Kevin Sawka, known professionally as KJ, is a producer and DJ, but with a twist. His heroics behind the drum kit has seem him rise to world fame as part of the Pendulum live setup. After a two-year long world tour, he is back in Seattle, ready to drop his own music. His new single, Repeating Cycles, is imminent, and he talks to Kmag about it here.

 

 

How does your set up work when producing your own stuff?
I have a small in-the-box production studio in Seattle where I do all my post production and mixing. For most songs, I'll start with some drum ideas from the Sawka Drum Vault. That's my go-to personal loop library with all my chopped drum loops and sessions I've recorded over the years to date in high end Seattle studios. I also produce a ton on the road. Just my laptop and headphones. I'll test the mixes on systems at sound checks then at the show before releases.

 

 

When you are writing and producing, do the drums necessarily always come first?
Drums mostly come first. It’s easy to write melodies and basslines with a great groove underneath.
If I don't have the right drums already recorded, then they get recorded last. Nothing better than recording live drums to a finished vocal take. That's when the magic happens!

 

 

 

How does your live experience impact on your d&b work now? Why is that?
It’s easy to see what works and what doesn't work at a live show based off crowd response. With the live drumming it's determined by the type of crowd. The mid to older age crowds really love the live drumming. The kids love the bass and don't seem to care as much about it being played live. So when making a track I'll factor these things to try and meet my production goals as well and live goals. Which is to crush the crowd of all types and at any venue.

 

 

Do you hear the music differently depending on whether it’s live or in the box?
Yeah definitely. Live music and mastered audio are apples and oranges. It’s great to see and hear the musicians perform their parts live. I don't care as much about the mix when seeing it live. But in the box it’s all about how it sounds and how the crowd is reacting. Whether its live or in the box, it’s a performance.

 

 

Has your production changed over time?
Of course. The evolution of bass music production has gone through the roof in the last 5 years.
My involvement with Pendulum and other bands and musical collaborations gives me constant inspiration to improve and evolve my sound and efforts to make great music.

 

 

 

Give us some of your favourite Pendulum reminiscences.
On one of our European tours we found a random drunk dude passed out in our sound guy’s bunk on our bus. It was a ridiculous situation trying to get him to go away and him even realizing what was going on.

 

In France, MC Verse got the whole crowd to sing happy birthday to me. That was pretty epic.

 

 

And you’ve got a new single coming, featuring one of my personal favourite singers. Tell us all about Repeating Cycles.
About a year ago I reached out on Facebook in search of singers for a bunch of tunes I was writing.
Swiss singer LaMeduza saw my post and replied right away. I went to her Soundcloud page and really liked what I heard. I emailed her and sent her tracks. Within 3 days she sent back the vocal ideas on Repeating Cycles. Until then, I was calling the track Chronicles.

She really gave life to this track. She is one of my favorite singers as well! 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Links:

• KJ Sawka Joins Pendulum
• Pendulum Announce UK Tour Dates
• Todd Lown, 46th St. Mural, Seattle
• Pendulum LP & Single Release Dates
• Pendulum LP & Single Release Dates

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