Feature: McDead Decodes “Rebar”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "Rebar?"
Thanks for asking! “Rebar” developed out of me messing around with keyboards lying around the Laneway studio in Melbourne during the McDead album sessions a couple of years ago. The plan was always to make an old school indie dance banger - a track that pays real homage to the 90’s indie dance music scene I grew up with in the UK with a twist. The idea was to strengthen the track with musical rebar – real ‘bars of steel’ - using powerful production techniques swiped from the local ‘Intelligent Dance Music’ (IDM) scene that Melbourne is famous for.
Can you share any interesting or unique musical elements or production techniques used in "Rebar?"
There are quite a few, as I love to work in the space made between analogue and digital recording. It’s really important for me to give the audience something special in the mix, both in stereo as well as in mono, where dance music is usually mixed. I really made sure I used the full ‘stereo box’ available on “Rebar” and to make all the sounds move around it as the beat evolves.
With “Rebar” I started my songwriting process as usual (for me) with an analogue guitar drone recorded with a Telecaster, until I felt the sound was strong enough to underpin the whole track. I then went through the same process with bass, then the keys, until I ended up with a really powerful set of digital and analogue samples to make strong anchor points for the track. Each instrument was then ‘hard panned’ and layered to make as wide a mix as possible. This gave me a basic structure and feel for where the track was going, so I then repeated the whole process many times, by adding different sounds and effects until the track totally jumped out of the speakers and grabbed me by the ears. I then wrote a solid musical progression firstly by layering three-kicks under two different breakbeats. The raw mix was then left for a day or two to ferment before I polished and remixed it with fresh ears.
What impact do you hope this track will have on your audience?
I just want to pull the listener into the whole indie-dance revival vibe, get their feet moving, then take them on an epic journey from the 90’s to nowadays - as the production winds up. For me “Rebar” is such an immersive and hypnotic track because it has so many hidden layers… I’m really hoping each listener will find something unique and special in the track for them.
What genres of music do you primarily focus on, and what draws you to those genres?
My main influences developed working as a guitar tech/roadie and roadie for mate's bands in 90’s Colchester. It was such an amazing musical scene to grow up in. I cut my teeth working at the local Art Centre, Technical College, and most frighteningly at Essex University which was a converted concrete carpark - a venue so bad you had to be great to get away with it... any many big names did not! This saw me stage side at many good/bad/early gigs… by the likes of Radiohead, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, The Icicle Works, Spaceman 3/Slowdive… well basically the entire shoegaze scene looking back - it was a really remarkable time in music.
Although my roots are with the indie and alternative music of the 90’s, I don’t like being stuck in one genre, and hate musical rules. I just love experimenting and exploring new sounds. I often draw inspiration from Beck and Nick Cave’s flexibility and ability to surprise, but my most profound musical influences range from Captain Beefheart and Extreme Noise Terror, to Steve Reich, Burt Jansch, Nick Drake, Jimi Hendrix and Mr. Bill. IDM is my biggest influence terms of music production, so I draw on a lot of techniques used by these producers. I often look to the past, but my aim is to bring something really new and exciting to indie music now.
Can you share a project that holds particular significance to you? What made it memorable, and what challenges did you overcome?
My favourite project has to be the first McDead Album which was co-produced with Will Casserly at Plastic Jungle Records in Melbourne. It was a real labour of love, recorded at Laneway Studios. We experimented with everything and used so much vintage equipment – loaned to us by many great Melbourne based musicians. The resulting eponymous vinyl LP (McDEAD) was pressed up by Zenith Records, and Mastered by the amazing Erik Scerba. Everyone involved was an amazing musician, and I learnt so much about the production process. The project took several months more than expected, so it was done on a shoestring budget with a lot of studio time donated by the studio, when no one else was using it.
With a lot of support from friends and the press, the first small batch of McDEAD album vinyl sold out in Australia. A small batch of McDEAD vinyl albums will arrive for sale in Europe via Bandcamp later this year.
