INTERVIEW: Icicle [Shogun Audio]

With a healthy heritage and background in drum & bass, Icicle's music at the slower dubstep tempo retains alot of the hallmarks he's become reliable for: interesting atmospherics, tough drums and mammoth bass lines that work soundsystems properly and with vigour. After releasing his debut brooding dubstep 12" on Friction's Shogun Audio imprint we got wind of his inclusion on Tempa's forthcoming Dubstep Allstars 6 EP - where he appears alongside luminaries like SBTRKT and FaltyDL alongside people like Benga and Skream - and after a quick investigation it was obvious that his newer productions showed more than a hell of a lot of promise, sitting effortlessly in the midst of such established company.

So... in an attempt to shed light on what we felt was some of the weightiest and spacious, ominously moody dubstep to hit SR HQ's speakers in a while, we caught up with the London based Dutchman, who in turn provides the wider internet with our 53rd Sonic Router Mix.

Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

My name is Jeroen Snik aka Icicle. I’m from Eindhoven in Holland but moved to London 2 years ago because of music. I’m predominantly known for making and DJing drum & bass and am signed to DJ Friction’s Shogun Audio label. I’ve been making techno and dubstep for a long time also and have just started putting that out there more.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

Outside of music there isn’t a lot going on right now. I’ve studied mechanical engineering but put that on hold when the music took off for me a few years ago. I moved to London and decided to put all my time to the music and give myself a couple of years to just follow it and do it right.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I started playing piano at a really young age and a bit later the drums as well. When I was about nine or ten or something I remember getting this massive old Casio keyboard from my grand parents with built in drum tracks and loads of different voices and I started recording myself jamming with a little tape player. Then when I found out you could use computers to program music I was hooked and never looked back.

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

I’ve got a mac based studio running Logic and I rewire Reason into it for certain elements of my tunes. I’ve got a motu feeding the industry standard Mackie hr824’s, 2 valve compressors to beef up beats and a Mackie desk. A Roland sh-101 because it’s just too much fun, not because it’s actually essential to my sound. But my favourite thing has got to be my SSL Duende, the channel EQ’s from it are so brilliantly transparent and precise, you can make everything sound crisp.


Icicle - Minimal Dub [Shogun Audio]

You’ve recently started making dubstep stuff after along time doing d&b… How did you get into this current flux of dubstep?

Well, it’s more like I’ve (relatively) recently decided to send some of my stuff to some people in dubstep, I have been listening to it and making it for years. I just found solely putting out d&b wouldn’t keep me happy in the long run, after all there are so many great styles of music why limit yourself to just one. Drum & bass will always be special to me and the backbone of my sound, but ultimately I would love to just be known as a producer of good electronic music and get out of the pigeonhole.

How would you describe your sound? You just had a 12” out on Shogun Audio that shows the new direction… it seems like you’re heavily vibed out on DMZ/Kryptic Minds kind of slow brooding stuff… would that be right to presume?

I am definitely into the DMZ/Kryptic/Headhunter etc. sound and I guess my stuff that’s floating around now draws from that a lot; in a way though it’s just a slowed down version of my 170 sound. I am also very influenced by techno and want to explore the dub techno side of it all a bit more in the future also.

Do you think the energy of 170 bpm music translates into what you’re doing now or is it something completely different?

I personally look at it as very similar music but the fundamental difference is that, with d&b, you have the intense energy and with dubstep you trade that for sonic space. In other words, drum & bass Is the more hyped, and dubstep is the more spacious and detailed side of essentially the same dark deep and sub driven sound palette.

Where do you take inspiration from when making music?

Other great music, new pieces of kit, collaborations and deadlines… I always find it so pretentious when people that make lyric-less music say life etc haha. I wouldn’t know how to turn making a piece of toast in the morning into a hi-hat pattern.

You’ve got a cut, ‘Anything,’ featured on the next Tempa Allstars release. Tell us about that… and how does it feel to be in such esteemed company – Skream, FaltyDL, SBTRKT etc…?

It’s great to see it finally come out; Tempa signed that tune about a year ago now. The whole EP is very much to my liking, its great to be a part of it. And to be on the flip side of what in my opinion is Skream’s baddest tune in a while; ‘Rolling Kicks’ is icing on the cake!



What other projects have you got in the pipeline? What’s happening with you in the rest of 2010? Gigs, releases, personal growth etc?

The big project right now is my debut album forthcoming on Shogun Audio. I’m really close to finishing it and it features d&b, dubstep and techno. Gigs wise, its business as usual. I’m playing dubstep next at Outlook festival the first week of September. When my album is finished I’m going to take a little break from the studio routine make weird music and de-stress for a while.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you turned in for us… What made it so? Are there mad exclusives on there? Etc etc…

Hmm... maybe I was just happy on angel dust. I enjoy doing non-drum & bass mixes though because it’s something I don’t do as much. There are some bits in there definitely. A couple of new and unfinished things by myself some collaboration’s I’ve done and some forthcoming bits by guys like Addison Groove, Untold, Cyrus, Joker D etc.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

Stay in school.

::

DOWNLOAD: Icicle - Sonic Router Mix #53



Tracklist:

1. Cyrus – The Calling
2. Icicle – Xylophobia
3. Icicle & Youngsta – Momentum
4. Icicle – Ferrofunk
5. Joker D – You!
6. Cyrus – Manhattan Blues
7. Untold – Come Follow We
8. Addison Groove – Work It
9. Icicle – Organic Step
10. Icicle – Anything
11. Icicle – Minimal Dub
12. Distance – Malice
13. Kryptic Minds – The Fifth
14. Icicle & Joker D – Foreseen
15. SP & Joker D – Down

Links:
www.myspace.com/iciclednb

INTERVIEW: Clubroot [Lo Dubs]

Anonymity is a highly publicised thing within dubstep thanks to the Burial/Mercury Music Prize/Sun newspaper debacle that led to William Bevan giving the world his real name and a bleary picture to boot. Clubroot was similarly mysterious around the release of his debut self titled album on the Lo Dubs label, choosing to remain unmasked and similarly enigmatic; and much like Burial - a comparison that’s so patently obvious considering the shadowy nature of the producer and the music even Gordon Smart himself would’ve bumbled across it - Dan Richmond’s music chews static, soaked in litres of sampling and a vibrant old school drum aesthetic.

Springing out from his Electronic Explorations mix in July of last year, Richmond’s reported decade plus of production tinkering came to fruition; fusing the weight of industrial music concrete with speaker busting 2step and a keen ear for found sound sampling. Now standing on the verge of his second self titled album - hence forth referred to as S/T (II - MMX) - we caught up with him to get the skinny on the new album…

Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Clubroot: Yeah, my names Dan Richmond, I’m 25 years old and I’m based in St Albans Hertfordshire. I’ve been making music for about 5 or 6 years now.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

During the day I work for the family business which is a Design & Build Company. I do all sorts of stuff, depending on what’s going on at the time. Its mainly just general labouring but it keeps me busy and it’s nicely varied.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do produce?

I’m not quite sure what brought me to making music. I never really enjoyed school that much and some of my old teachers would probably have called me a bit of a disruptive day-dreamer. When I left school I enrolled on an Art & Design course at a local College, which was a bit of stop gap and mainly consisted of me and my friends doing very little work while listening to tape packs and chatting about recent vinyl purchases. It was a friend on the same course who mentioned a music tech course he was going to do after completing this course, and it sounding like it could be fun. At the time I was really getting into drum & bass and bits of UK garage & house, I was buying quite a lot of vinyl and hitting up the occasional rave at the weekends, so the thought of possibly being able to make the music I was enjoying so much seemed like a logical progression as there was little else in terms of dreams or aspirations.

What’s your production set up like?

It’s really nothing fancy. I’m running Logic 5.5 on my PC, I’ve got a pair of pretty basic monitors, a MIDI keyboard and a Microphone. I’ve recently purchased a Zoom H4n Handy Recorder, which is by far my favourite (and only!) bit of kit. It’s really opened up a whole new world of creativity being able to just get out and record some crazy musique concrete styled sounds. So yeah, that and a healthy sample library and some select VST’s.

Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I hear a bit of rave, jungle or hardcore in your music but filtered through the spaced out dubstep and garage sounds, have you been inspired by those early sounds?

Life… It may sound like a bit of a cliché answer but it’s true. I find that making music is the most intimate and calming way of expressing myself, often with content and emotions that I would never ever tell anyone else about. It’s purely a medium to get things off my chest and make something thought provoking and hopefully something moving. I love music that tugs at your heart strings and makes your hair stand on ends, and at the other end of the spectrum I love moody, dank and dusky sounds that bring out the petulant and sometimes irritable side of me. Its very much like a release of how I’m feeling at the time.

I always wished I had been born 10 years earlier so I could of experienced some of those magical raving years; the metamorphosis of UK rave culture from hardcore through to jungle, and then on to d&b. I feel there is a certain tinge of those uplifting old skool and hardcore vibes in my music, its kind of a nod to those sounds that came before me; the sounds which I missed. We use to got raving at places like Bagley’s in Kings Cross and the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes, and although there were hardcore and oldskool rooms and DJ’s, we were very much there for the d&b which was a much more approrariate and fitting sound to our rebellious and often angry teenage years of that time.

But yeah, jungle/d&b was my first and foremost love & inspiration, and it still is today to a certain extent. Although I don’t follow that scene much anymore I still draw a huge amount of inspirations from the tracks I use to love and listen too so much. Tunes like Ed Rush & Optical’s remix of ‘The Shining,’ or ‘Imagination’ by Dom & Roland for example, those were tracks that just had everything I wanted my productions to be. It’s that fine line between darkness and euphoria that just seems to work, and I try to incorporate that into my music as best I can.

How would you describe your sound?

Dreamy bass heavy space music around the 140 [bpm] mark.



There seems to be a sense of place and wide-open space in your music, is that something that inspires you?

Absolutely. I love to escape when I get the chance, and travelling is something I want to to do a lot more of. I like to find those sounds that fit an environment perfectly, you may not be where you want to be physically or visually but the music takes you there. I would like to think that my album takes people on a journey and transports them to somewhere completely different. Its all about escapism and fantasy. If you can listen to a piece of music and it removes you to another place then I think it’s done its job.

Your s/t debut album was a real slow burning gem, what was the idea behind it?

There was no special idea or concept behind it. I had a handful of tracks that I sent off to Jon AD at LoDubs and he suggested releasing an album. He was kind of the person who brought the track list and arrangement together, it just made sense and the tracks worked together.

And in turn does the S/T (II - MMX) follow on from the debut album thematically?

In a way yes. It’s very much developed since the debut in that it’s much more direct and there in front of you. There is some real contrast in this 2nd album and it’s quite up and down… hopefully there is a little something in there for everyone.

Who else in the scene are you feeling right now?

Yeah, I’m not brilliant at keeping my finger on the pulse in terms of what’s hot and what’s not. There are a few producers that I’m really feeling, mainly most of the guys featured in the mix.

Tell us a little about the mix you’ve put together for us…

It’s packed full of fresh dubs from a lot of the producers I’m grooving off. I’ve included a few new bits from myself which are a little different from some of the other stuff I’ve worked on up until now. You could say it’s quite a dark collection of tracks, at least at points anyway. It’s not hugely experimental but it’s what I think the scene needs more of. It’s also quite a nice example of the sort of set I would be likely to play out.

What else is coming up for you in 2010?

There’s not much else planned apart from this 2nd album and the EP to follow. I’ve got far too much ‘work in progress’ material that’s needs finishing, and then we’ll see what happens. I’m quite keen to work on a few more collaborations, and I’ve just finished working with Phaeleh on a new track called ‘Unharmed’ that’s knocking about.

I’m also finally taking the plunge on the gig side of things, with a signing to This Way Agency. I’m hoping to get that side of things rolling soon and get playing out.

Have you got any words of wisdom for our readers?

Stick to your guns, don’t be lead by the crowd & support the music you’re passionate about.

::

DOWNLOAD: Clubroot – Sonic Router Mix



Tracklist:

01. Kryptic Minds - 'Hybrid' (Forthcoming Osiris Music UK)
02. Clubroot - 'Stained Glass' (Dub)
03. Kryptic Minds & Youngsta - 'Cold Blooded' (Forthcoming Osiris Music UK)
04. Gat Decord - 'Passion' (DFRNT Remix) (Dub)
05. Clubroot - 'Whistles & Horns' (Dub)
06. Clubroot - 'Comedown' (Dub)
07. Phaeleh - 'Broken' (Dub)
08. Synkro - Distant Feeling' (Dub)
09. Clubroot - 'Solar Flares' (Dub)
10. Clubroot - 'Embryo' (Master 1 Mix) (Dub)
11. Actraiser - 'Tell Me' (Dub)
12. Clubroot - 'Eastern Promise' (Dub)
13. Vandera - 'Carbon 11' (Forthcoming Forecast 004)
14. Breakage Feat. Burial - 'Vial' (Digital Soundboy)
15. Clubroot - 'Recollections' (Dub)

Link:
www.myspace.com/clubroot
www.lodubs.com

PRE-ORDER: V.I.V.E.K - Kulture/Meditation Rock [Deep Medi]

It’s probably inevitable given the curator, but Mala’s Deep Medi imprint has yet to disappoint. The label debut for Antisocial Entertainment member V.I.V.E.K luckily upholds this trend - both tracks are drenched in aquatic echo and old school soundsystem atmosphere, landing somewhere between Bristolian introspection and sci-fi futurism.

Of the two, ‘Kulture’ is the dancefloor monster, welding a sandpaper-edged three-note theme to thumping techno low end. The results are formidable, escalating to collapse point before imploding to leave only a dubby breakdown. Far better though is ‘Meditation Rock,’ sharing traits with DMZ’s manifesto in both name and nature. After the cosmic chaos of ‘Kulture,’ it initially comes across as a little sparse, pivoting around nothing but clouds of dense bass and a halfstep crawl reminiscent of Kryptic Minds’ recent ‘One Of Us’ long player. Two minutes in a muted string section begins to emerge from the depths of the mix, rising in prominence to form a slow complementary melody above the bass maelstrom. It’s as close as dance music can get to pure ambience, a melancholy and keening piece of music that presents itself far better as an insular track than a mixed tune. Further evidence, I suppose, that the outer reaches of dubstep nurture some truly impressive, genre-defying talent.

Words: Rory Gibb
Out: Now

Link:
www.myspace.com/vivek321

PRE-ORDER: Kryptic Minds – 768/Pinch & Moving Ninja – False Flags (Kryptic Minds Remix) [Tectonic]

Pinch is really brining the darkness with his label’s most recent releases and this 12” seems to be no exception, with the production duo Kryptic Minds making their Tectonic debut. After the very well received 12” and their album, ‘One Of Us,’ for Loefah’s Swamp 81 label the former drum & bass producers are really making a name for themselves with their apocalyptic half step material.

The A-Side comes in the form of ‘768’ a new and original track and just like their other dubstep material it has that dark and spacious half stepping bass mediation vibe going on. These guys really know how to make the low end subs sing and it really shows here; you get the full bass spectrum from subterranean rumbles to a little added mid range growl, you know, using it occasionally to keep things that little bit evil and the string sections really give the track a forbidden, almost emotional pull.

On the flip Kryptic Minds show us their take on Pinch & Moving Ninja’s deeply disturbing ‘False Flag,' which first featured on the fantastic ‘Tectonic Plates Vol.2’ compilation earlier this year. This remix takes that foreboding pent up atmosphere and makes it even more cinematic as the low end bubbles and drives the track down into the underworld. The percussive elements on show are something else too, as they prove their 10 year production pedigree showing that they really know how to get a sound down; the drums are warm, phat and woody. It’s a killer re-interpretation of an already killer track.

Words: James Balf
Out: Now

Link:
www.myspace.com/krypticminds1
www.myspace.com/tectonicrecordings

READ: Kryptic Minds On Their Dubstep Switch

Kryptic Minds' debut dubstep album 'One Of Us' is out today on Loefah's Swamp81 imprint. You can read the Sonic Router penned feature with the duo for the recently relaunched Kmag (Knowledge Magazine) website here:

READ: Kryptic Minds On Their Dubstep Switch

Link:
www.myspace.com/krypticminds1

DOWNLOAD: Boka Records - HQ Mix Vol 1

First in a series of 'HQ mixes' from Boka Records.

Highlights include DJ Madd's 'Better With You' and Marlow's 'Bandwagon Junglist' as well as Madd's criminally overlooked 'Reasonz.'

DOWNLOAD: Boka Records - HQ Mix Vol 1

Tracklist:
1. Kryptic Minds – Chosen Few (Swamp 81)
2. Truth – Terror Planet (Aquatic Lab Records)
3. Tunnidge – Riddles Of Jah VIP (BOKA Records – BOKA019)
4. Marlow – Bandwagon Junglist (BOKA Records – BOKA021)
5. DJ Madd – Better With You (BOKA Records – BOKA020)
6. Skream – Trapped In A Dark Bubble (Tectonic)
7. Babylon System – Hyphy (Argon Records)
8. DJ Madd – Better With You (Akira Kiteshi Remix) (BOKA Records – BOKA022)
9. Benga – One Million (Tempa)
10. Skream – Hitch (Tempa)
11. Von D – Echolow (Black Acre Records)
12. DJ Madd – Reasonz (BOKA Records – BOKA020)
13. Von D – Truth (Tes La Rok remix) (Black Acre Records)

Link:
http://bokadubstep.wordpress.com

DOWNLOAD: Kryptic Minds' Studio Mix For Blackdown

Blackdown's back after what seems like a short hiatus and after interviewing them for his Pitchfork column, Kryptic Minds done did him a mix showcasing a shed load of dubs.

DOWNLOAD: Kryptic Minds' Studio Mix For Blackdown

Tracklist:

Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - The Weeping - Disfigured Dubz Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Leon Switch - Latin Dub - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Wondering Why - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Unititled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Leon Switch - Untitled - Osiris Music uk Dub
Kryptic Minds - Three Views Of A Secret - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - Mercury Rising - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Bad Man - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Rubberman - Dub
Leon Switch - Untitled - Dub
Kryptic Minds - Dissolved - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - One Of Us - Swamp 81
Kryptic Minds - Organic - Swamp 81 Dub
Kryptic Minds - Follow Me - Dub

Link:
http://www.myspace.com/krypticminds1

DOWNLOAD: Skream - Forthcoming Disfigured Dubz Mix

A true Ronseal moment. This post does exactly as the title suggests... in that it holds a mix, done by Skream, of some forthcoming bits on his Disfigured Dubz label.

DOWNLOAD: Skream - Forthcoming Disfigured Dubz Mix

Tracklist:

1. Kito - Dont Wanna Lose You
2. Kryptic Mindz - Code 46
3. Kryptic Mindz - The Weeping
4. Kulture - Soften
5. Truth - Wednesday
6. Truth - Bubba Ho Step
7. Kulture - Liquid Sound
8. Truth - Stay

Link:
www.myspace.com/skreamuk
www.myspace.com/disfigureddubz