Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

A night out with Bass Kleph

Australian DJ lands in Whistler as part of world tour

Who: Bass Kleph

When: Thursday, Aug. 27

Where: GLC

Cost: $10 in advance (first 100)

Stu Tyson (better known on the dance music scene as Bass Kleph) has had a busy year. On top of his own production projects, he's been working on compilations, maintaining residencies, touring the world, and running his own label.

"The last year has been pretty big! It's been a lot of fun... going all over the place, and I'm about to do it all again with this tour."

He just dropped a new EP, Viajero (which translates to "Traveller"), featuring fellow tech legends, Wolfgang Gartner, Hook N Sling and Twocker.

"I just wanted to give people some of the most requested tracks of my older stuff that I always get asked to play when I'm away or at home and I also included a brand new one on there, so it's not just all old stuff," Kleph said. "It gives people a little bit of a taste of what's to come with the tour."

And his current club banger, "$pend My Money," offers an introspective take on partying and lifestyle that often goes along with the dance music scene.

"I'm just as guilty as everyone else, so I can't say anything," Kleph chuckled.

Kleph started off in the music industry as a drum player playing in bands, but eventually decided he wanted his own sound to be heard.

"I got into dance music because I thought it would be a more underground thing," he said with a laugh, "but it's become a lot more overground for me, since."

Over the years, he has discovered that the trick to getting any audience amped up during a set is actually quite simple: "You've got to party just as much as they do! That's definitely the secret. You can't expect to be up there all blasé and whatever."

Back in 2007, this talented and ambitious musician decided to launch his own label, Vacation Records, after he got fed up with his own representation.

"I was with another label and they were doing a really bad job and I thought I could do it better," he laughed. "They were screwing things up and after a long time, I eventually got out of my evil contract."

It quickly became one of the world's favourite dance and underground labels, tapping into the tech, electro, progressive and house groove, and not tying any artist into a contract. Rather, they allow artists to produce track-by-track, which means that the artist is only working with the label if the situation is working for both parties. To date, Vacation's tracks have already been featured on ARIA-nominated albums, topped charts across the globe, and garnered praise from the likes of John Aquaviva, Crookers, Rene Amesz, Kissy Sell Out, DJ Dan, Micky Slim, Way Out West, Ian Pooley, and Crystal Method.

He puts a different twist on tech and electro house that is still accessible to just about any listener. Not quite underground, and definitely not simple pop, Kleph leans towards a raw approach, mixed with fun melodies. But his creative process is actually quite logical, usually starting with an underlying concept.

"I'm not really one of these people that just sits down with a kickdrum and just makes it up as they go along - I like to have a whole picture of a track," he explained. "...Like 'Helium,' it was about being high but using the expression high on helium, so it was a bit more PG, and the whole time it was done while sucking in helium and speaking like that."

It doesn't look like things will be slowing down for Kleph anytime soon - he's already got an artist album in the works for 2009, and then there's the small matter of this little world tour he's just embarked on. The Canadian leg of the musical journey runs from Aug. 19 to Sept. 5, while the overall world tour started mid-month and goes until October, with Kleph hitting up clubs and festivals in the UK, Canada, Russia, Spain, and the Netherlands.

"I love to get out there and travel and see new towns and play different crowds as well. The last time I played in Canada, I had so much fun. And this is only the second time I've played in Canada and I can't wait for it!"