About Me
Since being dazzled as a child by the double drummers, 'punk funk' and
African inspired rhythms of Adam and the Ants, then becoming hooked on
a musical diet of the Smiths, Parliament, David Sylvian and Roxy Music
feeding an inspiration to experiment at an early age with his first
synthesizer and drum machine combo, through to this day with his latest
and greatest headline dj slots in the world's top clubs and current
single/album releases with his electronic 'device' the Remote ('I won't
use the word band anymore' he says firmly), Ashley Casselle has always
pushed his sound forward rapidly, innovating furiously and inspiring
others whilst avoiding the genre restrictions and pidgeonholing that
many electronic producers and djs get tagged with.
"I apply the same principles to mixing records in a club as I do to making
them in the studio - there has to be the right balance of rhythm and
melody, minor or major, edgy or dark. I'm driven by unearthing the rare
and unusual yet giving it all an accessable edge."
Recently Ashley has graced the decks in the world's best discotheques large and
small, from San Francisco's Ruby Skye, NYC's 'Sullivan Room' to
Singapore's Zouk, through a triumphant tour of Brazil's finest clubs
Serena and Warung, debuted at Japan's elite nitespots such as Tokyo's
cavernous Womb and Osaka's cosy yet sweaty S*aze, then onto recent
energetic English dates at ultra cool Issst Shoreditch East London
warehouse parties and Bristol's definitive techno/house night Loco, all
in the past 12 months. 'When I'm playing these great clubs now I always
connect with the spirit of where I've come from musically, I can never
be accused of playing a generic set of similar sounding tracks, one
after the other, like a few djs I hear. I like to constantly reference
where I've come from as well as where I'm headed' nods Ashley.
It was indeed in the early to mid nineties (as Daydreemer) that the young
Ashley became absorbed by the emerging house and techno scenes, playing
live sets with a couple of synths, a dancer and a singer at outdoor
raves combining his love of indie vocals with lush electronics on his
debut 'Show Me' ep, developing his own blend of Detroit techno and UK
house, later notching up a succession of releases and remixes, his
favourite from that time being a reworking of Tenth Chapter's 'Product'
for William Orbit's Guerilla records. After teamimg up with DMC's Rod
Layman he perhaps most notably turned the acoustic pop of Chris Issac's
'Wicked Game' into a balearic gem, with a Public Enemy beat and a nod
to the original Ibiza spirit to boot.
Old Hastings friend and fellow homeboy John Digweed soon
offered Ashley the chance to hone his evolving deck skills and gave him
his first dj gig at Bedrock on Hastings pier, where Casselle blended
dubby techno, trip hop, soundtracks, rare funk and strange Italian
house records to experiment and entertain for the inquisitive regulars.
A residency at house dj Stuart Patterson's West London deep house club
Rivera ('A mini Ibiza in Kensal Rise!' reminices Ashley) followed
later, alongside future deckstars Jo Mills and Phil Mison. Thus his dj
apprenticeship had begun and he became aquainted with the idea of
building dj sets, which paved the way for his later near mythical 5hr+
dj stints which are always injected with the dubby, melodic, techy yet
often spikey and unique house sound which still characterizes a Casselle set today.
It was when he signed his Ashtrax project (alongside co-producers Paul
Greendale and James Christopher) to South London imprint Deviant
Records in the late nineties that he found a natural output for his
dance floor inspired yet headphone friendly tracks, with 'Kafka' and
'Helsinki' quickly becoming cult classics, remixed by fellow blossoming
DJ types Danny Howells and Sander Klienenberg.
At this time Casselle began a residency at the London division of Bedrock at
London's Heaven nightclub which saw him delve into deep trippy house
territories, whilst developing an angular new dub break beat sound to
compliment his more 4 to the floor releases. Labelmate Paul van Dyk
asked Ashley to do a warm up set for him at his Awaiting night in
Berlin and in turn Ashtrax remixed PVD's 'For an Angel ', transforming
the uber anthem of '98 into an underground electro break beat classic.
A succession of dream mega club DJ sets followed, with residencies and
primetime slots in the Courtyard at Cream, Space in Ibiza,
Gatecrasher's Summer Soundsystem and world tours, Scotland's Colours,
Renaissance at the Cross in London, then his status as an international
dj grew, with dates including tours of China (he was the first
international dj to play Nanjhing alonside Hacienda favourite Tom
Wainright) , Australia and a 3 week stint aboard a greyhound tourbus
taking him all over the USA (another first for a UK dj) for clubs such
as LA's Giant and Spundae then remixes for dance music's greats
including Timo Maas, Derick Carter, Alex Dolby and top labels such as
Distinctive, Junior Boys Own, Mantra Vibes and Automatic and Hooj began
to flow in.
His dj mix compilations Deviations and Response quickly achieved mix of the
year status which paved the way for his Radio 1 Essential Mix in 2003,
further blurring the boundaries between house, dub, electro, techno and
breakbeats. His status as top jock and producer extraordinaire was set
in stone by repeat positions in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs hall of fame.
Soon Casselle found himself djing in Japan before techno genius Richie
Hawtin, New York with the legendary Junior Vasquez then onto the
hallowed decks of the Big Apple's Vinyl alongside favourite friend,
marathon dj set man and fellow Hastonian Danny Howells. Ashley even
found his picture hanging in the National Portrait Gallery after his
inclusion in photographer Chris Lopez' 'DJs' 'coffee table'
encyclopedia of record spinners. 'I looked fine but my eyes looked a
little bloodshot' commented Ashley.
Working with Felix da Housecat vocalist and collaborator Tyrone 'Visionary' Palmer then
produced the driving dark house sound of Casselle and Christopher's
'Midnight Sun', a tribute to the long dj sets and twisted grooves of
NYC, released on Futrureshock's Fuju imprint which led Ashley to begin
the search for a regular singer on his records. A chance meeting after
one of his dj gigs found a punky looking youth with heavy makup,
peroxided hair with an intense stare chatting up his girlfriend, Ashley
later asking the bizarrely named Ben Lost to come to the studio to sing
on what became 'Digital Reason', all frosty electronics and dubbed out
vocals- a change from previous Ashtrax fare. From then onwards an
alliance was forged. Lost had a voice that sounded like it had fallen
off the back of an 80's John Peel Radio 1 session, with echoes of
Buzzcock's singer Pete Shelley meeting John Lydon and Elvis Costello in
a soundclash down a back alley with a sad yet defiant broken robot.
After meeting talented producer and dj Asad Rizvi as he and Ashley
manned the decks at a Top 100 DJs afterparty, the seeds of the new
device (see above) were sown and the Remote was born.
Last year 'Too Low to Miss', the debut album by the Remote was released on
leading dance label Global Underground, another step away from the
previous Ashtrax sound that found reviewers praising the band that
'sound like Depeche Mode after two weeks in Ibiza' and gaining critical
acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic from dance music circles and
indie fans alike. The long player was procalimed 'album of the issue'
in DJ Mag and recently with the dark disco and new wave pop of double a
side single 'Please Change Your Mind/She's Going Out Tonight' IDJ
proclaimed that the Remote 'draw comparisons to the Smiths on their
finest form', S-Xpress mainman/dj Mark Moore enthusing that they're
'Like the Cure goes disco'. Currently in the studio with with messers
Rizvi and Lost working on the second album, Ashley is also finding time
to enjoy a collaboration or two and is 'very excited' about his new
track with friend and London neighbour James Holden and doing a 'couple
of remixes, good dancefloor action' he says.
A new moniker
Asad and Casselle sees the Remote men return to their techno/house
roots with a couple of new pure club tracks, 'Bazooka' already being
hailed as modern anthem for the darkest dance floors and is Ashley's
favorite own house production for ages. 'It certainly rocks' he says.
Currently the pair are holed up in the studio remixing all girl electro
group Client and not getting enough sleep.
By: Morris Adams
