COASTAL FIRE DEPT and THE BIG BOSS merge for a mischievous, mixed-up, mash-up
GUERNSEY grunge rockers COASTAL FIRE DEPT have teamed up with Macclesfield-based electronic music producer THE BIG BOSS to release a remix version of ‘Regret,’ – ‘Regret (Vincent vs The Big Boss)’
Sounding like the result of a three-day Sean Rider and Paul Hardcastle drug fuelled bender, the success of the remix appears to have caught the Guernsey boys by surprise.
“We did not see this coming, we had never even thought about it, but the stars aligned to bring together two music genres at different ends of the sonic spectrum,” said CFD’s Ollie Goddard.
“Our original version of ‘Regret,‘ a post-grunge alt rock track looking back to a night out many years ago, was influenced by Boston’s indie rock legends Pixies, but ‘The Big Boss’ wanted to throw some Underworld, and Fatboy Slim vibes in the mix, and did it all in seventy-two hours!”
(The Big Boss)
“Saying ‘yes’ to ‘Duggyfest 24’ meant I got to meet Coastal Fire Dept, see them play live, and they got to see me,” explained ‘The Big Boss.’
“I call my style Future Retro because everything I’ve ever loved musically comes into play creatively. So that’s my first punk band Local Chaos in Auckland, electro industrial UK band Thule, various indie incarnations, and other stuff I like, classical, electronic, reggae, ska, drum and bass, pop – a good song is a good song.
“Sitting in front of Coastal Fire Dept. as they played was an awesome experience. The next day I listened to all their songs, and having heard ‘Regret,’ live and remembering the bassline, the chorus, and hearing Vincent the robot’s vocals, just made me feel I could do something with it.
“So, I started with the bass line and put a sub bass underneath it. I put the guitar through an LFO filter gate to make it choppy and added delay. Got a sixteen-bar loop going, added in a four-bar loop from Ozzy with a low-cut eq.
“I wanted to keep the big chorus but not the arrangement, so I decided to drop it at that point as a pre-chorus, and then for the chorus added a big fat dirty synth, a little bit early Killers, ‘Smile Like You Meant It,’ if you like.
“I like to honour a song in a remix and keep the basic integrity there, so I placed sections where it made most sense musically, as a dance track, to me. It was delivered to the lads on Monday. We met on Saturday. Pure bromance and vibes.”
“I am not a fan of electronic music, I am too far into loving guitar driven music preferably on the noisier side,” added Goddard. “I never once imagined, or thought about, a CFD track being remixed. This release is very much with our tongues firmly in our cheeks. It’s a bit of fun and if someone enjoys it, fantastic. What would scare us is if it became popular – we won’t be playing a version like this live ever!”
CONNECT: https://www.instagram.com/coastalfiredept/ & https://www.instagram.com/thebigbossuk
Listen and purchase: Regret (Vincent vs The Big Boss) | Coastal Fire Dept, The Big Boss | Coastal Fire Dept. (bandcamp.com)