Fava is no strange name to bassheads. Building up his career for over 20 years now and MCing at major events like Hospitality and Liquicity, things are definitely coming together. His debut album lands on SUNANDBASS Recordings next Spring, he has an EP coming out on the legendary V Recordings and another one on his very own label Beatalistics. Fava’s no longer only picking up the mic as an MC, he’s slowly making his way into the DJ-scene and becoming a ‘one-man-show’. “I always knew I wanted to be the full package: the vocalist, the MC, the DJ. It’s all coming together and it’s wonderful.” If you want to see Fava play live, you’re lucky. With tours in Thailand, Vietnam, South America, USA and Canada announced already, there’s certainly more to come next year.
Hi Fava! How are you doing?
Yeah, it’s been good! I’m touring at the moment, so life is very hectic and exciting, but I’m thankful that everything has gone through so far. It’s perfect timing with my sabbatical from work.
So you’re taking a sabbatical from work. Tell me more about that.
It’s actually the second time I’m doing this. The first one was five years ago, in 2017. It was a 27 countries world tour and very important for my drum and bass career, as I had the time to tour across all continents. In India I even hosted a rave on a Sunday afternoon! To answer your question, a sabbatical is basically me taking one year off from work to really be able to focus on my music, and to take time for travelling. I work as a teacher, so I already have the weekends off, the major holidays as well. It’s great, but as soon as someone told me about the sabbatical, I had to do it.
How is your year off changing your drum and bass career, now that you can fully focus on your music?
This sabbatical actually should have happened in 2020, but we all know what happened that year! I always wanted to sync my year off with my album, so it all turned out pretty well in the
end, because it’s finally done now, the timing could not be more perfect. I’m not only releasing an album, there’s also two EPs coming. One on V Recordings which lands on the 11th of November on Spotify and Beatport, two weeks later on all platforms, and another one on my own label Beatalistics which will be out on Vinyl December 2nd. So yeah, lots of exciting stuff coming out over the next few months.
The other thing I’m doing now is touring. I’m touring a lot. I’ve visited about ten countries over the past 10 weeks, so you could say it’s been busy! The thing I’m looking forward to the most though, is visiting these new countries, that’s what kicks me. For example, I’m going to Thailand and Vietnam in December, and in February next year, I’ll be in Argentina for the first time, in Buenos Aires. That’s actually another very exciting thing, because there a band will be playing a few of my own tracks live with me! That’s such a life goal for me, I can’t wait.
And then the last thing I’m focusing on right now, is improving my Live PA / DJ skills. I have always seen myself as a complete Drum & Bass artist who is capable of performing his own live shows. It all started back in 2019 when Liquicity Festival asked me to play a DJ set back 2 back with MC Mota. Afterwards I bought myself a little mixer but it really kicked off during lockdown for me. That’s when I was able to focus on improving my mixes and play some live streams. Everything I have been working on for these past few years is coming together. People are starting to book me as a DJ Live Act, and I got the chance to play at Sun and Bass, the USA and Mexico already. I’m excited for this next chapter.
Many things to come, so to hear! Now let’s talk about your teaching life for a moment. Do you think you take on the teacher role when you’re on stage as an MC sometimes?
You could say that, I guess. I see myself as a person who wants to complete the experience for all the listeners. The people pay and want to have a great time, and I want to do them a favour and give them a great time, that’s where the name Fava actually comes from. I try to round up the event, teaching about positivity, living in the moment, being in this together, so yeah, sometimes I probably transport this teacher role on stage as well.
How do you combine your teaching career with your music?
I love teaching, I love kids and I love being able to be that inspiring person in their lives. There’s still students coming back to me after many years, just to say hi. I love that! I’ve been able to combine these two careers up until now, and yeah, it’s great. Like I said earlier, as a teacher you have the weekends off, the Summer during which all the festivals are happening, then the Easter and Christmas holidays, that definitely helps a lot with balancing both careers.
You already told me a lot about what’s coming next for you, but one last question: what’s something you really want to accomplish, other than everything you have been working on so far?
I’m a bit afraid actually, because I will need a new goal in my music life. It’s all happening now, so what’s next? Don’t get me wrong, it’s all great, I have an album tour coming up, the album getting released on a fantastic brand, the EPs, but what’s the next thing that I’m going to work on? In the long run I might get back to production. I’ve actually had 2 releases being a D&B producer already of songs I produced back in 2004 and I have the gear and the talent, just not the time, but yeah, that is the next logical step. I have my own label Beatalistics, I could use that as a platform for my own music. I have been the songwriter for my SkaPunk band for over two decades and seven albums deep already. I want to transport that skill into my Drum & Bass life now as well to be treated more like a solo artist than just simply a MC. Give it some time, but the vision is definitely there.
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