Bassnectar’s second Ask Me Anything installment brought bassheads across the globe to Reddit to ask the world-renowned DJ their burning questions and silly inquisitions. Questions and answers whizzed back and forth like ping pong balls during the AMA, and we learned about what he has been focusing on lately, plus some lesser-known personal quirks.
We might get another Bassnectar tour, but he’s not telling us when.
He’s been having too much fun with Bass Center and Freestyles, two completely different three-night events curated by the man himself. Plus, we can’t begrudge Lorin some time to have a personal life.
“I’ve got to say our tours evolved into something so special and unpredictable, and for many years, both state of the art and WAY ahead of its time…maybe I will do it again, but the way I have it dialed now is WAY more fun, and WAY more inspiring….and honestly, a lot of my focus this year is about taking off the Bassnectar suit and exploring life off-grid as a human.”
He’s working on something big in Colorado for 2018.
Coming off of the high of his biggest show to date, Bass Center 2016, he noted that even though he could keep going bigger, he wants to keep curating the best festival experiences possible. With that, he did mention plans for another campout in Colorado.
“As it happens we have this AMAZING camp ground in Colorado which we are working on something for 2018… it’s just all SO much work to pull this stuff off… so while we are working on that, I got to put together something I’m arguably even more inspired by: FREESTYLE SESSIONS!!!”
Creating a Bassnectar setlist is a complex process.
He saves spreadsheets, notes, and other files over the years and references them to build a unique list for each event.
“I make a brainstorm in writing before any set, and I have these [spreadsheets and notes] saved for over ten years…eventually I will end up with a massive Ableton session, bursting with possibility, and I spend a large amount of the set strategizing and subtractively editing the incoming possibilities.
If he weren’t the forefather of bass music, he might be a teacher.
When asked about what he would do for a 9-5, Bassnectar revealed that he got his teaching credentials after finishing college.
“…Either a high school history teacher or a guidance counselor… OR! I would love to do preschool or Kindergarten. I got my teacher’s degree when I graduated [was busy with a minor in education, minor in electronic music, and a major in Community Studies] and just wanted to work with music and social change, and inspire/protect/guide people who needed friendship and support…. I’d also love to write novels.”
He’s lowkey a philosopher, too.
“I love Einstein… I read a book he wrote called “Ideas and Opinions” By Albert Einstein” and if you mix that with Ray Kurzweil’s “The Age of Spiritual Machines” and the whimsy of Tom Robbins… that’s kind of the philosophy which is echoing around in my brain. :)”
He plans to keep making music and performing until he dies.
A Redditor asked if he has plans for a “Final Gathering,” to which Lorin replied that he’s going to keep at this for life.
“I’ll die first 🙂 and I plan to die when I am 123 years old [peacefully with a smile of gratitude on my tattered face] so we have a way to go.”
Bassnectar and G Jones will be releasing more collabs together, hopefully soon.
“YES! Greg and I are working constantly on new music together! we are both super busy now with summer, but it’s constantly ongoing.”
We’ll also see some more collaboration fire released on Tom Morello’s forthcoming album.
The pair have been working together since 2015 and brought in some serious talent to make the track. But we won’t be able to give it a listen until Tom Morello releases his new album.
“Tom Morello and I have had a lot of fun as well… I was like DUDE… let’s make a song like Rage Against the Machine which has never been made before, and we did… Then we spent over a year working with vocalists, and ended up working with Big Boi [OutKast] and Killer Mike [Run The Jewels] – it is HEAVY DUTY!!!”
‘Was Will Be’ almost didn’t make it on his new album, Reflective.
He worked on it for about a year, and almost had past collaborators like Lupe Fiasco, Zion I, and Rye Rye on the track.
“I was working on this for about a year, and actually it was gonna be TKO at one point … then I started sending it out to vocalists… the one Mimi came up with was so haunting. She and I love to work together on concepts and lyrics, and although the song has very few lyrics, it’s super powerful to me.”
According to Bassnectar, pineapples do NOT go on pizza.
Some of us have very strong feelings about that.
“Pineapples have too much sugar. I don’t even eat much fruit anymore, and I focus on green vegetables. For pizza, I am more traditional, but not trying to feel anything sweet on it!”
