Converted _ Interview with CWS

Beyond the layers of complicated rhythms, CWS tells us why the future is positive..

Future-Past resident, CWS, has been committed to his art for the best part of two decades, regularly playing at some of the biggest music events and featuring on labels such as Labyrinth, Subsist and Singularity.

Calvin is also a member of Solitude Suite; the performance and production partnership with Casual Violence. With recent solo releases on Singularity Recordings and TrusT: Remembrance AND upcoming shows with Regis & Orphx, he has somehow found the time to deliver an hour of full on pressure for subsekt 027.

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If you don’t manage to catch it, don’t worry as it’ll be up on our Soundcloud after transmission.

And in case you need to catch up, all of our past mixes are now available from the archive.

 

Hi Calvin, just wanted to say thanks for the mix that you have done for us. How long have you been DJ’ing for? I suppose we should probably start with all the usual questions. How did your journey with music begin..

Hi, thanks for having me on the show. I’ve been DJ’ing for the last 17 years. My father worked for a music distribution company in the 80s, and I grew up in a busy town centre pub, so I’ve been around music from an early age. In 91-92 me and my mates would collect flyers and mix tapes from Shelleys, Amnesia house, Fantazia etc. I started messing about on an old Amstrad 4 track and I was mixing vinyl with cassette before getting my first pair of decks. It all started there really.

So if you had to make a mixtape of tracks from your teenage years, what would be on it?

A mix tape from my teenage years would consist of early rave music. Formation records, Suburban base etc, stuff like that. One of my favourite tracks from then was Jonny L – Hurt you so. The first track I bought was, Prodigy – Outer space.

Great stuff.. And when did you find Techno?

I started off listening and playing all that type of music, before moving onto DnB, Hardcore and then hard Trance. I went to the Orbit for the first time in 95, and from that moment onwards, I was converted and hooked on Techno. I think it was just the raw power and rhythms that caught my ear.

When did the DJ’ing take off seriously then? You’ve been involved with clubs for ages, so was music the attraction, or was it the social side of things?

I started DJ’ing seriously in 98. Me and some mates put on our own night so we had somewhere to play. I started sending out demo mixes to various promoters, which led to getting booked at nights and events across the country. Music as always been the draw, and always will be.

And you were involved with Detatched, of course.. and you are still a Resident at Future-Past..

How does one go about becoming a resident somewhere? What have been the highlights?

Think it was a couple of years after Detached first started, that I was booked to play there, leading to the residency. Detached eventually ended and kind of turned into Future Past. I’d say the best way to become a resident, is to put on your own night. It’s taken a lot of hard work. It certainly did not just fall into my lap. I guess I’ve just been lucky enough to land some residencies through being good at what I do. Highlights early on for me was getting booked to play a lot of the events and raves that I used to go to as a kid, North, Vibealite, Fantasy island etc. Getting to play alongside the DJ’s I used to listen to as a punter was a great experience. Also was asked to play on the 808 State radio show, which was pretty cool. More recent highlights have been getting to play alongside artists I like now, and getting one of my tracks remixed by Makaton.

Is being a resident somewhere as good a learning experience as people always say it is?  Do you get to bang it out, or is there a lot of room warming going on?

Yes, it’s a good experience. It helps a lot if you have somewhere regular to play. The more you play out, the better you get. It’s nice to meet up with friends and like-minded people, buts it’s the actual DJ’ing that does it for me. I love to perform. What I play depends on what time I’m playing really. I’ve banged it out many times, and warmed up too. I’m comfortable doing either, though I prefer to bang it out! haha