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Image via Lane Stewar
TriAngle Records are already on a roll in 2015, carrying on where they left off in 2014 releasing genre defying, challenging, but always high quality music. The label is releasing an EP from Berlin based producer Lotic called Heterocetera today, while Rabit’s new four track effort, Baptizm is out March 17.
Houston, Texas-based producer Rabit has previously released music with grime-centric labels like Glacial Sound, Soundman Chronicles and Different Circles, but he refuses to be put in a box. “I would rather make what I feel like and let people make up whatever they want. Which they will do anyway,” he told us.
The Baptizm EP has two sides. There’s the melancholy of the weightless, beatless opener “Imp” and the slow-moving “Hex,” and then there is the abrasive menace of “Bloody Eye” and “Straps,” which are pure punk in their aggression and angry energy. Get a better understanding of Rabit’s inspiration and the effect Houston music has had on him below, and look out for the Baptizm EP later this month.
How did you link up with TriAngle for this EP? Do you feel like as a label it’s a natural fit for you?
I started talking with Robin, who runs Tri Angle, at the end of 2013. We chatted online and discussed where my music was going, music we both loved, things like that. I feel like we share a common ground but I don’t know exactly what that common ground is, maybe it’s better that it’s undefined and that’s possibly the thing the binds us. The intangible qualities of dark music, that are not so easily summed up with words.
What attracts you to the abrasive, visceral sounds that we hear on “Bloody Eye” and “Straps”?
I’m not sure exactly. Part of it for me is when making instrumental music, it can feel very tame and almost hard to express angst or certain feelings when you are doing things like working with melodies. By smashing a kick to the point of distortion I feel like I’m getting a feeling across just like someone else does by making a beautiful melody.
When I see the police get away with murdering unarmed people, I want to smash things and set things on fire, I want to act out… Sometimes it feels like the only thing I have or the only thing I can do is make little songs on my computer.
The record as a whole is influenced by things I see and feel. When I see the police get away with murdering unarmed people, I want to smash things and set things on fire, I want to act out. I want to do a lot of things but I value my freedom too much, and I’ve seen both sides of the bars, briefly. Sometimes it feels like the only thing I have or the only thing I can do is make little songs on my computer.
What’s the idea behind the Pandemic Transmissions series?
The idea behind the mixes was to offer a little wake up call, for those who understand. I don’t have the answers but I can offer people a place to look. Another reason for the mixes was to show people that a lot of the lines we use to divide music don’t really exist. The feelings expressed in a Beanie Siegel verse can be a lot like the feelings expressed in a Coil song, for example. We are all looking for something and fighting against unseen forces, people somewhere far away deciding how we will dress, eat, act, and react.
A lot of the people and labels you’ve worked with (Mumdance, Logos, Keysound, the Boxed crew, Glacial Sound etc.) are making/releasing grime or closely associated with grime. Where do you see yourself fitting in?
I don’t see myself fitting into any genre. I would rather make what I feel like and let people make up whatever they want. Which they will do anyway.
What was your first exposure to grime?
I saw something in Time magazine about Dizzee or Kano when I was younger. I didn’t really get it until later.
A track like Riko Dan’s vocal of “Black Dragons” was big in the UK, but I’m guessing that there isn’t much of a grime scene in Houston. What is it like being physically far removed from a scene that is embracing your music?
It’s an odd feeling. If I’m not overseas seeing how people react to a track in the club then the only way to see the response is with the internet. Which really isn’t worth much to me. I make what I make and for people that like it, they take it with them into their realms and appreciate it. That’s enough for me.
Would you like to work with other vocalists in the future?
I’m not too interested at the moment. I have a vision and I don’t collaborate if it’s not in line with what I want to bring into the world. A lot of these projects just want names. Like, “oh we have x, x, and x producing on the record.” Wake me when it’s over and people actually have something to say.
How has Houston affected the sound of your music?
Houston has had a huge impact on my sound. When I first moved here I was in a small city, Galveston. I would buy these chopped and screwed CDs from the gas station, these local guys Big Body Click, Swisha House. It was my first time hearing it. S.U.C. was already an established force down here. People down here listened to screwed Mariah Carey CDs. At first it can sound ugly but after a while you see the beauty in it.
Aside from the Screw music we have artists like Z-Ro who have created an untouchable body of work. When I first came down here I was on the block and there was a girl about 12 who was rapping an entire Z-Ro song acapella, I couldn’t see her but I could hear it. That had a big impact on me. The South has its own icons, just like New York has Jay-Z and Nas, and rock music has the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
We have the Geto Boys, Screwed Up Click, Z-Ro, Boosie. The South is really fucked up. These are the voices that speak for the people. Very inspirational.
