Taste Test: Phetsta

Taste Test: Phetsta

21 February, 2011 | 5.25AM

• Written by: Dan Cole
• Filed under: Music News: phetsta, taste test, technique recordings

It may not rhyme with “Manchester,” but Perth, Australia still has a lot to answer for. It’s managed to spawn some of the biggest exports in drum & bass, including Pendulum, Shock One, and Phetsta, aka Whetu Kay. Having broken onto the scene in 2005 on Simon Bassline Smith’s Technqiue Recordings, Whetu has gone on to spawn the massive hits “The Sun” and “Virtual Reality.”

We caught up with Phetsta to see what’s been influencing his global drum & bass productions.

What was the first record you remember having as a child?

An old UB40 album, I’m not sure which one. Apparently I could fast-forward and rewind it to the exact starting points of each track on the tape deck when I was like three years old. “Rat in My Kitchen” was my favourite from the album.

What was the first record you bought with your own money?

A Beastie Boys album, not sure which one. Or maybe it was Metallica. Or both.

Which style or genre of music was your first great love?

Nineties hip-hop and metal.

How have your musical tastes changed since you were a teenager?

I used to be heavily into metal. I still love it, but I like a whole range of music now. Really into house and electro.

What was the last record (or MP3) you bought?

Last haul I bought “Welcome to the Machine” by Pink Floyd, The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” and the “Feed Me” EP on mau5trap.

Nice range there! How many tracks/records do you typically acquire every week—both promos & purchases?

Sometimes none, sometimes 20 or so.

What format do you DJ with?

CD.

Name your three favorite tracks at the moment:

ShockOne & Reija Lee, “Home” [unknown]

Culture Shock, “Footloose” [RAM Records]

Phace, “Desert Orgy” [Neosignal]

Three favorite classic tracks?

Digital, “Deadline” [dPulse]

Bad Company, “Breathe”

Konflict, “New World Order” [Renegade Hardware]

Which track (by another musician) do you wish that you had made?

I really wish I came up with the tempo switch idea that Dirtyphonics do. I also wish I wrote the entire Sub Focus album.

What’s your favorite record from this year that isn’t electronic dance music?

I seriously can’t think of one right now, not from the last 12 months anyways. I love the band Muse and I’m still listening to their album Resistance even though it’s probably my least favourite album of theirs. Still a bunch of gold on it.

Current reading or last good book read?

Currently reading Stephen King’s The Dark Tower 5: The Wolves of Calla. I started reading the series last year and I haven’t been able to put it down. I also really recommend Inverted World by Christopher Priest, the dude who wrote the book The Prestige, which got developed into a movie starring Wolverine and Batman as magicians.

Favorite mobile app:

Nothing too exciting. Facebook and Kindle, I guess.

Favorite video game:

The COD series. Fallout 3. Oblivion. The old Resident Evils. I shouldn’t go too in depth here, it’ll show how much of a nerd I actually am.

Favorite piece of gear or software:

Loving Vember Audio Surge at the moment.

Preferred headphones:

Pioneer DJ1200s all the way!

Favorite clothing designer:

No idea, I roll with whatever does the trick. My favourite shirt cost me $2 from a secondhand store. It has a tiger on it.

Favorite city/country/club to perform in?

I used to love playing at Rise in Perth, before it shut down, because it permanently had four CDJ1000s set up. Playing in New Zealand is always good. Had great responses in Italy, Austria and Spain.

What country would you be thrilled to play in, just for the food?

A toss up between Spain and Italy.

Strangest thing you’ve ever eaten while on tour:

I make a thing of it to try strange things. One of my favourite dishes is beef Pho, tried one in NYC with tripe and belly buttons in it. It was shit.

Strangest thing a fan has ever given you:

Terrible ideas and advice for music that I should be making. Apparently I should sound more like Spor.

Frequent-flyer survival tip:

Buy an eyeshade, disposable earplugs, and a neck pillow. I’ve trained myself to pass out before takeoff and sleep for an hour or two. Really is a life-saver.

Weirdest rumor you’ve ever heard about yourself:

In the UK at a gig, a really fit girl kept hitting on me all night, so we got down to business after the show. The only problem was I only heard about this from a guy on AIM because he was friends with her—she mistook some guy at a gig for me and he rolled with it.

I’ve rocked up to a gig and seen myself listed as Phetsta (Pendulum) before. That was weird.

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