Confucius: Shaping the Southern Landscape of Dub

'Complexity is just layers of simplicity'.

This resonant quote is written on the wall of Nava Thomas' (aka Confucius) studio. With the release of his new album 'Newsoundlandscapes', this seems totally appropriate.

While the album is a playful, summery mix of funk, soul and dub with occasional jazzy, jungly undertones, Thomas reckons since his first EP in 1999 his musical approach has become more minimal. A far cry, no doubt, from when as a youngster he played the guitar in bands and was into the widdlyness of Jimi Hendrix.

"When I was playing guitar I was only looking at one instrument, not thinking about a complete sound. Even when I was playing with bands I was just concentrating on holding down my own part and just making that work," says the Christchurch based artist.

"When I started making whole tracks on my own, it really made me step back and play a lot more minimally and now that minimalism has permeated my whole musical philosophy."

An advocate of hocketing - the technique of using simple parts layered together to create tight polyrhythms, seems to work in Thomas' favour. 'Newsoundlandscapes' displays a quiet confidence with Thomas allowing each track breathing space.

It doesn't try too hard and is a nicely restrained album of such diverse styles that it never succumbs to banality.

With its easy flute, Ease on Back evokes images of kids playing by fire hydrants in 1970s New York, you know, like the kids on Sesame Street. Back to the Basix features Sheelaroc (Ladi6 and Vudu Child) on vocals.

It's no surprises then this diversity is a reflection of Thomas' personal tastes.

"Definitely! Reggae and funk are my first loves, closely followed by hip hop and jungle. I've also tried to construct the album like a DJ set, but a set from a DJ who doesn't just play one style," he says.

Work on the album started two years ago with Thomas jotting down ideas and composing instrumentals. With about thirty pieces he set about pruning back and refining the material.

"Most songs start as either a melody, a bassline or a chord progression. I'm a big fan of hooks so I try and put them in every song," he says.

"Lots of the ideas on the album just popped into my head out of the blue while I was walking down the street."

On trying to engage an audience, Thomas says he's all about trying to grab the listener with a good melody or beat so his writing process is focussed on isolating what he thinks people will like most. But at the end of the day he only goes with what ideas grab him personally.

Recorded in his Heavyweight Soul Studio, Thomas reworked the tracks on 'Newsoundlandscapes' extensively.

"Like if a bassline was sounding all right but there was one note in it that I realised didn't need to be there or was detracting from the funk, I'd redo it until I felt the track was at its optimum," he says.

With a lot of the tracks using live instrumentation, the main components of Thomas' studio are his Ibanez Roadstar Series II bass with modified pickups, his "cheap old" Spanish guitar and a second-hand flute.

Keys are courtesy of a Roland JV1080. Some of the more synthy sounds come from the Roland JX8P and the little Korg Electric Bass unit.

"I'm going out of a Pentium, running Logic Platinum Version 3.5. I need a gear sponsor!" He laughs.

He runs midi from the JX8P into Logic and then back to the JV1080, building drum tracks from audio on the computer. "So I can record stacks of midi tracks and really get a layered sound with all that midi without having to record anything," he says.

"It allows me to tweak all the different parts and get a nice loud signal before I have to record my audio."

And as far as the production process goes, while Thomas treats it like a job, it is first and foremost his passion.

"I'm in the studio every day from 9-5. This is all I know and all I like doing so I do it all the time. If I didn't I'd probably end up feeling really depressed," he admits.

While at the moment he is just DJing his material, Thomas says he's keen to change that.

"I'm going to put a bit of time and money into developing a live set up. Something I can take on the road. A live dub station, so the fat recorded material is there but so that I can manipulate it differently every time."

"If anyone from Roland, Korg or Yamaha is reading this, sponsor me so I can afford some new gear!" he adds.

Thomas is also enthusiastic about jumping on the turntables, and says he loves mixing up his tracks with local artists music.

"It's wicked to see hands in the air when it's an Aotearoa tune," he enthuses.

So the guy remains based in Christchurch. What keeps him there? Isn't Wellington dub central? I cheekily ask.

"Wellington's dub central eh? I thought the whole country was dub central!" he chides me.

"Actually, if you look around you'll find quality reggae and dub all over the country," he says.

And with Zuvuya in Dunedin, Dubwize and Salmonella Dub in Christchurch, Hamilton's Katchafire and Twelve Tribes and Tigi Ness, I guess he's right.

"The music scene down here is amazing because it's one of the main ways people pass time down here. Either making it, playing it or listening to it," he says.

With Christchurch sometimes being a "quiet little town" Thomas says music has always been high up on the list as far as leisure activities go.

"There's a lot of cooperation and friendliness. It's too small to burn your bridges down here!"

While some of us associate the 'South Island sound' with guitar based bands like The Gordon's The Chills and Dead C, it's fair to say now more and more people are identifying with chilled out dub sounds. It seems the vast, wild landscape down south inspires all sorts of music.

"I don't like to make distinctions between South Island and North Island music. I like to think this place is small enough so we're all working together, beaming out our sound on our little frequency to the rest of the world. A little musical pressure cooker," says Thomas.

"But you're right. The landscape down here kind of subconsciously programmes you to influence your work with a mystical sense of space."

Which brings me to the album cover. Featuring a nice landscapy image, it's exactly what you'd expect from this genre of music.

"I wanted a cover that contained earth (bass) that's there in the rocks, some water (mids) and some sky, which is like the treble," he explains.

It's not just the landscape that inspires Thomas either. He quotes to me: "'A sure sign of an amateur artist is someone who produces more than they consume.' To this end he's always listening to music, checking out how other artists are trying to push the envelope, make new sounds, mixing genres and destroying paradigms.

"I like music that surprises you but is also well crafted, like well made reggae or soul music. Old school sounds but presented in a new format," he says.

He also likes playing in the live funk band P-Bass Expressway - the live performance aspect offers a nice contrast to making beats as Confucius.

"The load is shared between five people. Five musical brains are going to come up with something different to one on its own, so that's an exciting factor," he says.

Reggae, dub and electronica in general have gained huge popularity in New Zealand over the last few years and Thomas is enthusiastic and optimistic about the music here.

"I'm going to make a big call here and say that outside of Jamaica, Aotearoa is producing some of the finest reggae in the world," he says.

"I'm looking forward to the day when I can roll down to the dairy to get some milk and there's a soundsystem playing on the corner."