MDC Interview#55 " Tripped "

Tripped
https://soundcloud.com/tripped-badback
https://madbackrecords.bandcamp.com/
One of the most diverse acts from Belgium, Tripped has been DJing since the tender age of 15. His raw and powerful sets — ranging from techno, industrial, acid to gabber and oldschool terror — has seen him perform all over the world and at major events such as Thunderdome, Masters Of Hardcore, Defqon.1, Dominator, Decibel and more. Releasing a wide range of techno-inflected hardcore on some of the most respected labels in the scene, in addition to running Madback Records together with [KRTM], no matter the style or BPM, Tripped is gonna smash the place.

Q. When did production of “Unboxed” begin? This LP is the first album for Tripped. How did you come up with the idea of making an album?

OK i have quite a lot to say about this, so first of all,I think I started writing music for it somewhere in December 2020, and I believe the whole process took me a little over half a year to make.

This was of course while we were all dealing with the global lock down/pandemic,

so I had some more time on my hands.

The concept of the album for the most part is about Unboxing myself as an artist.

A lot of people have A certain idea or picture of who you are or what you should create just because of their personal taste or what they expect you to do because of some your past work.

Well, I wanted to break that thought once and for all with this album.

I find it very important to be inspired by all kinds of music.

I never really listened or made just one genre of music before, because there is a time and place for everything. Especially if you want to keep it interesting in the long run.

I still feel so many people being close minded, if it doesn’t fit their formula, it aint good.

Having been in the hardcore scene for quite a while now, you often feel the negativity once you try n do something else.

Which is sad. So yeh, i guess the extra message of the album is also to Unbox yourself, as a listener as well.

I actually never really had the urge to make a full length album up until a few years back, not when you could release more EP’s and by doing so, spread out your music more throughout the year without going silent for a long period of time.

The idea of making a ‘Hardcore Album’ with just ‘HC’ bangers also never really appealed to me either.

But with my style getting broader and broader over these last few years, doing a bunch of industrial techno, experimenting with analog gear and going a bit more to my acid roots. I started to feel like there was actually a story to tell at this point, and that idea really grew in to a ‘I need to tell this story’ point.

So when I suddenly found myself with extra time in this lock down, and a bunch of upcoming records being stuck a the pressing plant in queue anyway, I had no more excuse and I knew the time was right.

While i usually get inspired by playing events or meeting interesting people, there was no such thing at that time, So i was forced to get my inspiration elsewhere.

I was listening to quite a bit of electro, A lot of Umwelt stuff to be precise around that time. So you can definitely hear those moody vibes in the tracks such as ‘Pain’ and ‘909PM’ which are definitely close to the heart.

I really tried to work/create the tracks in the order the you would listen to the album, i think you can feel that when you listen to the whole thing.

Q. Why did you decide to release your album on PRSPCT? What discussions did you have with PRSPCT about the album?

Honestly, As I am part of the Agency/family, It just made sense.

I knew with them you can have your creative freedom, both for the artwork, and the music, and you reach quite a few people with it by doing so, not to mention having physical releases, which is a must for me.

So when I approached Gareth (Thrasher) with the idea. He was directly openminded for it and asked me to send some bits when possible. And the rest was history.

Q. The art for “Unboxed”is yours. Was this art improvised? Or did you already have an image in mind? What is important to you when you paint art?

I always start with somewhat of a direction, or an idea, but I never really know where i am going to end up exactly. All I knew is that I wanted an abstract face, and experiment with pouring techniques.

The cover basically reflects the concept of unboxing your mind and allowing yourself and the musical genres to flow into one another.

The fact that is resembles a bit like a clown, is a hint to the state of current music, which is at the moment, let’s be honest, one big circus (smiles)

I loved it so much, that after i made this one, i painted various more, as you may have already seen, I will be releasing more of these type of artworks on my label Madback records, where music and art is of equal importance. The label is also where my main focus lies on at the moment.

Q. “Unboxed”; has a lot of great analog sounds. What kind of equipment do you use? I feel a unified sound taste throughout the album, is that something you are conscious of?

I actually included the list of (analog) gear I used on the artwork of the album.

I got that idea from the album ‘Feed Me Weird Things’ from Squarepusher, after i got my hands on the repress last year. There is this big insert booklet which explains in depth how he made the tracks and what gear he used. I’ve always liked these kind of insights so i really wanted to do something similar, we didn’t have so much room for content like a booklet, So I limited myself to just a list of some of the gear I used.

Here is the list again:

Roland tr-09, Roland tb-03, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Behringer ms-1, Korg volca bass, Korg vola fm,

Arturia Micro Freak, Behringer Neutron, Moog Dfam, Moog Mother-32, Soundcraft signature 12MTK mixer, various effects & distortion units. This is just a list of most of the analog equipment used, but I do/did quite a bit of work inside the box (digital) as well.

Since then the studio has expanded/adapted quite a bit again tbh. (Laughs)

There is definitely a unified sound throughout the album.

The overall feel of the album sounds quite old, As I am heavily inspired of electronic music from the 90’s. When everything was new, organic and pure.

When a new piece of gear came on the market, it directly influenced or changed the whole sound of that era. Now everything is so swamped with possibilities.

I’m also just a sucker for ‘old things’ and old (sounding) tracks. I grew up for example with blues music around me.

I actually was listening to that almost daily during lock down, so while getting a bit nostalgic, I’m sure that triggered me to actively search for samples from the 50’s & 60’s to use over the course of the album as well.

Q. When using analog equipment, there are times when you can’t get beyond the sound of that equipment. But you are making Tripped sound no matter what equipment you use. How do you create originality with analog equipment?

I’m not exactly sure, the way I work ultimately is by jamming and experimenting and recording everything while at it.

Basically creating personal sound banks of my jams.

Afterwards I slice things up and arranging things in the box. So it’s quite possible that I use things I have recorded years ago just now, because it fits a new project or new idea I’m working on.

When i really feel the Jam, it can turn into a track right away of course as well. But often, depending on my time and vibe, I just record things and clean things up digitally later.

Perhaps that is how you still get that ‘Tripped sound’ as i still arrange and edit everything the way I have always done it. In FL studio.

Q. I felt the feeling of Drum&Bass on some of the songs (Breakbeats parts, etc.). You had an early career as a Drum&Bass DJ, are you bringing back that feeling?

A career is a big word (laughs) But yes I started out as a Drum&Bass dj and was playing quite frequently in my region.

I assume you are referring to the track ‘Shave The whales’

I basically wanted to include (almost) every style in the album that has played a part in my life or has influenced me in some way.

The title itself refers to the marine wildlife i love (as much as any type of wildlife for that matter) so i needed to address that somehow also because they are vital to our survival.

Anyway, The track has A big nod to artists ‘Bad Company’ The D&B legends that were my heroes when i started out with Drum&Bass around 2003. Man did i love them!

So yes that track turned out to be a blend of that, the raw deep kickdrums kindoff take me back to the Matt Green era. Someone who was also A huge inspiration for me in my early Hardcore days.

The breaks are also quite present in the track Kapsalon. Which is a homage to labels like Deathchant and has some early ISR sauce over it.

bascially yet again, representing what has been important in my career’s path.

Breakbeats aren’t alway that present anymore in my music, but it will always have a special place with me.

Q. About “Misfits” feat. Lenny Dee.
How did you collaborate with Lenny Dee? This is the only collaboration song on the album, why did you decide to write a song with Lenny Dee?

Well, working with him was kind of a bucket list thingy from the past. Lets face it, Lenny was a key figure in shaping what hardcore is today.

Hell, he was even there when they named the genre ‘Hardcore’.

The idea to actually reach out and make it happen came to me after listening to old the Leathernecks track ‘Dogshit’ on Kotzaak (Kotz 0 1994)

I wanted him on the vocals as well and make a bad ass oldschool Hardcore track.

I love Kotzaak, PCP, ISR, and the early Rotterdam Records.

Excited that he was down for it, I did have a specific Kotzaak like idea in my head when it came to the vocals, but I kind off had to park it because we couldn’t record any new vocals the way we were supposed to.

Due to a flood and a ongoing studio rebuild, resources was limited in Brooklyn NY.

He did however find a few cool recorded vocals he did somewhere in the 90’s.

So I sliced it up and got to work.

I was missing a few vocals to tie everything together and keep it varied so we did have to record some new ones which was a tricky thing to do to blend them with something that was recorded roughly 25years ago.

The only thing I sampled is the laugh from Lenny from I believe Evil Maniax – The Creators Of Hardcore (Bodylotion remix)

Inspired by ‘90s Gabber tracks by earlier mentioned labels I tried to capture the essence of that time, and what attracts me to the genre.

Dry distorted 909’s, offbeat percussion, Alpha Juno synths, and a cursing Lenny Dee on the vocals.

Q. You place great importance on physical release. Why do you emphasize physical release?

Having had my first vinyl release back in 2007, When the market declined years after that, I refused to release only digital for a long time, but I couldn’t stop the industry for changing of course. But I never really liked the digital era.

Having always collected records and being a Dj before a producer, it was a painful evolution.

I still had an occasional vinyl release here and there but not like before.

Since a couple of years, the market has been growing again, and honestly there is no turning back for me anymore. Why put your heart and soul into something that can be so easily forgotten, just by a simple scroll or click?

I am trying to build a legacy.

I want people to experience the same joy when you hold a physical release, to hold it in your hand, read/look at the artwork, and also to re-discover the music from years later.

Something i have very often, the ‘surprise effect’ of finding that hidden gem between stacks of records somewhere in the future. cause often what is a B side now, can be a A side or sound fresh then.

So yeh, the same trend goes with Madback records since a few years.

I am working hard to keep a rotation of new physical records.

But with the long waiting times at the pressing plants that has been a bit of a struggle, but it is still totally worth it.

Q. Festivals are back this year and you are playing at numerous festivals and big events. Now that this is back again, what are you feeling? Do you sense a change before and after Corona?

Some festivals this year were still delayed bookings from 2020 actually, so there were still a lot of similar, familiar artists from before, the only thing i did hear, especially in those big NL hardcore festivals, is that it all sounds the same. Almost every area had the ‘uptempo style’ take-over which isn’t really my cup of tea.

It just feels like everybody is just copying each other and especially new generations having the goal of a fast ticket to money and fame.

People are just making ‘a formula that works, and every supposed underground form of ‘techno’ is just another step closer to being commercial music.

Most new gen artist, seem to put there time more into hiring a PR and social media team for their short cut to fame rather then to focus and having a healthy scene and creating good music.

Social media is important now yes, but it should never overpower talent, and music.

Its the sad and frustrating reality there days, and it is up to us to show them it isn’t the way.

Sadly lots of big names just jump on the bandwagon of ‘what works’ and the fees of said artists are just ridiculous. It’s just a matter of time before the whole scene collapses, it has happened before and it will happen again.

Anyway, i sound like an old man saying all this, but I’m in it for the music.

Q. One last message to our readers.

You got this!