Mister Martin Rönnlund is behind the sarcastic and distortingly broken digital hardcore beats of Sweden's BABYLON DISCO, who have released 2 notorious releases for D-TRASH Records, first hooking up with us back in 2005.  Schizoid here picks BD's brains for a show of the usual Q&A types of Q's.

DTRASH: Your last, "Natsukashii" DTRASH94 came out last year sometime? was a kick ass release, great stuff.  What have you been up to since then?  What is next for BD.

BD:Getting my life back together. A lot of stuff happened in my life which I had to deal with right away, so I had to take an unwanted break from making tunes for a couple of months.
It’s mostly sorted now thou, I’m back, baby! Right now I’m about to release two new remixes of dtrash artists, and me and Himiko have been talking about doing some stuff together. Other than that I’m still making tracks for an upcoming EP, but it’s still a long way to go.

DTRASH: What would you say were the differences between "Viva Life" and "Natsukashii"?  I know there is a big ode to Bomb20 musically on the latter.

BD:I guess that Viva Life was a bit all over the place. You’ve got a lot of different styles on just one pretty short album. Even thou I still like “Getting Away with Murder” and ”New Routine”, I sometimes regret putting them on the same album. With that said, I think ’Natsukashii’ has a more defined sound as an album. Nothing really sticks out, all tracks have that gritty-lofi feel to it and I constantly flirt with VGM-melodies.

BD:And yes, Bomb20 was a huge inspiration for that album, the intro (named ’Babylon 20’) is of course an homage to him. A few years back I became obsessed with that man, and I just recently managed to complete my collection of his work. I’ve got all his vinyls and tapes, and therefore you shall bow before me, puny mortals.

DTRASH: what's happened with your old project Primas Annias and when will PA material ever see a definitive release.   What do you think of the chiptune-scene?

BD:As I’ve previously stated, Primas Annias took on too many styles. I did noise, digital hardcore and pure chiptunes under that name, and that made people confused (myself included). I wanted to separate certain styles between different projects, hence Babylon Disco.

BD:As of now, Primas Annias is put on ice. I’m still into making chiptunes, but I doubt they will ever see the light of day.
The chiptune/VGM-scene is exciting. You’ve got a lot of purists making music strictly on old hardware, and you’ve got people expanding the sound. I think the scene needs both the genious of Rob Hubbard and the more experimental stuff of Duracell.

DTRASH: While your material has a very edgy aggressive sound, there are melodic themes that come up in many songs, that you don't see in generic "breakcore" songs so to speak.  What is the influence for this.

BD:  First of all, the term ’generic breakcore’ means fuck-all. Breakcore is just another loosely defined genre, much like neofolk. Basically anything can be labeled breakcore nowdays, provided you use cutups and/or distortion. The same problem presents itself with Digital Hardcore. How can Christoph de Babalon and Atari Teenage Riot both be labeled DHC when they don’t sound very much alike? It’s all very complex and, truth be told, boring. Fuck genres.

But to answer your question about the melodies, I guess I often feel that I need some kind of contrast to my often very distorted beats. And a catchy VGM-lead will do that just fine.

DTRASH: You play live sets with an additional member.  How is the live set and what types of material is played.  Are many classic BD songs played.  What is the dhc/breakcore scene etc like in Sweden where you're from if any. 

BD: Yes, I often try to get at least one more person up on stage during my concerts. Mostly because I can’t control every aspect of the songs myself, but also because it looks better. Nothing is more sad than seeing a guy sitting in front of a laptop looking bored onstage. For my most recent gig I played with a good friend called Suacae Sounds, and we will probably continue to work together live.

As for classics, nah. I like to keep it fresh. But I must admit that I often end the gigs with a massive noise outro, usually after playing ’bleed’.

As for a Swedish scene - there is none. Zip, nada, el silcho.

DTRASH: Two kick ass remixes from D-TRASH bands are upcoming on D-TRASH releases.  If you could mix any of your own favorite bands, who do you think you could tackle well.  And what are your worst artists that you'd like to remix to fuck up their horrible sound.

I guess I would have to say Sonic Subjunkies, one of the most underrated bands from the DHR-era. I’d like to see what I could do with their sound.

As for the worst, that’s a tricky one...  I guess the new Dillinger Escape Plan. They made one of my absolute favorite albums; Calculating Infinity. Nowadays they’re just…. gay. I’d remove all the lame emo-parts, speed it up and add distortion.

DTRASH: You released "Viva Life" EP DTRASH62 originally as a pressed CD in a 5.25" case.  What would you say is your favorite home computer from pre-PC/MAC days.

BD: Unlike you, Schizoid, I’m not old as fuck [Now hey there! -Schiz note]. When I was a kid PC-computers, as well as fire and the wheel, were already invented. As for a favourite game, I guess I’d go for Wolfenstein 3D. Lots of nazis got shot in 1992, let me tell you.

DTRASH: What is going on with the 8bitError crew.  Who else still operates and where can we hear their stuff.  ie ZICKBONE KAWAII DEADBEAT etc. How is that zine going that you were running.

BD: Basically, we stopped working together. Kandycore (a.k.a Deatbeat and Kawaii) is still very active with graphical design and he still plays live with his gameboy every now and then, but as a crew we’re more or less done. Zickbone is busy playing World of Warcraft I guess, hah.

DTRASH: Where did you get the name BABYLON DISCO. (typical Q&A question)

BD: If you’re implying that I came up with the name when I was ordering a pizza you’re sadly mistaken, dear sir! It has absolutely no relation with a pizza called Babylon and another called Disco. None I tells ye!

DTRASH: What are some of your personal favorite tracks, songs that are definitive classic BABYLON DISCO tracks.

BD: I guess ”Hus i Helvete”, ”bleed” and ”Mass”.  ”Hus i Helvete” for that raw, head on sound...no compromise, no jerking around, no talent. ”bleed ” for my love of noise and ”Mass” as a good example of my love for playing around with VGM-melodies I guess.

DTRASH: You're working on some new project?  I heard a few tracks with guitar.  Whats the deal on that stuff.

BD: Ah yes. My new project called IYOV. I tried to make DHC Atari Teenage Riot-style, using cutup breaks and guitars, and then adding vocals. However, it turned out a little different, infusing some weird kind of metal/sludge-sound, and I decided to try to get an entire EP together. Looks like I’m going to release a debut-EP later this year.

DTRASH: What is the capital of Assyria?

BD: I don’t know that....AAAAaaaaah!!!

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