We speak with Gearmaster, formerly known as Abdul Raeva, about their evolution as artists, their Sample Market sample pack, their creative process, and more.
Gearmaster are an Estonian production and DJ duo who have spent a number of years crafting their own signature sound within the realms of Tech, Minimal and Progressive House. They've released music on some of these styles most-loved labels, including Physical Education, Duality Trax, Echocentric Records, and more recently, their own label Slipdisc Recordings.
Prior to this latest Gearmaster project, the pair, whose real names are Joonas and Steffan, were releasing and performing music under the Abdul Raeva alias. It was under this name that they created a comprehensive and production-ready sample pack, exclusively for Sample Market's Artist Series. In this interview, they discuss their approach to making the sample pack, as well as the rationale behind the recent name change, how they use samples in their own productions and much more.
Please could you start by introducing yourselves and your musical backgrounds?
Joonas: "Hi, I'm Joonas. I started producing around the age of 14-15, and grew up listening to Prodigy and Chemical Brothers. I made some horrible imitations of that kind of thing, but (luckily) never released anything---let's just say it wasn't my best stuff. At the same time, I learned how to play guitar and had some really good jamming sessions with friends. Post-punk was all the rage for me back then."
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here? (Official Audio)
"Before starting my journey with Steffan, I produced ambient music. Rashida Prime has been my most successful alias in that style, although I've had a lot of projects throughout the years. I don't really remember how I got into ambient, but one of my biggest inspirations was Emeralds' "Does It Look Like I'm Here?". That album really inspired me to push my limits, so after finishing school, I went to study live sound engineering. Unfortunately, I never managed to start working in the field. I suppose I never really enjoyed the hustle and bustle that came from doing live gigs. Instead, I started working at my local club, Sveta Baar, where I learned how to DJ, and that's in large part where my love for dance music grew."
Steffan: "Howdy, I'm Steffan. My early years were very influenced by my grandfathers, so I was mainly raised on the likes of Blues, Jazz, and Rockabilly. As I got older, that quickly branched into all kinds of Rock and Metal, which was probably also quite driven by the band community I was a part of at the time."
"From 2007-2017, I attended Roskilde Festival in Denmark (one of Europe's largest festivals). This really exposed me to an incredibly wide range of music. In 2008, I saw The Chemical Brothers at their absolute peak. This was the single-best concert experience of my life to date, and it really thrust me towards the electronic mainstream. Some years later, I got involved with people from the local clubbing scene, and things just picked up from there I guess. Shout out to the Aalborg massive."
After releasing and performing music as Abdul Raeva for a number of years, you recently adopted a new alias, Gearmaster. What was the motivation behind the change?
Joonas: "Sometimes it's just good to turn a new page. We took a deeper look at the profile or brand that Abdul Raeva had, and realised that it wasn't very reflective of who we were anymore. Abdul was pure fun and not defining (or refining) anything, but like with most relationships, you need to take that 'next step' if you don't want it to fade out."
Steffan: "We've both been going through a lot of personal change in the past couple of years, which made us think a lot about where we see the project in one, 10, 20 years, and not just tomorrow. It's hard to pinpoint a single reason for the change, because it's quite holistic and pragmatic. But it's been great because it enabled us to reevaluate and reshape the sound, which is something we've wanted for a long time."
How long did it take you to find your own unique sound, and has that sound evolved at all, particularly since introducing the Gearmaster alias?
Joonas: "That process never really ends. If it did, it wouldn't be exciting anymore, so it's a lifelong learning experience. Of course, there are combinations of elements and sounds that help to identify some of the tracks, but we're not sure you can ever label that 'our sound'."
Steffan: "There will always be this love/hate relationship with your own work, and after the Passion de la Passion EP, it felt like we had maxed out our potential. Ever since then, we've been shuffling between different directions to understand what we identify more with.
"Knowing that we wanted to change the name (at some point) gave us a lot of freedom in learning by doing---putting out a variety of stuff to see what sticks, what we keep coming back to, what stands the test of time. That has greatly helped us understand what we want to achieve and made our vision much clearer. In short, Gearmaster is 'more groove, less goof'."
Please could you give us a summary of your Sample Market Sine Artist series sample pack? What's in it, and who is it for?
Joonas: "The primary drive was to be able to create full tracks using just the pack. Basically, we wanted to make something that producers could use in its entirety--but also pick apart and mix into their own work. Making all the elements easy to manipulate without losing that original 'spice', while also functioning as simple drag-and-drop samples, was a proper 'I give up' type of challenge, but also one that really helped shape our Gearmaster vision in the process."
Steffan: "The pack contains a lot of idea and track starters, but is meant for anyone who produces. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or a professional. We just hope people have fun playing around with it--especially the acid loops, which are our personal favorites."
Are there any particular pieces of hardware or software that you used a lot while creating the pack?
Joonas: "Our main tool is Ableton. It's just very flexible, has a smooth workflow, and a lot of the sounds were actually made using stock plugins. The Arturia Acid V plugin is also a go-to for all things acid, because it's so easy to get a good sequence going. DS Audio's Tantra 2 is also a fun one for rhythmic sequencing."
Steffan: "Outside the box, we relied on the Roland SH-01A for the main bulk of bass and acid sounds. The presets are generally quite good, and the arpeggiator is really easy to implement too. For grooves, we used the TR-8S, which has some proper deep sound design and lots of parameter control. The interface is also top-notch, which makes it very intuitive."
What kind of sound design processes and techniques did you use to create the pack?
Joonas: "Lots of layering and texturing, like adding noise/hiss or fitting together sounds with EQ. It's a good way to repurpose simple sounds into something new and interesting. At one point, we even added five synths together to create a single pad sound."
Steffan: "For effects, we resampled a lot of totally random sounds with automated effects plugins on them, and then cut out the best part. This is how the laser sounds in the pack were made, for example."
How important are samples within your own productions, and do you have any unique ways of using them?
Joonas: "We love sample packs. They are like collectables, of which you can never have enough. But you can instantly tell when a pack is made with care and thought. Often, they're just collections of cool stand-alone sounds that are unusable because they're overproduced or have too many effects going on, leaving no room to make them your own. That was the biggest fear in making our own samples (and still is)."
Steffan: "In our own productions, we usually stick to one shots, but loops are great for getting an idea going. We do use drum loops to add texture to our own grooves, though. But mainly, we go straight for the effects folder. You can get some really interesting results by pitching them around and layering with other sounds and effects so you end up with something new every time, even if you just reuse the same samples over and over."
Finally, what else are you working on? Are there any future shows, projects, releases, or collaborations you'd like to share?
Joonas: "At the moment, we're spending most of our time working on new music and sample packs. A lot of time is also consumed by just practicing the craft and jamming. No shortcuts, all grind. We started offering mixing and production services too, which has been a super rewarding and educational experience so far."
Steffan: "A few months ago, we also launched a label called Slipdisc Recordings, through which we're releasing our next EP. For now, it's just a platform where we can put out our own and friends' stuff, but we have a lot of ideas and ambitions for it.
"Thank you to Angel and Sample Market for having us, and all the nice people who have bought and used our pack. We appreciate you loads :)"
Thank you to Joonas and Steffan for taking the time to chat with us. You can keep up with them on their Instagram, Soundcloud, and Spotify. If you happen to discover some musical inspiration, you can go and check out their exclusive Sample Market sample pack, which contains almost 500 carefully crafted one-shot samples and loops. It's clear that Gearmaster, formerly known as Abdul Raeva, put a lot of effort and consideration into this pack, and we hope it helps you to spark some new creative ideas.
