Raffertie- on the rise

FOUND continues its stirling run of UK bass music this Friday in a clash with Z-Shed, presenting Starkey, Mary Anne Hobbs' favourite Raffertie, Green Money, Black Butter Records and many more.  Ahead of the gig, Raffertie caught up with Pulse Radio and let us into just what to expect from his set and just what's going on his world. 

Pulse: Hello Raffertie, tell us a bit about your sound.  Raffertie: Predominantly I work within the field of electronic music. This takes on many forms from abstract to ordered, from chaotic to serene.

What's your background in music, how did this all start for you?  I consider myself, above all else, a composer. In other words I like to write music more than anything else. I studied classical and contemporary disciplines at music college and there I worked with electronics and created sound installations also. Before music college I had a fairly typical musical upbringing playing the trumpet and performing. My love for music was probably cemented by some wonderful teachers and very understanding parents.

How did your studues affect the sounds you produce?  Music college provided me with ideas and constructs about how to start to convey my own musical language from the raw musical concepts I went there with. This is something which is still evolving and I doubt will ever really stop. In this respect it affects what and how I produce in innumerable ways but something I thought a lot about while at college was the quality of a sound itself. Crudely, the idea that sound has myriads of constituent parts and by emphasising or subtracting these a person working with sound can highlight elements that listeners are not always consciously aware of, or can alter the way the listener digests many sounds as a whole, is fascinating to me.

You recently debuted your live set at Amon Tobin's show, how did it all go?  It was really good to do that first show. Although it was an extremely stripped down version of what I am planning for in the future it was really good to premiere some of the material I have been working on for album and get some initial reactions to those tracks. There is a lot you can get away with playing in a club as part of a DJ set if you get your timing right but a lot of the material for my album is not aimed at a club environment so airing it where there was no pressure to get people dancing was great.

What led you to Ninja Tune, your current label home?  It was quite serendipitous how is all came about. I was of course aware of quite a few of Ninja's acts, and indeed grew up listening to some of them, but never for a second thought that they had heard of me let alone would consider releasing any of my music. As it happened I was asked to remix one of Big Dada's recent signings Bang On! and after that they asked to hear some more of my material and then it all went from there. It has been an incredible 7 months since signing with them and they are an amazing label to work with.

Tell us a bit about your label, Super- what plans do you have for it?  Super is going strong. We have released music from some of my favourite artists in recent times and I always feel extremely proud to be able to say that. As for the future of Super we have a few plans in the works for some exciting projects but more than anything we are taking our time to find new music. Send us your demos.

You famously played the likes of Glasto & Bestival before you even graduated, which festival in the world would you like to take Raffertie most?  I have heard incredible things about Sonar and I would most definitely love to play there. Some of the other European festivals also sound amazing but I love playing to new people, wherever it is.

Who's supported your music most, both within and outside the industry?  In the industry, Mary Anne-Hobbs (of course) gets a big mention here, Huw Stephens also, Rob Da Bank, Nick Grimshaw.  Outside the industry, family (again, very understanding parents) and friends.

Who else are you into now musically speaking?  In all honesty I've only listened to a couple of things over the last two weeks between finishing off various tracks and remixes. First track is 'Plug - Feeling So Special' - which is the old / new release from Luke Vibert which is out in the new year, and also I have been listening to a great band called Troumaca.

You're playing FOUND this Friday, who are you looking forward to seeing and what can we expect from your set? Really looking forward to seeing Starkey play that night, I haven't seen him play for a while. My set, I have no idea, will have to see what the crowd is like on Friday night. I will be playing a lot of my new tracks. 

FOUND presents Z-Shed this Friday at Hidden, 100 Tinworth St, Vauxhall with Raffertie, Starkey, Black Butter Records, Green Money and many more.  For tickets and info, head here

Listen to Mary Anne Hobbs on Pulse Radio