'Mt Eden Dubstep'

Ok so there's a dude with 1.8million hits on his youtube vid - dubstep remix of Sierra Leone.

Is he an Auckland dude? Surely with 1.8million hits

a) one of you lot must know who he his
b) he must be having some pretty decent international success



gc.

Apparently the kiddies loved it at FTM on the weekend. Was first I've ever heard of it.

Oh...international sucess is hard to get when we're talking about bootlegs with uncleared samples.

lol don't get me started on this guy

The tune or the bloke?

Surely someone must know him!?



gc.

given the world population, 1.8mil people with no clue or musical taste seems about right

Believe it or not I'm not actually bagging the music here (although I personally don't like it at all)... I was just wondering why someone with such high exposure doesn't seem to get much of a mention. It's not like any of the house/trance/electro/breaks/DnB/Harddance producers from NZ are getting 1.8million views on their songs?



gc.

Bootlegs are easy to get hits on remember - you're getting views from everyone looking for the original.

not even sample gee?

This, plus if you type in 'dubstep' into Youtube, guess what the first link to come up is?

The kids have a big local following - saw that first-hand on the weekend. If they keep it up they could be massive, they're not quite there yet though.

Especially when ya bootleg one of the bigger breaks tunes around when it was released

Ah yeah that's probably it. How has he managed to scam first place on the indexing!?

Dubstep remix of Saltwater is aiight!



gc.

Not the bloke, never met him.

But everyone goes on about him as if he's produced all these amazing original tunes

I imagine it's party some kind of trending thing.


Here's a decent remix I'm really feeling right now:

It's two guys if I remember.

Doing really well for themselves, finally got noticed.

I remember my brother put me onto them about a year and a half ago because he's good mates with them, when they first made Sierra Leone. Definitely improving with each production

Yeah have seen a few people bleating on about him/them on fb. Haven't listened yet though.

Youtube channel says just one guy?



gc.

Ya I thought it was just the one guy. Don't know him personally but know a few people who do, iirc he just got into bedroom producing and heaps of people got linked his stuff by word of mouth. He does DnB stuff too. He's played a few gigs, FTM last weekend, maybe a low rollers? Also playing at some rooftop party coming up.

++MT EDEN DUBSTEP INTERVIEW++
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

H: First off, thanks for being the first Central Beat Collective artist ever. Why don’t youstart by telling us a little bit about yourself? Who are you and where are you from?

J: My name is Jesse cooper and I’m from Mount Eden. I grew up in the ghettoes of Mount Eden [laughs]. Henly Road.

H: How did you get into dnb and what has/does it change about your life?

J: It hasn’t really changed my life…But I got into it whenmy mates and I started listening to it at parties and stuff so…Its got a good tempo which always gets me going when I’m drinking.

H: Who are your main musical influences?

J: I personally like Roni Size, mainly because he has raps in his music. It just sounds a lot more like unique than a lot of the mainstream stuff out there.

H: Your 5favourite tracks at the moment?

J: Concord Dawn’s remix of Ill Skillz – Be There For You. That was one of the first dnb songs which really got me going. I quite like all that Chase & Status, but nowthey’re mainstream and thrashedquite a bit. Sigma- All blue. Drumsound & Bassline Smith – Cold Turkey.

H: Anything else… dubsteb?

J: The thing is…I know a song when I hear one but I don’t really know the artist or the name of it…Especially with dubstep. I’m kind of “ooohhh yeah I recognize this song” but…

H: I knowwhat you mean. Of all the great musical acts in the world, who would you like to see/see again?

J: [Pause] Andy C...again. And Chase AND Status…preferably with both playing. We went to Fu to see them and only one of them turned up? Itmight be a better performance if it was both of them but... Also I’d like to see Benga and Skream again.

H: Tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to the past months and what can we expect from you short term and long term?

J: Ummm, just making more music for my mates and stuff, and hopefully get alittle bit more exposure, not just to my mates but to mates of mates, you know, through Facebook and Youtube…sh** I’ve nearly forgotten the question… [laughs]

H: You know, for example, you’re doing your building degree at the moment… What are you more focused on? Are you going to go hard with your music after that or…?

J: Once I finish my building, ‘causeI’m really over the early starts, ill probably just have one yearto myself, make more music… practice my mixing at my mates housesand stuff, and have more focus towards music and the arts. I miss out on a lot of stuff when I’m building. Now that I’ve actually quit my job…

H: What? EXCLUSIVE!What happened?

J: It happened onTuesday. My boss wouldn’t let me go to tech so I was like “go f*** yourself”, so yeah. He said it was my call, so yeah I made my call. Now that I’ve quit my job I’m looking out for another one obviously but ..I’ve got a lot more time on my hands to make musicnow. I made a track the other day…

H: What’s it called?

J: Its called “Chasing Shadows”. I sampled off a guy on Youtube called “Este Bit”… He’s from Polandand he’s pretty stoked with it.I did the visuals for that too. Its online now on Youtube. But yeahit’s been pretty cool… I’velearnt a lot about how to use VJ-ing programs and how to sample video clips and stuff. I’ll be doing a VJ gig at the Shift event coming up. So that’s a start… I’ll be playing really old school cartoons, Dragonball Z, Transformers, some other things you might not have heard of… all while dnb is playing. I think that’s something that might get people into the more rowdy buzz. Fighting scenes, Matrix and sh**. It’ll be cool.

H: Have you got any last words foryour fans, friends, whatever?

J:RELAX, you’ll live longer [laughs]

Recent interview with him (which has come under attack on Facebook and in the local forums)

why has that come under attack?

the remix makes me laugh, thats cool

they have been talked up in some interesting places, public address sometime last year for example

their tool remix is awesome

There are some good bits in the tune. The wobbly bassey bits annoy me cos they are just so 'dubstep' so they kinda let it down for me.

But yeah not bad - I'd play it loud at home.

There's another guy called Harvey as well

The artwork on the you tube vid is cool.

Just what a dnb gig needs, more aggression...

its a builder thing

Still don't quite understand how they got that many play... tbh.. I mean, getting recognised and all.. but that is a strangely large amount..

The tune was picked up by a TV show called The Hollyoakes.

DnB gigs are pretty different here to the UK. Vastly less stabbings

Im not saying these guys have done this with youtube however these days you can "buy" facebook views/hits. See http://www.usocial.net/youtube_marketing/

anybody else notice that ratings is currently disabled for all vids?

makes you wonder ...

I'd never heard of them before going to FTM. Quite like some of their tunes but wasn't the right place to enjoy a set from them - waaaay too packed in Fu when they started playing.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=227364752927&ref=search&sid=788040524.2258811868..1

I certainly don't miss the shitty, petty, tall poppy attitude of NZers.

zOMG some NZers are doing well and I don't know much about it! It must be WRONG!

Not the usual kind of thing I like enjoy but quite a fan of some of his music

aucklandernessmuchness?

Don't try to pretend like those miserable Brits are any better.



gc.

And here's me thinking it's the land of milk and honey!

All they do is take poor quality audio samples from songs from you-tube and then make their own illegal remix versions by fitting them to dub step speed

Their fanbase is young and doesnt know any better but they wont be taken seriously or getting signed to a record label anytime soon

Pretty sure it's easier to just grab mp3's of the tunes, not like that's hard dude.

get their album and remix album for free here: http://www.last.fm/music/Mt+Eden+Dubstep/+wiki

you're welcome

yeah im not a fan of this dude either....the production is average as. that seira leone remix and the omen one are shocking.

i did hear an original mt eden dnb tune a while back that was sick though and produced well. but yeah, all these remixes are just some dubstep drums, a reverbed snare and that same old wub wub wub wub.

im not inspired. i wanna hear more original stuff from this cat.

also, if you wanna hear a proper decent remix of seira leone... i was playing this one about 2 years ago :p

Doing well? I'm not quite sure getting a million views on youtube quite qualifies as success, until they've beaten Sneezing Panda and Chocolate Rain they've still got a long way to go in the theoretical internet dollars stakes.

That remix is definitely way better. Mostly because it isn't dubstep though.



gc.

theres a dubstep section in that tune bro

also, just listen to the production. its waaaaaaaay tighter. the drums sound nicer. the vocal doesnt sound like its been ripped from youtube.

its a proper remix not just part of the original tune over the top of something dodgy as sounding.

this....




vs this.....

lol ok i look like im bitching now. my point is i dont think any of the mt eden tunes i've heard to date are at a level where they could be released but what little knowledge i do have of the guy, i think he's pretty young.

if this is what the dude is doing now and he starts making original tunes, production only gets better with time. thats how it works. this guy could be making killer tunes in the not to distant future.

a good exaple of someone who's done it the other way is Daniel Farley. sorry in advance daniel

some of the first things i heard from daniel were average as fuck but the thing daniel had right from the start was the tight production. it was pretty obvious that sound quality was a major focus for daniel. whenever anyone starts producing tunes its always just a bunch of random sounds that you kinda make fit and roughly turn it into a tune but daniels were random sounds roughly turned into a tune that was produced mad tight. all the random sounds sounded perfect. daniels tunes are way better now and he already had the tight production.

give daniel farley maybe till the end of this year and he'll have an anthem out on some big lable and there will be a release party etc...... i reckon if this mt eden dubstep dude doesnt do original stuff the whole hype will die as soon as the kids stop listening to dubstep. which will be a shame

MT EDEN

Jesse Cooper: Mt Eden Music Producer
Harley Rayner: Mt Eden

Two mates performing MT EDEN music

Yeah some of you have good points, that they are boot legs etc. but he does do it from his room and 2million (!) hits has to say something... plus you should be supporting a NZer! expecially one that is doing considerably well with little gear he has.

Jesse is a humble dude and real passionate about music. Bagging him is unneccessary, everyone has to start somewhere and he can only get better. When he upgrades his gear I am sure he will start producing originals. If you dont like dubstep then fair enough, take your discussion elsewhere.

Come on NZ, stop being bitches and be nice!

MT EDEN is going to be huge.

Hi Jesse Cooper's mum!

So, people arn't entitled to their opinions anymore?

Damn. A lot of critics are going to be out of work.

cooper.julie@hotmail.com . . . are you Jesse's mother by any chance?

This.

I agree with some of the sentiments in this thread, the production is pretty shocking, but the ideas are there, and I personally think teh tunes are bangers.

youngsters can have girlfriends...

I'm his mum

Julie Cooper?

Who wasn't

Most producers produce from a room. All you need to produce decent quality music is a computer, software (which is Fruity Loops in their case if I understand correctly) a few VSTs and some monitors. So to say that the quality of their productions is dependant on gear is plain wrong. Some of the best producers around use Fruity Loops, and better gear will not suddenly make you be able to produce your own work. If you can produce a bootleg, then there is nothing stopping you from making your own track.

People are saying in this thread that the quality of their productions are not up to the amount of hype that they are getting with regards to the bootlegs they are producing. Which is fair enough because they haven't produced any originals, so it's hard to really gauge how good they are until they come up with something of their own. I was put onto these guys nearly two years ago when they first started making tunes. Their production is slowly getting better, but their tunes still sound pretty thin and flimsy. However, their IDEAS are on the right track. I really like how they are pursuing their use of pads and strings, and use really nice chord progressions and incorporating this trance-like atmosphere into a genre where what is being played out and about by many DJs is mainly a wall of noise and sub bass. Their style of combining melody with this is refreshing when compared to what is being played out and about in Auckland.

If anything for an up and coming producer it is absolute GOLD for people to critque your work and tell you what is lacking in your productions. Saying "oh yeah mean tune man" all the time does absolutely NOTHING for your learning and will in no way help you get better.

So for someone to come in and say stop being bitches and be nice is actually detrimental to these guys. They wont improve if they don't know if they are doing anything wrong!

I'm sure if they saw this thread, they would fully understand the need for them to really up their game now, stop doing bootlegs with average quality audio files, make some originals and perhaps look to do official remixes, get in touch with the artists, get the parts to the tracks etc. These guys have a huge opportunity now, given the exposure they have gained.

This sums it all up

Maybe I should have done that 'bliss' remix..

Holy shit Grant R smacked it on the head. Agree with all points, knew about these guys a while back, thought he was ok, but wish the production quality was better. A lot of people think sierra leone is an original tune too... If he can start getting some slick production to guy with his ideas I'd play them out, but at the moment they actually sound quite hollow

one thing Grant R got wrong was the fact that their use of pads and strings in dubstep is something new to the genre. im a bit unsure that you could say these guys have good "ideas" too... when you're doing a remix you kinda already have the idea there if you know what i mean.

bottom line, they know how to sequence out tunes, they obviously know how music works and they're doing everything perfect except the production.

i reckon they need to sit down with a big bag of rocks one night (or two) and learn massive........... then tell me how to use it thanks.

heh. it was totally that tune too man. everyone was playing it. its a shame they stopped producing tunes. all the early breaks stuff was a little rough around the edges but right when they hit the money they stopped

they used to call their sound 'electro rah rah rah' heh

Not so much new to the genre, but different to what is getting played out and about in Auckland by most "dubstep" DJs.

ah yeah sorry just read back and got what you meant

i think it also needs to be made clear that there is a skill involved in doing remixes and making them work. its not mad easy like 'sweet i put that vocal there and its done' you have to make everything else fit around the tune you're remixing. so they get props there

aphex twin disagrees

don't be making boxes where boxes aren't needed

lol. im having issues remembering at the moment but isn't there like a aphex tiwn remix of a squarepusher tune called box cutter or something

let me see what i can find.

Ha!! No im not Jesses mum or Julie Cooper Nichol!

Grant - I understand where you are coming from - people are definitely entitled to their opinion. Constructive criticism can phase into destructive criticism sometimes, so thats when it gets a bit unfair. Understanding the facts before criticizing can be helpful.

It has to be understood these boys starting making music for mates parties not for international success, so it is true their quality has been at a more amateur level. Its awesome now with the exposure etc, that opportunities have opened for them and now they can up there game - if they decide to.

My opinion is that everyone deserves to be supported in whatever they do! Thats why I give props to Mt Eden and what he represents - that with passion and drive, things can happen. Its great that people have taken the time to discuss this topic and I am sure Mt Eden will benefit from reading this thread.

even though it fucks me off more than anything, i think we kinda do need all the mad cynical cunts.

australia has the whole 'if you don't win you're a loser' thing and NZ has tall poppy

i think its the reason we have dudes like shapeshifter, concord dawn, state of mind etc. that are making music thats unblievably good on an international scale.... its like thats the only way you can get away from all the fags that moan about shit, by being amazing.

Good music is good music. It doesn't matter what it's made for. A big part of that is good production.

No excuse to say oh its ok, its not made for people other than their mates to listen to. Because they've put heaps of tunes up on youtube.

And if you're going to put yourself in the public arena you've got to be ready to take the good and the bad.
Everyone gets it including major players in all walks of industry.

I'm sure your opinions arent all boxes of fluffy bunnies Mrs Cooper ; )

Good on them for getting their names out there.

Doing remixes and bootlegs is one thing though. The tough part is coming up with something fresssshhhh.

Thanks for the feedback its good to hear what the people have to say.
If there are any producers/djs out there with anything more specific to say bout what we need to do to improve our production let us know! In our defence though, of course lots of "original" tunes exist as we have been making music for years, including a new official remix with a kiwi singer, and we are in the process of clearing the samples for Sierra Leone. And at this point its still just a hobby for us. The reason we haven't released any fully original tunes (i.e. without samples) - we are trying to get them up to the standard of the remixes so we don't disappoint. But yeah all criticism is welcome of course, we're keen to learn.
Cheers,
Jesse & Harley (Mt Eden)

just work on mixing stuff down and getting crisper sounds. get a decent plug in like massive or predator and play around with making your own sounds. you guys obviously have no problems sequencing out tunes and unless you have some mad "1001 dubstep loops" refill pack or something, it sounds like you're already making your own bass?

just make a sound that you like then build a tune around it i reckon. what are you guys writing in if you dont mind me asking?

the other option is just send the tunes to an engineer and get them to do the mastering :p i know a good one heh

just work on mixing stuff down and getting crisper sounds. get a decent plug in like massive or predator and play around with making your own sounds. you guys obviously have no problems sequencing out tunes and unless you have some mad "1001 dubstep loops" refill pack or something, it sounds like you're already making your own bass?

just make a sound that you like then build a tune around it i reckon. what are you guys writing in if you dont mind me asking?

the other option is just send the tunes to an engineer and get them to do the mastering :p i know a good one heh[/quote]
----------------------------

Okay thanks for the input, will keep that in mind. We have massive rewired in ableton but not really sure how to use it yet.
We use acid pro and ableton for sequencing and mastering and reason for drum sequencing and sounds. And we usually make the bass in reason usually using thor. Will definitely be looking at having an engineer if/when we start making some money, but yeah like i said for now its just something that we do on the side!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK1ocGVDibg


here's a good massive tutorial....


massive is just a synth like thor though so the same ideas apply. Synthesis is mad full on shit though, i don't fully know how to use massive but i kinda kmow how to make sounds i like. learn massive and you guys will be sorted

Next Tuesday - http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=286283188606 - essentially, a room full of producers wanting to learn more about what they do.

Incidentally, if you need an engineer... I have mixed for a few local notables...

I produce bacon-step.


Brutal.

...oh and btw,
You can have the shittiest set up or a kick ass set up, and it makes no difference if your ears suck.
You need to train your ears peoples, learn what your monitors are telling you, and this takes aloooooot of time.

Massive, Reason, Nexus, Ableton, Cubase, Logic, Pro-tools....none of it matters compared to the songwriting itself.

Learn an actual instrument (not a bit of software) and unlock the keys to the universe.



Brutal.

True dat

And keep your ears away from someone smashing cymbals with brutal intensity.. aye LeKnight? ;P

I was taught at a very young age to hit "through" the drum, hit it so hard you end up hitting the bottom!

(and I havent subjected you to a smashing cymbal for far too long dude!)



Brutal

I was more referring to your own ears, bungle..

Oh.
I thought you were talking about the time we were trying to get you to wikky wik with my band?

Well it's a bit interesting..
People here doubting about youtube views (now 4 million?)
and you are Kiwis (I'm Brazilian).
Strange.
I just LOVED. But of course needs some mastering. Thats all.
why do u belittle yr countryman?
Cheers

That's just what Kiwis like to do, unfortunately.



gc.

jealousy mostly cos they dodnt think of doing it

course it remains to be seen how the boys cope with their success

Don't think it's jealousy at all, have your ever seen anybody on here be-little Greg Churchill, the Upbeats, Optimus Gryme, Concord Dawn or Timmy Schu??

Not at all, as they have gotten where they are by making original beats instead of stealing other peoples ideas and crediting them as their own.

Well down for there success... but, and yes there is a but, they won't get "respect" until they can can show they can do it themselves instead of bootlegging other peoples music and claiming it as there own.

ya, the jeaousy card is by far the biggest fallacy that gets bandied around when discussing things like this...

heh I wrote down instead of done

as if copying/sampling weren't such a common thing

Difference between sampling and blatently copying other producers work.

At least with sampling, you are only using tiny parts of teh track, not the whole damn track. Even with samples you can create a completely new piece of music with new ideas. This is not sampling, it's using another artist's whole track, pretty much a bootleg with new drums and bass... takes no creativity to do that at all... sweet as if they say they have bootlegged the track? But they don't

As I said, good on em for getting famous making "bootlegs", but that's all they have done... until they come up with original tracks and ideas, they won't enjoy much respect from those actually creating music.

And this is not jealousy at all, it's calling a spade a spade... unlike Mt Eden who are trying to call a spade a spoon.

I mean at least credit your source... ie artist - title (Mt Eden Bootleg) Instead of naming it as an original.

THIS is sampling:


Bootlegging is not that.

well I couldn't find the original sample for "Still Alive" for example, so I was assuming he made some work on it. I kinda agree with you, but bootlegging is not that bad.
There's a bunch of fantastic bootlegs from guys like paul van dyk, sander van doorn for example, and many others.
As nacoa said, he should at least credit the source. I think he has links for the source on youtube.
They seem young, let's give a brake and see what happens, they got something to show

This!

Can't stand it when noobs swoon over tracks that are actually just rip offs of past classics.

TBH I've heard this 'Sierra Leone' remix and I really can't see what all the fuss is about. Sick of hearing about it to be honest, there's plenty of other NZ artists that deserve the attention.

Heh, that's awesome

Well they seem to be getting booked around town now so nice one guys!

thats all good and well, but it would really help if they could actually dj

Jellus obviously!

copied from another forum

"DJed after them at the Bath St in O'Week. Jesse had to fly down his cousin to play cos he couldn't mix, which gave Jesse ample opportunity to do some Guetta-ish stage maneuvers. Pity his cousin couldn't mix either.

switch cdj on wide - use filter - pitch down track - press play

every. fucking. tune.

plus they had to finish the set half an hour early cos they were too drunk to mix and had ran out of tunes to play. "