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Octave One feat. Random Noise Generation
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http://www.octaveone.com
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Debuting with “I Believe” on the monumental (10 Records) compilation “Techno 2: The Next Generation” (alongside Carl Craig, Marc Kinchen, and Jay Denham) in 1990. Octave One is the brainchild of the phenomenal native sons of Detroit, MI (USA), the Burden Brothers. The core unit of the band, made up of Lenny and Lawrence Burden (with revolving members of Lynell, Lorne, and Lance Burden), have had the privilege of touring live and Djing throughout the world, including the countries of Germany, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Vienna, The Netherlands), the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Malaysia, Japan, the US, and Russia, among many other places.
Throughout their careers they have worked with such artists as Derrick May, Underground Resistance, Eddie Fowlkes, Juan Atkins, Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir, Members of the House, Terrence Parker, and The Martian (Red Planet). They have remixed tracks for such artists as Massive Attack, Akabu (Joey Negro), DJ Rolando (Jaguar), Steve Bug, John Thomas, The Trampps, Rhythm is Rhythm, and Inner City.
The brothers have released groundbreaking underground dance anthems on their own Detroit based record label, 430 West Records. These releases include Random Noise Generation’s "Falling in Dub" (the other Burden brother moniker), DJ Rolando’s “Jaguar”, Aux 88’s “My A.U.X. Mind” (on the 430 West sister label Direct Beat), as well as their own Octave One records: “Empower”, “Nicolette”, ‘The X-files”, “Meridian”, and ‘Siege”. Since 1990, the Burden brothers have released over one hundred records.
2000 brought the biggest Octave One release to date, "Blackwater". The track has appeared on over 30 compilation albums worldwide (with comp sales exceeding one million collectively). It has been released domestically in 5 countries (US, UK, Spain, Germany, and Australia). The track has also been a favorite on the decks of some of the world’s best known DJs, Little Louie Vega, Danny Teneglia, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Jonathan Peters, Laurent Garnier, among many, many others. “Blackwater” became a new turning point for the brothers. Late 2006 brings the release of the first full length DVD/CD project from the group, and their first release on Tresor Records (Tresor.227DVD.CD): Octave One featuring Random Noise Generation “Off The Grid”.
Click the link below to watch Octave One performing the track "The Third Degree" from their album "Off The Grid" (Tresor.227/229), filmed at the Summer Spirit Festival and Tresor Club in August 2007!
Octave One live
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 Interview with Octave One (July 2007)
The legendary Detroit unit has just released their first album and DVD on Tresor Records, and in spite of their rigorous touring, producing and recording schedules, we were able to catch up with them for an exclusive interview...
Tresor: Although Octave One is basically comprised of Lenny and Lawrence, three other Burden brothers hop on and off the Octave One train. Were you all as children also together musically inclined?
Octave One: We all had music lessons as children, learning to play various instruments. Our mother really believes that music is important to the development of a child. We all had piano lessons. We all learned to play other different instruments too. It’s hard to remember who played what, but I remember having a clarinet, drum set, French horn, and a saxophone in the house.
T: You are regarded as virtual techno innovators for some 17 years now. How do you see the future progression of Octave One?
O1: We very much enjoy playing live, taking our music directly to the people. It is a very unique experience, even more so than DJ’ing (which we all have done at one time or another). We very much want to progress as a band and find even greater ways of connecting with our audience. It would be a great achievement to have a lasting career like Depeche Mode. Playing to massive audiences, being true to your music, without compromise.
T: You cooperated with Jeff Mills on his “The Exhibitionist” DVD. Tell us about how this came about and your reflections on this work.
O1: Jeff actually called us a few days before he was to film the project. DJ Rolando was actually supposed to be the special guest, but was unable to do the project and pulled out at the last minute. Jeff had the idea of including a live electronic band instead and thought of us. He also wanted us to play unreleased tracks, and we had 2 days to put it all together. We jumped at the challenge (and a challenge it was). No sleep for two days. You can see how "punch drunk" we were in the interview on the DVD.
It really was a career-changing moment for us. Jeff has a great work ethic and focus. Watching how hard he worked and how detailed the man is gave us inspiration and direction. Also, more people recognize us from the DVD than another thing we’ve ever done. Jeff opened us up to his fan base. It gave birth to the idea of doing our own DVD project.
T: Your track “I Believe” is featured on the legendary compilation album “Techno 2: The Next Generation”, and was the fruit of an artistic cooperation with Anthony “Shake” Shakir. What inspiration did he bring to this work and how is your relationship with him today?
O1: Shake is the man, period. He brought us into dance music. On "I Believe", he went beyond just being the engineer, which is what he was only meant to be on the record, he co-wrote it and co-produced it. He was really the first to see our potential as producers and we are forever grateful to him.
T: How do you feel about the pulse of Detroit techno music today?
O1: Detroit Techno is an ever changing organism. What it is today is not what it will be tomorrow, or what it was yesterday. Today it seems to be trying to find itself again, but the journey is becoming more interesting.
T: Did you have reservations about releasing a DVD or was this idea a project in the making for some time now?
O1: After doing "The Exhibitionist" DVD with Jeff and getting such great response from it, we knew we wanted to do our own DVD. We feel the real strength of our band is our live performance, so we also wanted to try and bring that experience home. It was very difficult to put together, and very expensive, but we really wanted to try to capture the emotion and energy of the live set. It was very artistically fulfilling too; we produced and directed the project ourselves. We had produced music clips before, Aux 88's "Electro/Techno" and "Play it Loud" and DJ Rolando's "Jaguar", but this was our first full length. We also did most of the editing and of course the music mix.
T: Your recent gig at the Tresor Records’ 15th anniversary was no less than sensational. In retrospect, how did you feel about the set?
O1: Thanks very much. Playing for the Tresor fans is always a great time. We enjoyed it very much, but just wish we had just a bit more time to play – but we always wish that.
T: Could you enlighten our fans about the difference between Octave One and Random Noise Generation?
O1: It actually is a very simple difference, but it was much easier for others to tell the difference when we first started making tracks. Basically, when we started working with samplers, we wanted to record under a different name because we were using bits of other artists’ music to make new tracks. These days, we are much better at it and most people can't even tell we are using samples.
T: Your terrific hit “Blackwater” features the voice of Ann Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson’s wife. Is she prominent on other Detroit techno releases or was this a unique Octave One presence?
O1: Ann has been working in music for quite a while. She has written and recorded with many producers and bands in dance music including Slam, Joey Negro, and of course Inner City. She has also written for Kenny Larkin and Carl Craig. We are working right now on a solo record with her which should be complete in the next couple of months.
T: Do you plan to feature more upcoming electronic music composers on your 430 West Records label in the future?
O1: We are very much concentrating right now on being a band and not listening to many demos these days, although we still get a lot of them. We will be working with finally reissuing our back catalogue, which we haven't pressed since 1999. We will feature a new artist on a upcoming compilation we are working on for this summer. We have some amazing tracks from some upcoming producers for the project.
T: What have been some of your most memorable gigs over the years?
O1: We played some very good gigs over the years. Pressure at Arches in Glasgow comes to mind, as well as Fabric in London, Mayday in Dortmund, Distillery in Leipzig, Rex Club in Paris, Astropolis Festival in Brest, Club 69 in Glasgow, and of course playing the Tresor Club many years ago. The list could go on.
T: Although your music is techno-inclined – and certainly so described by music critics – your new album “Off The Grid” sways between rich, melodic sections, straight techno beats, harmonic crescendos and groovy, sonic landscapes. What exactly was your artistic intention in the project?
O1: Whatever makes the crowd move, we play in our live set and our new album is our live set. All the tracks were recorded live; nothing was recorded in the studio. Artistically, we were just trying to make people dance to our sound. We think it is one of our best projects. There’s just a little too much theory and science in music these days. With "Off The Grid" we were just trying to be funky and true to our music. Living the life of an underground electronic band, off the grid.
T: Can you comment a bit on the remixed versions of two tracks for the 12” EP release?
O1: They really aren't remixed versions of the tracks, but proper studio mixes. All the music on "Off The Grid" was recorded live, but for vinyl, which is primarily for the DJ, we wanted to do mixes back in Detroit at our studio, Westlab. Thus, you get the Westlab mixes.
T: We’re very proud and excited that you have finally joined the family of Tresor artists, even though we’ve known each other for years! Could you foresee playing at the new Tresor Club when it opens??? What actually are your tour plans for 2007?
O1: We are very happy to be releasing our new project in cooperation with Tresor, which is one of the world's best electronic music labels.
Playing at the Tresor Club was one of the highlights in our careers and we very much look forward to playing the new Tresor Club. Dimitri was kind enough to show us some drawings of the space sometime ago, and looks to be tremendous.
We are working on new tracks right now and are excited to play out again. We begin touring again in February of 2007 in which we return to Europe to play, as well as returning once again to Brazil, Japan, and North America. It looks like we will finally make it to Australia too so 2007 should be a fun year.
Watch an extract of Octave One live at the Summer Spirit Festival and Tresor Club in August 2007!
Octave One live
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