A few weeks ago, we had a chance to go and have a chat with the legendary DJ and well known Estonian broadcaster Raul Saaremets. We met in his studio in Raadiomaja. We talked about his role in the birth and rise of the drum and bass scene in Estonia and what are his thoughts, views, and preferences today.
Oled inspireerinud väga paljusid Eesti trummi ja bassi DJ/produtsente muusikat looma ja mängima. Kuidas sa ise trummi ja bassini jõudsid ning mis sind selle juures köitis?
I got into drum and bass at a time it wasn't called drum and bass yet. At the very beginning it was called breakbeat and then it became jungle. It started with me having pen pals from England, who were sending me mixtapes, several of which were recordings of some pirate stations. Thanks to those mixtapes I got a taste of it. It was at the same time the jungle was taking over in London and it came on as an unprecedented wave. It's safe to say, it was one of the biggest musical innovations that has ever happened, definitely in pop or electronic music at least. I had a famous friend from BBC Radio 1 named John Peel who was sending me records which included quite a lot of jungle and drum and bass. And of course, because I had my own show, I immediately started playing them.
What are the moments you can look back to and say they affected the rise of the scene here?
Esimest korda, kui avalikult Eestis üldse jungle`it mängiti oli 1994. aasta Rock Summer, kus ma esinesin oma bändiga Röövel Ööbik. Ma ei oska öelda, kui palju seal täpselt rahvast oli, aga seal võis olla kümneid tuhandeid inimesi. Meile oli esinemiseks antud umbes 40 minutit, millest me tegime pool tundi ära ja siis ma panin lõppu oma kasseti mängima. Selleks oli üks piraatjaama salvestuse mixtape, ja sõber, kes mulle selle salvestas, tegi ka veel sellise pulli, et helistas sinna samasse raadiojaama ja palus meid eestlasi tervitada. Kogu sellest suurest helisüsteemist kostus tuhandetele inimestele mingisugune neile arusaamatu muusika, sest enamike jaoks see oli midagi täiesti ebareaalset ja siis ühtlasi tuli ka see tervitus seal ära.
The second public performance, which I've later heard that had affected people, was The Prodigy's live in Linnahall (a former concert place in Tallinn -ed.). I was invited to warm up the band and was told that I have to play for 40 minutes which turned out to be an hour and a half because The Prodigy was late. There were a lot of children because The Prodigy was really popular among teens. So there we were, those kids really impatient waiting for The Prodigy to appear and me playing them this ugly, mean music. I do understand how that could have affected people. Those 12-13-year olds, who went to see The Prodigy with their parents, heard drum and bass for the first time in their lives. Since I had to play for such a long time, there were a lot of kids who, later in their life became true drum and bass heads.
Ja muidugi raadiosaade ka, kus ma mängisin päris palju trummi ja bassi, eks see kindlasti ka mõjutas inimesi. Muidugi peame endale aru andma, et tegemist oli internetieelse ajaga. Raadiosaade oli tol ajal ainuke kanal, kus midagi sellist tuli ega keegi teine jungle`it ning trummi ja bassi siis ei mänginud. Alles hiljem hakkasid tulema inimesed peale. Eks ma olin selles mõttes tõenäoliselt esimene jah. Ja eks ma olin ikkagi ka fanaatik, mingis mõttes olen siiamaani ning uue muusika hankimine oli mu elu kõige tähtsam asi. Ükski muu asi ei huvitanud mind nii palju, kui uus muusika ja siis sai ka kõvasti vaeva nähtud.
Who else would you say played an important role in the evolution of the scene in Estonia?
Populariseerimise kohapealt oli kindlasti Lu:k. Mina ausaltöeldes ei usu, et üheski meie naaberriigis oleks selline jungle artist, kes ei esine küll tihti, kuid kelle lugusid teab publik peast ja “röögib” neid kaasa. Ta mängib oma lugusid kassettide pealt ning need lood on väga hästi tehtud. Selles mõttes on Lu:k väga eriline artist ning on natukene kahju, et uus põlvkond teda võib-olla liiga hästi ei tea, aga nad võiksid teda üle kuulata küll. Kui nüüd just vanadest tegijatest veel rääkida, siis kohati oli väga hea ka Flexus. Nad mõlemad on esimese põlvkonna artistid, keda peab kindlasti esile tooma.
You’ve been called the godfather of Estonian Drum and Bass. What do you say to that?
Ma ei ole kunagi pretendeerinud sellele. Ma ei ole tahtnud seda scene`i n-ö ühegi kandi pealt omada ega suunata või midagi. Mul lihtsalt on oma maitse ning seda ma mängin ja ongi kõik. Ma olen selles mõttes reetur, et mulle meeldivad igast muud muusikastiilid ka. Üldiselt on nii, et kui mingisugune stiil avastatakse, siis ollakse sellele hästi truu ja kõik muu ei kõlba kusagile. Aga mul on jälle nii, et kui miski asi on huvitav, siis see mulle meeldib ja ma ei suuda ühele asjale truu olla. Truu pead sa oma naisele või mehele olema ja kõik muu on teisejärguline.
How often do you play drum and bass in your sets today?
Trummi ja bassi mängin tänasel päeval oma settides väga vähe. Üheks põhjuseks on see, et mulle meeldib sedasorti trumm ja bass, mis ei ole kõige populaarsem tänapäeval. Minu jaoks on täiesti võõras see pop ja lauluga asi, ma isegi ei taha seda trummiks ja bassiks nimetada, see on lihtsalt mingi kiire popmuusika. Mulle näiteks meeldib, et jungle on jälle tagasi tulnud ja mul on ka mitmeid häid sõpru Inglismaal, kes teevad täiesti fantastilist jungle`it, enneolematult head asja. Uus jungle on nagu seesama vana, kuid kuidagi konsentreeritum ja saundid on paremad ehk siis kohati ikka veel parem, kui see vanasti oli. Mul ongi plaan nüüd järgmisel suvel, kui ma teen paari festivali, üheks neist on Kalana Saund (praeguse nimega Sõru Saund), et sinna teha jungle lava. Mul on juba mitme inimesega räägitud, kes kõik juba ootavad järgmist suve, et saaks tulla mängima.
How about your fans? Have you ever received any fan mail?
I did get some deranged letters from some people in the past when the radio was still the most important medium. Of course, I have kept all the letters. I was just sorting out my garage the other day when I saw a big box with all the letters in it. There were some letters which content I don't even want to mention.
Kas raadiosaadet “Tramm ja buss” oled jäänud edasi tegema pigem missioonitundest?
Jaa! Seal ma saan ka mängida neid asju, mida võib-olla ehk liiga palju ei mängita. Igasuguseid minimal lugusid ning ka neid 160 bpm biite, mis on (mingisugused) hübriidid technost ja jungle`ist või siis footworkist ja jungle`ist. Neid huvitavaid tegijaid on loomulikult endiselt väga palju, aga nad ei domineeri, mis ongi hea. Et ma mängin seda ja teinekord mingeid vanemaid asju ka. Sound In Noise`iga me vaheldumisi seda saadet teeme.
Alguses sai neid helisid kuulda ju saates “Vibratsioon”. Mis hetkel tekkis vajadus teine saade kõrvale teha?
The point where drum and bass raves started to happen, it was clear that the time was right for a separate show. It was in the mid-90s and at the beginning of the second half when the drum and bass raves were massive. For example, the raves in RET and Zelluloos factories where there was an insane amount of people.
Is it important to know the history of the scene?
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to know the history. You can always take something over from those times but then again, it's not too important. It's nice to know that we had some really cool things happening here in the 90s. If I must feel satisfaction or some other good feeling about anything, it's about Estonia not being behind at all compared to Finland, for example, where nothing was happening at the time while everything was already happening here. First the Finns were to come here to see what was going on, what we were doing and then we started to work together. We collaborated on inviting the artists over - they were playing here on Friday and the next day in Helsinki. This kind of cooperation was completely normal and then at some point it fell apart, everybody started doing their own thing. But in that sense Estonia was still the forefront and I think that's really important.
How well do you know what's going on inside the Estonian drum and bass scene these days?
I'm hearing a lot of it is this pop kind of music. Very high-quality, but not so different from others. I've had a problem with that my whole life when people are limiting themselves to making music with exactly the same quality and sound like everybody else in England right now, even though drum and bass isn't a thing of England for quite a while now.
Is it a more recent problem, the fear to stand out?
No minu jaoks on see alati olnud probleem ja see mul ka probleemiks jääb. Thing näiteks mulle väga meeldib, teda ma tean ikka täitsa algusest peale. Ta on Eesti mõistes selline teistmoodi tüüp, tema ei karda täitsa oma asja teha ja minu arvates on ta ka tänu sellele edu saavutanud. Tema ees müts maha!
Tänapäeval on populaarne muusikat ise välja anda ehk siis plaadifirmad vs do it yourself. Kumba sa pooldad?
Mina pooldan ise välja andmist sajaga, minu arvates on see väga lahe. Kui mul oleks rohkem aega ja võimekust, siis tegelikult ma tahaksin väga kuulata täielikul äärealadel olevaid asju. Neid, millel on SoundCloudis olematu arv fänne. Niimoodi ma olen avastanud lugusid, mida ei tea mitte keegi ning siis on küll tunne nagu oleksid kulda leidnud. SoundCloudis on võimalik ikka igasugu asju leida.
Are you involved in a record label or perhaps even labels?
Ei, mul on neid ikkagi ainult üks – Porridge Bullet.
Have you ever thought about releasing an Estonian drum and bass compilation?
Ma praegu hea meelega teeks jungle kogumiku, kui tuleks piisavalt palju head musa, mis eristuks tavalisest raadio popist. Arvan, et kui üldse midagi välja anda, siis peaks see olema midagi sellist, mida maailmas veel pole tehtud.
Talking about recorded music, do you prefer physical or digital?
I get that digital is awfully comfortable but I'm a vinyl friend, always been, even when it wasn't cool. Of course, people who say that in the end it's about the music, not the tools, are also right.
But I also like the saying that if you want to know who’s a DJ, put two turntables and a mixer in front of them. If they can play with them, they are a DJ and if not, they aren't. Nowadays a lot of people call themselves a DJ even when they really aren't.
Which record from your own collection is the most valuable for you?
Neid olulisi plaate on väga palju, kuid kõige lemmikum plaat üleüldse on A Guy Called Gerald`i “Black Secret Technology”. See on nii eriline plaat, et mul on sellest kõik versioonid ning ka 2 kasseti varianti. Aeg-ajalt, kui jungle`i ajaloost räägitakse, tõstetakse seda albumit esile ehk siis ma pole ainus, kes arvab, et see on väga eriline plaat. See on hästi müstiline plaat, mis läheb ajaga aina paremaks, võiks öelda isegi, et see on nagu teiselt planeedilt siia tulnud. Ta oli juba tollal ajast eest ja mõjub ka praegu selliselt.
Do you have some certain places, where you find new music from?
Mul on paar plaadipoodi, kes teevad sellist tõsist kuraatori tööd. Nende kohta võib öelda, et nad müüvad väga spetsiifilist muusikat ning ma usaldan nende maitset. Näiteks ma jälgin, mis toimub Boomkatis. Ja ma saan muidugi jubedates kogustes promosid.
I'd recommend young people to listen to more radio shows because they do that work for you.
And to conclude our interview - What do you think is the most important thing for making it big in the music industry?
As sad as it sounds, you need connections. A personal relationship is critical. Of course, the most important thing is that your music has to be good and it has to stand out from the crowd, but unfortunately sometimes it's just not enough. To get your music to go it where it's supposed to go, you need a personal contact - it's unfortunate, but that’s how it is.
