This weekend Propa and the Ghost Soundsystem are staging a takeover here at Neck of the Woods. For two nights in a row, you’ll get to experience just one DJ taking you on a sonic journey for 6 hours. Wellington’s Benny Salvador is first up on Friday night (and you can read our interview with him here) and on Saturday night Auckland’s own Dylan C is taking the reigns. You might know Dylan C for his DnB sets here at Neck of the Woods, his hip hop sets back in the day at places like Rakinos (RIP) or from his years hosting the breakfast show on Base FM and then Music For The People. If you’re lucky you might know Dylan from his days shredding guitar in a metal band. One thing that everyone will know him for is his ability to pick up a dance floor and take everyone on a journey. We sat down with Dylan C and asked him what his plans are for our ears, our bodies and our souls this weekend.
First of all, WHY did you agree to do a 6 hour set?
Partly because it's happening at Neck of the Woods and partly because I really wanted to play through the Ghost Soundsystem. I’d seen photos of it being set up at various places before but I hadn’t had a chance to hear it myself. Then getting asked to do a full night on it was too good an offer to refuse.
I set myself a challenge a few months ago to only play through good speakers and only accept gigs where the production is at a particular level. So I’ve said no to a bunch of gigs because you know, I’ve got to a point where I want what I put out to actually sound the way it's supposed to sound and not be compromised with the production.
Have you had gigs where you know you had a good set but it was let down by bad quality sound?
I’ve been playing long enough so yeah it happens and there's nothing more disheartening. It gets to a certain point where it's up to you to make that decision - do you want to keep playing through those ones or draw a line in the sand like - this standard or above.
A lot of people may not be aware you play and have always played a lot of different genres. Do you find that certain genres are really sensitive to having a good soundsystem?
I guess those years of playing beats and hip hop, people recognise a sound or a beat or a lyric, and that’s what jumps out at them and carries that music in a way. Whereas drum n bass for instance is very producer orientated music. Two thirds of the tune is in the low end and the rest is in the mids and highs so when you don’t have a system that’s carrying the bulk of that music, you’re not hearing the music for what it actually is
Some of the inspiration behind Propa and these solo DJ gigs on the Ghost Soundsystem, is a throwback to those days when clubs could stay open till after the sun came up and DJs had more time to play these really long sets. These days, in most New Zealand clubs anyway, the 2 hour set has become standard. So, as someone who’s career has spanned both eras, what does the opportunity to play 6 hours straight mean to you?
I’ve played long bar sets before to a crowd that’s maybe not so engaged, or not a dance floor anyway. So, long sets I’m quite used to but adding that pressure of a dance floor for 6 hours and keeping people in the zone is much more of a challenge. I go back to that era of touring internationals like Doc Scott who came out and did a 5 hour set in Wellington back in the day. Those are very formative gigs in my mind. Now we get touring internationals who play 90 minutes, 2 hour sets if we’re lucky and that’s become the norm.
I think it’s a really good switch up to be able to not just play 2 hours of power tunes but actually show your full range. Move in and out of styles, dynamics and volume. At certain points, it’s actually refreshing to dial it back a little bit, give the room some space to breathe before winding it back up, and giving the volume a bit more impact when it’s really needed. Something you're less likely to do when you’ve only got a 2 hour set.
I’ve played warm up sets from when the doors open at 10PM, I’ve played peak time sets at 1AM in the club, and I’ve played closing sets. Each one requires a different approach. You’re setting up for the night early on, you’re delivering for when it really hits capacity in the middle but if you’re closing you really have to find a way to keep those late night people on the dance floor. So I’ll be pulling into those various experiences of my own. I’m warming up for myself but I’m also trying to keep people there once I've thrown down the main party set.
What’s your game plan for making that happen?
I want to do that by playing a range of different BPMs. I enjoy playing 4/4 at a slower tempo like 110 bpm and then moving that up through the range in the warm up. But then also thinking I’ve got a lot of records here so I want to play a vinyl set but narrowing it down to UK dubstep from 2007, 8, 9. Before going back into Serato and playing a tight DnB set. And then keeping it quite open at the end of the night to just read and see who’s still in the crowd and what kind of vibe can I throw out there to keep them entertained and tuned in.
You’re well known for your ability to read the vibes on a dance floor. How do you read the crowd?
If you look up and you’re lucky enough to recognise some of your audience and you know them - sometimes I’ll throw out tunes for specific people cos I know they dig this particular tune. Other times you just have to gauge the energy. I like throwing in curveballs to kind of reset the floor, give people a lull - now it’s time to get a drink, now let’s go to the bathroom. And then I can rebuild the dance floor again. I don't mind if it thins out if I play a particular tune because that tune’s going to help me bridge to somewhere else. It might be three songs but three songs later I’ve brought it back up again and we’re heading in a different direction.
Also though, I can't help it. My ear sometimes goes towards quite weird or abstract tunes which I believe in but maybe can be a little disorientating on the dance floor - initially. But maybe it might be a 9 minute tune and it takes 6 minutes to prove its worth to the audience. That payoff is worth it at that 6 minute point but you can’t rush that process because it's a real linear journey. So sometimes you need to go: ok I know it sounds weird now but trust me, the payoff is worth it. You need to give it time to work its magic. It can’t be rushed.
What kind of sounds can people look forward to in your set this weekend?
Definitely if you’re into 4/4, a kind of deeper organic house, melodic techno … that’s going to be how we’re going to build up from the start. Then I'm thinking I'm going to drop in a bit of dubstep on vinyl around midnight-ish but by 1AM we’ll be fully going into some classic DnB and then yeah a bit of just see where the late night takes us for the late night rinse out crew.
A lot of Neck of the Woods regulars will know you as a DnB DJ. But you started out as a metal guitarist and really you’ve DJ’d a multitude of genres throughout your career- whether it’s in the club, on the radio, or at a festival. Is there any genre that you won’t touch?
Mainstream EDM and pop - that’s basically my line in the sand. My philosophy is always only play a track that you would listen to. It’s quite interesting, at Northern Bass, for instance, to hear so much commercial music played in these sets. That kind of surprised me. People were almost less about laying down their personality and more about just appeasing the crowd. And I get that. At a festival, you've got to throw down and no one wants the crowd to thin out but I think there's the opportunity there to really kind of say this is who I am and this is what I play.
I’m playing a lot less than I ever have before. That’s partly due to months in lockdown but even before lockdown happened I’d already made a decision to only play tunes and only say yes to sets where I could fully just express what I want musically and not have to be like a DJ for hire kind of situation. I've done that in the past and it's allowed me to get to the point where I am now. But now I've retired those tunes and those sets because they're ultimately not rewarding in the way that these other ones have been.
Some people have never been to a soundsystem gig. How would you describe that experience people out there who might not understand what’s special about a specially built rig like the Ghost?
I think with something like the Ghost, based on you know, it's a ratio of subs to highs - you're going to really feel the difference. You’re going to be feeling the weight of that, you’re going to almost feel the air move as those kinds of frequencies move their way through the room. But with a good sound system you can also have a conversation with the person next to you on the dance floor. It's powerful enough to make you move but not messing around in the highs where you have to kind of yell to talk to the person next to you. Maybe people have only heard house and techno on the Ghost but haven’t experienced UK bass music on the system so here’s a chance to put it through its paces.
How is it different as a DJ playing on a soundsystem?
I've been lucky enough to play on some beautiful soundsystems around the country whether they be in a club or at a festival or put together for an occasion. And each soundsystem has its own personality and it can take a little time to kind of acquaint yourself with that particular rig. You know some hit you in a different way - like a really kind of weighty bass. Like a lot of those reggae soundsystems - really bass-heavy bass weight. Whereas others are just really tight and really high fidelity and really crisp. So you kind of just got to approach each one like ok, where's the sweet spot in this particular rig? What are it’s limitations, are there limitations? If I throw down a super low note - how's the soundsystem going to handle it? Also if I'm putting through some fast high hats, if I’m in the mix with DnB, how is that going to translate?
As much as I want to put tunes through at volume I think it's also an opportunity to really be immersed in the sound where if it’s at a certain point where it's too much to actually roll it back. So it's a really dynamic night of sound and the journey.
What kind of energy, vibes or expectations should people come down with on Saturday night?
Come down with an open mind musically, good vibes only on the dance floor, express yourself, and be prepared to just experience the whole night.
Don’t miss out! Get tickets to Dylan C’s 6 hour set on the Ghost Soundsystem now
