Even in during the nineties, considered easily one of the most varied waves in the storied development of UK electronic music, Asian Dub Foundation managed to break through with their urgent and politically radical take on breakbeat – all this, in a scene where new genres popping up every other week was basically the norm. With the sound now largely relegated to the underground, the band nonetheless managed to remain true to their roots, thanks to a consistently strong discography and a strong live act. Taking the opportunity before their Arsenal Festival appearance this june, our Nikita Šestak discussed some important milestones of their career with the band’s guitarist Steve Chandra Savale aka Chandrasonic in a nostalgic interview. BR: You guys all came from different backgrounds when starting ADF. How did these various perspectives align through sound? Chandrasonic: Well, we had the South Asian connection under which we could fit our various different influences. Musically the older members had very similar backgrounds. BR: And on a broader scale, was there any common meeting ground for Asian, Black, and White underground musical communities you took part in during the 90s? Chandrasonic: Music has always served that function. Rock Against Racism in the late 70s pushed the issue to the forefront, and later the acid house/rave scene gave form to a more instinctively diverse music culture. Despite this, however, when we came about, we were faced with a mainstream counter-revolution, the nightmare that was britpop. BR: To follow this line of reasoning – that time and place also seems like the last bastion of true punk. Is this also what you felt in the moment? Chandrasonic: Punk in terms of a distinct musical form was creatively burnt out by then. Punk as a musical philosophy of D.I.Y creativity that doesn’t require formal training, is anti-establishment in spirit, is innovative but unpretentious… that’s never stopped.
BR: What also jumps out in retrospect, musically speaking, is this generational adoption of a more defined rhythmic backbone. Did you find in breakbeats that ultimate ingredient that was missing from rock’n’roll? Chandrasonic: Interesting question! By then the basic guitar/bass/drum format had nowhere to go anymore. Personally the last music I was into which didn’t have breakbeats and heavy bass was around 1990, I haven’t really liked anything in the traditional rock format since. Except maybe the Malian/Niger guitar bands like Tinariwen and Modou Moctar. BR: If someone were to put me on the spot, I’d say ADF was an extension of 60s proto-punk, and Cabaret Voltaire-grade textures interpreted through a curious lens of dub, occasional Bhangra samples, and breaks. Was the intermingling of these things something of a gradual process? Or was there an actual aha! moment when it all clicked together? Chandrasonic: I think once sampling became widely available it made perfect sense to incorporate the music of your parents. I’d already mucked around with my father’s cassettes before I joined ADF, but when I met Dr. Das [Aniruddha Das] he’d had created a powerful template that ADF could build on. That’s a good observation about 60’s proto-punk, that was one element I drew on a lot, but that was not something the rest of the band knew about. BR: Trip hop, jungle, big beat and other electronic-adjacent styles had this futuristic quality that still remains unmatched. I’d even venture to call it utopian, in a sense. Would you agree? And did this animate your own work at all? Chandrasonic: Yes, I’d agree that a lot of music was pushing sonic limits on and that was really exciting. I’m not sure the term Utopian applies to ADF, though. In a way, we were trying to inject militant social realism into the sounds, we’d grown tired of blissed-out Ecstasy driven nothingness. As someone who had wanted to be sci-fi writer I was very into sonic futurism, but I think that it became overstated and clichéd. Now I’m not sure what being „futuristic“ in 2024 means… weirdly, it seems dated! BR: This was a time when people were coming up with all these new styles in the span of only a few months. Massive Attack is, of course well known, but the Bristol scene also gave us legends like Smith & Mighty. Then there’s Matt and Coldcut, and the whole Ninja Tune roster. Old school jungle, UK garage, and all those other things. And that’s not even to mention the pre-Britpop wave of rock music proper. Now, it seems that the current soundscape in these genres, barring some virtual oases and local micro-scenes, has largely ossified. Omnipresent digitalization, the proliferation of uniform internet tutorials showing the „right way“ to do it, and a general feeling of safety becomes the norm. Do you think there’s hope for a viable alternative, especially in the current global political landscape? Chandrasonic: Oh man you are so right about these self-appointed internet a-holes who show you how to be Eric Clapton… vomit inducing!! One of the worst things ever to happen to music! On the other hand, I reject totally the „It’s not as good as in my day“ school of thinking. There is always challenging new music being made. Literally where I live became the hub of UK Drill which, while the lifestyle/lyrics it reflected could be terrifying, musically it really broke new ground. When you get older there is a subconscious instinct to want the same feelings you got when you first got into music to be replicated, and because such feelings can’t be, you think that there’s something wrong with music now. I’m the opposite; I love to be surprised by things I haven’t heard before, especially if they upset the establishment somehow. BR: Speaking of breaking new ground. With the passing of Sinéad O’Connor we lost one of the most brutally honest and urgent voices of that generation. How do you reflect on the „1000 Mirrors“ sessions you did together? Chandrasonic: It’s an absolute tragedy. [I remember her] as a fearless outspoken woman, as a musical writer and explorer and also an incredible interpreter of other people’s material, she was the nearest my generation got to Nina Simone. BR: Turning to the present, you also did several very successful projects scoring films. What kind of challenge does this present in comparison with making a studio record? Chandrasonic: We’ve actually only ever scored one film. What we’ve done is Live Re-scores, where we take already made films and re-interpret them live. As you can imagine, it’s a radically different experience from the usual formats! BR: And now that „Access Denied“ has had time to cool off, what can you tell us about the next chapter in ADF’s discography? Chandrasonic: Wait and see! BR: Lastly, are you looking forward to your return to Serbia? What kind of set can the crowd expect this time around? Chandrasonic: Serbia has a very special place in our hearts. We played the 2nd ever Exit festival not long after the NATO bombings. Also we were told that „New Way New Life“ was the first record played on the alternative radio station [B92]. It’s always been great for us. Tickets for the 2024 edition of Arsenal Festival can be found via this link. For more information on the festival, click here.
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