session #072 – CEE

What begins as a meandering airy rhythm, consistently builds into a climactic world of vibrant and searing bass. Al Haca’s homeslice & half of Bass Sekolah, Dj and producer, Cee, drops on our 10yrs anniversary podcast series with a carefully handpicked set of tunes, for you to indulge into and curate your aural experience.

Thinking that it couldn’t get any better? Then give a listen to the giveaway track ‘Lain lain’ and add it up to your crate.

Where, When and How was this mix recorded?

I recorded this mix at the Dusun, our little jungle retreat at the fringe of the Malaysian Berembun Rainforest during the beginning of October. I didn’t want to focus too much on the mix itself, but rather put the selection of tracks into the lime light. The beat matching I save for the parties I felt….

 How would you describe it to us?

It’s a musical thing and like Alan Watts said: it’s not a journey in a sense of getting anywhere. Please dance and sing along. It’s a playful mix of goodies.

 Nearly 2 months since the release of your new, deep and enchanting Ep ‘diversions 01’, did you approach it with a particular theme or aesthetic in mind?

‘diversions 01’ is indeed meant to be part of a whole series. I felt my music never really fits into one box, because I like to keep the BPM floating. I have much more to say and express. The songs on the ‘diversions 01’ EP definitely speak the same language, but are all genre benders, I feel.

By doing numerous live DJ sets, even with notable artists such as Modeselektor, DJ Vadim, Tokimonsta, and so on, do you think playing live, over the years, has affected your production methods?

We never stop learning and I certainly feel inspired by all the great talents I was able to share the stage with. It doesn’t all go straight into my production skill box. I do feel drawn towards creating a particular live experience and, when I produce, I quite often think of the stage situation as well like ; How would this work in context of my other songs? How can I turn this into a big live version? Is this getting to complicated already and how can I make it more impactful and simplify the structure? How can I keep it playful?  

Is there any particular reason you’ve decided to live in heart of the jungle right outside of the Malaysian Berembun rainforest?

Love brought me to Malaysia. I simply followed my heart. This move happened at a time of low inspiration in Europe. I felt I needed to start all over again. In the beginning I didn’t even feel like making music at all, but this changed. My wife’s family actually owns the Dusun resort here in the Malaysian rainforest and we help manage the place. It’s the one and only place in Malaysia I feel like living.

Tell us a bit about The Dusun Sessions and Soundlab Asia Pacific.

Both these projects are collaborations with Goethe-Institut here in the region. Soundlab is a collaboration with BorderMovement too. The Dusun Sessions feature all kinds of artist friends who we toured through Asia and who all spent some of their off days, here, with us in the jungle. We eventually all made music and put all that into one great album. With the SoundLab we were able to focus much more on the talent here in Southeast Asia and together, with our partners of Goethe-Institut and BorderMovement, we brought 15 musicians from 11 different nations all to Malaysia to make music for 10 days. A dream come true indeed. Creative output makes us human in such a great way. We will do more of these SoundLab sessions here in Asia Pacific.

Photo: Lisanne Schulze

Tell us something about Al-Haca & Bass Sekolah.

So I joined the Al-Haca Sound System at the end of the 90s. This crew was established in the mid 90s. Dub was our opiate and we dubbed whatever …. meaning, we didn’t just play the “usual” and threw in punk, hiphop, industrial, spoken words & tech stuff. I feel in love with my position as the guy on the mic and on the effects. For each gig we brought a lot of records, tons. We also brought our own mixer, effect units, dub siren and other toys. I slowly started my journey into production from there and around 2000 I had finished an album. Main contributors were co-producers Arnd Wollmann, Alex Pehlemann and live on vocals RQM and Ras T-Weed. Ras also sang for Rockers HiFi. On our debut album we featured even folks like Farda P (also known from Rockers HiFi production and his involvement with Kruder & Dorfmeister), Lady Saw, Sizzla, again Ras T-Weed and of course RQM, my dear friend. By then I had already met Stereotyp, who just released his famous “My Sound” on G-Stone. Together with him I pushed this whole “future dancehall thing”, as we called it back then, and we recorded the legendary “Phase 1”, “Phase 2” and “Phase 3” under Stereotyp meets Al-Haca. Another Al-Haca album we dropped first digitally on Metapolyp Berlin and then on Kilo Music in Japan as a limited CD with great design by Daniel Neye from Transform Berlin. Our peek we had 9 years ago was when we really went around the globe… Asia for the first time, a show in Russia / Saint Petersburg right after and then off to Miami and New York. I remember I turned 30 at our New York show. Stereotyp and I had an amazing time together. RQM joined us on tons of these trips. 7 years ago I followed my heart and moved to Malaysia. Things had slowed down musically and I was ready for something different. I have a family over here and life is sweet. The music just never left me. Bass Sekolah for example was another big one for me. Together with Darren Ashley I crafted a few hits. Very fun and “accessible”, yet different enough songs like “Lighthouse” or our collabos with Phon.o called “herenow” and later “Don’t fade away”. We toured Asia, went to Europe, got some great radio air play and then life kinda told us that we both need to focus on our own things for a while. SoundLab in January 2016 was the last time Darren and I worked together in a project. This again meant a new beginning for me and I released “diversions 01” on Dubai based 264 Records featuring lots of good friends. Collaborations is still the way to go for me. I love working with other people on sound. But I need my own spheres too and now I really love to  work under my CEE name and feature other friends and great talents. More diversions are lining up :)

5 records that you’ll always cherish?

Hmmm… I don’t like these lists…. I end up being stuck with 5 records…. guess I just gotta make more music myself then….

Bonus Giveaway: CEE – Lain lain to add to your crate.