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Basszone with Rhys Grosvenor

Hey boys and girls welcome to the October edition of Bass Zone and this month we have a bit of a new feature. We'll be getting up close and personal with one of New Zealand's emerging artists, and all going to plan this will be a regular in the months to come.
This month we catch up with Auckland based artist Chromatic who has recently been signed to New Zealand imprint Flying Punch Records. His debut EP on the label, Spectrum, is due out before the end of the year and features 4 tracks that, as the title may suggest, hit all ends of the bass spectrum.
I've been lucky enough to have a sneak peak at all 4 and couldn't wait to sit the man down to have a chat about them.

MENU: Alright mate we'll kick things off with a little bit about yourself for the readers… You Auckland born and bred?

CHROM: Nah I was born in melbourne and moved here when I was 2 years old, spent most of my life in West auckland

MENU: An Aussie ay, must have been gutted at the Ireland match then?

CROM: Ha! Sh*t no. I am a kiwi because both of my parents are kiwis 

MENU: Nice. So were you already doing the music thing at 2 or did that come further down the track?

CROM: Well my dad has been heavily into music his whole life, and that sort of rubbed off on me. I have always loved music, but never started making any sort of music until I was around 17 when I realised I could make beats on computers.

MENU: You play the keys or any thing or is it strictly computers?

CROM: I gave leaning the piano a go when I was 15 but gave up after a year haha.

MENU: Computer-wise have you got a complicated set up or just some basics? 

CROM: Nah It is super basic! Just a midi key board and an audio interface with FL studio. I recently bought a mac book and Logic also so I have started dabbling with that. 

MENU: And do you have a favourite plug-in or is that super top secret?

CROM: It's a bit of a cliché but its NI massive, It's just so easy to program and manipulatable.

MENU: You've had a couple of tracks out on Propa Digital, want to tell us how that came about?

CROM: My brother put Mike [Propa Label head honcho] onto me through sound cloud and it just went from there. 

MENU: You have a fairly consistent style throughout your production yet all the tracks are very unique, how has that developed?

CROM: I love and appreciate lots of types of music and I think it comes through in my music. My style is moving towards bass heavy music, and the only real quality that governs the tracks that I make is they have to have a big sub. I just write what feels good at the time. I try not to get hung up on genres and styles and just let the music flow. They all end up having some sort of essence that is similar somehow.

MENU: Nice, probably a good tip for all budding producers there. Want to give us a quick run down of the tracks on the EP in your own words?

CROM: Yeah mate… So… Futurism is a techy yet uplifting, sub heavy dubstep track, infused with elements of hip-hop and RnB. Pressure Dub is a more deep euphoric track with a hint of the "Lost in the London-underground" sound and heavy beats.Melancholy Maze is just a massive tear out track with huge metallic bass and sharp Drums. Ouroboros is definitely a more mellow track with resonant pads and bubbling jungle samples, tied together in a chilled "New Zealand summer" atmosphere.

Right team so that’s your bass zone for another month. Next month we look to catch up with Auckland duo Perverse. I’ll keep you posted as to when Chromatic’s Spectrum EP is out and where you can go about purchasing it. In the mean time check out both his and Flying Punch’s pages on soundcloud.

www.soundcloud.com/chromaticnz
www.soundcloud.com/flying-punch

Ez
Rhys