Body Beat Ritual | Te Ahi Top 10

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Taking out the top spot on this week’s Te Ahi Top 10 is Body Beat Ritual with their remix of Crone’s previously released song, ‘Crush’.

A hard-hitting and in your face piece of electronica, the remix is an action-packed listening experience. Originally from the UK and now based in Whanganui, Body Beat Ritual has been making a splash with his original Cyberpunk-eqsue production style.

We caught up with Body Beat Ritual to chat about how the track come together, working on a remix and future plans.

Check out the interview below.

Congrats on taking out the top spot on this week’s Te Ahi Top 10 with your remix of Crush! Can you tell me a bit more about who you are and what you do?

Body Beat Ritual is a hardware-based live and studio project that mixes elements of techno, industrial and EBM. If I had to describe it I’d call it cyberpunk because it’s not a genre, more a shared understanding of an idea. I’ve released three 12”s since 2018 and a couple of EPs on my own label Pleasure. I am originally from the UK and live in Whanganui with my girlfriend Michelle.

So, how did this collaboration actually come about?

I hit up crone on Instagram as soon as I heard their music. They intrigued me and I wanted to know more about them. I’m not usually interested in remixes unless the music is very different from mine but I felt the need to fuse our different takes on the dance floor and see what would happen.

How did you go about tackling this remix? Was there much communication between you and Crone or did you take the track and just run with it?

They just sent over the stems and I thought about it for a week or two. They were very open and generous and left me to do my thing. It’s kind of a love letter to them to say thank you because they inspired me to think and write in a slightly different way when I first heard their music, I felt like they would either love it or hate it, luckily they loved it!

Tell me a little bit more about how you approached the remix production-wise?

I started it a while ago but it wasn’t going anywhere, I think I was being a bit respectful to the original, so I abandoned it. That’s a good tip if things aren’t working! 

One day I was making an aggressive bassline that I felt could work with the synths in ‘crush’ and started adding layering elements of ‘crush’, the snare, some hi-hats, some synth lines and it came together pretty quickly. Often the vocal samples are what set the tone and once I found the vocal for the beginning it kind of told me where to go.

What made you want to remix the original track?

I bought ‘crush’ and their first EP from Bandcamp as soon as I heard it. It really struck me as ‘new’ in some way, probably because it was clearly made by a live act, the pace and the flow had the swells of a live act and it reminded me of how I started making electronic music. ‘crush’ had a soundtrack like feel which is something I go for with my music, but in a very different way. I had the idea to take what they made to a different place, and if they would like it. Which luckily they really did!

What production software do you use?

I use Ableton to record into and edit the tracks but I don’t use any plugins in the process, or any software to write the tracks, it’s all hardware. I try to stay off the computer for as long as possible and just use it for what it’s good for, editing. 

Have you got any more collaborations lined up?

I’ve had the idea for a project called DEMIGODs which is more industrial than Body Beat Ritual and the idea is I write the tracks and I have various singers guest on the tracks. I’ve had a bit of a back and forth this year with Chris from Huggy Bear and Adulkt Life about working together and we started making some tracks, but its a long-distance thing as he’s in London and with all the lockdowns it’s been tough for him to get into a studio. I also have a project called Shrunken Heads with a friend here in Whanganui (taonga pūoro maker Tom Carroll) who is also deep into modular electronics. We both love industrial, hardcore punk, and techno so we’re trying to make something that is heavy enough to satisfy those influences. I’d also like to curate a dance floor 12” compilation of new electronic artists on Pleasure similar to the 12” I was featured on from Murder Records recently. 

The remix premiered on the Berlin-based label THE BRVTALIST, how did that come about?

The Brvtalist team have been really supportive since my first releases and they’ve premiered a couple of my tracks for various labels. They are so approachable and easy to deal with but have a pretty wide reach so I really wanted to introduce their audience to crone.

What does the rest of 2021 have in store for you?

I’ve been asked to release a couple of faster tracks for a 12” release on a London based label and I’m working on a 6 track EP for my first full vinyl release through Pleasure. It’s partly inspired by Wild Palms, a 90s sci-fi tv show that seems very prescient, and the Wim Wenders film Until The End Of The World which has a very 2021 feel even though it was made in the early 90s. I also have some non-music related products coming out on Pleasure that is a little different from the usual kind of merch. 

You can check out the Body Beat Ritual remix of ‘crush’ below.

The Te Ahi Top 10 is our weekly chart as voted by YOU, our audience! Presented live every Thursday 3 – 4pm on RDU 98.5FM. 

To vote for the Te Ahi Top 10 simply download the RDUnited app and click the like icon for a track you love when it’s played on air. The tune with the most likes each week will be crowned the winner! Simple as that.