Artist Spotlight: BaseFace
Electronic punks duet of ex-Prodigy drummer Kieron Pepper and DJ / Producer Gordy will blast you out with their new conceptual album.
This is article brought to you by Andrey Bezryadin an Emanate Community admin member.
“Online gigs are masturbation. BaseFace is a real SEX!”
Tell us guys how did your love for music start, where did you learn to play, and waveforms of what projects you’d surfed before BaseFace.
Kieron: I have been mesmerised by music from as long as I can remember. Was sitting on the stairs while my mum did the vacuuming and singing intervals to the drone. I taught myself to play keys from around the age of 8/9 when Brenda, my Nan (dad’s mother), gave me an old reed organ. Then, as at school, I got in a band (THE CHANGELINGS), taught myself guitar and did my first gigs as a frontman with those guys. The band nearly split up when the drummer Dan (still one of my best mates) decided he wanted to sing. So we swapped and I threw myself into learning drum grooves from my favourite bands (The The, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, The Cure). I got into various other bands: GARP — where I learnt how to play along with samples and breakbeats; REALTV — which was the band that got me touring, recording and genuinely living the dream (albeit short-lived). One day Liam H asked me if I wanted to be the Prodigy’s live drummer, which of course I did everything in my power to make happen. After 10 incredible years with them, my heart went into DEAD KIDS, which was a band of brothers behaving very badly (it didn’t last long enough). Then I joined SLEEPER (I currently play bass for them — did an album in 2018) and I still recording and play drums and keys/samples with the RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP.
Gordy: Well, I was a DJ at school parties when I was 12. Played on cassettes :) It was kinda 90s in Russia, hard times but full of first music experiences and insights. At that age I was into The Prodigy, Scooter, hardcore techno, acid rave, trance, DnB — well I was into all EDM stuff actually haha :)
Who are your influencers and what music drives up your heart BPM?
Gordy: My number 1 band is The Prodigy. I’m a fan of them since 1994 when I was 13. These guys totally made my music taste for the future.
Kieron: I was a fan of Prodigy well before joining them, and I still am. I love music with attitude and conviction but also a massive fan of great songwriting: RATM, Fugazi, Tame Impala, Noisia, Gesafflestein, Depeche Mode…
What is your creative process guys? Do you hear music in your head and getting path to it together or you experiment, discovering new tunes?
Kieron: I’m always recording ideas into my phone — everyday — and most evenings, when I’m not working on collabs or other artist’s tracks, I write and create on Logic. I have hard-drives full of material… Sometimes when Gordy has an instrumental idea, I’ll write from fresh or remember an old idea and adapt to fit the vibe.
In the last years, you were not releasing music or touring. What you’ve been cooking in “free time”?
Gordy: Honestly at some point, we’ve just lost interest in BaseFace development after 2–3 years of making gigs in Russia and releasing stuff. I came back to the pro swimming, so focused on it and business. But this year, dunno even why, I felt that it’s the right time for a comeback. Asked Kieron if he feels the same, so we’re here now, making releases every month and ready to burn some asses at our live shows ;)
Kieron: Gordy blackmailed me — he has years of kompromat… If really, as Gordy said, it kind of ran its course, but recently, with his 20th-anniversary theprodigy.ru show, and with a crazy couple of years gone by, it felt right to reignite the project.
How did you meet?
Kieron: I remember Gordy being backstage at a Prodigy show in Germany I think, and then more regularly as we toured in Russia.
Gordy, you went through a road from a fan to a friend, support DJ and even show organizer. How does it feel to achieve something millions are dreaming?
Gordy: Well, it wasn’t one day happening, actually it was a very long road from starting theprodigy.ru community in 1999, going to meeting the band face to face in 2005 and playing support DJ set in 2011. Funny thing: that warm-up for the Prodigy for 12 000 ppl in St. Petes was kinda my 6th or 7th DJ performance in my life haha :)
The main reason it happened is because of theprodigy.ru. Making this website I kept in mind that one day the band could know about it and this can be a bridge to a personal meeting. So it happens exactly according to a kinda plan :)
Gordy, you was warming-up The Prodigy crowd 4 times, while you, Kieron, was bringing full fire from the stage of the best live band in the world for 10 years (1997–2007). How this influenced your vision of BaseFace’s live shows?
Kieron: Well, the idea of BaseFace was to jam out our favourite electronic tracks with live instruments (I played drums, bass, smokers and sang a bit). So my natural preferences are always going to be hard and exciting beats, having played along to Liam’s music for years, and bands before, so we couldn’t get away from Prodigy music being involved, as they are world leaders, and we were also dropping beats from Stanton Warriors, Chemical Brothers, Spor, Skrillex… The concept was originally born out of theprodigy.ru parties, some with Leeroy. Then when we formed BaseFace, it became more about creating something a bit more diverse and ultimately original material became a focus.
Gordy: Technically BaseFace shows are totally different from The Prodigy for sure. Noone can be like them, it’s impossible. They’re on the unreal level. But the vibe of the Prodigy gigs I’ve been at (about 50 times) fuels my fire when I’m on stage as a BaseFace member. I wanna ppl feel kinda the same.
What you have learned from guys from The Prodigy?
Kieron: Professionalism, conviction, quality — there are so many things I could list with scenarios and anecdotes that this would become a book. I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the opportunities I received from those guys.
Gordy: Don’t give a fuck about anything around and follow your dreams and targets. haha :)
Tell us about your new conceptual album. We know it’s split into two parts and can’t wait to know details.
Kieron: On The Leash is just a recap — taking stock, and looking at the years leading up to this point, with us desperate to break free and try something fresh and different. I think something was holding us back before — no doubt ourselves. Off The Leash — we don’t give a fuck now, we’re so up for it, life is short, so let’s get to it!
“Off the leash”… sounds like you will go wild on that one. Responding in comments in your social networks you mentioned that your upcoming single will electrify rock + breakbeat seekers… That already gives a hint on what black hole of cool sound is comin’. Can you open a portal a bit more?
Kieron: I’ve been recently working with a lot of cool artists under the radar (I specialise in artist development and write with many new acts, as well as the personal creative stuff) and we’ve invited some awesome collabs to the table as well as reworking some tracks that we didn’t get to release the first time around. Always the music is eclectic (Breaks, Rock, HipHop, Electro, DarkParty, Industrial) but with the freshest take and contemporary influences — there’s so much great new music out there if you know where to look…
There is a dubstep DNA in “On the leash”, while now this genre mostly got off the radars, giving a place to heavier soundings like deathstep. How your vision of BaseFace sound has transformed through the years the project was frozen? Is the first part of the album a farewell to old BaseFace and you are preparing to blast our heads out when you will get “Off the leash”?
Kieron: I’ve never been one to celebrate the many sub-genres of music, especially EDM — I just love great tracks. Some tracks will automatically feel dated quickly with the sounds used from that time, but a good song/hook is a good song/hook… New genres and hybrids of styles are coming around again quicker, so we’re just celebrating it all, regardless of bpm. In the gap, I’ve been working on some killer tracks, and, naturally, want to bring some tasty elements into this new collection of songs.
Is this album evolved from ‘Generation Dead’ mentioned in the 2017 interview? And if not, do you have plans on publishing unreleased material? Emanate can get you covered…
Kieron: Generation Dead was one of a few tracks that we’ve been keeping locked away, and having those tracks gave us confidence that we could pull together a new album with new material. We were thinking about dropping that one a while back, but when the world lost Keith, it just didn’t seem appropriate at all. The new global events of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter awakenings have made us look at this material in a different way — there is a world-wide undercurrent of unrest and it’s been brewing for decades (and centuries) — a lot of these tracks tap into the psyche of the intellectually connected and disbelief at the state that the human race has gotten itself into…
There are a lot of collaborations and remixes in your releases. Emanate provides to artists the ability to set themselves % of royalties each party should receive and watch instant verifiable payouts every 6,25 seconds. You got your hands on the platform, what your thoughts on it?
Kieron: When collaborating with other writers/producers from a spark of an idea, it should always be equally split I believe, and transparency always makes people feel safe. Emanate sounds fresh and exciting.
You witnessed vinyl, cassettes, CDs, iPods, Spotify and now Emanate — the musical protocol of the internet, which place artists first and removes frictions of the music industry by digitalising everything (paperwork, stems exchange, payouts for using samples in a DAW or a song being played by a DJ in the club, etc.) How do you think Emanate will evolve the music industry?
Kieron: No idea :) the music industry needs help right now — so anything which empowers the artist has to be a good thing. If it helps evolve transparency and makes collaborating more free and easy then surely it will be most welcome for all music makers and songwriters. I’m sure a lot of artists in my network would love to learn more.
“On The Leash” got to the 5th place on the BandLink chart, beating many famous Russian music artists, and it was just a pre-release stage… 20,000 streams in two weeks within VK alone… What black magic do you use and where to get some?
Gordy: No magic man :) All numbers above are more about the Russian market. We historically got a good fan base here. In worldwide market streams and sales are not really high atm. But we think all future releases will get more attention from the listeners. As for me, all next EPs will be much better than all previous ;)
Gordy as a founder of Redbee, a digital marketing agency with 15+ years on the market, what can you recommend to aspiring artists on self-promotion?
Gordy: Educate yourself in targeted advertising in Google Ads and become a pro in SMM and paid traffic in IG, FB, VK. This is a really key thing for the promo nowadays. 95% of all record labels doing really shitty promo for the releases. Being a pro you can do it all for yourself 4–5 times more effective (and cheaper) and with no need to share 50% of releases sales with a record label.
Your previous releases were published via Freakz Me Out, The Pooty Club Records and iBreaks labels. For the new album and future executions, you started your label, called DEADQUARTERS. Tell us about a reason behind this decision and your masterplan on it. We see a lot of artists (even aspiring ones) doing the same.
Kieron: Creating DEADQUARTERS brings our music all together tidily in one place, and I’m sure when some of our other older tracks need to come home, it will add to our body of work. Having the label also ties in the aesthetic/branding and the message that we are doing things ourselves and making shit happen. I’d love nothing more than DEADQUARTERS to grow and reach many music lovers who are into our scene — so that we can release tracks by our favourite artists and friends within the industry, creating a new tribe. The name DEADQUARTERS comes from a song I wrote about 10 years ago — I think I might have to dig it out soon…
Gordy: Own label, first of all, is a great opportunity to make a release plan you really want: no need to wait for the release date from the label — sometimes it takes ages. Plus, you don’t need to share 50 / 50 of release profit with a label and can invest as much money for the promo as you want and it needs.
Artists today can keep creative freedom and publish themself music in various ways, including via distribution services like CDbaby, Emanate Distro, TuneCore, etc. From your point of view, what artists need labels and when they should get in touch?
Gordy: label can be helpful for young artists. It can help with first releases promo and to get feedback from ppl in the music industry. Anyway, it’s all about ppl behind the label, sometimes they can become your family and you ll work with all for a really long time.
Both of you have great taste in music. On BaseFace social networks, you mentioned a plan on signing a few musicians to your label next year. Any hint on who are those lucky ones?
Gordy: we said we’ll THINK about other artists for DEADQUARTERS next year. No idea atm to be honest :)
Kieron: I work with many artists and bands but in the early stages, getting the product to a high level. It’s too early to say who we could help. DEADQUARTERS has only just started as a vehicle for us right now. It will be able to help others out if it grows and provides a way of linking like-minded souls.
We are testing a “Label” role to simplify the onboarding process for… (plot twist)… labels. Would love you to try it.
Gordy: maybe one day :)
BaseFace has toured more than 50 cities around Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. What plans on gigs in CIS and Europe when venues are opened? Do you see instant payouts for streams as a solution while doors are closed?
Kieron: I’ve had two tours cancelled this year and one postponed twice — I think we’ll have to wait what happens. I’m interested to see how we could do a live streaming version, but it’s a lot of time and effort needed to do it properly. Our time is being spent creatively right now on new material. Once we have everything done — I can’t wait to play live again.
Gordy: We definitely plan touring when it becomes possible. We even got a big date for Saint Petes but still have no idea if it is possible because all clubs are closed atm. Streaming and music sales are not the main target for us for sure. It’s all about live shows 100%.
Live shows can’t live without the audience, but digital ones can and Fortnite team showed a way to go (watch this). Any plans on performing at such an event?
Kieron: I’ve seen a Fortnite gig and thought it was pretty fucking cool — the concept blew my mind! But the whole VR shit… It’s just gaming, solo, and not truly social. it’s like saying you have loads of friends on social media platforms that you’ve never met before in your life.
Gordy: not interesting for me at all. Gigs are about ppl around feeling the same vibe, same time, same place. Online gigs are more about masturbating as for me. And BaseFace is about real SEX! ha )
Kieron, you are self-taught musician, who is mentoring as Head of Live Performance at BIMM Brighton and as Head of Artist Development at Academy of Contemporary Music. Whom of your students you would place to warm-up BaseFace?
Kieron: I’m doing all the artist development freelance now (working with industry artists like Wargasm & CrashFace), and have had the great honour of teaching many artists and bands, some incredibly well known, some about to be… But they are artists from many different styles of genre: I can’t see someone like George Ezra supporting BaseFace ever — especially as he would never want/need to. Although, there are quite a few fresh acts that already are involved with new BaseFace tracks and so you’ll hear about them no doubt. I would have had acts like Para Fiction (unfortunately just split up), Chinchilla (now on her own trajectory to mega-stardom signed to XVII mgmt and supporting Sting)… I’m sure if the live scene eventually gives us an opportunity to bring a support act I’ll be able to think of many. For example, MIN t who I worked with at BIMM Berlin — her new tracks are killer. You’ll be able to see all of the artists that I work(ed) with soon, when I launch my secret underground service that I’ve been doing for years.
Is your multi-instrumentalist nature driven by a passion for experiments and learning something new? Also, do you have a fav instrument?
Kieron: I don’t have a favourite — just love creating and, yes, experimenting. Samplers are the ultimate tool for this…
Any cheat code on how to get into an instrument quickly?
Kieron: er…practice — be honest with yourself. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In one of your previous interviews, you shared a dope list of artists to watch. Any addition to that now?
Kieron: Wargasm (UK) / Stu Brootal / Kap Bambino / Death Tour / Chinchilla / Bishop Briggs / Sophie & The Giants / Blackwaters / CLTDRP / Libra Libra / Radidas / Neon Islands / Feral Youth / Gesafflestein / Look Mum No Computer — check out the DEADQUARTERS playlist in Spotify.
What advice guys you would like to give to aspiring artists?
Kieron: Don’t give up if you know that you are good. Surround yourself with honest and trustworthy creatives that can do the things that you can’t. If it stops being fun — then stop.
Gordy: Do what you really want to do! And pray! :)
See U off the leash boiz!
Kieron: Hopefully see you on the other side of this madness! Respect and love to you and yours. Be safe.
Gordy: Cheerz man!
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