Recently you collaborated with Juan and Derrick for the first time, for a Remix of Depeche Mode.
Yeah, it’s the first track we ever did together. It started out in my studio. Then Juan edited a little part. Derrick didn’t have too much to do with it, but he gave a little input. A lot of it was really completed by me. So it sounds more like me then like us, but you hear strings that sound like Derrick and you have some arpeggiated stuff that sounds like Juan. It´s just stem-sharing, not being in a studio together working on a track. We will get together in the studio though when we will work on an original production.
Did you ever think about moving to Europe?
Not really. If I would have done it I should have done it when Inner City was at its highest peak. But I wanted to be in my surroundings which I was comfortable with. Tough on the travel, but home is home. You go to Europe, and especially back then, I got swamped. You come home and you are normal again. You do your things.
What do you mean, you got swamped?
When Inner City was popular I became this pop person, particularly in London. People would stop me, people would recognize me, people always wanted my autograph, certainly in England. You finish a concert, you try to leave and you got 50 girls outside the hotel. People screaming at the bus. Very bizarre times. Very interesting though.
You had this amazing success with Inner City. And ten years later, your so-called Rreese bass line created a whole subgenre of Jungle and Drum’n’Bass.
Almost every record had that sound in it. I had some pivotal moments with Inner City with that, even with “Rock To The Beat”, which was huge in Belgium. It became this huge pop hit in France. It was interesting times.
How did you make the reese bass line?
I created it on the Casio CZ-5000, just being experimental. Sometimes you play a line and you like it but you don’t like it enough. You shape the sounds differently and what happens it becomes more interesting. You do things that inspire you. When I first created the track it was me trying to create again a track for the Paradise Garage, very dark, very underground. Something I thought would work for the gay community, too. I felt it would be to Larry’s taste.
Did the Drum’n’Bass guys just sample it or did they figure out how you did it?
No, they just sampled it. No one could ever repeat what I did. I experimented a lot and sometimes you get something magical. It’s just one of those things that just happen. It is a moment captured. They sampled the sound and they replayed the notes. There were moments where there was just the dark bass so it was very easy for people to sample it.
Did they ever ask you how you did it?
No. I think some person just used it and another person took it from them and another person took it from them and so on. I guess it worked out.
What do you want pass on to young musicians?
I went down my path. I have been fearless with my music. I have been fearless at the turntables. I have been inspired by people. I did not sell my soul, I did what I wanted to do – always. Even with Inner City. It is what I wanted to do musically. I did not do it for money. I did it because it was in me.
Stream: Kevin Saunderson – Heavenly Revisited
