Under the moniker of ShockOne, Karl Thomas has helped establish Western Australia as a prominent centre for producing drum & bass. Next year he supports electronic legends, The Prodigy.
The UK fathers of rave and alternative dance make their way to Australia for a national tour with their new album 'No Tourists' that hits our shores early next year. “It's pretty common knowledge how much of an influence The Prodigy are on me; they're basically the reason I make electronic music,” Karl says.
“The only other artist I can say is as big an influence is The Chemical Brothers. They're the artists when I was ten or eleven that I heard and switched me on to not only electronic music and rave music, but also the notion of being a music producer and listening to music on a bit of a deeper level.
“Maybe not just as a consumer, but starting to ask 'how are they making these sounds, where are they coming from?'; that made me want to explore the world of synthesisers, drum machines and sampling. The more I think about it... it's making me realise how much of a huge, direct influence they've had, even on my [creative] process and how I approach sound.”
Playing second fiddle to arguably the world's biggest electronic live act is no easy feat, but Karl is unfazed by the sheer enormity of what lies ahead. “I'm really bad at adapting my set to be a support artist; I just get out there and do my thing balls-to-the-wall,” he laughs.
“I've never been able to pull it back. It'll be 110 per cent from the get-go, but the thing is that you don't really have to worry about upstaging someone like The Prodigy; their show is, not even arguably… it is the biggest electronic live show on earth... I'll do my thing, they'll do their thing.”
This year has seen fewer releases from Karl than normal, although he says he has been more committed to songwriting behind-the-scenes for an upcoming record. “I've been feverishly writing music, probably more than my release schedule over the year would suggest.”
Karl also became a father for the first time this year, welcoming a daughter into the world. “This year has been chaos, but in a good way,” he says.
“[Fatherhood] is fantastic, there's just not enough hours in the day though. It's interesting the way [having children] changes your work schedule because usually I would say goodbye to my girlfriend for two days at a time when I start the writing period, but you can't do that anymore.
“You have to adapt a little bit and it's harder to get lost in my own self-absorbed, creative mind state. It's made me more efficient and more productive actually because there's just home life and studio life, and nothing else. All other distractions in life have just disappeared this year and that's all I've done.”
ShockOne also plays Breakfast Festival (Perth) 26 December.
The Prodigy Australia Tour 2019
Thu 24 Jan - RAC Arena (Perth)Sat 26 Jan - Bonython park (Adelaide)
Mon 28 Jan - The Riverstage (Brisbane)
Fri 1 Feb - Melbourne Arena
Sat 2 Feb - Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney)
