Q&A: K Theory Gear up for Wintersalt
Dustin and Dylan of Bay Area electronic production duo K Theory have been making hits as well as touring the states steady throughout 2012 with their hard yet melodic tunes. They play their first large music festival this weekend at Wintersalt and we spoke to Dylan as they geared up for the performance.
K Theory “Notorious” ft. Dante
What are you guys up to these days?
Just working on some new tracks, getting back in the studio. We finished producing for a rapper recently so we’re going back to some original material. Getting some new stuff ready for the festival.
Are you guys originally from San Francisco?
Yes we’re originally from here – Dustin’s from Marin and I’m from the peninsula, Redwood City area. We actually live in Berkeley now.
Your sound is described as nu-electro, what exactly does that mean?
We were really trying to come up with a new genre so we decided to make a hybrid genre of a bunch of different sounds, it combines the best of really hard breakbeat.
The difference between electro and nu electro is regular electro has 4/4 with a kickdrum on every beat and what we do is a kickdrum on the first beat and a snare on the second beat. So it’s kick, snare and kind of has that breakbeat feel but we also incorporate elements of trance, progressive house, electro, tech house – mixing everything into a hybrid supergenre so you get the best of everything. It allows us to be really creative with that style and be versatile and do different stuff.
Your live show involves a lot of different elements other than just djing, what’s that like?
Yeah we have our DJ set but we only play original material and incorporate the live element. Dustin plays keys for most of the tracks with Reason and then I do some live sampling and mix all the tracks together and we have been working with a bassist too so we might incorporate him as well. We might be doing a little hybrid live set so Dustin will play keys on a few tracks during Wintersalt.
You recently played an event at the Warfield, how was that?
The Warfield was definitely one of the biggest gigs this year for us. It was awesome playing on that lineup and pretty much giving support to Gareth [Emery] and he gave support to us. It was really awesome to play one of the premier venues in San Francisco and to be up there in front of the crowd and they really enjoyed our music so that was fun.
What are you most excited about for Wintersalt?
Just being a part of a big festival, for the first time in San Francisco and having the recognition to be on there. We’re going to be playing before Paper Diamond and he’s been supporting a lot of our tracks lately so kinda cool to be able to have that progression.
Also, playing for a new group of people too because Eye Heart SF is definitely a different crowd than we normally play for. So this will be a good opportunity overall.
Throw a bunch of thumb drives at Diplo in case we meet him and drops them when he plays.
What are some of your favorite spots in the Bay Area?
I know Dustin likes to go to this place in Berkeley called Eudemonia, like a Magic the Gathering card store, they do competitive Magic the Gathering there. He likes to do that and go there on the weekends.
I like to eat a lot so I go to a lot of spots to eat like Akiko’s downtown, it’s a sushi restaurant with the best sushi in San Francisco.
A lot of times we’re just chillin. We’re making music 40 hours a week so we don’t do too much.
Wintersalt Festival ft. Diplo, DJ Shadow, Travis Barker and Mix Master Mike, K Theory and more is this Friday and Saturday, December 28 and 29 at the Fort Mason Pavilion in San Francisco. More info.
The 10 tracks that make up “Shields” are drum-filled and smoky, and half the songs are more than five minutes long. That’s a bit unusual, but it’s also a break from mainstream pop music, and a needed one.