Genre is irrelevant on Adrian Asher's 'BLACK PEARL'

Genres have long been a means of classifying creative works, and while this has historically meant that different sounds and themes are kept separate, increasingly these words are actually used to describe rather than classify.

Tech-house, progressive-techno, psy-trance, all words that have, for the most part, taken on an entirely new meaning when combined together.

As music gets produced on an even wider scale than ever before, with 100,000 songs being uploaded to Spotify on a daily basis back in 2022, it’s no surprise that these lines are blurring even further.

Adrian Asher is an artist who has made twisting and toying with words like those a part of his creative identity.

The Gadigal Country/Sydney-based DJ, singer and producer has just released his debut album, ‘BLACK PEARL’ via his own much-beloved local label Bass Water Freak Out. Asher’s debut full-length release is a mammoth 23 track journey through drum & bass, trance, happy hardcore, ambient and all manner of personal poetry.

Jersey-club percussion, trap sirens and meme-level samples pepper a release that’s bursting with personality, originality, and regularly, emotion.

Mixmag ANZ sat down with Adrian Asher to get a read on his process and intention for ‘BLACK PEARL’, and whether any of this actually needs to fit into a genre, in a tone that only he knows.

Q: Adrian thanks so much for making the time to chat. Firstly, you've been producing & making music for a number of years, but this is your first ever full-length release. How does it feel to have it out into the world?

AA: Feels pretty bubbalicious really! I'm always trying to make a song I've never heard before, a genre and vocal combo that is new and I think I’ve achieved that a bunch of times on BLACK PEARL. This is my statement artwork. If I leave nothing else, this is enough.

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Q: 'BLACK PEARL' is a mammoth 23 tracks. Were you always intending for it to be this long? What do you think you're able to achieve over such a long release that you couldn't possibly do with something shorter?

AA: Having a long release means I can showcase all my moods & skills. This is a big body of work, this is my PHD, I'm doctor dolphin now. So read my thesis! Making beats is one thing, doing vocals too is another. I have vocals on every track - except METAL DOGZ which is a very excellent nasty metal bass song. I produced and mixed every song. So I kinda wanted this to be my bible of rave and to show the full range of sounds I make, from sweet to psycho, it’s a full body exorcism. If you listen to the whole thing, you’ll get to know me. And I’d like to get to know You. Originally it was going to be 17 tracks but I decided to include some songs that had been previously released as singles or on compilations because I loved those songs and felt they deserved space on the album.

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Q: What is the story behind the album name 'BLACK PEARL’ and that song in particular?

AA: There's a couple of angles there!

1) I wanted to write a pirate song about when I used to drive my 18horsepower tinny home late at night as a teenager. I lived on an island for the first 20 years of my life. Boat access only, no shops, dirt roads, lots of trees. Sometimes we would break into the boat sheds of mansions on the mainland and steal their liquor. That's where the pirate aspect comes from lol. Often I'd be driving home from a saturday night out, it would be 2am and I'd be speeding though the darkness. The whole world was a beautiful varied shade of black. The water, a pearlescent swirling black, fractured with moonlight. The forest far in the background a flat unbroken shade, still and quiet, where the animals rested or hunted. No lights shone on the Island. Everyone was sleeping. Then out in the middle of the channel I'd cut the engine and lie down in the boat and float and look at it all… so gorgeous. That is the Black Pearl.

2) There are two cover artworks for ‘BLACK PEARL’. The Bandcamp and Soundcloud cover art is a weird AI image of myself as a pirate. It’s kind of a lol admin reveal for Bass Water Freak Out (BWFO) the label I run. I previously kept my name off all BWFO socials but then felt people should know who was curating this ship and who they were communicating with. The pirate cover is in theme with the BWFO world and visual aesthetic.

The second cover art, for all other streaming platforms, is myself driving an imaginary car, powered by dreams, off a cliff. It’s shot by local photographer Ann Thu Pham and I'm wearing a fit by local designer Callicomical. The great thing about a car like this is that they are free. You can have one too!

Q: Your music covers so many genres, including drum & bass, trance, happy hardcore, ambience, and of course all of which featuring your own vocals. How has working with so many different genres and influences impacted your songwriting process?

AA: For me the overarching genre is RAVE. This album is for performance at a doof, a warehouse or a club rave. All these sub-genres fit under that umbrella. Genre is less relevant to me than mood or originality. I often can't really put my songs in any genre, I can hear their influences but they don’t sit in one genre. That's why I think they are original.

I can only create what is presently inspiring to me. I'm usually excited to make music that I hear and don't understand. It's a riddle. For example I made ‘300ZX’ after going to my first proper gabber night. I was like “fark this music is intense and really fun how do I make this!” I downloaded some gabber kick packs the next day and out came ‘300ZX’. In the album I tried to combine my love of trap & trance by using fast tempos 170-180bpm in the hardstyle 4x4 sections which then break to halftime 85-90bpm swung hiphop influenced drum patterns. You can hear this happen in ‘300ZX’, ‘BLACK PEARL’ & ‘50 STITCHES’.

‘BUSH DANCE 4 PALESTINE’ is another example of a hybrid track which I’ve never heard anything like before. Originally released on Australian label 200plus - shoutout 200plus really awesome label here - for a fundraiser compilation for Gaza. In a very dark time I wanted to send out a message of love and joy. You will dance again and until then we will dance with you in our hearts. It’s a hardstyle interpretation of a bush dance. I sampled a cd I bought at a folk festival in 2012 of an Australian/Irish folk band called ‘Trouble In The Kitchen’. The cd is amazing and exists nowhere on the internet. I'm so glad I have it. I sampled the reel, a fast Irish jig, sped it up, added 808s and gabber kicks and then the vocal I did in one take as the caller, plus added an effect called ‘Alien Lord’. In a bush dance the caller will tell the dancers the moves as they dance. I simplified it so basically everyone just forms circles of 5 and spins. I've got to play this live twice and it is sooooo fun. Getting the whole party to hold hands and spin, its very nice. Spin and send that love out into the world to those who need it right now!

I'm currently excited to make some 140bpm bass music. It’s a bpm that has so much scope and is equally calming and energising. I haven’t made that before so that's what's got me hyped.

Q: Your vocals, often over incredibly quick, gritty or hyped tracks, add a softness that isn't found among many producers of similar music within Australia. How do you think that sets you apart?

AA: My vocals are the aspect which ties my works together. These are my poems, my stories. I don’t know anyone else in Australia who is releasing a rave album with this much vocal work. But if you’re out there, let's jam! I like to use the vocals to compliment the beat, if my beat is hard my vocal doesn’t have to be, I can compliment with some softer energy. I love singing and harmony and often layer my vocals. I've never considered myself a rapper but I guess there is quite a bit of rapping in the album. As a vocalist I figure rapping is just one technique you can use. Everyone has a voice and we all should use it. Find your voice. We all need to sing more. LAlllallaaalaalla! (I just became Babe).

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Q: I've heard that 'BLACK PEARL' has been written with performance in mind. The entire record sits at around 90 minutes long, is the intention to perform this tracklist as is? What was the process of writing for performance?

AA: Yesssss this is totally designed for a hybrid live DJ set. The very first music I released ten years ago was kinda alt RnB - listen to ‘Ghost In The Intro’ my first ever ep. It’s still a favourite release of mine but my god it’s boring to perform. I find the fatter, wilder stuff way more fun to perform and that's why you’ll hear a lot of massive full sounding tracks on ‘BLACK PEARL’.

For each gig I handpick the tracks relevant to that crowd and set time. Some crews might vibe the hardstyle tracks more, compared to the more emotional spacey, or playful ones so I play it by ear depending on the mood of the gig.

I want to see more live creativity at the rave. Every DJ mixer has 4 input channels and 2 microphone inputs. I want to see them used. I want to hear a DJs voice sometimes. We all have a voice we all can sing, and I want to hear you! So in this album I'm tryna lead by example. If we put DJs in a position of creative spotlight, let’s see some creativity. As well as playing your own music creative expression could be your outfit, your dancing, your vocals, some live instrumentation and your mixing style. You absolutely don't have to be doing all of those things, but you should be trying some. It’s quite lol to me how we all stand and stare at a DJ sometimes, hundreds of us and often they really aren’t doing that much technically. At least do the Macarena.

Q: How are you going to perform this live, hardware wise?

AA: When performing I play a mastered bounce of the song with my vocals and some synth lines removed. I will then perform those aspects live, while DJing the tracks. I also often play my Grandpa’s harmonica through the mic with added effects. The vocal processor I use is a BOSS VE 500 and the synths are Novation Bass Station and a Korg Minilogue.

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Q: 'BLACK PEARL' sees you collaborating with the likes of Eora/Sydney-based Cherry Chola, and Cherry Rype. What was it about these vocalists that set them apart & meant bringing them onto the release?

AA: Cherry Chola and I played the same event once and I loved what she was doing bringing the Venezuelan flavour so I wanted to collaborate straight away. I went to Colombia when I was 22 and just loved it. That was the first time I’d heard reggaeton and it was so fun to dance to. The wealth of musicality in South America is amazing. Cherry Chola is repping that and doing her own thing with it, so cool. We made an EP together called APOCALYPSE ARCADE, I’ve included a few tracks from that EP on the album that I think deserved more listens.

Cherry Rype is another really original artist that I first heard on Fbi radio and just loved. Listening to her music I couldn’t help but start singing along harmonising with her. So I reached out and we made two songs together. One of those songs was the finishing track ‘Closure’ on their recent album and the other track ‘Tears 2 Snow’ is the opening song on my album. I think my verse on ‘Closure’ might be some of the nicest vocals Ive made and that's purely bouncing off Cherry’s production so I'm very thankful for their energy and creativity. Respect. If you haven’t listened to these two artists, definitely check them out.

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Q: Your label, Bass Water Freak Out, where 'BLACK PEARL' has found its home, has always stood out as a visual & audio black sheep among a lot of similarly aestheticised labels and projects. What is it about this slightly silly, vaporwave and often aquatic style that has persevered for you & your projects?

AA: SILLY! Excuse me, Bass Water Freak Out is a very serious national arts institootion and BubbbBle BubBle! ^_^ Why has BWFO persisted, because it's awesome! Before 2020 I had no label to release my kind of music in Australia. I figured there must be other people who like the same vibes so I started the label I wished already existed. I try to run BWFO totally fun and real and chill, how I wished I had been treated by some labels I've released with in the past. No ego heads, just bass heads. Super accessible and friendly. I'm really proud that BWFO has been a space for a lot of artists to release some of their first music. I’m happy to give feedback for tracks and help as much as I can if I have time.

Also I got bored of reading the same song descriptions and bios from labels so I rarely talk about the music in the release bios. I let the music talk for itself and instead with the words create some vision of the world that is BWFO. Look at the BWFO Bandcamp at all the cover art releases and you'll immediately feel that world. Its psychedelic, intense, playful, fun, vibrant, alive, it’s wild!

I often say my two favourite things in the world are the ocean and music, but if I only could choose one, I'd choose the ocean. It has a song, it has a dance, it's calm, it's chaotic, it's healing, its deadly, it brings me so much joy. I spend as much time in it as possible. And we need to protect it. If the BWFO compilations ever recover the costs of mastering and artwork, which I pay for, each compilation has an ocean conservation cause it donates to. I was surfing two mornings ago and a massive turtle popped up. Blew my mind, I yelled out ‘Heyyy Turtle!. But there is this stupid shark netting out across a lot of Australian beaches you might not even know about and alot of turtles, dolphins etc get caught in them and die. Not cool. Because of pathetic scared humans. If I get eaten by a shark that is chill and actually quite yolo. Please google ‘Nets Out Now Sign Petition’ and sign and send it round. There is magic everywhere in the ocean if you look for it and we have such a great quality of ocean here in Australia. Just this evening I went surfing in a lightning storm, it was really beautiful. In every capital city you’re max 1.5hrs drive from great quality ocean - except Darwin cos of crocodiles which are cool too. I get my inspiration to live from the ocean and BWFO reflects that and invites you to swim in that magical world which is actually based in reality. If you think BWFO is intense fun and crazy, get in the ocean. Also the ocean is free and good for mental health. Why do you think I'm so off my nut cos of ADD or ocean? Both der its all great and toot toot. So bubble bubble.

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