There are some people who are just born with an ear for mashing up random sounds and to us normal folk it makes total sense and leaves us thinking “why the hell didn’t I think of that?” This is exactly what I thought when watching Indidginus play at the last Rubadub I attended. There he was on stage with a didgeridoo combining that to his dubstep, dancehall and electro sound, and making absolute magic.
A few days later and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Indidginus unreleased album Sofa Surfer. Now this is the type of music I love: Chilled with enough bass to make you want to jam. With loads of collaborations, it’s a good blend with something for everyone. Here are a few of my favourites: Dark Sky Island featuring Francessa Krnjak and Riccardo Moretti has the sickest vocals which I couldn’t get enough of. Algoriddim with High Frequency Bandwidth featuring Sed Taylor is an awesome mix of classic unplugged sound with a touch of electro. Wobble and Buzz featuring Raggasouljah and 7Ft Soundsystem with the funniest voice over by Tully McCullagh was probably my favourite track on the album. It has a reggae sound against a dubstep bassline that will get your head bobbing.
Being a writer and wanting to know the stories behind the music I decided to interview Indidginus (Michael Martin) about Sofa Surfer and a little more:
When did you start dj'ing?
I've been writing music for a lot longer than I've been dj'ing. I started doing that [writing music] in around '99/2000 using a whopping AMD 300Mhz CPU, 64Mb RAM and a 1GB hard-drive. My flash drive is twice that size now. Mad how things have moved on so quickly.
Who/what are your influences?
My influences are far-ranging and I draw on different ones depending on what mood I'm in. Musically and broadly speaking I like funky, groovy, ethnic and atmospheric music.
When did you start playing the didgeridoo and what made you decide to combine dj'ing and playing it together?
I started playing in 1996. I picked one up a craft market in the UK, found that I could make sounds other than farting noises on it, and decided to continue refining that. I subsequently got into electronic music in a big way, so decided to fuse the two and I think they work well together. The slide didgeridoo adds an intriguing element to my live performances. As far as I know nobody else is doing didgeri-dubstep.
What is the best part about making music and performing it live?
The best part about making music would be the feeling I get when I come up with a “riddim” or when spontaneous synergy happens with a collaborator. Both make life take on a whole new meaning for me - enlivening and fulfilling to the max. Performing live is great fun. These days I rarely go out to clubs or anything like that without having a purpose for being there. The only way you'll generally get me into a club, festival or whatever is to give me a gig there. And then I'll rock it for you!
Besides the release of the album what have been your career highlights?
The highlight would have to be working with some of my musical heroes on my Sofa Surfer album project! It was amazing to be sitting in Colin Angus' lounge recording him play guitar. I was 18 when The Shamen were rocking the charts with "Move Any Mountain" and "Ebeneezer Goode"..... Definitely made me feel like Christmas had come early when I got to work with him..... Getting on air with Dom Beken and Alex Paterson of The Orb, and spending time in the studio with Dom were also peak experiences for me.... I felt ike I was flying afterwards.... Those experiences firmly link in to part A of question 4 ;)
How long did it take you to do this album?
I started it last May 2010 and finished it in April 2011 so almost a year.
Explain the title?
Easy - when I was in the UK I had to travel all over to connect with my musical chums. Space being what it is in the UK (i.e. limited) I slept either on their sofas or on the floor. As such, I thought "Sofa Surfer" would be an apt and descriptive title for the album.
There are so many brilliant collaborations on the album, who was your favourite?
Truthfully they were all my favourite. I don't have one track on the album that I like more than the others. Each person I worked with wove their own unique magic into the music, and I think the results speak for themselves.
What is your favourite track on the album and why?
Ooops got ahead of myself and unwittingly answered that in question 8! Two for the price of one. That's Asda price.
What's next for Indidginus?
A cup of tea. Thereafter, lining up lots and lots of gigs. And writing lots and lots more music. I'm in the process of signing to Household Management (http://householdmgmt.com/) booking agency in the USA and there is a possible tour with the brilliant Ill Gates on the cards later this year. I've got a Liquid Stranger remix lined up shortly for High Chai Recordings (http://highchairecordings.
Awesome concept, amazing artist, one sick album. Go get it!
Viist www.indidginus.com
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