“I was pretty much the outcast most of the way through high school,” says Dale Baldwin in reflective mode. “I used to spend lunch times when I wasn’t in a rehearsal pulling apart and putting back together the school’s PA system.”
It’s in this way that the Australian best outlines the origins of his electronic music production career. But the man also DJs, and with regard to that pastime, he adds: “I bought a set of horrible Citronic PD-1 turntables when I was 16, with money from a part-time job, and started just practicing and working from there.”
Baldwin is based in Canberra, the Australian capital.
“Canberra is an odd city – you get massive bush doofs one weekend, and commercial hell the next. In Australia, it seems to be getting harder to distinguish between what is pop and what is dance. While it’s good to see groups like Cut Copy and Sneaky Sound System (I’ve been a fan of Connie Mitchell since way back when she was in Primary) come out of the underground and get embraced in the mainstream, I think the downside is that the whole scene is becoming more about money, and less and less about just having a good time.”
The Aussie’s first residencies were with the Psy crew at Red Gekko in Canberra. His DJ style has since ranged in tone from psy-trance to house sets – Latin-tinged, progressive, funk-inspired, and tech-edged – as well as drum ‘n’ bass, and the same genres have influenced his production work.
“At the moment I’m just concentrating on the more progressive and house productions under my own name, I’ve released some drum ‘n’ bass under ‘D. Baldwin’, and used to produce some more ‘90s rave-inspired electronica under the title ‘Not Inspired’. At the moment, both those aliases have taken a back seat to work on my community video website, Project 2357, and my Dale Baldwin releases.”
While predominantly a solo artist, Baldwin is currently working with a bunch of like-minded peers.
“It wasn’t until quite recently that I’ve had people to really bounce off. Locally, I’ve been receiving a lot of help from Anjay and Jude May, who have provided some wonderful technical assistance over the last few years with getting the studio off the ground and tracks done. My mastering engineer in Sydney, Darren (a.k.a. Stalker), has been a huge help with getting everything polished up and ready to go out. Finally, there have been all the guys over at IF?, Elektrax, and Hypnotic Room records. I talk to Simon (DJ Hi-Shock), Ben Mill (Bitchshift), Andrez Bergen (Little Nobody) and Allan Klinbail (Son Of Zev) on almost a daily basis, and it’s always good to get their feedback.”
This daily communication has, according to Baldwin, helped him to overcome one of his principle personal hurdles.
“Motivation, a lot of the time, is something I lack. Sometimes I go into the studio feeling like I have an idea, and nothing comes out; other times I sit down and just start working and I get on a roll and go from there. This tends to go in waves too – I’ll get a whole EP written in a few days and then not write anything for a month.”
Motivation doesn’t seem to be a problem for the producer now. In 2008 he’s been nothing short of prolific, with a slew of releases and remixes coming out on DJ Hi-Shock’s labels Elektrax and Hypnotic Room, in Sydney.
“I finished a remix of Little Nobody vs. DJ Fodder’s ‘Cocaine Speaking’, and I have Chrono doing a remix for the upcoming Last Thoughts EP release. Anjay is finishing off a remix for the Dirty Groover release, which should be out in December this year. I’m also working on remixes for Dick Drone and for Winston and Yoddy’s next release, which should be pretty massive.”
With every producer, thee are always the litany of influences that are partially responsible for their output, and Baldwin is no exception, as he prattles off a quick list of who and why.
“Orbital and Underworld have been huge influences, The Prodigy are up there, Richie Hawtin on the techno side of things, DJ Lottie on the more tech-house side. There are so many names I could mention here, but the best way to find out is come and see me DJ some time – my sets tend to be a mash-up of stuff I’ve been heavily influenced by over the years,” he muses.
© Terry Rance 2008
