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Scott Attrill aka Vinylgroover: The Bass Junkie Reported by Ben Gomori / Submitted 30-04-08 11:18 From hardcore producer to hard dance boundary-pusher, Scott "Vinylgroover" Attrill has been creating anthems for the harder generation since way back in 1994. Over the last few years he has carved himself a name as one of the most exciting, innovative producers in the scene, mixing up techno, electro and European tech-trance sounds with a core recipe of UK hard dance to often stunning effect for his Traffic Records label amongst others. And now at long last, his debut album Bass Junkie is about to get a full release. We had an in-depth chat with Scott about the album, about going to raves as a kid (and we mean a kid), playing hard dance in Chicago, ill-fated collaborations and some possibly better-fated ones with a leading lady of the scene. It’s been noted that your friends parents took you to a rave when you were (what age?) – what do they think of the stuff you produce these days? Yeah my friend’s parents were well into the rave scene. They knew DJs like Frankie Shag Bones, Tony Trax and Grooverider from the London scene and they used to send us loads of records they didn’t want. That was excellent as you can imagine being 13/14 and getting records from top DJs. It didn’t matter to us they were the ones they didn’t really want - we played them from the minute we got up to the minute we slept. It was Vision at Popham Airfield they took me to. My friend was a couple of years younger than me and there was no way he’d be getting in. I remember they said I could go with them and I was made up. I literally ran home to get some cash for my ticket and ran back as quick as I could, I spent hours looking at that ticket, hahah. It seemed like forever until it came around and I was worried I wouldn’t get in. I remember driving there and it was massive with spotlights and big tops everywhere. To me it looked like an entire town, I could hear the music and the crowds and we were queuing with hundreds of other cars. There were even people leaving their motors on the side of the road and cutting across the fields, it was brilliant. Despite all my worries I made it straight into the event, I realised then all I wanted to be was a DJ, so that’s what I dedicated my life to. I don’t really see them anymore, only to say hi occasionally. They know I made it as a DJ though and said “Well done”. I actually took my friend (their son) Ashley out with me to a few gigs some years back to Club Kinetic in Stoke and Fusion at the Rhythm Station in Aldershot. He loved it and I’m sure he would have told his Mum and Dad all about it. Would you take your kids to a rave? I’ve not really thought about it too much to be honest. I don’t have kids yet but I think I would take them depending on the circumstances and their age. I think if you’re young and into the rave scene you will find a way to get there anyway. Knowing how much it meant to me the first time I experienced it I don’t think it’s such a bad thing, plus you could watch what they were up to and know they were safe. At the end of the day it’s one of the best experiences of your life, in my opinion, so why not share it with your own kids? You spend a lot of time working with other producers. Would you get bored flying solo all the time? I have done quite a lot solo tracks too over the years and I like working both ways. There is of course a big difference though, depending on who you are working with and how you work together. When you are collaborating you can bounce ideas off each other and try different things and there are two points of view on everything. If you are both in agreement the tune is usually on the right track. Producing on your own you lose that extra bit of help as whether you use an engineer or not you are relying on all your own creative ideas and thoughts. I think if you are quite a creative person anyway and just love music you shouldn’t run into too many problems, but if you are in the studio a lot of the time chances are you are going to have writers block on a few occasions. Don’t name any names – but are there any collaborative efforts that really didn’t work out? What was the problem if so? There was once, I was working with someone who could have made it all the way. This must have been about 2001. It wasn’t long after I recorded a few tracks for Nukleuz (‘Move Your Body’ etc), I had worked on those with The Red Hed and decided I would give this other studio a go and see what sounds we could come up with. It was just a pain trying to get things to fall into place with them moaning the whole time I was there. It was a real struggle and after the first day I had to go. Thing was I remembered taking the bare bones/rough idea of the track into Nukleuz and it got a positive reaction. Problem was I just don’t think I could have worked like that again so I never went back. Thankfully that’s the only time it’s ever happened, every other time it’s been exciting and fun, the way it should be. We heard a rumour you were going to be working with Lisa Lashes on some material. Is this true? What happened? I would really like to work with Lisa and we have mentioned it before over e-mail. I think it’s a project that will happen one day and hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. It all depends on schedules too, Lisa had her artist album project last year that was massive for her and I have just been putting mine together over the past twelve months, so that combined with all the DJ work and label running leaves very little time, maybe this could be the year? Watch this space. Tell us about the new album then – how long did it take and what’s the general idea? Is it just a collection of club tracks or something more? I thinks its an album that totally represents where I am at in my career at the moment, I haven’t done any breaks or house material at the start, which was something I personally wanted to avoid - this has been done on other artist albums and sounds great but I wanted mine to be different to the rest. I pretty much just fire it up from track one. The album has some interesting twists and turns with some punk/grunge style vocals, twisted basslines and mental arrangements, thrashing tech drums and filthy rhythms. I also put in five tracks that have been very successful for me over the past few years, so there are ten original tunes that sit well with them. As a body of work I am really happy with it as it’s a true reflection of the sounds that I love. Thing was I never set out to put together the complete album, I just worked really hard last year and thought “actually there is some great material here to put something bigger together”. I think I already had about seven tracks that I wanted to use, which was amazing as it took the pressure off because most of it was done. It was good to finish up that way as I looked at the original songs and some of my old classics that I wanted to use and kind of tried to fill in the gaps with some of the sounds/styles that were missing, I think the album is an entertaining and interesting listen the whole way through and I’m really happy with that. Which tracks have been working the best on the dancefloors? To be honest they have all had good reactions but for different reasons. Some of the tech trance tracks work better in certain clubs and of course the harder styles suit other clubs better. It also depends on where you are in the world - certain places prefer particular sounds so you know the tracks that will definitely go off. The hard part is to fit the other kinds of records around them. Feel Alive has worked very well as it has a grunge-y male vocal with deep tech loops and an uplifting trance breakdown. There’s a few collaborations that sound great too – Dirtbox with BK has old school pianos, bending saw basses, off bass and all sorts happening. The arrangement is fast too so it really gets the crowd going. Big Fun with The Organ Donors has been smashing it, with the full Inner City vocal on there and firing loops. The album title track Bass Junkie has also received amazing reactions - this has a twisted electronic vibe with some cool uplifting old school hits and stabs that give a good feel to it. I’m over the moon as all the tracks are gaining support from top DJs all over the world. Have you got any aspirations to produce an album in a different style? Definitely, this is just the start as far as focusing on album projects go! I am already looking at other angles to take. The most important thing for me now is to try to make future projects a bit different and push them a bit further. I will be doing a project with BK later this year, this will be a DJ compilation and we will have some exclusive new material on it. I will also continue to put together the Sessions series for Traffic, I’m working on volume five at the moment so that will be a good selection for the summer. I have also been working on a project called Off Key with Ali Wilson - this is on a kind of tech house tip with harder more twisted noises in there. We have quite a lot of material that has been getting plays from Carl Cox, Groove Armada, Jon Carter, Marco V and more, so that’s quite exciting too. You’ve played all over the world in your years as a DJ – but which gigs in or outside the UK have really blown you away over the past year? I did a gig in Chicago that was different. They had me, Shy FX & a progressive house DJ all in the same arena – strange but true, the crowd really enjoyed it. Who or what has been influencing you production-wise recently? Or do you not really take too much inspiration from others? I take inspiration from all kinds of music and artists - I listen to a lot of different music so I think that this helps to keep my ideas fresh in the studio. Just listening for example to a drum & bass track can affect what I take into the studio. It’s great to take an idea of a riff or bassline that I may hear and think ‘Well I do like the sound of that, so why not give it a go with some harder dance drums?’. I know it will be fresh, exciting and different and that is exactly what we need to move music forward, it’s fun and interesting and when you get it right there’s no better feeling. As far as artists go I love everything by The Prodigy, anything Vince Clarke has been involved in is excellent, Kraftwerk, New Order, they shaped the future of Dance Music. As for dance artists now, there is some awesome talent at the moment. I have respect for everyone both making and playing music trying to create the ultimate club vibe. Which new talents in the hard dance scene have been impressing you of late? My favourites at the moment would be Kamui and A*S*Y*S, producers from Germany whose tracks are featuring in all of my sets at the moment. Tracks like Electro Slut and Cheers are ripping it up for me everywhere. I can’t wait to see what they do this year. Vandal and Future Disciple have also been impressing me, they are trying new things, pushing sounds and I’m really into it. In general – what do you think of the state of hard dance? It certainly seems to be recovering a bit after a tough 2007? It’s coming back for sure and I think it will be bigger and better this time around. Producers are putting more vocals, uplifting riffs and hooks into tracks which is important. It creates an even bigger vibe and identity, it brings more interest and to have full songs means you can have big status tracks. I think this has been lacking for a while. Every club I am playing at the moment is busy and everyone seems to be excited by the music, club nights and the DJs, this could be a real important year for hard dance. And finally, do you actually still play any vinyl? Should it be CDgroover?? Haha, I still use my vinyl’s for scratching and some tricks, but I am playing all my sets from CD. The album is actually a Scott Attrill aka Vinylgroover album as I am playing out more under my real name now – I will still record under Vinylgroover for various tracks and projects though. You can buy the album from: www.riotinlondon.com www.myspace.com/scottattrill www.trafficrecords.co.uk Photos courtesy of Scott Attrill. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By Ben Gomori: HF exclusive SouthWestFour preview: Sasha vs Digweed The Bluffer's Guide to Detroit Techno Riot! memories as hard dance returns to The End The King is back! Andy Farley finally returns Vandall brings his Warez to Timeless: The White Party The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: *antixa* on 11th May 2008 18:48.56 Cool interview Ben

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