SIGNATURE MOVES
Calibre played Aperture late 2008
Article printed in Basic magazine Jan 2009
As one of the main proponents of the deeper sound of drum and bass, Calibre’s productions ooze soul and emotion. With such a captivating sound, it is surprising that he has made over 2000 tracks in his career. “Drum and bass is quick to make”, he explains when asked about the prolific nature of his work. Given this staggeringly high rate of production, it’s hard to believe that his approach is not one of quantity over quality, as he delivers a consistent flow of masterpieces. Of course most of his tunes have never seen beyond the studio walls, but the ones that have seen the light of day have graced many a record bag worldwide.
Living in Belfast his entire life, and growing up in an ”oppressive atmosphere”, full of “hatred and violence”, is where he first found inspiration to do something different. When asked whether these surroundings have had an impact on his tunes, he commented, “I think it’s affected my character and who I am, but not the music”. Where producing is involved it would seem Calibre works within the walls of his imagination, with little regard for what’s going on around him. “I’m so busy working I could be anywhere else in the world and I wouldn’t notice”. Whilst many DJs flock to the big cities to find a home for their careers, Calibre has stayed put in Northern Ireland, as it’s where he feels “most comfortable”. As a result, his DJ sets are few and far between, despite high demand. However this is only at the expense of the drum and bass public, as swanky hotels and overnight business trips betray everything that he is about, which is apparent on this visit.
Calibre’s intellect and integrity demonstrates his ability to make groundbreaking music. His studies of Fine Art at Belfast University reflect an inquisitive and artistic mind. He articulated the progressive nature of drum and bass and hailed it to be an ‘art form’ that acts as “a saviour” to his sanity. Surprisingly, he has no one thing that he relies on for inspiration and no particular mind set that he works best in, it’s simply just, ”the room” that “calls” to him. When asked about his influences he just said, “life is enough”. This was a brave statement from a man that has overcome the peril of alcoholism, he reminisced he would sometimes forget he had made a tune the night before. In fact, he was quick to comment, “The only thing that ever stopped me making music was a woman”.
Adding a new dimension to his sound, Calibre has started to feature his own vocals in his tunes, something that was debuted on his most recent album ‘Overflow’. This idea came from his passionate interest in reading (particularly prose writing). He describes his lyrics as “cryptic but simple”, perfectly matching his poignant sound. His current project, an album branching out into other genres, relies massively on his own vocals, which have “opened up a whole new world” for him, in terms of aiding his creativity. It also allows a quicker pace to work at, as in the past when he used vocalists he found that he was never confident enough to ask them to alter what they were doing wrong. His vocals are heavily featured in his recent ‘Don’t Mind’ EP, released on his own Signature Records imprint.
As the interview drew to a close and we headed off to the awaiting fans at Clwb, he filled us in about the release of the second edition of his ‘Shelflife’ album, a retrospective compilation of unreleased tunes, which he hopes to be out around Christmas time this year. It may be a while before Calibre graces the decks of Cardiff again, but be assured; good things come to those who wait.
Calibre can be found online @ www.myspace.com/sigrecs1
Words | Hayley McMillan
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