Mix & Interview: Infestus

A few days ago I posted about the release of Tigre EP by Lisbon native Infestus. His real name is Luís Pinto and he lives and breathes music, accumulating five simultaneous musical projects - Volte Face, Lisboa Balal, Flashbeat, Corvo Mukulu, Cosmika Laika, and I'm sure there must be one or two i left out... He is part of a generation of young Portuguese musicians who got into bass music under the creative influence of Buraka Som Sistema, Octa Push and the infinite record collection that is the Internet. But he's not just another kid making tunes in his bedroom: he's a talented multi-instrumentalist, a sick producer and DJ, a netlabel owner and has just been selected (alongside Marco from the Portuguese techno/dub duo Photonz) to participate in the 2010 edition of the Red Bull Music Academy! So, don't forget this name and be sure to check out his netlabel Circus Maximus, where you can download loads of free music (under creative commons) and listen to the exclusive mix he prepared for mrgasparov.com. Obrigado Luís!

Infestus

Interview

When did you start making beats, what were your influences then?

I started making beats around 2002. I didn’t know much about electronic music. I was just making random electronic stuff, based on the few things I knew about House and Techno music. I didn’t really had an objective and I barely had any references other than video games soundtracks and “The Matrix”!

Some time later, a couple of friends formed a rap crew and I was invited to make beats for them. That’s when I started to get into rap music, listening to local artists like Sam the Kid, Chullage, Dealema. All of the sudden I was making hip hop beats, barely knowing anything about it. They didn’t like my beats so eventually I stopped being a member of the crew!

But I kept making beats (and even posted a couple of beat tapes on the internet) and eventually returned to electronic music, and got especially interested in Dub.

When was the first time you listened to dubstep and what was your reaction?

It was around 2006. I first heard of Dubstep through the Portuguese project Cartell70. I found that project while looking for Portuguese drum & bass acts, and eventually ran into their myspace. And obviously, Buraka Som Sistema, which also contributed alot in making me notice the UK Grime and Dubstep scene.

I decided to explore the original source of those sounds, and eventually found Burial, which was an interesting introduction to the sound, but added to my confusion about the subject, since it is not the most mainstream dubstep sound. Because of that, I couldn’t understand it’s relationship with dub music or dance music in general. It sounded too slow, too abstract. But I liked it!

Obviously I kept exploring, and eventually found Mala, Skream and Benga... Which have a sound that is closer to the original dubstep definition (which I guess no longer applies isn’t it?).

Give your definition of dubstep. where do you see it going in the near future?

For me dubstep is post-garage 140 bpm music. A lot of stuff I consider dubstep nowadays isn’t even based on sub-bass anymore, or in half-step for that matter. So I guess it all comes down to the Hardcore Continuum.

In my mixes, I have a tendency to let a lot of kuduro beats (and now even UK Funky) get thrown together with dubstep. I guess I will never get over the fact that my introduction to dubstep was not through the pure UK stuff, but local Lisbon acts influenced by it.

And then there’s also the original 2-Step Garage tracks, the Future Garage movement, and the “techno-dubstep” fusion which reminds alot of my House and Techno origins.

The future will see dubstep getting increasingly ramified I believe.

There’s the stuff like Low End Theory, and the LA Scene. For them, it seems that dubstep, hip hop beats and other forms of experimental electronic music is all the same. It’s a great philosophy!

Then there’s that whole Funkystep deal. And of course Future Garage, if enough Dj’s and producers adhere to it.

How is the scene in Lisboa?

The Lisbon scene has been extremely exciting for me. Ever since my teen years I’ve always been connected to several different sub-cultures, while at the same time not quite belonging to none. And if there is something we have in Lisbon is variety! Is Bairro Alto that different from Shibuya? Maybe not.

In Lisbon dowtown you can attend, in the same night, Dubstep raves, hardcore punk and metal gigs, blues and jazz bars, then the several different kinds of djs and clubs, and of course, Fado houses. For a person like me, having friends in all of these scenes makes it an extremely interesting experience. But there’s never enough time to see everything!

The electronic music scene is especially active, and has a lot of amazing talent! All of these local artists, like Ka§par, Octa Push, DJ Ride, Batida, Sam the Kid and others are still probably my main influence. A couple of years ago they were all my idols but I hadn’t met any of them, and now alot of these are my friends. I’m lucky to have all this people living in the same city I live.

Next releases and future plans?

In the near future I have plans for a Lisboa Balal EP (Lisboa Balal being my strictly dubstep and experimental alter-ego) and a Cosmika Laika EP, which is a project I co-founded with JC, based on broken beat and nu-jazz. As Infestus I have plans to return to the beat tapes and beat making!

All of this will be released through the netlabel Circus Maximus.

Other than that I just wanna play as many gigs as possible, and enjoy all of this!

Listen/Download

infestus__february_2010_mix__mrgasparov.com.mp3
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Tracklist

01. Infestus - Pôr-do-sol em Carnide
02. Infestus - Partilhámos Amor
03. Hudson Mohawke - Overnight
04. Joker & Rustie - Play Doe
05. Lisboa Balal - Telheiras
06. 2562 - Embrace
07. Debruit feat. O'Mas Keith - I'm Goin' Wit' You (Octa Push Remix)
08. Martyn - Natural Selection (Flying Lotus' Remix)
09. Yuzo Koshiro - Go Straight
10. Hot City - Yeah!
11. Underground Sound of Lisbon - So get up
12. Four Tet - Love Cry (Roska Remix)