Waz-u: “If you want to do something unexpected, be controlled and intentional about it”

Electronic producer Isaac Baden-Powell, AKA Waz-u, has become acutely attuned to spinning many plates. As well as the release of his latest album, Preludes: Duck Psalms, Baden-Powell also runs a studio alongside his brother and fellow producer, Mali Baden-Powell, and is the drummer for alternative soul project Monzanto Sound and experimental punk project Nexus_0.

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The artist has a distinct knack for intertwining funk-fuelled beats with his love of classical composition techniques. He has described his work as a fusion of religion and dance music, making audiences equally pensive, emotive, and excited on the dance floor.

Waz-u sits down with MusicTech to unpack his workflows as a producer without using a computer, and his love of analogue synths and instruments that inspire his work.

Your second album, Preludes: Dusk Psalms, is out this month — what lessons did you learn from your debut that carried into this record?

I learnt a lot from my last record. Artistically, I felt a lack of focus and have tried to create a cohesive world with Preludes: Dusk Psalms. It’s easy to try to show the listener your taste and influences in a record, but all the albums that stand the test of time do so because that record has a consistent stylistic aesthetic.

I also learnt that relying too heavily on record labels is not a good thing for the artistic process. [My debut album], Prayer for Dawn was originally going to be released by another label but was dropped last minute for undisclosed reasons; as a result, I have tried to take a more active role in releases to make sure things are done professionally. It was a lot of work, but I’m happy with how my first record’s campaign went, and it’s given me more confidence to release music that I believe in.

You have lots of different creative projects on the go, such as Monzanto Sound and Nexus-0. How do your creative approaches differ in your solo work?

With those two projects, I work primarily as a drummer and secondarily as a producer. The music is heavily focused on live instrumentation, and what I can add to them is more about songwriting and feel. Production-wise, I oversee mixes and tweak musical ideas to get the most out of them, but I mainly try to take more of a backseat role.

In my Waz-u project, the sonic palette is electronic, and the drum parts (if there are any) are all programmed. It’s a way for me to explore composition differently and think more about atmosphere than in my other projects.

Your musical identity is very varied, with classical, reggae and funk roots. How do you work to combine all of this into your releases? Is it easier said than done?

I treat influences like flavours for a chef: you need to use the right ones at the right times, and if you want to do something unexpected, be controlled and intentional about it. This record has no drums on it, as it has an ambient aesthetic, so the reggae and funk influences are sparse if at all; but the process and workflow of using an analogue desk for mixing and ‘dubbing out’ tracks live with send effects is something that the greats such as King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry pioneered.

The classical influence is much more present throughout, and I actually had to turn down the intensity of that influence: a lot of the initial demo versions of the tracks were unnecessarily harmonically complex and, as a result, felt twee and excessive. I’ve tried to retain the taste but still keep the music palatable. You can clearly hear The Word is influenced by the baroque progressions of J.S. Bach. and G9 LUVs bowed textures mimic classical string parts and harmonies throughout the record.

Tell us a bit about your studio.

My studio, Biodiversity Studio, is based in Greenwich in South-East London. My brother Mali and I run the space, and he designed it in a way to optimise workflow and sound quality. We also have an in-house mastering engineer, Alex Batchelor, who worked on this album: he has a private studio now with different acoustics but formerly worked in this space and has strong ties to the Biodiversity studio as the Soundcraft console was originally his.

The concept is to have a space capable of creating diverse genres of music. Having a drum kit and a piano as well as a large selection of outboard and synthesizers allows this space to be a source of limitless creativity. Collaborating with other artists is part of our bread and butter, and this studio has been used to record anything from neo-soul to dub techno. On Fridays, we invite artists or producers to come in and collaborate on a tune as a fun way to connect and make something different and exciting.

What’s your latest gear purchase?

My latest purchase was a Boss BX-80 mixer, which has been modded to have direct outputs. It has some of the best natural drive and distortion of any gear that I have encountered and is perfect for summing drums to get beautiful saturation that simply can’t be achieved in the box. I had to pay a little bit of money to get the direct outs as a mod but it allows a degree of flexibility which is necessary in what is quite a complex routing set up.

What’s the best free plugin you own?

UAD LA-2A compressor. This is on the bass on almost every single track, as well as being a key part of my vocal mixing chain.

What’s been the biggest investment in your career/studio?

The biggest investment in my studio was on monitoring. Our main monitors are a pair of Gethain RL906 with an Eve audio subwoofer. The transient detail and upper midrange ‘air’ is unparalleled for monitoring of that price bracket. We also put a lot of funds into proper acoustic treatment; Mali made a bunch of custom baffles and as a result producers always compliment the ‘sound’ of the studio. My advice to younger producers is to invest in good monitors and acoustic treatment. This is because you can’t make music sound good until you can really hear what is going on! In a better sounding room you can find your sound without guesswork and make informed mixing decisions.

Your music is very synth-heavy — do you prefer the versatility of digital synths or are you more of an analogue synth purist?

I don’t use plugin synthesizers at all because I find the immediacy and tactility an essential part of the creative process when composing electronic music. In terms of synths, I’m a sucker for the sonic imprecision and ‘vibe’ of analogue synths. I also find the workflow of being forced to commit to audio from the get-go very refreshing, and it helps me to focus more on the composition and overall mix and less worried about endlessly tweaking something in the box.

You’ve said previously that your music is written and mixed with little to no use of computers. How does that impact your work?

I make electronic music, but my background is playing instruments. I find that the piano allows me to tap into the emotive quality instantly — almost all of the tracks were initially written on a piano before being transcribed onto synthesizers. I feel like if something melodic doesn’t work on the piano, then it probably won’t work on a synthesizer. As a result of this, I like the feeling of performing an instrument, albeit a synthesizer, and ‘playing in’ the sound of something.

When it comes to mixes, I enjoy having the same approach: using an analogue desk. I use a Soundcraft Delta 32, and I enjoy being able to tweak everything instantly in real time. I generally record stems onto the computer and then run everything out through the desk via our Motu 828Es. In this way, I’m treating the computer like a tape machine was used back in the day.

What’s a music production myth you think needs debunking?

The idea that spending more time on a track makes it better is a complete myth and something that I believe to be categorically false. If you never finish tracks, you never learn how to finish something and often, your initial idea was the best.

I think the only way to get better at making tracks is by finishing lots of them, and the easiest way to do this is to work quickly. Generall,y working slowly shows a lack of confidence in the idea and an excessive attachment to that particular track. My philosophy is: it’s not that deep, it’s just track. If it’s bad, make a new one tomorrow. Then, when you have lots of tracks, go back and dig through them, and there will definitely be some good ones in there.

Who gave you the biggest lesson in your career?

The biggest lesson is to just turn up. I remember someone telling me this years ago when I lived in Glasgow and it has always stuck with me. As an artist, it can be hard to keep doing the thing that you believe in, as no one else but you can make you do it. Just being present can allow you to achieve the things that you need to.

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