Global bass duo Baja Frequencia are behind their tenth anniversary EP, ‘Fast & Purrious’, featuring their new track ‘Kapepela feat. Wanny S King’, plus singles ‘Hotchip’ and the Chocolate remix collab, ‘La Caracúlica’.
Photo Credit: Gael Lapasset
‘Fast & Purrious’ is a riotous tour de force of global club references that celebrate Baja Frequencia’s expansive career at the forefront of the genre. This fierce energy is encapsulated on the blistering new track ‘Kapepela’, where the duo team up with Congolese artist Wanny S King, whose distinctively powerful vocals tear over signature bleeps and a furious breakbeat.
‘Fast & Purrious’ marks the culmination of the group’s musical evolution from its underground beginnings a decade ago. A hybridization of influences- predominantly South American and Caribbean – and musical genres spanning reggaeton, techno, kuduro, jungle, guaracha, and footwork create a sound that is uniquely and irresistibly Baja Frequencia’s own.
EG caught up with Baja Frequencia to learn more about the drop of their ‘Fast & Purrious’ EP, their 10th anniversary, and more.
EG: Hi, guys! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you right now?
Baja Frequencia: Hi! Thanks for inviting us! We are pretty good and we are in Marseille, our hometown.
EG: First of all, congratulations on your 10-year anniversary as Baja Frequencia! How are you guys feeling about this milestone? Did you ever think you’d come this far?
Baja Frequencia: Thank you. Honestly, we had no idea that the project would still be going on for so long. At first, it was just made for one event, and ten years later we’re still here, so it’s a nice achievement. We had the luck to experience so many good times in ten years, playing in cool venues, touring worldwide, and working with great artists.
EG: Now you’re celebrating the occasion with the release of your new ‘Fast & Purrious’ EP. You must be excited to finally share this one. What has the initial reception been like so far? Do you remember the first time you played these cuts for a live audience?
Baja Frequencia: Yeah, we’re really excited about this one, we produced it in a different way than we are used to, using only hardware gear. An Electron Digitakt, a Handsonic HPD25, an RC 505, a Kaoss Pad, and a Pocket Operator. It changed our workflow a lot, and the result sounds more “electronic” and “minimalist” than what we produced before and we are really happy about that. And so far, the feedback is so positive! We started to play these tracks last summer, and the bouncy vibe of these cuts has worked really nicely on the dance floors.
EG: Why did you decide to celebrate with the drop of ‘Fast & Purrious’? What can your fans expect to find on this record?
Baja Frequencia: Definitely something more “technoid” than our previous releases, which is a kind of “back to the roots” for us. You can feel the influences of our early “rave”, but as always in our own sound with a tropical heat flavor that makes it spicy and groovy.
“…sometimes it’s tricky to be happy with what you are producing because you have so many different ways to produce each beat, or each synth that in the end you get lost.”
EG: So, this record sees you leaving computers behind in favor of a more raw creative process embracing the world of analog machines. What was that process and experience like? What are some of the most important takeaways from this?
Baja Frequencia: We’ve always used some hardware stuff in our productions before but more off and on; or to produce some specific things into a track. But this time, we chose this way of production because with a computer we can do everything we want, and sometimes it’s tricky to be happy with what you are producing because you have so many different ways to produce each beat, or each synth that in the end you get lost.
But this time, only with our hardware stuff, the question was more about “Can I make this pattern more alive?”, and it changed the way we built our tracks and we hope that you can feel it with ‘Fast & Purrious’.
EG: And you guys have just celebrated the release and career milestone at Marseille’s Makeda. What was that particular event like? Have you done an “album release party” before?
Baja Frequencia: Yeah, it was a nice party, haha. We invited some friends from Madrid, the Demmbooty crew, three DJs who have been supporting us for years now and with whom we feel very close when it comes to the music that we love to play. We also invited our VJ who has worked with us for several years and all together we made a cool night with a great mood. It was our second release party, we made one in 2019 for the release of our album ‘Hot Kats’. It’s always a special moment because you’re celebrating the release of some tracks which sometimes you have been working on for a long time ago; so it’s always a real pleasure to be able to celebrate it with your friends and fans.
EG: Speaking about live events…What do you think about the current trend that has seen these larger-than-life visuals take center stage? Are they overwhelming the musical aspect instead of just “enhancing” the musical experience? Are they the future of electronic music?
Baja Frequencia: For sure, the video and visuals have an important place in electronic music (and non-electronic as well, btw). It can be great, but it also depends on the kind of music you are performing and the experience you want to showcase during your live or DJ set. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to play at a big venue with 2 CDJs, alone on the stage and a giant screen behind you, but if you work with a VJ on specific media, it can be so great and it becomes a real plus for your shows.
EG: Also, the incorporation of AI in electronic music seems to be on the rise, whether it is on the music, the album covers, and beyond. Do you have a particular stance on this?
Baja Frequencia: Yeah, we are living in a crucial moment where AI is now so powerful that it can be dangerous, but at the same time it opens a new world of possibilities. It really depends on how you choose to use the AI and for what reason exactly. For example, we decided to use it in our last music video for ‘Kapepela’ from ‘Fast and Purrious’, and for us it was a good way to incorporate content we made on tour and also some from the featured artist, Wanna S King, and create a kind of unity between all of these videos.
“The question was more about “Can I make this pattern more alive?”, and it changed the way we built our tracks and we hope that you can feel it with ‘Fast & Purrious'”
EG: Finally, can you provide some insights into what’s next for Baja Frequencia? What’s in store for 2024? Where can your fans catch you next?
Baja Frequencia: We are already working on some plans, but nothing is confirmed for now. We would like to do some collaborations with MCs, that is a thing we love to do and there are already a few in the pipeline. So yeah, you can definitely expect some new tracks for 2024, as well as some remixes that we are cooking right now.
EG: Thank you so much for your time, guys! We wish you all the best for the future. Take care!
Baja Frequencia: Thank you, it was a pleasure to have a chat with you guys, and hope to see you soon IRL. Cheers!
Baja Frequencia’s ‘Fast & Purrious’ EP is out now via Chinese Man Records. Purchase your copy here.
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