INTERVIEW WITH THE MAN BEHIND ASHTRAX & THE REMOTE MR ASHLEY CASSELLE

This article is about LOCO... 'another recipe for insomnia' @ Dojo Lounge in Bristol, Fri 04 Jan 2008

DJ Ashley Casselle Interview
August 9, 2007 11:55 PM

1. When and why did you decide to become involved in music..?

"When I first heard and saw Adam and the Ants perform as a young boy. The combination of big drums (two drummers!) and sing-along choruses made me want to start playing something, which at first was indeed the drums."

2. Who are your influences or favourite bands..?

"There are many different influences for me, everything from Parliament to The Smiths. Nowadays the trippy electronics of Boards of Canada do it for me at home as do Maximo Park, a top new UK band..both on Warp (legendary electronic label) by sheer coincidence."

3. What mood are you trying to capture on your Remote cd..?

"There wasn't a concious effort to capture a mood or sound like anyone in particular, although people tell us we have elements of Depeche Mode or Joy Division mixed with house and broken beat. A lot of bad things happened during the making of the album, deaths and breakups, which in turn fed the overall melancholy nature of many of the songs. They have a kind of detached beauty beacuse of that, I think."

4. What is your favourite track on the album..?

"This varies for me, although we all love 'Please Change your Mind', which if anything comes close to the sweeping romantiscm of the Smiths' 'There is a light that never goes out' mixed with the Human League's cold love song 'Dont you want me..?'. It's a perfect Ben Lost lyric, an English tale of infidelity in a seaside town. I also love 'Right Meat' from the album, a bit like a gothic Boards of Canada, recorded with co-producer James Christopher. Album opener 'Pretty Girls make Mothers' is the perfect start to the album, a track which sealed a production partnership with Asad Rizvi."

5. Do you feel where you live has a unique energy or sound that you've tried to capture in this release..?

"I live in a part of West London called Ladbroke Grove and it has a diverse culture going on, that's for sure. While we were making the album Ben Lost was living 5mins away and we'd record guitars into my dictaphone between watching MTV's 120mins and smoking, er, jazz cigarettes. The album's got a real mixture of what makes us tick as djs and music lovers, you can hear it on the hip hop tinged beats of 'Like You' or 'Right Meat' and of course in the housier tracks 'She's Going out Tonight' and 'Big Design'. Overall there's a dark gothic element riding through our stuff.

6. What do you like about that genre, in particular..?

"I like the idea of mixing my favourite influences into a coherant whole, ie the Smiths or the Cure with something electronic and keeping a more groovy black feel in there to contrast with Ben's often bleak yet warm delivery. For example on the single remix of 'Please Change your Mind' Asad and I set about creating a kind of disco hybrid, with allsorts thrown into the mix..we adore the noveau stylings of disco house UK band Faze Action, we married that feel with our darker Cure like guitars to dazzling effect, even if I do say so myself..!"

7. If you had to choose a career outside your current profession what would it be..?

"Reptile doctor."

8. Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years..?

"I'll make three more albums, get my dream dj residency then climb aboard the giant turtle."

Article by PaulLoraine-LOCO, viewed 472 times

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Posted Thu 06 Dec 2007
Edited Thu 06 Dec 2007

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