2003 - A year of living in city centre Edinburgh, frequenting the clubs whose advertising didn’t consist of sub £1 alcohol shots and Thursday night school discos. Started to get a feel for the dance musicscene and the variety of genres on offer. Seen Deep Dish on a total whim one night at the liquid rooms, the atmosphere and music were electric! I didn’t realise what kind of fun was on offer in the city, and I wanted more of it!
My friend brought over a set of belt drive decks and vinyl from home and they took pride of place in the living room with some pretty ad hoc amplification. Started to get a feel for the composition of dance music, the structure and how beats go together. When you start actually being able to put them together, everything starts to make sense. For me, it was a hobby that bloomed from there. As much fun as it was playing on the turntables, it was hitting the club nights and seeing it done properly that really sparked the interest.
Managed to get some Technics SL1210's when I was at Uni by totally blowing my student loan as soon as it came in! Just took the hit and never regretted it. Visiting the record shop every payday and mulling over what you were going buy for hours! It was precious spending those days. I was always looking ahead to doing it digitally but was completely out of my price range at the time
The first style of tunes I was buying were all pretty industrious techno. Labels like Novamute, Tortured, Drumcode etc and they fitted into my musical preferences at the time.
As the years went on, the taste started to mellow and mature a bit - I could appreciate the lighter side of the scene. As well, it allowed you a bit more freedom to throw in a house track or two if you wanted.
These days my music is all held digitally but I prefer to still use turntables with the laptop. Since the advent of Final scratch etc, you can play digital files the analog way using time coded vinyls - for me, it was definitely the best option. CD players seem like a lot of hassle and essentially they are just trying to imitate how a turntable works anyway. I learnt to mix by playing records and that’s how I wanted to continue! Throw a midi controller into the setup and you have got plenty of scope to be creative.
Strangely enough Nostra Terra was actually the name of a share I was invested in. I was approached for my moniker to be added onto a bill and I didn’t fancy putting my real name on it as it is quite elongated. (Christopher Finlayson). I just quite liked the ring of it and the connotations it shares with Nostradamus and the Terra Nostra.
To be honest, most DJ's and promoters who I met that took part in underground scene were all quite inspiring. There was a real passion for what they were doing which was infectious, and prevalent in the music they played.
So people who frequented Studio 24, The Venue, Honeycomb as well as the outdoor party scene. I must admit, I never got the same vibe from people who ran or went to the more 'commerical' events.
For club nights etc I’m getting quite accustomed to playing Tech-house and minimal sounds although the substantive tunes are undeniably techno. I don’t find tech a particularly restrictive genre, allowing you to pick and choose from across the board without too much issue - Primarily most of it is loop based.
Played at a night called 'Creative' at Ego around 2005; which was a great night while it lasted.
Edinburgh Substance with Luke Vibert in April this year was pretty special! Great to warm up the bar before everyone started heading downstairs for the main event.
Generally I’ll put together something that will fit in with the people/place beforehand although that’s not always the case! Sometimes is better not to think about it too much, just see what people like on the night.
First record I bought was a drumcode EP by Patrick Skoog called Desolation - It finds its way into the bag now and again even now!
think the challenge for people getting into it today is that there is a multitude of different ways to get the same kind of result. Having tools such as Ableton live, Reason, Traktor scratch etc mean that people can spread themselves a bit thin trying to use lots of different tools, not specialising in any one. There is a lot of value gaining some tangible experience on one platform then seeing what you can integrate later. Not even mentioning that the club scene is nowhere near what is was even 5 years ago.
Get out to the clubs and soak up the scene. It’s the only real way to meet the people who organise events, and ultimately, give you a gig!
Published on 07/01/2010
Last modified on 05/12/2011
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