes from a vision of a dystopian dark future and a leaderless world. Imagine a hooded grim dead Shepherd shepherding the living.
How long have you been producing music? Has it always been the same spectrum of music or have you experimented with it?
I’ve been producing DnB since around 2000 with my first release in 2002 under the alias Code Blue. From there I had another release, a collaboration with The Panacea titled “Graveyard Twist” that was played by Aphex Twin at Coachella. I had several other super dark and very hard releases under that alias. For me, it’s been pretty much dark centred DnB/jungle all along. Although I have experimented along the way and my sound and sonic interests have evolved quite a bit. My first EP under Ded Sheppard was a liquid watery sound design heavy EP. My more recent releases are best described as halftime DnB/jungle with a tribal techno element to it. My sound has also been tempered by external influences. Working in gaming for example has given me access into different perspectives and insights into music composition and different production techniques as well as sound design, which I think has influenced my sound toward a sound design experience.
How would you describe your music?
I would describe my music as dark, tribal techno halftime DnB/jungle with a cinematic sound design edge. There’s also ambience, doom-drone and cinematic elements.
Where do you find inspiration?
I take a lot of inspiration from many sources. I live in Vancouver and it’s very close to vast wilderness, ocean and ancient cathedral forests. I think a big one for me is the landscape of the Pacific Northwest and my province in general, British Columbia. These open, wild and rugged spaces I think are reflected in my music. I also think working in game audio has inspired me.
Are you always listening for inspiration or do you ever ‘just listen’?
That’s a bit of a struggle as I do listen differently than before I was involved with music production, now my brain will try to unpack what is going on technically or musically. So the music I like to listen to has to be so “other” to me that I really have no idea what’s going on so I can just listen to it, Sunn O))) for example I can listen to. When I’m writing music I’m very careful what I let in musically.
What kind of music are you listening to when are at home?
I don’t listen to much music at home, I work in audio full time so after listening to music all day long, I’m ready for silence or creation.
Do you DJ as well?
Yep, I also DJ – I started out as a DJ using vinyl :) I have a pretty nice 1994-2000 DnB record collection.
Are you still DJing out?
Yep, my last show was at the Onset Audio label showcase in Vancouver that was a wicked night of dark halftime music.
Your latest album ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ (out on Onset Audio on the 27th September) has a dark and dystopian feel to it, where did this come from and what do you want to say with it?
The track “You Can’t Take It with You” has deep roots, I sketched out the concept, lyrics and melody a decade ago but it didn’t fit in anything I was doing so I forgot about it. When I wrote the theme for the album the melody sounded familiar and I realized that it was this lost song from a decade ago so it finally found its place. I’m glad you’re picking up the dark dystopian feel, which was the landscape I had envisioned for this cinematic journey. Dystopian themes certainly have been resonating with me lately.
What is it that we can’t take with us?
That’s a heavy question I think it’s for the listener to contemplate. Personally, as a music creator I don’t want to leave anything behind without trying to express it. So, for this album I experiment with the concept of pushing my boundaries in terms of form, structure and sound.
How long did you work on this album?
It’s a blur. I think it was in production over the course of months although, as I said before, the main melody for “You Can’t Take It with You” has been living with me for a decade and didn’t find the right voice until now.
What’s the hardest part of producing music?
Trying to produce when you’re not feeling it.
What do you do when that happens?
I like to be outside when not in the studio, I like to hike, paddleboard and get out there. Due to the proximity of where I live to nature and the scale of the wilderness that surrounds me, you don’t have to go too far off the beaten path where it’s just you and nature.
When I’m not feeling creative I also like to do boring stuff like studio maintenance, deal with technical issues so I don’t have to deal with that stuff when I’m producing music.
You have been called a ‘sound deconstructer’, do you agree with this?
I agree with that. The thing I love to do is to create new sounds that I’ve never heard before. For me, sound deconstruction is the process of constructing sound. I love working with rough wild sounds that sound almost untameable, like in “Run Baby Run” for example. I’m always moving forward, learning and evolving.
What set up do you have?
Because I first learned to produce music with a sampler, my workflow sort of mimics this world. I still have my Emu e6400 ultra and a akai s950 that I use from time to time. I like to access my instruments quickly without losing the idea. So I don’t have patch bays or a monster eurorack set up. My set up is quite simple; I use a mac and a small selection of synths, outboard and inboard samplers and hardware units. I like to keep my community of instruments and tools small and limited so I can concentrate on sound manipulation.
Do you prefer producing by yourself or collaborating?
I like both, I like producing solo, but collaborating does add certain unexpected results, and it’s pretty neat when it all comes together and a collab produces something that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Dream collaboration?
Aphex Twin and or SUNN O)))
The majority of our audience are ravers, would you call yourself that too? Any good nights you can tell us about?
Totally, this all started out because I was a raver. My roots run deep into the Canadian rave scene, and the scenes been a great influence on my music in the past and the present. One memorable event was the first time I heard jungle at a party called Plan B in Montreal. DJ Rap was the headliner at a velvet lined dinner theatre venue overrun by ravers. In Vancouver, I can definitely say we have a vibrant underground scene, I find myself our more at the DnB nights naturally but I do check out other tempos as well. We had an Onset Audio label showcase which became known as “The Night of Darkness” at The Deli a few months back. It was a dope night with Homemade Weapons, Grym, Underfelt myself and one of my favourite Vancouver DJ’s Kir Mokum
How is is the Canadian DnB scene at the moment?
I can’t really comment on all of Canada since it’s so large and each city has its own thing going on but I can speak about what’s happening in Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest in general. The Vancouver scene is vibrant and strong; we have regular nights with local talent as well as international DJ’s coming through. In the summer there are many outdoor festivals too many to mention. There’s a lot of cutting edge halftime coming out of the Pacific Northwest specifically, Vancouver’s Aufect and labels like Onset Audio, Weaponry in the Seattle area.
What’s next for Ded Sheppard?
I’m working on new stuff right now! There are remixes slated for Run Baby Run & The Youth.
Any famous last words or shout outs?
Big shout out to Onset Audio & community.
Thank you, Ded Sheppard!
You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Twitter & Beatport
Listen to sets from Ded Sheppard here: Onset Audio
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