Game-changing Sydney producer Sebastian Muecke – otherwise known as Basenji – has had a milestone 2015. Since signing with the guns at Future Classic in early 2014, the young electronic maestro has amassed a considerable following on the strength of his Triple J hit “Heirloom” and his eclectic debut EP ‘Trackpad’. In the midst of his epic national tour and preparations for his maiden US circuit, we had a chance to sit down and pick Seb’s brain on everything he’s achieved and what Basenji fans can look forward to in the immediate future.
Hey man! What are you up to?
Sebastian: Hey man! I’m in Erskinville at the moment, actually. I’m trying to sort out my VISA for America – it’s been a bit of an ordeal.
You’re heading over to the US for the Future Classic tour, right?
S: Yeah! Really soon – next week.
So you’ve got your Sydney show on Friday, and then it’s straight off to the US?
S: It’s my last Sydney show. That’s the last show of two whole national tours.
Shit, man. There’s really no time to slow down for you at the moment.
S: I don’t mind – it will be heaps of fun. It’s a mix of Future Classic and my own shows, so I’m really looking forward to that.
Is that your first time in the US?
S: I’ve been over there for a holiday, but it’s my first time playing shows. It’s really exciting.
I guess we should begin by exploring the origins of Basenji. Why did you decide to break off and do your own solo project? I know you were originally making music with Wave Racer.
S: Yeah. Basically, what Wave Racer and I were making revolved around one particular sound. I think we both just naturally gravitated towards other genres of music. We weren’t super busy with our music, and I had a whole bunch of demos piling up. At one point, I just decided to put it out there for everyone to hear.
How did you settle on the name ‘Basenji?’ Was there some sort of spiritual experience where a Basenji came to you in a trippy dream?
S: *Laughs* I should really make up a crazy story like that to use in interviews. The truth is, I don’t even remember how I came up with it. It must have been a conversation I had, and it just stuck with me.
Do you remember the first song you ever made as ‘Basenji’?
S: I think the first track I ever put on SoundCloud was “Tribute To The Cat”, and to be honest, I never really liked it. I never finished it or released it properly. There were probably other demos that never made it to SoundCloud, but for one reason or another, that was the one that ended up going live.
I noticed that you included older cuts like “Dawn” and “Heirloom” on your new EP ‘Trackpad’. Were you always planning for them to be the final tracklist?
S: “Dawn” never actually got a proper release – it was just a song I threw up on SoundCloud for free. “Heirloom” was the first single I ever put out with Future Classic, and that was always meant to be on the EP. There was just a strange amount of time between “Heirloom” being completed and ‘Trackpad’ being ready to go.
Do you feel like your sound has evolved a lot since you released “Dawn”?
S: Definitely. I work a lot differently now, and I feel like I know a lot more. I think I’ll always feel like I don’t know enough, but I’m still learning. I’ve got new equipment, and more technology to play around with. I’m slowly integrating other techniques and ideas.
I guess as a producer, it’s all about trial and error.
S: For sure – I think that’s half the fun of it.
Where did you draw inspiration from for the songs on ‘Trackpad’? What were you listening to as references for the EP?
S: Well, some of these tracks are over two years old. I wanted ‘Trackpad’ to be a collection of electronic music, but I also didn’t want it to sound too synthetic. I wanted to use organic-sounding components. Even though things like fake strings and brass instruments are synthetic, I still wanted it to be something that people could really connect with. I actually don’t think that electronic music has to be synthetic. It’s fun and exciting regardless, but I think it’s good to try to work backwards. I like to take a fake sound and make it resemble an instrument someone can immediately recognize.
Did you do any real-time recording for ‘Trackpad’, or was it all just you bunkered down in the studio solo, pulling it all together yourself?
S: Not at all. I’m not really into recording instruments, because that’s another art in itself, and to be honest, I don’t really know enough about it the process to attempt it. A lot of what I do involves finding interesting-sounding plug-ins, or software, or digital instruments. I try to find ways to mess around with them and make them sound unique. That’s essentially what I do. But it’s quite strange – I find it difficult thinking about instrumentation, and what instruments should play what part of a song, or what should go here or there, or what the texture of it all should feel like. I think that’s the point of working with instruments – real instruments work in a club, where everything is so synth-heavy, and there’s a distinct energy to it. Electronic music makes me ask, “How can I bring a different energy into the room?”
Do you have someone who you consult on the musical side of things, or do you try and pull it all off yourself? You are literally learning on the spot, hey?
S: No, never. I play everything, and that’s probably why it sounds so weird a lot of the time. *Laughs* It’s probably not even how you would normally play it, but I think that’s when the most interesting stuff comes out – when you’re doing something you don’t know how to do. I don’t think I’m great at one particular instrument, but if I was, I’d probably play it on every track…
I noticed that there’s some really distinct pop melodies on your new material, especially with your single “Petals”. Was this a deliberate focus for you?
S: Yeah. I wrote that song quite a long time ago, and I wanted to stick with it because I think it’s quite different to everything else I’ve made. I feel like people hear “Petals” and automatically develop their assumptions about what I do. My older tracks are a bit more upbeat and silly and over-the-top, and I could do that forever, but I definitely don’t want anyone to think that I do the same song over and over again. I know there are artists out there who enjoy that, but I want to take a risk and be different. If people like it, they like it, and if they don’t, they don’t. I would rather be polarizing and divisive instead of them just sitting there and hearing ‘another Basenji song’. I would rather hear “I hate this song!” or “I love this song!”, and I don’t want people to ever expect one particular thing for me. As long as it makes them feel something – that’s what’s important to me.
Is that why “Petals” was chosen as the lead single?
S: Sort of, but the label and my manager and myself all had a part in deciding to lead with “Petals”. I think it works – it was a way to let people know that ‘Trackpad’ would have some weird songs on it. It’s not exactly the single you’d expect from me. The follow-up single “Can’t Get Enough” is a lot cuter, and that was me having fun with some more commercial sounds. I delved more into a pop style – something a bit more playful. People think tracks like “Dawn” and “Heirloom” are ‘cute-sounding’ songs, but I wanted to take it a step further and go super sugary. When I’m at home, I don’t listen to one thing, and I don’t really like the fact that men seem to despise ‘cute music’ because they see it as feminine or a threat to their masculinity. I feel like they just want to sit in a dark room and listen to heavy techno. *Laughs* I do that quite a bit, but there’s certainly a time and a place. I think that’s just a part of how music works. I find it rewarding that I put that track out when I knew that there were people who wouldn’t embrace it. But I play songs like “Can’t Get Enough” in a club, and people really respond to it, which definitely surprises me.
That makes sense – compared to your older material, I feel like there’s a really accessible, structured pop element to ‘Trackpad’.
S: Yeah – a lot of the shows I play are in clubs, and I don’t want that to be the only thing I’m known for. Clubs are usually just a dark room full of people, and the tour I’m on right now is more about creating an atmosphere in a live venue. I wanted it to be a genuine experience. In future, I would love to go bigger and do some crazier, outlandish stuff, but this is my first full outing. Each time I tour, I want to do something different with the time I’m allowed. I think time is the thing I have the most trouble with. I wake up and have breakfast, and then I check my emails, and it’s 3pm already. *Laughs*
I was reading that you actually brought on Voena (the amazing Sydney creative collective) to help with that.
S: It was pretty much a no-brainer to get Voena involved. I’ve always liked what they’ve been doing in the creative scene. It actually worked out perfectly. The thing about the tour is that as much as I did a lot of work, I’ve had a great team behind me putting even more into it. It’s really satisfying that after emailing over thirty people every day for so long, you can pull it all off and watch it unfold.
Your debut show on the tour was in Perth – was that a surreal moment watching it all come together for the first time?
S: Definitely. I was probably the most nervous before that show; we got to the venue, and I’d only had a couple of hours of sleep, and we actually sound-checked for over three hours to make sure everything was right. I hadn’t even seen the screens in their final stages, and there was a lot of pressure there. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if people would turn up. When I’m playing, I don’t really know how it’s going because I’m just on stage freaking out, but after we finished up, I realised that it went pretty well. I think the end of the tour here in Sydney will be particularly special – especially at Oxford Art Factory, which is pretty much my favourite Australian venue.
With your ‘Trackpad’ shows, what have you changed up musically? Have you learnt from past tours what exactly works well for you and what doesn’t?
S: I’ve definitely been moving things around in response to each show as I go. I’m playing as many of my own songs as I can, and I’m also trying to include a few unreleased tracks. I’ve also been debuting some unused material from friends that I feel fits in well. Basically, the whole point of the show for me is to show people new music. As much as I go to the club on Friday night and I want to hear music I know, I think it’s a lot more rewarding to be exposed to something you’ve never heard. I want people to say, “What was that track? I want to hear it again.” People don’t always get songs the first time they hear them – I understand that, and I’m the same. A lot of the live show is about playing my own music, but I also include what I’m really into at the time, or songs that have inspired me in some way. In certain cities, I can tell there are people that don’t entirely understand what I’m playing, and I can see why – some of the stuff I’m playing is pretty weird. But in the end, I’d rather get people talking. When I go see a show, that’s usually what stands out for me. As much as I like seeing an artist I’m a fan of play every song I know and love, I really like the feeling of walking away scratching my head and wandering what half that set even was. It can be awkward, but I like that my fans are OK with me not being perfect, and letting me try new things. I think it’s better than seeing someone play the same set they’ve done at forty different shows.
There’s definitely artists that you buy a ticket for, and you know exactly what you can expect to see and hear before you even get there.
S: Yeah. A lot of music fans love that, because you can leave the house with a sense of security – you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I think that’s why artists like that end up being quite popular. You can turn up as an attendee, and you don’t have to think about anything – you can just party. That’s not a crime – that’s what everyone does – but it’s not what I want to do. I want to set the precedent that if people come to my show, they will end up surprised. There may even be some songs they love, and some songs they hate in there. Either way, I want some of them to walk away scratching their heads.
I’m excited to see what you pull off on Friday at your Sydney show, man.
S: It should be fun! I’m feeling great about it!
Thanks so much for your time, Seb!
Head here to purchase ‘Trackpad’ on iTunes.
You can stream ‘Trackpad’ through Spotify just below: