Rogue Audio: 5pm Interview
Today sees the launch of the exceedingly eclectic ‘Haphazard’, by the legendary Global Underground’s latest artist, Rogue Audio. Solo project of Deadset’s Cass, this album effortlessly moves between the ethereal, cinematic soundscapes of ‘Can I Get A Reboot?’ to the glitch laden, tech frenzy of ‘The Only Winning Move’, while riding along the futuristic breaks of ‘Warrior’, the frantic Drum n Bass of ‘Security For All’, and everything else in between.
As an album that quite literally cannot be categorised, it seemed like a great talking point, so Gavin Leversuch caught up with the man himself for today’s 5pm Interview…
So, what was the reasoning behind the return of Rogue Audio? Did you just need a break from Deadset?
There was no grand plan behind finally getting the Rogue Audio album finished, it just seemed to work out time-wise with the scheduling of all the other stuff that was going on. As for needing a break from Deadset, I consider myself exceptionally lucky to do a job that I’m really into, with a guy [Mr. Mangan aka Deadset1]
You move around the genres on Haphazard a lot, from ambient, to hip-hop, to drum n bass, and so on. Was this an intentional forethought in the making of the album, or just the way it turned out?
It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, but due to a combination of other musical commitments and general procrastination, it’s taken a little longer than it probably should have. It’s really come together over a long gestation period, with me intentionally absorbing as many influences over time as possible. I constantly saved little sounds, samples, noises, cinematic references, anything I thought was interesting, and then used them as a palette for the tracks on the album whenever I had the chance to work on it. I’ve been lucky that Andy from GU believed in what I was doing and gave me the forum to put it together. I’ve got a lot of respect for that because when I pitched him the idea, the art wasn’t even started and I’d only completed four tracks.
Bearing this great eclecticism in mind, which track are you most pleased with overall on the album?
Some One. It’s the one that meant the most and I felt like for the first time I’d perhaps been able to reach inside and really get out the emotion that I felt whilst we were writing it. Plus it makes my wife cry when she hears it whilst she’s jogging using her Nike+ pod gubbins. Although that could just be my voice that’s stimulating the salt water…
You brought in a decent number of collaborative assistants for this project. Who would you say made the greatest contribution to the final result?
To be honest, I’ve just been very lucky to work with a whole load of artists I’ve been into. Most of the album was written with Sam Evans, who understands really intuitively what I’ve got in my mind and is then able to translate that in the studio very quickly. That makes working a real pleasure. As for the other combinations, they were a lot of fortunate engineered serendipitous happenings, as it were. I either found myself in another country on tour and had some spare time to get into a studio, or was able to get somebody into my studio when they were here in the UK. I’d love to spin you a yarn about a grand master plan, but it would be a lie.
Similarly, who’s been your favourite musician or producer that you have worked with over the years? It’s gotta be Jason Donovan, right?
Mr. Donovan definitely told the absolutely very, very best tales of debauchery and nefarious happenings. He’s a legend, and just a very cool guy. As for favourite producers, Mango, Mr. Evans, the guys from Infusion, it goes on. Too many nice bods to single one out, actually.
You helped design the artwork, and have created a character that has travelled all over the world. What has been your favourite Choowie sighting, and what’s next on the agenda for him?
He’s going to be appearing exclusively on a range of delicious treats at the superior on-line emporium Oki-Ni (www.oki-ni.com). You can go there now and register your interest for goodies.
(Interview: Gavin Leversuch)
Cass’ Current Top 5:
- Date: Apr 21st 08
- Categories: 5pm Interview