⋆˚࿔ untitled 909 podcast 283: pugilist ⋆˚࿔

“i wanted to showcase some of the sounds which i am loving in the higher tempo ranges with this one and to challenge myself to play as much of my own original and forthcoming music as possible in between, a lot of which has been made recently. i guess you could call it drum & bass mutations with some weird slowmo bass and dub curveballs. it’s rough and ready and i did it in 1 take which is my favourite way to record especially when playing a lot of my own music as i can over think it and not enjoy it otherwise.”

this week we have an artist gracing the 909 mix series who’s tracks i literally cannot get enough of - it’s the naarm/melbourne-based producer pugilist! <3

the definition of pugilist is a fighter or brawler, not something that you would instantly go to associate with the wide reaching output of this artist. pugilist’s productions range from the deep introspective dub continuum drawing influence from uk bass, dub techno and dubstep to the high energy, sometimes maximalist, but still often on the softer side, of drum & bass, jungle and halftime experimentations, as seen on his most recent release ‘triads’ on samurai music. the ep marks his first solo output on the berlin-based label following a collaborative release with fellow australian artist tamen last year.

the versatility of pugilist’s output is so inspiring. another artist who i feel captures the full breadth of the low end psychedelia soundscape we are starting to hear more of in recent years. his sound can feel right at home on labels such as rupture, modern hypnosis, shall not fade, banoffee pies records, c.e.e., of paradise, temple records and temple of sound. he also launched his own imprint, ruff kutz, last year as a home for his own records after 15 years in the game with over 60 vinyl pressed. his collaborators include sub basics, forest drive west, mystic state, big hands, and mystik to name a few.

in the midst of a productive season where pugilist has made over 200 tracks, he has kindly pulled together a mix for us that taps into his love for higher tempos, featuring a lot of his own productions.

hey alex! how are you doing? what have you been up to lately?

hey chanel, i have been busy working on lots of musical projects since returning to aus from a little eu trip just over a month ago, and settling back into the groove of things! i have started work on an album for samurai music, a few collaborations with some friends which i am excited for, as well as keeping my label (ruff kutz) bubbling away. it has been a busy year music wise, having released a debut album, a few eps and remixes also. i recently released my first solo ep ‘triads’ on samurai music, following on from my ‘onyx’ ep with tamen last year, with more to come down the line. i also released the 4th record on my label called ‘control’, a collaborative ep with sub basics.

let’s start from the very beginning, what was your first introduction to music in general and then more specifically electronic music?

i didn’t grow up in a musical household, but always wanted to learn musical instruments. i tried to learn guitar and piano but it never stuck with me. it wasn’t until the teenage angst set in that i started to listen to music that was darker and more left field and trying my hand at making it.

i got into electronic music through mainly school friends. dubstep and drum & bass were all the rage at the time in the mid-late 00s and i would often exchange tunes with people, discovering artists like boxcutter, vex’d, kryptic minds, calibre, commix etc. it gradually turned into an obsession. then i started going out to dubstep and drum & bass nights and loving the community. i was also interested by its relative accessibility (financial cost and access to technology/information), which made me start thinking about production. i bought the most basic version of fl studio and got stuck into making some of the worst music imaginable for a good 2 years before gaining any traction with it. i had my first record under a now defunct alias in 2012 and from there on it became a habit, consistently putting out a few records each year. i started the pugilist alias in 2016.

who was the first artist or band that you were a fan of?

as a real youngin i loved pavarotti, and then became a fan of jamiroquai and robbie williams when i was in the later years of primary school. i wish i could say that my taste was out there and that i was cool, but i was not. in my later teenage years i became a big hip hop head and that led to the discovery of sampling and breaks for me, i also loved the anti authoritarian culture of the music. the first concert i went to may have been around the age of 18 to either radiohead or at big day out festival where i saw tool, iggy pop, deftones etc. in terms of electronic music, i was obsessed with burial when i first discovered him as a youth (along with millions of others lol), it was a sound i had never heard before, more so the south london boroughs album which has a darker sound that i really gravitated towards. it was a gateway that led me to discovering labels like hyperdub and gradually expanding to finding artists on the likes of planet mu, tempa and deep medi etc, as well as lots of naff d&b which i used to hear out a lot and love at the time. the first music i ever tried to make was really bad & aggressive d&b before trying my hand at making more minimal style dubstep influenced by a lot of artists mentioned.

was there a formative moment growing up, whether that’s seeing your favourite band live or an incredible dj set, that led you to this path?

i always connected more with music that wasn’t necessarily dancefloor friendly, in moments of solitude whilst listening alone. i love the collective community vibe of the club, and saw many great djs. but the first sets that i remember really changing things for me would have been seeing either mala or om unit many moons ago, the depth of the music was there but it was still danceable. i connected a lot with the soulfulness of it all. especially when more aggressive music started to take hold around that time - this music felt more substantive to me. seeing kiwi bands like fat freddys drop & katchafire definitely influenced my love of dub.

what is the most meaningful part of being an artist to you?

the community around music has always been a huge driver for me. it is the one of the few areas of life that still feels real and purposeful to me. there is a resistance element which underpins music and other art forms, i feel like it is a way of rejecting the status quo and building community outside of normal social structures. most of the people i know through music are quite aligned in terms of values and a bit more open minded.

i would also say it is partly escapism from work, life responsibilities and the general state of the world at the moment - i love getting lost in my own world for a few hours where the focus of creating just for the sake of creating offers a refuge from the stress of everyday life.

where do you look for sources of inspiration outside of music?

i feel like i am often in autopilot when making music, because it’s such a big part of how i process the world around me - it is very mood dependent but i do also gain inspiration from other art, nature, film and lots of different styles of music. the hellscape of this current timeline is a good motivator to create for me. i also make music with friends when feeling stuck, the accountability and buzz of working with someone else can often get me out of a rut. i seem to be on a good run for the last 2 years with music, i am waiting for it to slow down as i have never been this productive before, making more than 200 tracks over that period.

how has naarm/melbourne influenced or informed your sense of self and artistic output?

it’s been influenced by naarm significantly. i have been here for nearly ten years now and my perspective and worldview on everything has changed, from becoming more politically and socially engaged, to broadening my horizons with listening to other music. there is just a lot more going on here than there was when i was growing up in auckland. and most importantly i have also connected with people that are pretty key to my development as an artist, who i still work with to this day - shout to stormn norm (modern hypnosis) / tamen / della (upstairs downstairs) / pod (kinetic vision) and lots more legends.

in moving to melbourne i started the pugilist alias and was intentional about not getting pigeon holed into one style or genre of music. i wanted to have the flexibility to do whatever i wanted as i found making the music within a very strict set of parameters to be quite boring and limiting, particularly when making as much music as i do. i feel lucky that people are open minded with my music and there are no expectations for me to make x style of music.

what has been your most recent musical discovery that you’re obsessed with?

my partner has been taking me to see various south asian classical artists. i recently saw arooj aftab and i have been obsessed ever since. in terms of electronic music i really love what peak oil, short span, felt and samurai music are doing, but there is just so much exciting stuff coming out atm which is hard to put a label on. i have been buying a lot of ambient music lately, loving the astral industries label and a lot of the amazing dub leaning music coming out on the likes of echo ltd, rohs!, alt dub, kino disc etc. in terms of the dancefloor, i really like deeper chuggy music in the 90-110 bpm range, there is so much interesting music coming out in that tempo range and there is a lot of space to play with as well as the doubletime/halftime potential which can create some really interesting grooves, and i often find myself drawing for it when i am feeling stuck with what to play in a longer set. i mostly buy reggae and jazz records these days as well as experimental electronic music lps from artists like muslimgauze, jan jelinek, carrier, barker, in transit to name a few. i buy lots of music on bandcamp also, always digging!

you’ve also contributed a mix for the 909 series, what’s the concept behind this one?

i wanted to showcase some of the sounds which i am loving in the higher tempo ranges with this one and to challenge myself to play as much of my own original and forthcoming music as possible in between, a lot of which has been made recently. i guess you could call it drum & bass mutations with some weird slowmo bass and dub curveballs. it’s rough and ready and i did it in 1 take which is my favourite way to record especially when playing a lot of my own music as i can over think it and not enjoy it otherwise.

how does your approach to dj sets differ from studio mixes and radio shows? is there a narrative in mind that you’re always trying to tell through your sets?

i like to wing it when playing a set in a club or for radio usually, but if i am recording a guest mix for a platform i always try to be a bit more intentional and have some sort of theme or showcase going on, and will be more nitpicky with the final outcome.

when was the last time you were on the dance floor?

i am quite selective these days, last weekend i danced so much that my knees hurt for a few days after, that could just be me aging also :(

what are you most excited about right now?

musically i am up to a lot and am keen to get it out there! i feel pretty lucky to be working with some really solid artists and labels, it’s a pleasure to work with people that are serious about music and do things properly. i am working on another lp currently and have started working with an artist from nz called faulsk, who i will be putting out a debut record from on my label later this year. other than that, i’m pretty excited to put out some records with friends on modern hypnosis, upstairs downstairs and samurai music. i have a tonne of plans for ruff kutz next year also, trying some different things. a few more eps to come this year which have been a long time in the making which i am pretty excited to showcase a different sound with.

what’s on your vision board at the moment?

i don’t have one, i am a pretty live in the moment and take things as they come kind of dude.

’triads’ by pugilist is out now via samurai music - buy

tracklist:

In Transit - 33 - FELT
Pugilist - Machiavellian - Samurai Music
Decoder Dub - Unreleased
Vardae - Jamaican Mule - Annulled Music
Sub Basics - Untitled 305 - Unreleased
Brendon Moeller - Repercussions - Samurai Music
Pugilist & Tamen - Contract - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Sciama - Overload Into Silence - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist & Tamen - Assimilation - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist & Pod - Additive - Unreleased
Pugilist - Rhaum - Forthcoming Vargmal
Pugilist & Tamen - Inverted Reality - Unreleased
Pugilist & Tamen - Compare - Unreleased
Pugilist - Unreleased
Pugilist & Tamen - 5 4 - Unreleased
Forest Drive West - Node - Mantis
Sciama - Celetal Emergence - Unreleaseed

Djrum - Dam (Felix K Reinterpretation) - 2nd Drop

ASC - Raijin - Saibai
Zemög - Beaxayo - Vargmal
Tristan Arp - Shapeshifting Dub - Kapsela
Reeko - Smile At Reptile - Samurai Music
Sciama - Charon - OODA
Pianeti Sintetici - Living Plasma - Samurai Music
Forest Drive West - Tensor - Mantis
Strategy - Shaking The Dub - Khaliphonic
Babe Roots feat Baba Ras - State of mind - newdubhall
Stigma - Madureira - Pessimist Productions