Originally printed in Lava Magazine, November 1999
"I spent about a year writing the tracks, without any set idea in mind of how I wanted it to come out" says Daimon Schwalger, aka The Nomad, phoning from his new base in Wellington.
When I make a track, I get the beats down, a few atmospherics, then I lay down the bass, a vocal, then I sit down for a week and do the arrangements. There's lots of jams, and taking it somewhere that you don't really know it's gonna go, experimenting. He's talking about his new album, Second Selection, which he put together over the course of a year in hometown Christchurch.
"It's all gelled pretty well. The album's quite diverse, but it has a similarity of sound. Does that make sense?"
It makes perfect sense. Second Selection is an album full of dubwise downtempo delights, with beats guaranteed to tickle the eardrums of the nation right through the coming summer and beyond. It features contributions from Pearl Runga, MC Antsman from Beats N Pieces, and Tiki Taane, he who makes Salmonella Dub sound so phat, assists with the mix, and Farda P from recent tourists Rockers Hifi also pops in.
The result is a much different sound from the first Nomad effort, Movement,, which delved deep into the realm of dark drum n bass. Why the shift ?
"Well, people change. As much as I love drum n bass, I love trip hop and dub more. That's the style of music I'm into right now. Drum n bass is very influenced by dub anyway. I've been into down groove stuff for about ten years now. When I make a track, I get the beats down, a few atmospherics, then I lay down the bass, a vocal, then I sit down for a week and do the arrangements. There's lots of jams, and taking it somewhere that you don't really know it's gonna go, experimenting. Then editing it all down."
Daimon recorded the album in his home studio. He is also responsible for the album's artwork posters, and very cool stickers. He's very much a one man band. I ask him why he likes working this way. "Well, I'm a control freak!" he says, laughing. "Basically I recorded and produced the record, did the artwork, organised the album tour, because ultimately, I'm in it for the music and I've been doing it for ten years, and it's really important to me. I've got to hold onto that creative control, I've got to make sure its being represented in the way I want."
Must be a lot of work. Why do you do it? "I guess it's like eating; it's just what I do, y'know? I've been doing it for about 11 years now. I'm not doing it to become famous or make lots of money, it's more of a lifestyle. Getting into the studio with friends and busting out a track, I just love it. It's a huge passion of mine. I don't watch TV, I don't go to a lot of films, I just spend a lot of my time at the computer, inventing and creating music, trying to make something that's more of a deeper thing, rather than just cheesy lyrics and dodginess..."
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