Interview with G-ta in Dubai

G-ta is a producer based in Dubai who has been making music since 2004. Selected as a BBC Friction Introducing artist in 2009, he has since worked with other producers including Tigerstyle, MoFolactic and Janaka Selekta. G-ta kindly met up with me whilst I was in Dubai to talk about the music he makes.

You've done quite a few remixes, everything from Surinder Kaur's Akhiyan to Badmarsh and Shri's Appa. How do you go about remixing a song?
I just listen to a track. If I like it, I experiment with it. I break down the samples first and then try and make the base part first because that's the most important part of the track. Then the rest, everything happens accidentally. Because when you start a track it's one thing and then when you finish it, it's something else.

You live in Dubai. Do you think that has had an impact on how you make music and the music you make?
Nobody knows me here, nobody knows I make music over here. It's a secret! There is all this house Bollywood stuff over here so people don't actually get this whole bass music thing. Hopefully in the future they will but it will take some time. There are a few of my friends starting bass gigs over here.

Tell me the story of how Haa! came about?
MoFolactic heard me on the Bobby Friction show and he wanted to collaborate on a track. He sent me these vocals he recorded 2 years ago and I started just messing around with them. First of all I had to make the bass part, the bassline. I just made a simple drum snare pattern and laid it on that gidhya di rani loop. I just made the basic bass part and sent it over. He liked it and just kept it like that and he finished it.

There have been strong reactions to the video! Was it too much?
I didn't know he was making a video like that but it's a good one. In some places yes it was to much, like the model parts. He could have used some Punjabi models. I just feel that the video could have been a bit cleaner so that everyone in the family could enjoy it.

How would you have made the video if you had filmed it?
I would have made a story according to the lyrics. The story of the track is a bit different to the story of the video. But alot of effort and hard work was put into Haa!. I could have never made a video as good as this one.

You released a remix album with Sound Shikari, do you have any other projects or collaborations planned?
There is one project I am doing for the future right now and that is a bhangra dubstep EP. It's going to be released on Tigerstyle's label and there are five tracks on it. Sound Shikari is doing a remix on it. They are all original tracks. You might hear one Kuldeep Manak track which is a remake. I recorded these vocals four years ago in India but didn't get the chance to work on it so I have done something with that.

How satisfying is it to make music for a global audience?
It's great. You make a track, put in on soundcloud and instantly you get feedback. That's the main thing. It's faster than releasing an album. If you release an album it takes time - it takes too much time. It also takes money and you have to run for promoting and so this internet is doing a good job promoting music properly.

Is there pressure to produce music quickly and put it on the internet?
I get a lot of lot of messages saying where is the new music, where is the new stuff so when I get time I work on it. Hopefully I will be doing it full time from next year. Currently focusing on this one EP because it's been on hold for such a long time. It's like two years so I will hopefully be finishing in a couple of months.

What was it like when Tigerstyle asked you to do a remix of Kudi?
I was really happy when I got an e-mail from them. It was like wow! It was like a dream come true. When we used to be on MySpace in 2006 it felt so great when they commented on your track. They were doing podcasts so I sent them a track for their podcast. It was the Eyes Lit track. They liked that so from there they approached me for the remix. After the remix they asked me to do something else for their label. They sent me a couple of vocals and I'm still working on them.

You did two remixes for Tigerstyle. What was it like remixing Kudi?
Just one was released, the second one was just experimental. I started something else and the track went somewhere else. When I submitted the remix I started working on the second mix just to let them know if they want another one they can have this one as well.  Pops said we have already mastered it so we can just use the first one. I was like okay no problem.

Two other producers were also asked by Tigerstyle to remix Kudi. Did you get nervous or feel the pressure?
Pops called me once and he was like "Nucleya is doing a remix and there a Shizzio remix so you have to do one remix. Your remix has to be a dubstep one and Shizzio is doing something else so make sure you make a dubstep remix, is that okay?!" and I said "I'll try my best!"

In five years time do you think you will still be making music?
Hopefully! I might move to India because we get to see a lot of talent over there, a lot of new singers and a lot of new musicians who I'd like to collaborate with. They've got so much talent over there. We are doing this dubstep bhangra thing which is kind of new for them and people seem to like it. I want to collaborate with Tigerstyle, get in the studio with them on the same track. Or Swami - I love Swami.