Friday 25 January 2019

Interview with 1st SCIENCE + an exclusive EP from him on Strictly Nuskool Blog




GK: 1st Science. How's this name come from?

1st SC: I wanted a name related with science fiction, technology and futuristic stuff, but in a silly kind of way.
By chance, I saw a chemistry experiment toy kit for kids that was called 'First Science', so  I just took that name.



GK: Can you give us an insight about the Oldskool scene in Sweden and how you caught up with this music?

1st SC: There is no 'Oldskool scene' in Sweden. I have never met a person into Oldskool.
That makes me the indisputable King of Hardcore in Sweden until somebody proves I'm not..


Back in the '90s, The Prodigy, Baby D and rave stuff like that, was immensly popular and the radio stations played a lot of it. Then it went out of fashion and was quickly forgotten.
For me it was all about MTV Party Zone with Simone Angel. That was the best way to hear cool new dance music back then.
Me and my best friend also bought a lot of great rave compilations too, 'Kaos Theory' etc.


GK: How's the rave thing in your city over the last years and in general?

1st SC: Stockholm had its underground rave scene and it became commercially big in '95-'96. All media coverage about illegal warehouse parties, police raids and ecstasy drew a lot of attention and rave was hyped up. Everybody wanted to go to a rave. The police answered by forming a special force called 'the rave commission', which targeted all underground parties.
I guess they were a kind of pain in the ass for the organisers and ravers so the rave scene soon went underground again. 

Swedes are introvert and shy people and I think that's why dull, minimal Techno has always been big here. The cold and dark climate goes hand in hand with dark, boring, monotonous beats. 
We have great Techno producers and I suppose Techno clubs in the major cities are as much 'rave' as can we get.




GK: What influenced yourself to begin production and what inspires you writting a tune?

1st SC: I always liked dance music as a kid but it was a MIDI workshop in the music school, where I took keyboard lessons; that made it for me.
This was in '93 and music equipment was very expensive at the time but I got my first synthesizer, a Juno-2 and soon after I saved money to get an Atari ST. I swapped some CDs for a drummachine and a SL1200 for a synth module. It was a hassle but eventually I built a primitive little home studio and could record my first tunes. Really bad ones lol.
Early inspirations was practically anything in Techno, Acid House, Gabber and Hardcore Breaks. Just to program a 4/4 beat on a that horrible little Boss drum machine was pure magic.


Nowadays, I get most inspiration from sampling. I enjoy the creative side of it. The best thing about Breakbeat Hardcore is that you can pretty much throw in what you got and mix it and it sounds wicked and fun.


 



GK: What equipment are you using at the moment?

1st SC: At the moment I use an old E-mu ESI4000 sampler and sometimes not much else.
It has a different sound to the Akai S3000 I used to have and it is very quick to work on and suits my fast workflow. I got some old drum machines and synthesizers, Korg M1, two Roland Juno2s, Roland R8, Roland JV880, Yamaha TX81Z and some newer Arturia and Novation units.

My thumb of rule is to record the tune the same day you started working on it.



GK: You're one of the most appropriate to talk about Hardcore Breaks, since you're an old dog in the Nu-Rave scene. How do you see the scene at present? Is it in healthy condition?

1st SC: It's great to see that so many people I used to talk to on Hardcore forums 14-15 years ago are still going strong and put out new music. Back in 2004 when I made my first Breakbeat tunes, most producers were British.
Now there are producers from all parts of the world which is a good sign.
In 2019 we are drowning in bad information, bad news and bad music but I believe we got something substancial and strong here. Hardcore, don't sell out!




GK: How can you describe your new 5track work which goes on exclusive free download from our blog. Few bits about your EP on Strictly Nuskool Blog? How Tough Cookies are they then?

1st SC:
The tracks on the latest EP were recorded in 2018. I guess they contain the usual 1st Science formula with samples from old Reggae, Hip Hop Breaks, arcade games, melodic synth lines and wailing soul vocals. I always keep telling myself to make something rougher and tougher but keep adding those mellow strings all over the place.



GK: Shouts out to anyone and any message you would like to send to all Nuskool fans?

1st SC: All DJs, producers, listeners, followers, Hardcore will never die!  All the best!







'Tough Cookies' is the name of 1st Science exclusive offering for the Strictly Nuskool Blog. The first and proud SNB release for this year.

As usual with every release via this Blog, you can download this one for free here

And please, show your support to this great producer.





1st SCIENCE
soundcloud
discogs

1 comment:

  1. Dragon Fly from Sweden
    https://www.discogs.com/artist/52894-Dragon-Fly

    ReplyDelete