Inside ‘Grain’: Kassian on Modular Accidents, UKG-Electro Drums & Making a Pure Club Tools | Faux Poly Interviews

The best ideas often come from losing control. Kassian’s new track ‘Grain’, a relentless, 145bpm acid-fired weapon was the happy accident that birthed an EP.

Built around a drum kit that sits somewhere between garage and electro, Kassian walks us through the hardware, the ‘tiny chaos’ production tricks, and the stripped-back club influences that shaped ‘Grain,’ proving that confidence and simplicity can be just as powerful as complexity.

Q: What was the first idea that started this track?

A: The drum kit is one we’ve used on a few tracks now, it’s got a great scratchy UKG mood with more of a techno distorted feel so it kind of sits in between Garage and Electro. We were just experimenting with the beat for a while to see what we could put over it. Grain is one of the successful experiments!

Q: Were there any records, artists or clubs influencing the direction at the time?

A: There were a few tracks that we were playing out regularly that are so simple and hard hitting with just drums and one main sound. For example Aerotrim by Kink, Brain Confusion by Aloka or Flight FM by Joy Orbison. We wanted to try and make something super stripped but heavy and confident at the same time.

Q: What drum machines, samples or drum racks were used?

A: The drums are a combination of hardware and software as usual. For this EP we used a combination of our own sample pack and probably the Elektron Analog Rytm. The drum kit we used has evolved gradually across a wide range of sketches and sessions, with each iteration refining its character and tone. So right now these sounds have become a core part of our sonic identity, so you’ll notice them reappearing and developing further in future releases with small tweaks.

Q: What synth or hardware generated the bass sound?

A: I (Joe) used the Erica Syntjs Syntrx II for the main bassline. It’s a crazy modular thing that really has a life of its own. Honestly a lot of the time when I sit down with it all I get is random noise, and on a good day it really sings.

What we love about this track is that you can hear the bassline ‘appearing’ out of the chaos. The drop in the track is completely accidental, the synth sounded like total chaos and then it hit a sweet spot and the hook came together, so we decided to use that as the buildup in the track.

Q: Any interesting sound design tricks used?

Lots of modulation as always; the bass is in a feedback loop sending to a ring modulator with LFO’s all over the place. It gives it this great evolving buzzing sound. Also the oscillators on the Syntrx II are completely analog so when they’re pitched up or down an octave you can hear the pitch bend really clearly and it sounds amazing.

We try to create a lot of ‘tiny chaos’ in our tracks, LFO’s making things feedback or fly out of tune, but then we push them far back in the mix so they don’t jeopardise the composition. The aim is to make the track sound alive and imperfect, we don’t like everything sounding too slick and neat all the time. 

Q: How do you approach arranging the track for the club?

We try to keep our arrangements as simple as possible, mostly we’re just exploring the loop and playing with the energy levels. Grain is particularly simple, the bassline is really doing all the heavy lifting and we’re kind of working around the edges of it to see how we can enhance it. There’s a lot of small automation on the sends (reverb, delay) and a lot of tweaking the synth by hand. We got lucky with this track because the bassline was giving us so much, including the breakdown

Q: Did you test the track in DJ sets before finalising?

We did, the best highlight was during our India tour last winter.

Q: What’s next for Kassian - anything you can tell us about what’s coming up?

Lots more music, some stuff we can’t talk about just yet! In the near future we’ve got a few dates around Europe:

• 16 May - Belfast, UK
• 23 May - Berlin, DE
• 12 June - London, UK
• 19 June - Panevėžys, LT
• 27 June - Liverpool, UK

Get it on Beatport