Dazion is one of the most exciting artists to come out of The Hague. Armed with an extensive array of machines he creates a sound which can be described as truly his own. But when presented with a mixer and some turntables Dazion has a music collection spanning all genres and periods. We caught up with Dazion about the perils of playing live and record shopping in France.
Before you started performing as Dazion you were playing and also organising club nights. How did you get your start in the electronic music scene?
I guess, it started more like a hobby project at first….Like, I had a small room, where I used to stack a bunch of weird rack modules and cables. Eventually I started recording some experiments, and before I knew it, my first EP as Dazion was born. It wasn’t like I have a solid plan to get involved in electronic music, or anything like that….it kind of happened all at once.
At the end of last year we saw each other at De Pier. You were gonna play a song live, the machine you brought didn’t have the right cables for the mixer, and the replacement cables were too short. This resulted in you playing with the synth on your knee like a bit of a rockstar. Is this the nature of bringing your own gear to shows? Or does it usually work out flawlessly?
Haha, that’s playing live in a nutshell. I mean, I try to have things neatly organized and specified in a tech rider, but the truth is…things can go wrong. Let me rephrase that: you have to imprint yourself with some last-minute -shit-can-go-wrong problem solving tricks. That way, things become a lot less stressful. Also I don’t work with a laptop or anything. Just always be cool and respectful to the stage crew. They saved my butt millions of times hahah.
So I heard a bunch of your stuff got stolen. What did they take? Where did they take it? Did you find it back? And most importantly, are you still able to play your live set?
Yeah that sucked. They took a lot. Two cases full of pedals, old synth modules, cables and pretty much 90% of my current live set. Luckily I didn’t keep any hard discs or laptops in there. I just bought a new MC303 unit, and a new midi clock is on the way, so I’m almost back on track. The company that rented out the studio space, also didn’t help out much.
Can you walk us through your live setup? What machines do you use? Which one is your favorite? And do you have a synth / drumcomputer or something else which is still high on your wishlist?
Well, at the moment it’s two Roland MC303 grooveboxes, that are both clocked by a small midi clock device. I have an arturia keystep that well… used to go to a Korg synth module. For vocals I use a small directional mic hooked to a Roland VT unit. I’d still love to get my hands on a modular FX module. So many exciting new brands to test from!
So, tell us about your secret weapon.
I remember being on a trip in France, where we had the afternoon off.
Craig Ouar and Brian dragged me into this cool little record shop that was stacked with a lot of second hand stuff. I think it was Craig who passed me a set of headphones, and that was where I first heard it. That track is sick. It works really well, when you play it super slow. It’s just build up after build up.
For me it’s hard not to play it hahah…so I guess it’s not so secret after all.
Check out Dazion’s full playlist here.