Detox Unit Talks Breakbeats & Breakfast Ahead of JadeStation

On October 26th, Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Mickman, and 5AM are set to present the deepest dive into bass music yet in 2019 in New York City. As we gear up for this Saturday’s spectacle, we took a moment to catch up with an old acquaintance on his recent exploits and experiments.

Joseph Roberts, aka Detox Unit, has been surging through the ranks of contemporary producers, and 2019 has been his biggest year to date. This summer saw him in headlining slots across the festival circuit in the U.S, including Solasta Festival, Yonderville Music and Arts Festival, and Quasar Festival. Lately he’s been in cahoots with Cullen Hassel, an Arkansas-based visual producer, and together they’ve taken the Detox Unit experience into vibrant and immersive new territory. They’ll be teaming up together once again this weekend, showcasing a bevy of new content, routines, and brain-splattering combinations.

Detox Unit at Yonderville Music and Art Festival (credit: Dark One Photography)

For a producer with such  a dedicated, on-the-ground following, Roberts has released surprisingly little music. His series of “Recent Works” mixes is the largest view into his studio catalog, with his actual EPs being even sparser. This tightlipped, frugal approach keeps Roberts a step ahead of the game; You have to catch him live to catch the music. It’s partially why he’s so prized on the touring circuit, rinsing a revolving treasure trove of VIP’s, bootlegs, and spicy, unreleased cuts. Because of the intrigue around his project, we felt the need to poke and prod his brain a bit more. We last corresponded with Joe in 2017 after a Brooklyn performance supporting Jade Cicada. As JadeStation approaches, it felt like the proper time to finally catch up with him again, this time about breaks, production, life on the road, and breakfast necessities.

---

The Rust: What inspired you to begin producing and playing out break beats lately?

Joseph: It's always been something I've done on the side. Breaks, more specifically of the 123-138 BPM variety, have always resonated with me. When it's good it's equal parts hip-hop and drum n bass both at their wrong tempos. It’s the intricacy and wild sound design of bass music combined with the infectious groove of house. When I lived in Austin, Texas, it was quite common to catch me playing breaks all night at an after party. The recent push I've been making with the breakbeat sound has been something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and with the momentum I've got going it just felt right. There was a certain type of sound that was being pushed from 1999-2005 and I think our dance floors are missing it dearly. My aim with all this is to bring that style back with modern production for the discerning listener. I absolutely love all the heavy sound-design-laden, hip-hop type music we're all pushing right now, but that has always felt like head-nod, arm throwing music, whereas breaks have been a full body dancing experience for me. With all that said, I by no means intend to change styles, and you can expect plenty more heavy hip- hop infused bangers.

The Rust: What are the ingredients for your ideal drum break? Are there any sounds or instruments you’re especially fond of?

Joseph: Excellent question! A good drum break is essential to a groovy tune, and I spend a lot of time trying to source mine or make my own. Lately I've been trying to find old sample CD's from the early 2000s, before online sample packs were a thing. What I like to look for in a drum break first and foremost is vibe. It's hard to describe, but certain breaks just have this dusty airiness to them, and the drums hits will just flow one into another. It needs to have a certain level of crustiness mixed with attitude. Drum breaks that have little snippets of vocals in them are especially delightful, such as the classic "Think Break". Good groove and swing on the back beat snares is another thing I look for, they really help keep the beat flowing between the main snares and kicks. Lately I've been trying to create my own drum breaks to use in my tunes using simulation drum kits in Kontakt. “Obscure” is an example of a tune where I've done this. I still have a long way to go in this area - the vibey bit I was talking about earlier is especially hard to recreate, but I enjoy the challenge.

The Rust: Can you talk to us about the process behind the breakbeat tune "Vibrate" on your last EP? 

Joseph: That tune was actually a rather last minute addition to the EP. I had the release pretty much ready to go by the end of April, and sort of on an impulse decided I should include another track to make it more of a showcase of the different styles I can make. I probably put more individual focus on this tune than any other ones in the EP and wound up rewriting it a few times during May. It originally started out sounding far more like a psychedelic Detroit electro tune and went through a few iterations until it sounded more like a slow Nu Skool Breakbeat tune. A few elements in the track, including the "Melinda" vocal sample - which is just a recording of me pitched down - come from an old breakbeat tune that I wrote in 2016 called "Dimensional Sound" but never saw release. I did my best to make the track both a nod to the past and an indication of the future.

The Rust: By our count, this Playstation Theater gig will be your fourth in New York City. How are you feeling about this one compared to the others?

Joseph: This will be the biggest and best one to date, hands down. All the bells and whistles are being brought out for this one. Everyone on the bill is bringing their A-game, from the VJ's to the producers, the sound guys and production staff, right down to every wonderful person on the dance floor. It's going to be one for the books without a doubt. My other shows in NYC have all been great, but I feel this is the first one where we're really combing over the details down to the smallest bit to make sure it is a quality experience for all.

The Rust. You're from Scarsdale just north of New York City. Any words of advice, cautionary tales, food recommendations or other tips for fans traveling from afar?

Joseph: Scarsdale born and raised, I think I have some old friends from high school that will be making it out to the show. Playing shows in New York has always been an interesting feeling for me, as I didn't touch music production until I moved away, so it always feels like touching on an old chapter of my life - a chapter that had much better bagels. I highly recommend anyone coming in who hasn't been to NYC to go to one of those corner shop bodega delis and get a breakfast sandwich. Your life will be changed. Riding the subway is also something that should not be skipped, it is an experience in and of itself. 

The Rust: What kind of preparation do you do for your sets? Do you strive for a ratio between original productions and DJ selections? 

Joseph: Lately I have not been doing much prep at all in the traditional sense for my gigs. I essentially spend up until the day of flying out working on new tunes to play out at the show. I typically don't start working on my set until I'm on the plane and usually finish it up at the hotel the night before and morning of the show. It may be a bit last minute by some peoples standards, but I like it and it allows me to bring more new music to my sets than I would've otherwise. 

I keep my DJ setup very straight forward so set prep is just a matter of figuring out what tunes to play and when, and I figure out all the transitions while I am up there. I try to keep my sets mostly original, and for the past year I have been averaging about 26 tunes a set, and usually 22-23 of those will be original. The remaining ones will be homies tunes or some random producer I am hyped on, sometimes a cheeky drum n bass tune here and there. For this upcoming NYC show I will be doing an all original set. 

The Rust: You've had a busy summer. What have been some highlights? On the flip side, has your schedule worn at you all? 

Joseph: You can say that again. Between all the summer festivals, Burning Man, moving to a new house, and all these fall/winter gigs, it's been quite a ride. I would say Solasta was the absolute highlight of my summer, with Burning Man coming in at a close second. The homie levels at Solasta were just off the charts, and it was just an absolute pleasure being involved. This summer was also my first time at Burning Man, and I could go on for hours about that, but honestly you should just go and experience it for yourself. I've never been this busy in my life and it's amazing, but on the flip side stress and exhaustion have been reaching an all time high. It's really just a matter of learning how to prioritize healthy habits and time management in an ever-decreasing bubble of free time. I am still learning how to balance my life so it’s been a bit of a struggle keeping up with everything, but it’s all a part of the journey. A lot of creative inspiration comes from the struggle and it's one of the things that keeps me going.

---

Purchase tickets to Jadestation here

FOLLOW Detox Unit: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Spotify / Facebook

JadeStation: The Last Great Electronic Gig at Playstation Theater

The cream of the crop in contemporary US glitch-hop - Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Mickman and 5AM - will soon share the stage together on October 26th at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square. Joining them are four supremely talented VJs, some of whom have become intimately associated with this music: Steven Haman, Cullen Hassel, Tenorless and Dr01d. A full-force Funktion One sound system will tie it all together. This will be the last great electronic show at Playstation Theater before it closes its doors at the end of 2019.

There’s a delightful feeling in the air over this event, a sense of alignment. It feels right. A new generation of stand-out producers will ascend to the main stage to curate a new kind of vibe. It’s a fitting end for a venue that always held it down for New York’s electronic community and served as a germination station for many psychedelic electronic passions. 

During the formative years of my own journey with electronic music when my feelings toward the culture were moving from enthusiastic to obsessive, most of the biggest and best shows I went to were at Playstation, which was then called the Best Buy Theater. From the annual Gramatik runs to STS9’s Fall tour appearances to Tipper’s return to New York in January 2015, I and those who came up around me spent many memorable nights in that blue, subterranean space. 

During the formative years of my own journey with electronic music, most of the biggest and best shows I went to were at Playstation, which was then called the Best Buy Theater.

What some consider to be the theater’s “slightly awkward design” I always found as novel. To enter the theater, you ride down a double-flight of escalators. It gave me the sensation of truly entering another place, somewhere set apart that was dimly lit, loud, and exciting. I knew my friends would be running around and that the opportunity to make new connections was ever-present. Times Square might be the place every true New Yorker avoids like the plague, but at least it’s accessible by public transit unlike some other big *cough* Avant Gardner *cough* venues.

Each producer has great history in New York City, as we’ve highlighted before here and here. Almost a year ago, they each performed in the city on the same night, with 5AM, Detox Unit and Jade Cicada supporting Tipper and Kings Theater and Mickman slinging at our afterparty with Sermon. Before that, they were headlining small clubs in Brooklyn. And so October 26th will be a crescendo of sorts: a great leap forward for Jade Cicada and his cohorts and a fitting way to close the books on an endearing venue. 

Tickets / RSVP

Who is the Precise Electronic Producer Detox Unit?

On a steamy August night in a dark space bursting with Brooklynites and other humans, a DJ steps to the decks. It’s the third installation of the Lights Out series at the Knitting Factory, and Detox Unit is about to blow minds. Ascending into the corner of the room, Joe Roberts knows what’s cranking inside the spanking Hennessy Sound System before him. He knows forwards and backwards the material he’s prepared - detailed, meticulous, dirty, and deep. He knows when the music meets the medium, sound speeding through wire and circuitry, he’ll ignite the sell-out crowd like a tinderbox. 

"Adam Psybe who runs Psybe Industries designed my logo. My only input was that it had to be abstract, minimal, and kinda sci-fi. The bit at the bottom translates to 'noise' or 'sound'." - Joe Roberts a.k.a. Detox Unit

Detox Unit is returning to New York City this Friday, November 10th to headline the anticipated Sauce Sessions at Sunnyvale in Brooklyn, a new series of shows conceived by the The Saucy Monster. Joe Roberts a.k.a. Detox Unit actually grew up just north of the city in Scarsdale, NY before moving to Austin, TX in 2013. “I really miss the snow, proper bagels, great Chinese takeout everywhere, as well as the urban sprawl of NYC, but the scene here is rad,” says Joe, who was generous enough to speak with The Rust amidst a hectic schedule of shows from Portland, Oregon to Miami to West Virginia.

“I think Detox Unit is easily the breakout artist of 2017,” says Kyle Miller a.k.a. The Saucy Monster. “Dude’s been on a steady path of destruction, releasing all original mixtapes while simultaneously touring across the country.” Kyle is a photographer and producer (Indobeats). As the gracious host and founder of Sauce Sessions, he’ll be seeing Detox throw down for the first time on Friday.

Many in the community got their first taste of Detox at Tipper & Friends (T&F) events, which have been a modest launching pad for Joe and a handful of other artists. In 2016, the community left the gathering at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Florida mad for Jade Cicada. This year, Detox Unit were the words on everyone’s lips.

"I have so much love for both the Daves [Dave Tipper & manager Dave "Lobotomy"] and what they do." - Joe Roberts a.k.a. Detox Unit (Artist: Android Jones)

“In the summer of 2016, I got a message to my artist page on Facebook from Tipper's manager along the lines of ‘You doing anything in October?’.” Joe's first T&F performance transpired during the October, 2016 Denver get-down. “Needless to say, I proceeded to freak out and run around the room, then did my best to respond in a calm and collected manner. Tipper's music has been a huge influence on me." Some said they enjoyed Detox more than the headliner himself at Suwannee this Spring. This may be a minority opinion, but among the Spanish moss dripping thick with humidity Detox made his name known.

This come-up has been propelled not by a few spectacular sets nor a groundbreaking release, but years of dedication to a craft. “I met Joe in 2013 through a mutual friend while living in Austin” says Sofia Raisanen, a current writer for the knowledge-sharing platform ProducerDJ.com founded by ill.Gates. Sofia brought Detox Unit into the fold at Street Ritual in Summer  2015 while working as the A&R rep and PR Director for the West Coast conscious music label. “Joe was really focused on his DAW (digital audio workstation).  His full motivation is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed; it’s straight up hard work.”

"I began producing music in 2012, initially with a program called Reason but then I switched to Ableton Live. The early stuff was pretty abstract, ... kinda beat-less stuttered out sequences of odd synth sounds. In 2014 I dropped all other pursuits and put my focus on music. Haven't looked back since.

Joe is an audio engineer with a sophisticated home studio that includes modular and analog synthesizers, keyboards, old-school effects units, a controlled mess of circuitry, and a separate room for mixing. While some individuals including the author are driven to madness by the slightest technical difficulty, since childhood Joe has derived satisfaction from fixing and tinkering with electronics.

According to Oxford researcher Simon Reynolds in his history of electronic music titled Historia Electronica Preface and published in “The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader” in 2005:

'Electronic music is driven by a quest to find the most radical or futuristic-sounding potential in brand-new technology. And that involves essentially (re)inventing the machines: producers are always claiming the first thing they do after acquiring new gear is to throw away the instruction manual and start messing around. Often creativity entails abusing the machines, employing them incorrectly.'

As a gear head and someone who has loved electronic music “since day one”, Detox Unit embodies this ethos. “Most of the audio gear I own I've taken apart and messed about with the insides at some point in time,” Joe says. This obsession can be a double-edged sword, however. “I find sometimes this fascination can lead to a never-ending cycle of tinkering with this or that and never actually writing any music. I am constantly rearranging how everything is plugged in, never satisfied with just one particular signal flow.”

Joe incorporates his technological fascination into the aesthetic of Detox Unit, believing the imagery juxtaposes well with his sound design. Take for example the visual associated with the “Recent Works, Vol. 3” mix. “I used an image of an old Turbosound cabinet, the TMS-4 to be exact. I had been reading up on the history of Tony Andrews and his time at Turbosound prior to Funktion One; the image seemed appropriate.”

"The picture from "Recent Works Vol. 3" is a continuation of the theme of using technical, document-inspired images with the music" - Joe Roberts a.k.a Detox Unit

Generally, with more than three self-acclaimed sound heads in a room, and it becomes nearly impossible to find a consensus about what music to bump. For the last month, however, virtually every time I gather with friends one person will advocate for the new Detox mix to the immediate and unanimous approval of others. “I made ‘Recent Works Vol. 3’ at around 8:00am in a makeshift studio I had setup in Denver after staying up all night writing the third tune in the mix, the 808 heavy one with the vocal bit saying ‘this is my real life’,” Joe tells us. “Admittedly I probably should have slept and then made the mix but inspiration is fleeting so I think it's important to strike while the iron is hot.”

Detox Unit music is mental and physical. Glitches woven into intricate patterns twist the mind in comfy little knots, while thunderous but carefully placed bass vibrates the room and everyone in it. Space is key. Empty space in his mix casts sounds into dramatic relief, sharpening their edges and drawing acute attention to every noise. Brief pauses give greater force to the fusillades of bass that follow, and the details of sound design which can be so easily missed become the center of attention within Detox Unit music.

This caught the attention of Blake Oakes from Together At Last Promotions out of Atlanta. Rust readers may remember that Blake conceived the Lights Out series to create a party focused on sound and little else. “It’s completely about the sound with him,” says Blake, who recently booked Detox Unit for another Lights Out set - his second - in Chicago. “He matches the concept to a tee.”

While Joe appears to spend most of his energy crafting new music, he’s found time to focus on his live performance, too. “Lately I've been mixing on the Pioneer CDJ platform using flash drives and it's been a lot of fun. My old setup featured Ableton, and I used a controller to play my tracks. Now with my new setup I've been focusing on how to string together different tracks to make the whole set one cohesive journey that keeps the dance floor moving.”

It's rare to be intellectually engaged by music while simultaneously getting down, but this is what Detox can deliver. Friday at Sunnyvale the dance floor will indeed be set in wild motion, but not just by Detox. Supporting him is the rising Rust artist MALAKAI along withgifted instrumentalist and producer 5AM, and local low-end lurker Yakooza who’ll spin back-to-back with a special guest. If you’ve never seen Detox Unit perform, prepare for an immersive experience. Check out any of his Recent Works mixes, his latest EP SubPlatter Splatter, or his set from Tipper & Friends Suwannee.

FOLLOW Detox Unit:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp