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 London-based D&B and dubstep titans CHASE & STATUS are getting two bites of the cherry when they visit Australia in March, supporting Tinie Tempah at the Riverstage and playing alongside acts like New Order and Fatboy Slim at Future Music Festival. DAN WATT chats to SAUL MILTON (Chase) about the success of their last album No More Idols, and how determined they are to keep the focus on the music.
With the advent of electricity and it’s application to amplification, followed by that whole microchip computer thing (I’m sure it’s just a phase), music has altered more in the last 100 years then it had in the previous 800. And with this focus on exploiting and innovating technology rather then mastering an instrument, music – and particularly dance music – often sees leading artists begin as technicians rather than musicians and performers.
Brits Chase & Status are definitely at the forefront of this still-ongoing reclassification. Over the past eight years Saul Milton (Chase) and production partner Will Kennard (Status) have gone from bedroom warriors to the most sought-after producers in the world, being embraced by artists like Jay-Z, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams – all of whom wanted a piece of the heavy bass revolution; ie, drum & bass, dubstep and jungle.
Today, Rave is chatting to Saul Milton just moments after coming off stage from a show in Liverpool. “Sorry mate, can you repeat that question? I’m just in the car heading back to London with MC Rage, Andy [Gangadeen] and Will,” implores the deep-voiced Milton as he struggles to hear me over the babble of his musical companions, who are nattering away in the background, still high, one presumes, from another sold-out performance. Their 2010 album No More Idols heralded mainstream success for Chase & Status, their follow-up to 2008 debut More Than A Lot debuting at 11 on the British charts. The duo also just picked up a 2012 Brit Award nomination for Best British Group, so to suggest that their world is looking bright would be something of an understatement.
Milton explains that the success of No More Idols was hinted at a few years earlier when some of the world’s biggest pop stars wanted to work with Chase & Status. “It was really flattering and helped push our profile because people like Jay-Z and Rihanna, Snoop and Pharrell wanted to work with us, and yeah, it was confirmation that we were doing something right.” He now adds that the band’s work ethic and focus helped them not to become too cocky after such luminous kudos. “The thing that we really tried to do during that period and to this day is to keep our heads down and keep working and not get caught up in all the accolades.”
Milton explains that staying grounded and keeping the focus on their music and not their status (yes, the irony wasn’t lost on me either) contributed to the title and credo behind their second album. “I mean obviously we wanted the title to be ambiguous enough so that people could draw their own meanings from it, but there were a few points of the title we hoped, after they had listened to the record, people would understand.” He then sets out to clarify just what those messages are. “In the last 10 years there has been a lot of throwaway music – X-Factor, Idol and all that kind of crap. It just seems like the era of idols that people looked up to like Jimi Hendrix and [Jim] Morrison, has vanished, so in that sense there are ‘no more idols’. And also with our shows it’s not just us, we have a band and then there’s the crowd, so it’s just music lovers under one roof, there isn’t the focus on one person or persons.”
No More Idols featured a who’s who of guest vocalists from the dance/crossover arena, with Dizzie Rascal, Tinnie Tempah, Plan B and Cee Lo Green featuring on album tracks. “Yeah, it was really great getting to work with so many different vocalists and MCs [because] you learn so much about your own production style in having to adapt to each MC’s style and nuances,” explains the upbeat Milton. Of the lesser-known MCs (outside of heavy bass genres), he also has plenty of praise; “It’s been such a journey for us to develop alongside the likes of MC Rage, Marley, Maverick and Liam Barley. I mean, when we first met them we all felt this genuine passion for making music and for me it’s all about passion.” He concedes that it is this ‘brotherhood’ and quest for quality music that drives Chase & Status to keep making music. As he says, “It’s not about ego or necessarily advancing one’s career above making quality music.”
“The thing that we really tried to do during that period and to this day is to keep our heads down and keep working and not get caught up in all the accolades.”
After all this talk of artistic endeavour over popularity, I can’t help but ask Milton what he thinks of Calvin Harris, the commercially successful Scotsman who could almost be classed the antithesis of a fame-shy producer. “I think Calvin’s nice…” begins Milton, although you can sense a big BUT comment is coming. “I was a big fan of his first record, but look, when I first heard his second record I wasn’t a big fan but it grew on me. And with his stuff since then … I’ll just say I think he’s a great producer and he deserves it.”
From the above discussion one could infer that Milton and Kennard are modesty personified, not wanting anyone to think that they see themselves as bigger than the music they create. They’re also quite happy to downplay their contribution to the popularisation of dubstep, referring instead to the heavy bass genre as a uniquely London-born success story – geographic almost, rather than personal.
“It’s a movement that has become massive worldwide, and which we are very proud of. It’s great to see that what is quintessentially British music, I feel, has been translated across the world. Obviously now you’ve got Americans like Skrillex doing it and others right around the world adding their own cultural influences to that style. [But] it terms of Chase & Status, we just make music. Whether it be 175bpm, 140 or 125; we love dubstep, we love jungle, we love drum & bass, we love hip hop – you name it, we’re into it. Our work from now looking back to 2004 is really quite diverse.”
Chase & Status are currently working on the follow-up to No More Idols, with new material set to surface later in the year. In the meantime we’ll be getting a double dose of their live show in March, with appearances at Future Music Festival and Tinie Tempah’s sideshow. Given Future Music’s Jetsons-slash-sci-fi theme, it seems an appropriate time to throw in an (admittedly tenuous) analogy – that Chase & Status have the skills and technology and are not afraid to go where no man has gone before, piloting the starship dance music pretty much wherever they want it to. Milton good-naturedly takes this conceptual description in his stride. “Well yeah, these days new frontiers in electronic music can just open up so fast. With the amount of technology you can have on a laptop, the levels of production kids are coming out with these days is just through the roof. We’ve got these kids signed to our label [MTA Records] called 16-Bit, they’re young guys and their production is literally groundbreaking. Everyone’s got the technology to make something really special.”
In closing, Milton confesses Australia is one their favourite locations in the world and that the heavy bass scene is truly unique because of its isolation. As a result, it gives them something to look forward to. “Chase & Status have had many of our most unique performances in Australia,” he says. Here’s hoping they have even more.
CHASE & STATUS support Tinie Tempah with Zane Lowe at the Riverstage on Friday Mar 2 (all ages). They also play Future Music Festival at Doomben Racecourse on Saturday Mar 3, appearing alongside New Order, Fatboy Slim, Skrillex, Friendly Fires and many more. NO MORE IDOLS is out now through Mercury/Universal. See www.chaseandstatus.co.uk and www.futureentertainment.com.au for more.
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