Up Close And Personal With Cassian

The Aussie invasion continues as Blisspop highlights another young, promising DJ/producer in the Nu Disco scene.  He goes by the name Cassian and his dedication to crossing over genres through musical exploration is landing him increased exposure worldwide. You should really go check out his sounds to fully grasp what we’re talking about.

Cassian has hit the ground running in 2012 with appearances at The Big Day Out Festival (Australia’s iconic touring music festival) and most recently alongside John Digweed. He’ll head down to WMC in March to join forces with Gigamesh and Fred Falke but not before meeting up with one of our favorites, Aeroplane, to help finish off his tour. Be sure to check them both out this Saturday at U Street Music Hall. More info can be found here while tickets can be purchased over at Ticketfly.

Between his hectic schedule, we were fortunate enough to pull him aside and pick his brain on Aussie influences, joining a Country Club, and getting deep.

You live in Sydney, Australia. Tell us about the music scene and how it’s affected/influenced you as a DJ/producer.

When I first started producing my own music, the scene in Sydney was great. Every club was full with mostly local lineups. You had acts like Bag Raiders, Miami Horror, Van She and Cut Copy all playing around Sydney pretty regularly. I’d say a lot of my early influences in electronic music comes from those guys.

Have Australian-based bands like Cut Copy and Miami Horror and their presence overseas made it easier to reach a global market?

Having Australian acts doing well overseas has undoubtedly made it easier for guys like me to try and follow in their footsteps. Catching up with friendly faces from home while touring is great as well. It’s also great to know people who have been exactly where you are at and can give advice on how to best navigate things like overseas touring.

Tell us something about Sydney we most likely wouldn’t know…

90% of the clubs have jukebox DJ’s playing a combination of “party” music and top 40 pop tunes.

You’ve released EP’s on Bang Gang but most of your work has been on the remix side. You also have your own website/blog where you host a mix series called Cassian Presents. Do you strive to keep a healthy balance or do you have a secret desire?

This year I definitely want to produce more original material. I’m about to release an EP that I produced with Shazam called Country Club, which has 4 original tunes on it. I still think it’s important to do remixes but at the moment I’m more interested in focusing on original music.

Yes, I have been hearing good things about Country Club.  Please tell us more!

Ah yes! Our first EP is coming out soon through Moda (UK based label run by BBC Radio 1 hosts Jaymo & Andy George). We’ve done 2 remixes; one released through Sweat It Out and one through Kitsune (which isn’t out just yet). We’ve had great early support from acts like A-Trak, Bag Raiders and Yolanda Be Cool and the tunes have been working a treat in my DJ sets!

You recently did a remix for Citizens! on Kitsune and you said, “It’s about as far removed from a club track as you’ve heard from me but it was an absolute blast to do.” I had a good chuckle when I saw your quote because I was thinking the same thing. Not what I’d expect to hear from you yet a delightful surprise. How did you step outside that box and walk into unfamiliar territory?

When I heard that song, I immediately had the idea to do a poppier version of it so it wasn’t too difficult. With remixes I’ve never tried to force a song to become something it’s not by turning a 110bpm pop song into a 125bpm club tune or vice versa. I also hate changing the speed of a song when remixing it as it degrades the audio quality of the parts you use from the original.

Your mix series is heavily influenced by deep, electro house. Is that a fair assessment? An indication of where you are headed in 2012?

Yeah there is definitely a lot of deep house and deep tech type stuff. I’m definitely not headed that deep.  I think my “How Deep is Your Love” remix, Snake Charmer remix and the upcoming Country Club EP are a better indication of what is coming up for me. The reason the mixes have all sounded like that is because I’ve only done those mixes with close friends from Sydney and there is definitely a small (but growing) scene for that type of music in Sydney at the moment. Expect a broader range of sounds for the next few as I’ll be asking people outside of Sydney to do them.

Who is the next big thing to come out of Australia that nobody knows about?

I think the promising “new” guys at the moment are What So Not and Lancelot. Check them out if you haven’t already! Actually Mic Newman (aka Fantastic Mac) is a big name in certain circles but definitely underrated on a broad scale.

Besides making your Washington, DC debut at U Street Music Hall Saturday, what else are you most looking forward to?

About coming to DC? Being in the same city as all those legends over on K Street!!

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The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love (Cassian Remix)

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Gigamesh – When You’re Dancing (Cassian Remix)

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Monkey Safari – Fat Papa (Country Club Remix)