Interview with Sub Swara!

Beatification Interviews Sub Swara!!!

Check em out if your in the San Francisco area tonight at Public Works for their "Triggers" album release party
- http://www.sanfrancisco.com/sub-swara-live-triggers-record-release-party-e1079721



Lily: Would you first like to introduce yourselves?

Dave & Dhruva: absolutely! I'm Dave, and that's Dhruva; together we're Sub Swara. We live in Brooklyn, make music, and tour constantly.

Lily: How did Sub Swara become what it is today? How and where did you meet?

Dave & Dhruva: Sub Swara started as an event in 2005; Dhruva, along with our still-very-close-friends Haj and Sunder began it as a place to present artists that didn't fit into any particular genre, and we especially pushed the then-nascent scenes of dubstep and glitch. Dave and Dhruva had been writing music separately, and Dave came on board in 2007. All told, we did around 40 events, and presented the NYC debuts of artists ranging from the Glitch Mob, to Ghislain Poirier, to Mary Anne Hobbs.

As the live events developed, we organically came to do a central DJ set of the 3, then 4 of us together, also featuring vocalist Juakali. This shared set, along with what Dave & Dhruva were writing, became the focus of Sub Swara. Sunder and Haj left amicably to pursue other life paths, leaving Dhruva & Dave as Sub Swara.

Lily: Where are each of you from?

Dave & Dhruva: Dave was born & raised in New Jersey; Dhruva was born in India, and moved to the Midwest when he was a kid.

Lily: How would you describe the sound of your latest album Triggers?

Dave & Dhruva: "Friggin' Awesome" is the first thing that comes to mind ;) It's danceable, emotive, and draws on alot of talent that we were extremely excited to work with: Dead Prez, Lyrics Born, Antibalas, Kendra from P-funk, our buddies Eric Frasier and Freddy Mills, and a host of others. The SF weekly just said that it's "as enjoyable sitting down as standing up," which i think is great-- a record that moves the body & soul.

Lily: Trigger's blends many musical styles and genres, What are some of your biggest musical influences? Genres and artists?

Dave & Dhruva: Aside from the endless bevy of great tracks that get sent to us by our peers (current faves include Lorn and Virtual Boy), a day rarely goes by when Faith No More doesn't make it into the mix. We both grew up as percussionists, and rhythm in general is a huge influence. We also grew up in the 90s, so hip hop and dancehall are massive influences. When dubstep entered our collective world in 2005, we found that we had a great container within we could use our voices... inspiration lies in good songs everywhere, regardless of genre.

Lily: On Triggers you used recorded instruments, which ones did you use?

Dave & Dhruva: Tons, everything from the bansuri (wooden flute) played on "Vagabond Knowledge," to the duct-tape-and-cardboard- treated drumset on "Bend You," to the massive amounts of percussion that Dhruva recorded in India for "Steam" and "The Ripple." We're especially proud of "Bird of Paradise," which features drums and percussion by ourselves, and horns from Stuart Bogie & Eric Biondo of Antibalas. Stuart's sax is the sound of Fela Kuti in the broadway show, Fela!, and it was a huge pleasure working with him.

Lily: Trigger’s is full of collaborations, how did you decide who to collaborate with?

Dave & Dhruva: We made a long list of folks we'd like to work with, narrowed it down, and went from there.

Lily: You have your show coming up at the Airliner for Low End Theory, have you ever played there before? Are you looking forward to it? And your show in San Francisco?

Dave & Dhruva: We haven't played Low End Theory before, but they've been on our radar for more than a minute-- their podcasts are great, and we're really looking forward to getting down in LA. Amazing to think that, 3,000 miles away from home, there's a supportive scene that's as into the progression of new music as we are. San Francisco has always been really good to us-- Dhruva lived there for a few years and we have many friends there-- it's almost like a second home. These are two of our last shows for 2010, and the end of the first leg of touring behind "Triggers," so we're extremely excited.
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Lily: Anything else you would like to mention?

Dave & Dhruva: There's a ton of free tracks, podcasts, mixes, video blogs, and remixes available at subswara.com-- check it out, and stay tuned for more in 2011!

<3 Lily