Interview with ASC (Covert Operations) + Exclusive mix //

Whats the deal with the name ASC? Where did that come from?

It comes from the film credits. Abbreviated, it means American Society of Cinematography, but at the time I didn’t know this. I was working with my friend Future Link back then in roughly 1996, and I ‘needed’ a name. Just so happens we had finished some studio work, and we were watching a movie, and the credits rolled, and I liked the sound of it. So I chose it not knowing what it meant, thinking I could come up with my own abbreviation. To this day, everything I’ve come up with sounded cheesy, so it doesn’t stand for anything!

You’re already well known in the D&B scene as ASC, do you got any other projects on the go atm?

There’s a bunch of other names I’ve recorded under, such as Intex Systems, Mindspan & Solar Empire, together with Ezeekil. The Intex Systems guise was the first I created. The name comes from the computer terminals in the old Amiga game, Alien Breed. Originally, I’d planned on using the name for drum & bass projects I felt were a bit too weird or leftfield to class as ASC tunes. Offshore Recordings loved this idea, and I ended up doing the majority of my dnb related work under the Intex name with them. I’d kind of had enough of this way of thinking, and intended to put the Intex stuff to more experimental ambient and downtempo tunes, similar to FSOL’s older style. Plans changed again once I got the dubstep bug, and that’s where the moniker rests at the moment. As for Mindspan, that’s an ongoing project I’m taking a lot of enjoyment in. That one is all about deep, lo-fi, dubby ambient techno. I’m currently working on the second Mindspan LP still. Finally, Solar Empire is a collaborative drum & bass project I do on the side, with my good friend, Ezeekil.

Tell us a bit whats going on with Covert Ops? Any plans for another label concentrating on Dubstep for example?

As of right now, I’m trying to recreate Covert’s identity as far as vinyl releases go. I’d like to go into more specifics, but there’s nothing really to say until everything is finalised! As for other forms of media regarding the label, on the CD side of things, I’m putting out an old school atmospheric influenced LP by myself very soon, entitled The Astral Traveller. After that, there’s a project that’s been a long time coming, featuring more music by myself, Method One & newcomer, Lm1. I should also mention the forthcoming Radicall CD after that. Another talented newcomer to watch out for. Dubstep wise, I had plans to start up my own label, but I kind of lost interest in it, and it never materialised.

What kind of sound are you trying to go after?

It’s predominantly been the more atmospheric and techier sounding tunes that I’ve been pushing for a long time, but over the last year or so, I’ve got really bored of this sound. There are no artists really pushing boundaries anymore. It seems like everyone is trying to sound like someone else, and re-writing the same tune over and over again. To be honest, I’m glad this happened, as it forced me to really start scouring the dnb scene for music I could connect with, and by doing this, I’ve found a lot of exciting new material.

And which artists are you feeling right now the most?

Sabre, Data, Alix Perez, Spectrasoul, Commix, Instra:mental, dBridge, Seba, Paradox, Blu Mar Ten, Naibu, June Miller, Radicall & a few others that will probably spring to mind once I’ve hit the ‘send’ button on this email.

You have “emigrated” to the USA. How do you feel D&B/Dubstep is doing at the moment over there compared to your native UK or Europe for example?

I think dubstep is definitely blooming over here at the moment. San Francisco, Los Angelese & New York all seem to be on the ball, and attracting a lot of the major players, and even producing some of the scenes breakthrough talent. Not that I’m biased, but Vaccine is a perfect example of this. Drum & Bass wise, I’d say for the size of the USA, the majority don’t get it. That’s not a diss at anyone who puts the time and effort into making things happen over here, but compared to the amount of people in this country, I thought it would have caught on in a much bigger scale.

Any other artists we should be on the look out for we might not of heard of?

Couple of new guys I’ve been pushing on Covert over the last year, and will continue to – Radicall & Lm1. Keep an eye out for more of their productions later this year.

Whats your take on the Vinyl vs Digital thing? Are you sticking with your dubplates or are you spinning CD/s serato?

Well, to be honest, I’m old school in the way I buy my music, as I prefer vinyl, but when I play out, I do play from CD. From an aesthetic point of view, that doesn’t make much sense, does it? lol
I guess it’s down to money though really. You can burn a CD with 12 tunes on for next to nothing, or when I used to cut dubplates, I’d spend roughly about 40 quid on a plate that would hold two 7 or so minute tracks, and would start to sound like shit after about 30 plays. When you look at it like that, it really is a no-brainer. I do plan on investing in a Serato setup at some stage, as I prefer the hands on approach of vinyl (or vinyl emulation), rather than pressing buttons on a CDJ.
As for the format war that occasionally crops up on message boards and such, I don’t really think it makes a difference. If anything, a CD / MP3 has the potential to sound just as good, or if not better than a piece of vinyl, but it’s all down to personal preference really. I do think some people need to get their heads out of their arses though, and realise that no matter what format you use, you still have to actually mix. The amount of times I’ve read people accusing certain DJ’s of ‘cheating’ because they aren’t playing vinyl, is just retarded.

Any shouts out to the Digital-Tunes.net users?

The main thing is respect for spending money on MP3’s, and supporting the labels & artists. It’s so easy these days to NOT do that, and just steal from the various illegal sites and programs, so keep supporting your favourite artists and labels, and I’m sure they will reward you by continuing to put out more of their music.

Thanks for the answers ASC!

Anytime :)

Below is a mix ASC has kindly supplied for the digital-tunes.net users..enjoy!