What DAW do you use to produce? Ableton? Logic?

At the moment I use Logic for almost all production. I find it's powerful, and the included plug ins are on the whole very versatile (and some like Space Designer are pure magic). When I want to do some time-stretching or chop up some vocals, for example, I'll outsource to Ableton then bounce back into Logic.

What synths are you using? Any hardware synths or vintage gear?

I swear by Logic's ES2 synth, it's a real powerhouse once you put some time into it. I've also been fascinated by the Crystal synth, which started out as a total enigma but gradually begins to make sense. I used to be a big fan of the z3ta+ synth when I was making drum bass, and lately I've started using it again for those really gritty bass sounds. Not much to report in the way of hardware synths so far, although before I discovered the Magical 8-bit VST, I used to sample a Game Boy running LSDJ to get those old school chiptune sounds.

You use a lot of old rave samples. How do you go about sampling and importing those sounds?

I spent a long time going through the old rave CD packs I bought years ago and picking out the classic sounds in Adobe Audition to make a sample set. Luckily, a lot of old rave tunes have sections where they break down to just a single synth line, so it's possible to isolate the sounds without too much trouble and load them into a sampler.

How do you play these tracks out live? Do you throw the loops into Abelton and improvising, or do you create more of a DJ / PA hybrid set?

So far I've only played traditional DJ sets (using CDs), but I've been gradually working on an Ableton set for almost a year which will be ready soon. The degree of control and the ability to respond to the crowd that Ableton offers in a live setting is exciting and I'm looking forward to using it. The freedom to drop a bassline from one tune over another and essentially remix your tracks on the fly is something I want to take full advantage of, rather than just using Ableton as an alternative way to DJ. No two live sets will be the same.

Finally, what are you using to get that insane bass sound?

The trusty ES2 synth is the foundation for almost all my bass sounds. I'll start off with a sine or square wave and add heaps of distortion. The Ringshifter's LFO gives that really heavy wobble on tracks like Trick Wobbler. I'll add some colour to the sound by adding some subtle flanger or phaser, and usually experiment with Logic's Auto Filter which can really bring sounds to life. After that it's a case of boosting the EQ at the lows and high-mids, filtering out unwanted high frequencies and compressing to taste. With some bass sounds I'll duplicate the synth and cut the highs on one track and the lows on the other. This allows you to accentuate the squelchy higher end of the bass sound without compromising the real meat of the lows. Finally, resampling the bass sound one or more times and experimenting with effects often leads to the really monstrous basslines.