Words by Art Jefferson
Images courtesy of Kasket
Charlie Baldwin, better known as the producer Kasket, was destined to create music. After all, it’s in his genes…literally. The son of legendary jazz guitarist Ray Russell, Kasket’s production aesthetics flow in the same vein as jazz, yet also include inspiration from branches of electronic music such as drum and bass, dubstep, house music, as well as Hip-Hop, ultimately morphed into his distinct sound.
Hailing from South London, Kasket was practically engulfed in music from early on. Having grown up surrounded by various musicians who worked with his father, he began learning drums as a youth and would eventually play sessions with the likes of award winning jazz drummer Ralph Salmins, down to jazz and rock bassist Mo Foster. In his mid-teens Kasket began producing, slowly coming into his own by experimenting with multiple styles and unorthodox rhythms. Sometimes moody and cinematic, other times jazzy and swinging, the depth of orchestration in his work separated his music from the standard run of the mill electronic record. Kasket went on to release records through Apollo Recordings, the sister label to R&S, as well as Screwloose and the DiaMind label.
His latest EP “Where Is Alice?” on Apollo, bridges ethereal drum and bass with hypnotic synth arrangements, tribal inspired percussion and experimental electronica, resulting in one beautiful and inspiring work of art. The record is also a representation of his continued growth as an artist, which will only continue to sky heights.
Art Jefferson-You come from a very musical family. Your father is jazz guitarist Ray Russell who has literally recorded on some of the biggest labels such as CBS, Virgin and Universal. What was it like as a kid being around someone like him and what sort of things musically did he teach you?
Kasket-It was a great thing to be around. A lot of people wondered if there was a lot of pressure with my dad being a supernova guitarist, but it was the opposite. When I was around 8 years old I would walk into his studio and there’d always be musicians there. I felt he taught me the true value of musicianship – to be “true to yourself” when it comes to music. If people found it hard to understand your music his classic line would be “fuck em’ if they can’t take a joke”. That is something that always stuck with me. When you’re swimming with sharks you have to see the dark humour in it.
Art Jefferson-I read that your first instrument was drums. Initially, were you aiming at being a jazz drummer? What sort of musical genres were you attracted to at that early age?
Kasket-I was influenced by so much music, such as A Tribe Called Quest, U2 and The Fugees…then I got into rock; Primus, Rage Against the Machine, and of course a lot of fusion/jazz stuff as well. One of my favourite albums was Herbie Hancock’s “Future to Future”, which was the album that started getting me into the electronic side of life. That mixture of jazz, DnB, funk…It was just a new type of awesome to me, but I never knew how to even begin making that kind of stuff. I started playing along to that album on the drums all the time.
I never knew what I wanted to be, but it felt good! That’s what was important.
Art Jefferson-Around what period did you start playing with guys like Mo Foster?
Kasket-I played with Mo a few times at jams with my father, he’s an awesome bass player. My first proper gig was with a comedian called Matt Berry who was in programs like “The Mighty Boosh” and “Snuff Box”. I used to play drums dressed as a psycho voodoo man. My brother was in the band along with some other close friends. It was a good gig! Being on the road for the first time is exciting when you have just turned 16. I played a gig with Dominic Miller who is the guitarist for Sting, again with my brother. Me and brother got to share some amazing things together – we were always a package deal. Someone once said we were the new “Sly and Robbie” which was rather cool.
Art Jefferson-In terms of sound, you experiment with various styles. Talk about your early stages of producing. Were you still pretty experimental in those times?
Kasket-To be honest, when I started making tunes I had no idea what I was doing – just plodding sounds together. Then I found dubstep which was a simple thing for me to start off making. I didn’t think anything would come out of my electronic stuff and always thought I’d be a session drummer or something along those lines.
Regarding experimental stuff, yes, but it was all music I made for myself. I thought no one was very interested in abstract noises and instead wanted a hard club beat, so I kept it all to myself. It’s only now that I’ve had the confidence to start making the abstract stuff I want to make and put it out there. For a long time I would contact people/artist saying “hey check this out!” only to get replies of “yeah but wheres the drop in this?” or the classic “I can’t DJ this so I can’t use it”. I would always reply with “but how about just listening, instead?”
Art Jefferson-You have the new EP “Where Is Alice?” out soon. One brilliant aspect to your current music is the arrangement and composition. These are full on songs that, in my opinion, require you to play the tracks all the way through. Would you say that this is inspired again from your background of jazz?
Kasket-I guess so, sometimes I think that electronic music arrangements come across as lazy. Why should it just be a 33 bar intro > drop > empty beat ending. It can sound unfinished. A track to me is like a painting: everything has a point and every element should be able to give a feeling that you can blend in and out of. It’s a body of work, take pride in every single part of it.
I used to listen to a lot of stuff by Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, and I thought it was cool how everything was so abstract – nothing was made to make sense, but somehow just did. Listen to Mothers of Invention’s live album “Live from Fillmore East”, it’s the coolest thing. I play it to friends and they would look at me like I’m mad.
Art Jefferson-It feels like this EP is also the perfect set up for your live shows. What can people expect when they come out to see you perform?
Kasket-Since starting the live shows, I’ve thought about it more when making music. I used to love jamming on drums as a kid, and I wanted to bring that to my live sets. So I re-cut my tunes and just go off on a mad jam. I love this, as it’s different every time I play the set. That’s one thing I love about playing out this show – it feels more like playing a gig! I love playing records out too, but this feels more like home to me.
Art Jefferson-How did you link up with the boys over at Apollo/ R&S? That label definitely seems like a great fit for your music.
Kasket-It was one of those classic situations, but I will start from the top. I was making chilled music for awhile, and then got introduced to a guy called Stijn who used to be part of a dubstep duo called point.blank. He loved what I was making and wanted to put out an album on his label DiaMind, although he believed I should be doing bigger things. I used to laugh at this and say to myself “yeah right let’s see what happens”. One morning I was sitting in my room thinking about what I was going to do with my music. I had a lack of money and no direction, thinking to myself “maybe I should stop this now”. Then out of blue I get a message from Stijin stating “I’ve just spoken to Renaat from R&S!! He LOVES your stuff and wants to speak to you!”
I couldn’t believe it. The label that I used to buy a lot of records from wanted to talk to me? I guess it started to roll from there. I met Renaat at a gig in London and that was it. I was so happy to a part of a label that cared about the music, not just fads and hype. I pretty much owe it to Stijin to be honest, it was the first time someone believed in the music that I was making and just wanted to see me get out there!
Art Jefferson-Finally, as someone who is constantly looking to push music in different directions, sonically where do see yourself venturing into next?
Kasket-There are many sounds I want to work with, but the next idea is to get a band together. Live music is still alive and well, and its what I’ve been brought up on. I’m also planning to work with beat poets and spoken word over music – something I’ve always wanted to do! You’ll have to wait and see!
Kasket’s “Where Is Alice?” is out April 24 on Apollo.
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