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Uberzone is the amalgamation of a
dozen things at once. Q, the brainiac
behind the uberness, bangs away as
percussionist on the sampler and the
drum machine. His DJ, Davey Dave,
scratches the hell out of the vinyl
to produce far-out vocals. The visuals
are programmed to the basslines taking
the audience on a crazy trek through
space and time. And their energy alone
is enough to make Uberzone one of
the best musical acts in electronic
music.
Frankie Pais from Where@ Magazine
caught up with Q (aka Timothy
Wiles) in Los Angeles recently.
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Sounds
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Uberzone
Live at the Mayan
Theater
Los Angeles Aug.
2001
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 Lo-fi
Hi-fi
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 Q:
How do you feel about being "the"
live act in breaks?
A: I like the idea that people in the electronic
scene are still responsive to live acts.
I get a bit worried that the strength of
the electronic music movement lies squarely
on the shoulders of DJs. Mainly because
DJing is one talent and being a musician
is another talent. That's not to say that
there aren't DJs who are musicians and musicians
who are DJs. However, most DJ talents lie
more in the art of handling the floor, knowing
what records to play, in what order, etc.
I think it's interesting in the electronic
music scene that you can kind of tell a
DJ's writing style from an electronic musician's
writing style.
Q: Where do you
derive your style and inspiration when producing
new tracks?
A: I try to listen to everything and absorb
as much sensory variation as possible instead
of just listening to breaks and hanging
out in clubs. I have a very sensitive sensory
system in a good and bad way. It's great
for picking up subtleties in life: instead
of walking down the street and seeing the
side walk, I see the puddle of water reflecting
the image of the pigeon humping the tree
branch behind me. It's bad when I get too
much overload like the lights, sound, movement
and chaos of a club environment. That overwhelms
me and tires me out. I think this sensitivity
is actually inspiring for me. It causes
me to see things in a different way than
most people. I think anyone's style would
be derived in the truest sense from their
respective personalities.
 Q:
Tell us about your Digital Mix show. What
tracks always get played in the mix?
A: The Digital Mix show is like a DJ set
that we perform live over. Davey Dave doing
the cutting and scratching and me doing
the knob tweaking and drumming. I'd say
of other peoples' records, the one that
always made it into the set was Rennie Pilgrem
and BLIM's "Eskimo" Yellow Snow
Mix. It just does the business, ya know?
Q: Do you find
it difficult being a live breakbeat act
as opposed to a house or trance DJ?
A: It's not that it's more difficult to
play breaks but frustrating that people
aren't as open minded, (I think), as in
the early days of the electronic dance scene.
Not only did you here more musical variation
back then but the same DJ would play ALL
styles in a night, moving from breaks to
house, house to techno, techno to trance
etc. I miss that.
Q: In your opinion,
what needs to be done in order for breakbeats
to reach mass acceptance?
A: Consolidation. More clubs that
book and play breaks as well as their staple
house and trance. Again, I see music as
being cyclical and I see more and more people
responding to breaks. I just
played a show to a crowd I would've
considered to be more of a trance crowd
and they responded very favorably to breaks.
I think melody and hooks are also a very
important factors in helping any style of
music gain mass acceptance. This hasn't
been a strong point on the evolution of
breaks ingeneral. If you look at the breaks
acts that have had mass acceptance, they
are all extremely melodic or hooky: The
Crystal Method, The Prodigy, The Chemical
Brothers.
 Q:
What have been some of Uberzone’s most
memorable shows?
A: There have been a few. The last night
of the tour supporting The Crystal Method
in San Francisco. I love S.F. and it always
seems to be a magical experience. Playing
at the Palace a few years ago for Intel
of all companies. My parents got to see
me play a big party for the first time and
it went off. Also, playing a show outdoors
in New Orleans for Disco Donnie with Afrika
Bambaataa looking on.
Q: Where can
our readers check you out this year, any
big plans?
A: Many big plans! I have my first DJ mix
CD coming out this summer that will go hand
in hand with the Digital Mix show theme.
It will consist of a DJ mix of other peoples'
tracks, a couple of new exclusive Uberzone
tracks, a few cuts and scratches by Davey
Dave and some tweaking by me. It should
be out for summer.
Uberzone's Digital Mix
CD is due on Moonshine
Records in August 2002.
Upcoming tour dates:
- June 13, 2002 - Dallas
(USA)
- June 15, 2002 - Boynton
Beach, Florida (USA)
- June 28th, 2002 -
Salt Lake City (USA) - TBA
- June 29th, 2002 -
El Paso, Texas (USA)
- July 27th, 2002 -
Seattle (USA)
- August 16th, 2002
- London (UK) - FabricLive w/ Adam Freeland,
James Lavelle, Evil 9
For more info about Uberzone,
check out www.uberzone.net
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