IN SESSION 002: SUEDE
Our second instalment of the In Session series, this time with Suede stepping up for a showcase of the tracks he's been feelin.
Deep cuts, rolling grooves, and serious heat throughout.
Chur from Suede:
Kia ora people, my name is Hugo. When I’m not ripping up the dancefloor, you’ll probably find me at school, fixing bikes in the bike shop I work at, and protecting the city of Wellington at night.
How you got started?
Like a lot of Kiwis, I was indoctrinated into Drum & Bass pretty early. My best friend bought some decks in high school and really just fiddled around till we got to uni and started taking it more seriously, leaning into the more minimal genres. I gave my shot at producing and, at the same time, had found love for the slower stuff. I think the variety of UKG is what really appealed to me. It’s also a genre where you can really explore building really nice grooves, something I’m still early days at, but it was a key difference from the stuff I’d been making since then.
Define the Suede sound?
Some bounce and some swing. I also make a lot of piano house and more melodic stuff. I’m keeping it pretty broad with my sound — maybe in a few years I can hopefully develop something more unique and recognisable.
Where do you see yourself in 2030?
Wherever the wind takes me, to be honest. Having a future in music is obviously the dream for most artists, but I’m still pretty new to it all, and I love the process of just making. I feel really lucky about finding a passion, so not putting any pressure on the destination is a big thing for me. I’ve also got another year of uni studying computer science and could see myself in a few years building music software, VSTs, etc.
Fave artists?
Bakey
Prozak
Pablo Aristimuno
The Trip
Their artists represent a variety in dance music that I love. Bakey and The Trip take fresh approaches to already established genres, and Pablo Aristimuno and Prozak are two within the House/UKG genre whose sound I just love.
Fave set you've watched?
Favourite DJ set live would probably be Samurai Breaks at Carlucci Carnival last year, or Shy FX at Twominds this year. I think jungle on a fat rig is unmatched in a live set.
Fave plugins?
UA 1176 FET — emulates an original 1176 compressor and adds loads of warm character and grit to drums.
RC-20 — I use it a lot on pads and more melodic elements. It has lots of good presets for space and distortion, and adds a vinyl quality to sounds.
Top 3 albums of all time?
Tame Impala – Currents
Daft Punk – Discovery
Chase & Status – Return II Jungle
Tracklist:
Caru - Start This Shit
Morty Fyde - Midnight Morph
Prozak - Bring It On Back
Sidney Charles - Trip Advisor
Marsolo - Spaceship (Riordan Remix)
Embassy of Swing - French Birds
Inside Kru - Back On Da Mic
Hyphen - Bump & Bump
BAKEY - Everything
bullet tooth - Bounce
Sulphur - Body
Veritas - Pump Dis
Skellig - Time to Rock
n4tee, ELOQ - Devotion
Pyrate - 22 Badman (Charlie Shell Remix)
AV AV AV - Facts 2.0 ft. Chino (Main Phase Remix)
Tomike, Silva Bumpa - Runnin’
TWOFACED - ID
MPH - My Mind
Shoutout to Suede for taking the time to show out for the Pollen whanau.