Blanke shares his experience working with Rezz, his newest hobby, and what to expect from his upcoming EP [INTERVIEW]

By Anastasiia and Stephen Riddle

Aussie Blanke has been on our radar since 2016, and in the past few years, he’s been steadily climbing the ranks of some of the best bass artists in the scene. Both his heavier and darker tracks like “Curiosity” and “Mixed Signals” with Rezz, along with beautiful melodic bass tracks like “Gorgeous” with Illenium and “Colors” with Gryffin have helped him quickly gain a cult following, while seamlessly blending and transitioning into his ÆON:MODE D&B project. We chatted with Blanke about his new EP “Emergence,” the hardest parts of headlining a tour, and his love for the D&B genre.

Atlanta EDM: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you start producing EDM?

Blanke: Back in, I would say one of the golden eras of EDM in 2010 to 2012, I was really encapsulated by all things that were going on back then. Skrillex was coming out, deadmau5 was coming through, Wolfgang Gartner and stuff. And I just found DJing around that time when I was 17 and then found production a year or so after that, and decided I needed to be able to make this stuff. I was a guitarist for my whole life and was trying to do the band thing and that never ended up coming through. So to be able to produce and do every part of the band and not have to worry about five different people doing that sort of thing was a really cool concept for me. So I had the music in me already, so I was able to start from there. So I was DJing at the local club back where I'm from in Australia, in Canberra, and I started out as a bartender there so I could get in with the promoters and the lighting guys and all those sorts of things, so I could throw CDs at them every week. I'd had these 10 to 15-minute-long literal CDs that I just recorded every week and just palm it off to them until I got a gig and then I kind of started doing the music thing and the DJ thing from there. And somehow now I'm in America 10 years later. How many? 12 years later.

Atlanta EDM: So speaking of which, it just seems like you cover pretty much all the genres. Can you talk about the evolution of your sound and how you ended up where you are now with Blanke and ÆON:MODE?

Blanke: I used to produce a lot of Progressive House and I'd make 8 to 10-minute-long songs just because I had no idea of arrangement and all these sorts of things. And Eric Prydz was doing a thing back then and deadmau5 was making songs that were, "Strobe" was like what, 10 to 12-minute songs or something like that? And I was like, I want to do that sort of shit. So initially I started out doing that, but along with that, I was also really into Pendulum, who's an Australian D&B band. They were really big back in the 2000s and teens and that kind of era. And I was really, really, really in love with what they were doing. So Drum and Bass has always been around for me and I tried to produce D&B back then and failed miserably. So I decided that was way too technical for me to even try. And I ended up just putting that to the side for years and years. And then a few years ago I decided, okay, it's time to try and make it again. And so that's when "Alchemy" started coming around, but the ÆON:MODE project was not really in the back of my mind until that song did pretty well in Australia. In America, D&B still feels like a very separate genre compared to EDM in Australia. And I decided that having it as a separate project could be a good move here. I could really give it its own space to breathe, its own branding, its own world to live in, and I could really focus heavily on it by itself. I think I could do that while it was with Blanke, but whenever I did it, it always felt like a separate thing.

Atlanta EDM: Can we talk a little bit about your creative process? What does it look like? Writing, producing, finding collaborators?

Blanke: Yeah, so obviously with the D&B stuff and the Blanke stuff, people often ask whether or not I have to be in two different head spaces, and to a degree I do, but I think it depends on the day or whether or not I've been listening to D&B in the morning or not, whether I'm feeling inspired on which one or whether I've been listening to metal in the morning or whatever all the day before or whatever it might be. And then I'm like, oh, I'm super in Blanke mode. I really want to write something heavy or I want to put down some guitars. But even still, I can do that in the ÆON:MODE project as well.

Atlanta EDM: So you mentioned listening to metal or other genres during the day, who are some of your bigger influences, whether it's for Blanke or for making D&B, is there any metal?

Blanke: I've always been a big fan of Tool and A Perfect Circle, and Maynard who heads both of those projects, they're always really inspiring for me because I feel like they often think outside of the box and they're very particular about what they use, and I've heard a bit about their creative process and that kind of thing is super inspiring for me. They don't settle for anything than what's fucking amazing sort of thing and what's great and they'll spend so much time on one little section. So I guess finding inspiration from those sorts of things as opposed to, not really their sound necessarily, but their processes I think is cool. I listen to a lot of Nu metal, like Bring Me the Horizon, Bad Omens, I really love Spiritbox at the moment, and I'm trying to incorporate more of my guitar background and metal background into some new stuff and the kind of energy that that brings and maybe even the sort of songwriting and structure arrangements that they have. And the other one was Sleep Token as well. Sleep Token has been super cool, their latest album is unbelievable.

Atlanta EDM: So next we kind of want to talk about your upcoming EP and the newest collaboration with Rezz. I know you've worked with her in the past, but what was the most exciting thing about this project?

Blanke: I think it came at a really cool time and the last time with me and her it also came at a really cool time of change, but it's always really effortless with collaborations. Both of them have been really easy and she's also said the same sort of thing. It's just like, I'll have an idea, I'll send it to her, she'll do some bits, I'll do some bits, and it's done in a few days, which is kind of not unheard of, but it's really awesome when that does happen within a week and it's so easy and it's so cool and you're like, sweet, okay, we can just move on to creating the visualizers and all those sorts of things and creating this bigger thing. I always am blown away by the sort of effectiveness in the simplicity of what she does and how she produces. And so, for example, this record's first drop is just a kick and a snare and this fucking huge bass, and there's silence. There's white space all through the fucking drop, and it's like, I would never do that on my own. That feels like such a risky move. And I'm like, I need to fill in every space. But with someone like her, you're like, we can just leave this.

Atlanta EDM: That's a perfect segue to my next question. Were there any stylistic choices you made on the upcoming EP that kind of had you step out of your comfort zone that you had never done before?

Blanke: Yeah, I did a Bass House record on this one, which is really cool. The way that one came about was really interesting. I do a Patreon and I do a feedback tier where basically 20 artists have access and can send me a record and I give them feedback on their songs. One of the songs was by this girl Audia and she sent me the record and I was like, this is so fucking cool. I do video feedback, and in the video, I asked her if she wanted to collaborate on this tune, which was like a whip. And then I don't think she read it for two weeks and she comes back, she's like, oh my God, yeah, of course, let's do it sort of thing. And yeah, it's kind of Space-Lacy-sound-design-type vibe, super fun. I was dabbling in more Bass House because it's been super fun to write. I did start off Blanke with a Bass House record in 2016, so it's not completely foreign. And I did a record that has a full metal breakdown in the middle of it, and that one was cool to be able to go in with the drums, the acoustic metal drums, as well as the metal guitars and all those sorts of things. I got this guy from the UK to scream a little bit on it, just random vocal shots here and there.

Atlanta EDM: What is the hardest part of headlining a tour?

Blanke: I guess the biggest change is the fact that you are now responsible for everything as opposed to just supporting other people's shows where you just kind of rock up, plug a USB in, play your set, go, sweet, I'll see you later, and then you can sit in the bus or do whatever the hell you want to do. This is like, oh, everything is on you now. People are buying tickets, and spending their money to see you specifically. You've also got to be in charge of production. So bringing lights, you've got all your visuals and you have to put on a full show. So you spend a shitload of money on visuals, you start bringing VJs, laser techs, stage design stuff, having to be at soundchecks for hours on end, make sure everything's all good. You've got merch that you need to make sure is arriving properly on time. All of these new aspects kind of come into play, and that's why people end up getting tour managers because there's a lot to sort of think about. And as an artist, you're just like, I just need to play my set and make sure that my set is good as opposed to worrying about all this other stuff.

Atlanta EDM: Speaking of that, what are some of your favorite kinds of crowd reactions for a D&B drop during ÆON:MODE set?

Blanke: The pure effect of being able to play it in the U.S, a full set of it, and people actually enjoy it is in itself a wild thing for me. And then the reactions to anything here is great. I went from playing two D&B records in my set in 2019 or 2020 and trying to see whether that would work and the crowd falling flat to now being able to play my whole set and it goes well is insane. So yeah, I mean obviously the favorite ones are usually when you play your own records, your own edits, I feel like I can mess around a lot in my D&B sets because it's all the same tempo, whereas my Blanke sets are a lot more all over the place, so you can kind of throw in lots of random little bits and pieces, bits of random drops.

Atlanta EDM: That's awesome. So I was super excited when you released a Blanke blanky. I'm pretty sure the fans’ reaction was overwhelming as well. So how do you feel about people sort of mispronouncing your name sometimes?

Blanke: I've dealt with it for the length of the project, so over six years at this point. I'm past that. And I think it's a funny talking point, there's no harm in it at all. People argue in their rave fam about how you pronounce it properly or whatever, and that's great. If you are chatting about it and it's a whole thing, then I'm super okay with it. The “Blanky” thing's hilarious. And I think to be able to play on that was a really fun idea. But yeah, there's no hard feelings or weirdness about people pronouncing it wrong. Because they always come up to me after shows and be like, is it "Blank?" Or is it "Blank" or "Blanky," or, I didn't realize your name was Blank until you said it on the microphone tonight, sort of thing. I thought it was something else. I've had radio show hosts pronounce it "Blanque," like it's French. And I'm like, hmm, that's a new one. So yeah, I've had the whole range.

Atlanta EDM: So do you have any interesting hobbies that help you write your music or just to help you unwind after a long time in your studio?

Blanke: I do a lot of rock climbing. I got into it in 2020, and when I went back home to Australia, my best mate at the time was just like, man, I've found this new thing. You need to come and try it. And I was like, what are you talking about? And we've been friends since we were four years old and we did athletics together and all these different activities. We used to go down the river and mess around and climb trees and shit. And then he was like, no, come do this thing. I was like, all right. And we did it for a session and I was like, this is the best thing ever. This is so fun, so primal. It's like a puzzle piece for your body. It just feels amazing. And also just drink coffee. I'll sit in the coffee shop for two hours and just chat with people.

Atlanta EDM: What's something you look forward to when you see the Atlanta tour dates on your schedule?

Blanke: I mean, Atlanta's always fun. I've done so many shows in Atlanta at this point with Seven Lions, Black Tiger Sex Machine, and Sullivan King, and it's always so much fun. The obvious thing is the "ATL HOE" chant, that is your sign of success. If you get that enough times, you've kind of done a good job. So I think that's always the marker. But it's always fun. The energy there is always insane. And yeah, Atlanta is a wild city and every time I go there, it's crazy energy generally, so I'm always up for it.

BUY TICKETS TO SEE BLANKE IN ATLANTA, FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024