With a few strong 12”s already under his belt, including the ‘1UP’ 12” on No Hats No Hoods, Royal T seems to be making all the right moves; ‘Beat Fighter’ and his ‘Hot Ones’ remix have barely left the bag since they dropped. His latest offering, ‘Orangeade,’ has dropped on Butterz, an instrumental grime label run by Rinse FM DJs Elijah & Skilliam. They’ve had a hell of a run lately with beats from TRC and DOK, plus the much called for hard body release of the sublime ‘Wooo Riddim’ by SX, so it’s no surprise that the title track is a forthright, rhythmically skippy grime weapon that bangs hard with enough intensity to keep dance floors alight. Atmospheric pads and synth whines shuffle in and out of the bumpy beats and big bass tones to great effect on the title track; it oozes that typically British vein of hyper-funk that people like Terror Danjah excel in.
‘Whistle Song’ sounds reminiscent of Beatie Boys’ ‘Alive,’ it’s melody makes you want to sing “dip dip dive, so-socialise, open up your ears and clean out your eyes” but it’s probably more like what would happen if Daft Punk drank to many pitchers of orangeade and whipped out on talk-box whilst on a three day tour of Bow, E3. Loosely translated that makes it a banger.
The return of the ‘Devil Mix’ concept is a welcome one, especially when it’s done as well as it is on ‘Music Please’. In the hands of the likes of Zomby, Untold and more recently Logos the beat less version, a more restrained and twisted instrumental - pioneered by Wiley - is an inspired creation. Royal T coins it in here, morphing the hyped up synth leads into a pent up hypnotic gem that just keeps on brooding.
Randomer’s music bangs; and it’s a testament to his artist name and personality that his music can bang in such different measures. His early work on Hospital Records offshoot Med School trod a darker more rolling jungle sound set (hence the release on a d&b affiliated label) but his newer stuff – including collaborations with Fife and Adverse – seems to be on more of an energetic house tempoed carnival kind of tip. His recent work on Soul Jazz and Brighton label Tru Thoughts has been of the highest quality, those glossy, high energy, full clip kind of tracks that unleash themselves across any dancefloor. Catching our attention from the off, they’re measured to perfection, with thick stabbing FM bass and at times (‘Zabu’ put out on Tru Thoughts is a case in point) the melodic emphasis is simply stunning.
With a release out on Raffertie’s Super imprint this week, a release that features a couple of collaborations and remixes from HomePark and Greymatter (previews of which are embedded below), we figured it high time that our geographical bedfellow Randomer took the reigns of our mix series, so we set him the task of curating our first mix of 2011. Now we get to bask in the results...
SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Randomer: My real name is Rohan and I’m from north London. My first release was in 2008 on Medschool and since then I’ve had music put out by a variety of labels such as Hospital, Soul Jazz, and Tru Thoughts.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
There isn’t really any outside of music to me. I decided to concentrate on music production full-time about a year ago and have been lucky enough to get by so far, with short spells of teaching music to help me along. I spend most days from waking to sleep working on writing music or discussing it with my flatmates who also write.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
I’ve been making my own music in one way or another since I first picked up the guitar aged 12, and started making electronic music at the age of 15 on Cubase and Fruity Loops. I couldn’t honestly say what made me write music, I’ve just always been more interested in making my own than learning other peoples. I think it was my first proper experiences of rave culture (both chemically and physically) in my late teens that made me so passionate about writing electronic dance music.
What’s your production set up like?
I use Ableton Live on a PC which I recently switched to from Cubase - the workflow in Ableton is amazing, it really suits the intuitive way I go about writing music. I have Mackie HR824 monitors and a large midi keyboard also. Occasionally I play live bass or guitar on my tracks and I’ve been saving up for a decent microphone to record more live sounds.
How would you describe your sound?
My sound is pretty random. I mean at the time of thinking of the name ‘Randomer’ I have no idea what came through my head, but I’ve stuck with it because it seems to suit my music. I write in a really intuitive way, usually depending on how I’m feeling on the day and what is inspiring me then will dictate the music that I come up with.
My music from one track to the next can be pretty bi-polar. I think the two most prevalent things that determine how I sound, are a kind of quirky, tongue in cheek energy and a deep, dark and sometimes aggressive vibe. It’s those parts of my personality that compete with each other to come alive in my music.
SPR003 : Randomer & Adverse – Alizé
I remember getting a zip of the tunes you did with Fife (that ended up on the Soul Jazz 12”) and it was a departure from that Med School tip – only one of the files worked and I was gutted not to get both haha – it was such a pleasant surprise to hear something on much more of a soca tip. Do you listen to a lot of that type of music?
I listen to all kinds of stuff from all around the world, old and new. Discovering other sorts of music is another thing that makes it all worthwhile. Whether I was listening to soca or not at the time I don’t remember, but what I do know is that there was a lot of sun in 2010 in London and that seemed to have quite an effect on what I was writing at the time.
As my discography is a little disjointed it can be sometimes be hard to work out how the Medschool and Soul Jazz stuff fits together, but they’re all basically part of this two-sided thing that I elaborated on in the last question. This may have hindered me commercially a little as it can be hard for first listeners to pinpoint where I stand, but it also has the advantage of giving me distinctiveness. And excuses the fact that I called myself ‘Randomer’...
You share an affinity to the kind of impact that Untold unleashed with his eski sounding Stop What You’re Doing era work. What are the really important elements to your music? i.e. Bass, melody etc and why?
Jack is constantly pushing the boat with his production and everything he comes out with I find inspires me, so I’m glad that my work comes across with an affinity to his.
I love percussion. Sometimes simple stomping rhythms do it for me, but I also like complex cross-rhythms and syncopation. Melodically, I have perhaps gone too far in writing overly complex melodies in the past, due to my background in jazz improvisation, so I’ve recently been simplifying things to give some more coherence. It’s a balancing act.
Your beats have been picked up by the DJ elite, from Ben UFO beyond, do you feel comfortable making music for dancefloors?
I enjoy the limitation of writing music that has to be mixed by DJs. It means you have the challenge of being as creative as possible within a fairly rigid structure. I don’t want to repeat what has been written thousands of times, but you can’t put across in words how great the collective experience of a properly tuned soundsystem with a good crowd and skilled selector is.
What is an inspiration for you?
Other people’s music. Although I did hear this street cleaning machine while walking down Wood Green high street the other day that made the sickest sound. And there is this broken fridge in the Tesco express in Hornsey that makes the DARKEST synth noise.
I read that you consider yourself something of a synth geek? What is it about them that you can loose hours in/on do you think?
I’m a music geek. Synth is part of it. I really enjoy making weird sounds from scratch, its proper satisfying when you spend hours warping a sound until you create something that you’ve never heard before. But it probably ends up being so weird that you could never use it in a tune.
Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about? Blawan has some fire coming this year. He’s got ridiculous skills. Also I hear something about there being a militant gabba collective called Hornsey Terror Corps that will be making waves.
You’ve just put out a 12” on Raffertie’s Super imprint. Can you tell us a bit about that and shed some light on what people can expect from you in 2011...
The release on Super is a pretty quirky collection of dancefloor tracks that I wrote during some sunny and probably hungover days. ‘Alizé’ has a bit of a vintage 2-step feel with cut up vocals and some bouncy synths and ‘Five’ is a bass heavy stomper with some marching band stuff going on.
In 2011: I have a collaboration I did with Foamo last year which is coming out in late Jan / early Feb on Fat!. Remixes in February for Marla and the Nightshifters artist Magnum and following that there will be some more stuff with Super, and later in the year I’ve got some tough dark vibes coming out but must remain hushed about which labels as it is still a bit secret.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…
The mix I’ve done represents where I am at musically at the moment. It’s a mixture of UK bass music, house and techno, a bit of a musical journey. One tune I had to put in the mix is the opening track.
I found it on my laptop desktop and had thought Joe had left it on there but he denies this, and there’s this strange vibe to the track – the whole thing is a bit mysterious.
I have included some exclusives which are so fresh that I have to keep the artist names secret for now, I’m sure you will found out what they are and who wrote them in the next few months.
Casting our ears back to the first dalliances with Polish outfits like BBQ (their blog, parties, promo mixes and giveaways) and labels like Concrete Cut we're completely in agreement with the recent XLR8R penned notion that, Poland is on fire in terms of fresh and interesting bass music of late. With artists like Zeppy Zep, The Phantom and now Sentel littering our inbox, conversations and radio show tracklists we're totally assured that Poland is doing it about now.
The duo of Sentel, aka Sylwia Kopys and Bartek Baran, hail from Krakow - a town you might have heard referenced in a tale of debauchery or a last ditch effort to lose a mind before committing to someone in matrimony. Keeping their four four kick drums prominent, together they make music that sits as easily between the flummoxing styles of producers like Brackles, Untold and the extended Night Slugs family. Enriched by the erratic, almost scattergun synth lines that incline up into themselves on 'Chapel 20' their style is encapsulated beautifully on their debut release, 'Chapel 20' b/w 'Widow' on the Concrete Cut imprint. Their sound is thick, almost toxic in its luminesence, with the stabbing leads pulling and nagging at your ear drums. In a similar way to the recent work of Egyptrixx: if a producer like Ikonika's world is plagued by hyperbolic shades of neon, Sentel's is swamped by woozy, pixel patterned shades; colliding in flashes.
Grabbing our 56th Sonic Router mix as we did it, we caught up with the duo, asking them to learn us a few things we could tell the wider world in return...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Sentel: We are Sylvia and Bart. We live in Krakow where we try to get by making beats, playing out, and spending too much time in clubs.
Outside of music who are you guys? What do you do on the daily?
Bartek is attempting to figure out his life after an unsuccessful stint at uni, and Sylvia has just started hers at an old, respected university. In his free time Bartek works in computer graphics and Sylvia spins disco every night in a Ukrainian club.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
From the beginning, when we first started playing house parties in our hometown (Kielce) we were sure that we wanted to, at some point, start making our own music. At the time we didn't really have any idea of how it would turn out in terms of style.
Bartek: I remember the first tune I finished. It was in 2008 and it was a remix of Blur's 'Boys & Girls'. It was so bad it was barely listenable...
How does the partnership work between you when making tunes?
Everything happens fairly naturally. One of us starts a project and then we work together with each others' ideas. Sometimes one of us stays up later at night and when we wake up the next day we work on the project together. You could say that we split the work 50/50 (Bart makes the beats, Sylvia buys the beer).
Whats your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
To be honest we only use a laptop with Ableton live. We do have a Akai mpk49 midi keyboard and an apc40 controller, but we use those pretty rarely. Until now we haven't even been able to get a hold of studio monitors or even a single fully functional pair of headphones. That might be partially responsible for the sound on our debut... haha.
Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the influence of people like Scratcha DVA and Ikonika in your tunes but what do you think influences the music you make? I mean your myspace quotes black metal as an influence...
Of course you can't directly hear the influence of black metal in our music but I think that there is a certain aura and a kind of straightforwardness to our melodies that we can attribute to the sounds of Burzum, Xasthur or Bathory. You certainly shouldn't take that too seriously. In the same way we could say that the board game Magia i Miecz (Talisman in English) from our childhood is an inspiration, or the kids cartoon He-man.
What is truly inspirational for us is stuff from Werk Discs, Night Slugs, old deep house, acid house, Detroit techno, and rave tracks that you can find all over the internet.
Sentel – Chapel 20 [Concrete Cut]
What’s the scene like in your native Poland? There seems to be some really good producers putting out records at the moment... is the club side of it blossoming?
The scene isn't particularly big, but there are a few really great producers in it. We have to mention Zeppy Zep and The Phantom (check out the last track in our mix), Tomek Urbanowicz from Supra1, Vanatoski from Gangsteppaz, Tom Encore, Liquid Molly, the Concrete Cut crew, Sekta, DJ Spox, and the whole PL Funky crew. The scene is quite good now and we have a feeling that more and more good new producers appear in time. Keep your eyes on Poland, it might surprise you yet.
How did you link with the Concrete Cut crew for you first 12”? What can people expect from it if they’ve heard it? I mean RA commented on the frenetic energy of the thing... do you feel that’s a good description?
We had a few tracks up on the internet that Concrete Cut liked and they asked us if we'd like release something on their label. Simple story really. As for the single, we wanted it to be weird and aggressive, and totally different from the standard approach to UK funky. I think we achieved our goal.
The artwork for it is incredibly strong, kind of bleak but a throwback to the primitive platform games of the past... was that a conscious thing for you? To give it such an arcade feel...
Of course, it was intentional. Bartek was the proud owner of a Commodore 64, and he also played NES. Games like Contra, ShadowGate, Last Ninja left their mark in their own way and Bartek used that as a guide when he designed the artwork. Apparently you can hear the echoes of this kind of visual style in our music. Maybe it's a little cheesy, but it's certainly sincere.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
We plan to release our first vinyl this year, with Concrete Cut of course. We haven't DJed a lot recently and we'd like to change that. We're open for bookings! haha
Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…
We wanted the mix to be a little different. We didn't keep a steady tempo and the energy is spread out in an usual way. We wanted to tell some sort of story rather than it just being a standard selection of tunes. That's why we used a song from an old Polish children's film, Akademia Pana Kleska (Mr. Kleks' Academy), after some serious modifications of course. In general the majority of the tracks we used we edited in some way specifically for the mix. There's also a new track of ours there with a working title of 'Bones' and a second untitled track which will likely never be released, but we decided to use it here as a sort of exclusive.
Any words of wisdom, for our readers?
We're the last people who should be giving out any sort of wisdom. Hahaha
01. Velour - Booty Slammer 02. Mele - Bombay 03. Marcus Price & Carli - Var E Näääken (Girl UNIT Remix) 04. Claude VonStroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit (Edited by Sentel) 05. Revenge of Philip Golarz - Theme From Ms.Kleks Academy (Edited by Sentel) 06. Aiku - Just Can't Sleep (Egyptrixx Remix) 07. Sentel - Untitled 08. Hanuman Feat Kanji Kinetic - Bola (Kanji Kinetic Remix) 09. Kanji Kinetic - Thrill Seeka (Kingdom Remix) 10. Sentel - Bones 11. Pirate Soundsystem - Dub N U (Bare Noize Remix) 12. Nightmare Feat Skepta & Lil Nasty - Badness (Edited By Sentel) 13. DVA - New World Order 14. Redinho - Boy Racer 15. Modeselektor - Art and Cash (Phono Remix) 16. Zinc - Nexx 17. Jam City - Let Me Bang Refix (Edited by Sentel) 18. Makongo - Angolan Kung Fu (Double Dutch Remix) 19. Zander Hardy - Signalling 20. Sentel - Widow 21. Style Of Eye & Slagsmålsklubben - Homeless (Canblaster Remix) (Edited By Sentel) 22. Micky Slim & Nom De Strip - Do It (Original Mix) 23. Bobmo - Bring It (Hot City Remix) (Edited by Sentel) 24. The Phantom - Nightgame (Zeppy Zep Remix)
The recently refreshed and newly vibrant R&S Records – they who released James Blake’s breakout ‘CMYK’ recently – are housing the second release from London based Scot, Pariah. Having been vocal fans and supporters (DL his Sonic Router mix here) since we first heard ‘Detroit Falls’ b/w ‘Orpheus’ at the tail end of last year the new EP is a welcome listen as Pariah displays the breadth of his tastes, flexing his production muscles in all directions from tribal roll outs and deep house textures to tweaked hip hop and ambience.
Percussive roller ‘The Slump’ drops hard from tribal accented beats into an almighty bass pulse that would make Untold and Ramadanman proud. Eski-like beats stomp under the building layers of percussion and bass weight until a release comes in the form of melodic soulful vocal samples and twilight pads. Like a garage cousin of Rishi Romero’s 'African Forest' in a head on collision with Pulse-X and a healthy does of melancholic melody; it’s a big one. With its deep and housey vibes ‘Prism’ is a welcome addition to the front end of the EP, where the dance floor is more of an obvious target. It’s a subtle number mind, keeping it close with a tight and bumpy percussive roll; synth’s refract and spin off in different directions over building wide screen pads.
The late night vibes of ‘Railroad’ take things down to nice and blissful as Pariah excels at a slower more bump laden tempo. He merges that awkward hip hop vibe with a slinky garage bump with ease; its like you’re stuck on a bus mid summer, heavy with sweat with no hope of getting to where you got to go on time. Sweeping melodies with an emotional pull get pushed into shape by deep bass and junglist breaks before it all melts into field recordings and the next track ‘Crossed Out’ which takes off where ‘Prisim’ left but with a rattling garage bump more prominet.
The final two tracks see Pariah in atmospheric mode, first up is ‘C - Beams’ where he harnesses his inner Dilla, which he kets stutter out under field recordings, bittersweet soundtrack pianos and computer game lilted funk. Things go deeper still with atmospheric drones on the closing track ‘Safehouses’, its almost reminiscent of GAS in some ways, its layers of sound wrapping itself around your ears before it engulfs you in a bed of looping tones. ‘Safehouses’ is a varied and solid EP with enough range and scope to keep the dancefloor working; though its real strength lies in its diversity and range of flavours and styles on offer.
This week marks another milestone for us: our 50th installment in the Sonic Router mix series. A tidy number and a goal we’ve achieved that, when we started, we never really knew we had. Without looking back at the past 18 months with glossy eyes, patting ourselves on the back, high five-ing all of our separate achievements since we first unleashed Rekordah’s 20 minute plus beat tape, we’re focusing all our attention on the future. And whilst we're more than aware this is a poignant moment for our humble blogspot, we’re still more than content to always be looking for the next thing... that next producer whose tunes make us hustle to educate our friends, familiars and the wider internet at large.
One such dude we felt compelled to push, is Blawan. The Hessle Audio backed producer – his debut 12” on the label ‘Fram’ b/w ‘Iddy’ was released recently – has a strong and rugged approach to his drum lines; a similarity he shares with label mate Joe and to a lesser extent - given this player’s more dancefloor centric wanderings of late, Ramadanman. Making tonal wanderings simply from his selected percussion he booms out bass stabs on ‘Iddy’ rollocking through the beat’s progression with whispered layers of phrase and machine hum atmospherics plucked straight from the bows of dystopian warships and the winding lead synth on ‘Fram’ could have been taken straight out of Kode 9’s ‘Black Sun’ era. It’s simply the way he cracks out his drum loops that grabbed our attention, subtle snaps of snare drum piquing through the top end perfectly.
We caught up with the South Yorkshireman between train journeys, giving him the opportunity to further introduce himself and his music ahead of his forthcoming date at fabric for the Hessle Audio takeover...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Blawan: For starters I am not Ben UFO despite the kind rumors. My name is Jamie, I am a DJ/Producer originally from the cultural melting pot that is Barnsley and I recently had my debut release on Hessle Audio.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?
On the daily, I drink a lot of tea, don't finish tunes, delete ones that I have finished and get easily distracted...
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
Like a lot of people, school really got me into music. I went to a pretty rough school that thanks to Labour's deprived schools policy had mint facilities, so I started playing drums at the age of 10. I first got into making electronic music on a dodgy version of Fruity Loops when I was 15 but didn't really get serious about making tunes until I was about 18. Prior to the Hessle Audio release I had a pretty random musical background. I used to drum in a couple of bands playing like post-punk stuff as well as making dance tunes, and just muddled it along until now.
What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
My set-up is pretty simple, I run Ableton Live, midi controllers and some decent monitors… oh and some nice flat response headphones and that's really it. My favorite bit of kit has to be my Ozone 4 plugin; it’s a sweet all rounder.
Where do you take inspiration from when making music? And how did you get into this current flux of dubstep?
Erm, that's a hard question, I've always found it hard to pin point what inspires me to make a tune and to be honest I still don't really know. I think trying to keep my mind occupied when making a tune helps, as I find makings tunes when am bored rarely has a decent outcome or it ends up turning out as some weird jacking house thing.
I got into dubstep around late 2004/5. Before this, mates from Sheffield used to send me their badly recorded vinyl rips of Big Apple releases and old garage tunes and things just carried on down the usual routes from there really. I've also always had a passion for house music and think that's had a big impact on me musically. The tune that really pushed me to think I wasn't just making some weird garage type music was Pangaea's ‘You & I’ (HES006). The vibe caught me perfectly, it's still easily my favorite tune to date.
How would you describe your sound? You’ve got this proper tough percussion going on that drives everything… is the rhythm a main focus for you when making tunes?
Honestly, if I could just make drum loops for a living I would. Percussion is definitely something I focus a lot of my attention on when producing. Other elements of my tunes are always considered but are subtle enough to make sure they don't take away purpose from the rhythm and percussive melodies. The outcome of that in a tune is something minimal, but I fought my last battles with complex synth arrangements a long time ago and bare rhythms win hands down for me each and every.
Your first couple of releases are out now on Hessle and Folkwood respectively. How did you link the releases?
My debut with Hessle was a pretty surreal affair, I had a few tunes that had been sitting around and one day, I just said ‘Fuck it. I’ll send these to Untold.’ I did that then within about 2 hours I got a phone call off David (Ramadanman) saying Jack sent him the tunes and the guys liked them and want to put something out. A simple but crazy outcome and I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be in the Hessle camp. Oh and I still haven't bought Jack a drink yet to thank him.
The folkwood thing really was something that happened a while ago, a group of friends at Uni got hold of some cash to press up some music. They asked me to submit a track so I did. The tune is kinda old now, but it’s nice to get bits out there when you can. Big up Ste Shine on that one! Oh and you guys for the kind words about it…
What other projects have you got in the pipeline? What’s happening with you in the rest of 2010? Gigs, releases, personal growth etc?
2010 has been an amazing year already; I am just focusing on putting out tunes I am happy with, when I can so theres no rush. Hopefully DJing as many gigs as I can because that's what really gets me making more music. There are a couple of things in the pipeline that should be surfacing soon, so watch this space.
Any words of wisdom for our readers?
Yes, it needs to be strong with one sugar and milk. Secondly, catch me at Fabric on the 20th August, for the Hessle Audio takeover.
1. Titus 12 - Step Up (Mosca Remix) [Unreleased] 2. Afefe Iku - Bodydrummin' (S63 Refix) [Silver Label] 3. Ludacris vs Joe - How Low Claptrap (DJ Orgasmic Bootleg) [Unreleased] 4. Wookie - Weird Science [Manchu] 5. Randomer - Be Electric [Unreleased] 6. Mistamen - Lengthy Riddim [Bass Tourist] 7. DJ Faz - Believe [Locked On] 8. Menta - Sounds Of Da Future [Sounds Of Da Future] 9. Unknown - Unknown [Unreleased] 10. Untold - Angry Hat [Unreleased] 11. Commix - How You Gonna Feel (Pangaea Remix) [Unreleased] 12. Unknown – Unknown [Unreleased] 13. Ramadamman - Fall Short [Swamp81] 14. Blawan - Potchla Vee [Unreleased] 15. Oris Jay - Trippin (2010 Dub) [Gusto] 16. Untold - Come Follow We [Unreleased]
Catch Blawan at the Hessle Audio Room 3 takeover at fabric on 20th August alongside 2562, Ramadanman, Ben UFO and Pangaea - Addison Groove performs live in Room One on the same night alongside the first ever live set from Hessle affiliate Cosmin TRG. You can also catch Blawan taking to the airwaves of the newly FM licensed Rinse FM on 12th August on the Hessle Audio show from 12-2am.
Time messes you up sometimes... You look forward to something for so long, it comes and goes and then you realise you haven't done anything productive in the run up thanks to the anticipation and expectation; still, its a great thing to be able to come back and go big the very first day...
Evan Gach, a little more commonly known as Cloak and Dagger, had us enraptured with his very first release at a dubstep tempo; his 12" for Immerse, 'Crimewaves' b/w 'In The Cut,' making the grade for our radio show straight away, fusing gloriously with the minimal work of people like Joe, Blawan and James Blake. We caught up with him to reignite the SR mix series and get the low down on his music and life choices...
Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?
Cloak & Dagger: I’m 27 years old, from San Diego, California, and have been located in Japan for the past four years or so. After DJing for a few years, I first started experimenting with production in 2003 making mostly drum & bass, and I’ve had a few drum & bass releases out over the past couple of years on labels like Intasound, Offshore, and Subtle Audio. I’ve been focusing increasingly on slower tempos over the years, and for the past while have been really enjoying working with the possibilities of 130-145 bpm range.
Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily? Where are you based etc?
I recently finished a master’s degree in Environmental Policy focusing on global climate change policy - that’s been taking up the majority of my time over the past few years. I just relocated to Tokyo for work, so it’s looking like I’ll still be quite busy with that. Most of the little free time I have is dedicated to music, but when I’m not doing that I enjoy messing around with photography or hiking when I have the chance.
How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?
I bought a guitar when I was 13 with money I saved up and played in a few punk/hardcore bands with friends since then. Around the same age, I was introduced to jungle, and for the first time I felt like I heard a style of music where you could seemingly do anything. I was always into a wide variety of music, mostly from having two older brothers, and hearing a genre where you could incorporate any of those was eye-opening for me. By 15 I was buying records with every spare bit of cash I had. I’d always been interested in electronic production, mostly because I had no idea what the producers were actually doing to make their music- it was all a big mystery to me. DJing was fun (and still is), but I always wanted more than anything to actually make music where I felt like the only limit was my own creativity. When I was 20, some friends showed me the basics of Reason one night, and I just got hooked; the experience of seeing a crowd of people enjoy music that I enjoyed making is still the best feeling in the world to me.
Why the decision to switch styles, slowing it up from a d&b tempo to a dubstep speed?
It was never really a conscious decision. Production-wise, d&b was my first love, but I always enjoyed the UK garage I heard. In America we were never really exposed en masse to the commercial side of the genre, it wasn’t really getting played in San Diego, so it was easy to weed that stuff out and just enjoy the sounds that were closer to d&b in their aesthetic; people like Wookie, Zed Bias, El-B, Horsepower Productions etc. As this stuff developed into dubstep, I heard in the music what I loved most about jungle - a mash of influences, a drive to experiment and develop a unique sound, and the idea that you could have a general aesthetic (tempo, bass, etc.) and just push it until it was almost something else, yet still accepted within that genre.
Even when making drum & bass, I had always still experimented with slower tempos, and I was finding it a little hard to make music at 170bpm that didn’t sound like d&b; a lot of the stuff I was making was deliberately trying to push (or at least blur) the boundaries of the genre’s conventions, which is what I loved about the genre in the first place. It wasn’t an act of defiance or leftfield elitism or anything like that; it was just how I thought it was supposed to be done. At the same time, the scene seemed to be splintering more and more into predefined subgenres, each with their own set of rules, and I was finding that I could go to a drum & bass night and not really identify with the majority of what I was hearing. I think this is pretty natural for a music genre that had seen as much growth and different “eras” as dnb had and new producers and DJs come into the scene after being influenced by a particular sound or era.
However, as a producer, hearing a lack of “grey areas” between subgenres and a lack of outside influences as a fundamental part of the genre was frustrating, but I found that at slower tempos, the opportunities for mixing genres, influences, and experimentation were overwhelming. Overall, I find this more interesting and more challenging, and so this has led me to lean naturally towards the 130-145 range.
Cloak & Dagger - Crimewaves [Immerse]
What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
I’ve always been a huge proponent of the idea that it’s not the gear that you have but rather what you do with it. All of my favorite electronic music - jungle, electro, techno, hip hop, whatever – was made on so much less than what’s available to bedroom producers nowadays, so I never really fully understood when I would talk to other producers and they would tell me I couldn’t make good music using certain software or without a particular piece of gear. My setup itself is pretty minimal; apart from a few cheap toys, a couple of low-budget midi controllers, a mic, and a pair of monitors, everything is done on my PC. I use a lot of free plugins and have more fun getting interesting sounds out of those than a lot of the professional, powerhouse plugins that are available. Up until recently, I was using Reason as my main software, so even the ability to use and experiment with different plugins is pretty exciting for me!
Where do you take inspiration from when making music?
More than anything, inspiration comes from my environment and surroundings. I’d been living in Nagoya (Japan) for the past four years, which has a very industrial vibe, similar in some ways to Detroit in atmosphere, as well as a lack of sunny days throughout the year, so my music would often reflect that in its sound. If we had nice weather for a week, my next tune would generally be more upbeat and dancefloor-friendly. I didn’t realise quite how influential my surroundings were to me until I played in San Diego last year and realised how out-of-place some tunes felt compared to Nagoya and vice versa. Other than that, I listen to very little dubstep and don’t follow the scene that closely, so musically a lot of my inspiration comes from various other genres I listen to and trying to incorporate other philosophies, ideas, and attitudes from my influences into my own music.
Your moniker suggests hidden talents or an underlying intention. What was your thinking behind it?
I think it encompassed the attitude I had when making music; it’s always been the subtle things and little nuances in songs that I’ve loved the most, even in really simple music. Also, I’m a small guy, so the characters in books, movies, video games, etc. that have always left the biggest impressions on me were the ones that weren’t physically strong or socially/politically powerful, but rather came out ahead through wit, deception, and skill – spies, ninja, detectives, all that cool stuff. I’ve just always dug the idea that there’s a whole world behind the scenes that we can’t see.
Cloak & Dagger - In The Cut [Immerse]
How would you describe your sound?
This is a hard one for me to answer. Knowing that what I’m about to say is extremely cliché, I’ve come to realize over the years that, first and foremost, I make music for myself rather than for others, and at this point it’s more of a therapy than anything else. I never feel comfortable sticking to a particular sound, and on the contrary my motivation comes from pushing myself to make something I didn’t think I could or experimenting as a learning experience. Even so, I’m sure there are similarities in my approach that can be pointed out - as I said before; I love the idea of making music that doesn’t sit completely comfortably within a particular style but at the very least flirts with the grey areas between them. Percussion and rhythm is the driving force behind my music, and overall I think space and groove are the most important elements to a track…
Your first release for Immerse comes out shortly. Whats the deal, what can we expect from the release?
I’m extremely happy to have both of these tunes released and even happier to have the support of a label like Immerse behind them. I think both tunes showcase the genre blending I’ve been going on about so much; you can hear dubstep, garage, broken beat, drum & bass, and other influences in there. Both are percussion driven, but ‘Crimewaves’ takes a more upfront approach, whilst ‘In the Cut’ is a bit subtler and darker. I think they both represent my sound really well and hope others dig them as much as I do.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline?
Hopefully I’ll see more releases, but anything regarding that is too early in the pipeline to mention. But I would definitely like to try and get more of my stuff out there; not following the dubstep scene so much is great for my music, but not as good when it comes to getting my music to DJs and labels. As far as gigs go, I’ve been DJing less and instead doing a live set of my own tunes over the past year and just remade it from the ground up, so I’ll continue to perform that when I have the opportunity. I also just moved and started a new job, so I’m expecting my output to slow down for just a bit as I get settled in.
Any words of wisdom for our readers?
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who’s supported me over the years, whether it be through buying or playing my music, attending a show, giving me feedback and criticism, or teaching me a bit about the business. Props to Immerse and every other label who’s stood behind my music, and thanks to Sonic Router for the opportunity to provide a mix and rant about myself a little.
Hope you guys dig the mix, and words of wisdom… stay positive!
The twitter literate amongst you might have heard Untold recently upped some new '130 bits' to his myspace, and though it looks like they've been removed, they are really good...
After a wee break, David ‘Ramadanman’ Kennedy has jumped back on the prolific wagon of late, releasing no fewer than three EPs on various labels. The first, his self-titled effort for his own Hessle Audio label, met with general acclaim when it emerged a couple of months ago: tracks like ‘I Beg You’ and ‘No Swing’ felt like a logical step upwards from his earliest productions. Still focusing heavily on the brittle, bone-dry percussion that’s swiftly become a Hessle trademark – witness the monochrome pressure of the label’s latest 12” from Blawan – they showed a leap forward in terms of structure and intricacy. Still, while ‘Tumble’ may have shared the same icy chill as Wiley’s early eski instrumentals, and ‘A Couple More Years’ wielded deftly sliced breaks to devastating effect, there were points where the EP’s clinical precision felt a little too austere to connect with fully.
This new plate on Hemlock, though, is the real deal. It’s certainly the best thing Kennedy’s put his name to since Pearson Sound’s underrated ‘PLSN,’ and lead track ‘Glut’ shares its rattling top-end and peculiar rhythmic sensibility. Its booming 808 kicks and claps place it alongside recent tracks by Addison Groove and Girl Unit in that strange grey area where Chicago juke’s influence is beginning to percolate through UK bass, a region which will doubtless soon open up to far wider exploration. Above all else though, ‘Glut’s gorgeous clipped female vocal and shimmering synth melody lend it a real human warmth. Alongside the build-and-release dynamic of ‘Tempest’, which winds like a spring before suddenly exploding in a burst of noise, it makes for a formidable one-two punch of a twelve.
Surely, if you've read this elongated page before you'll be well aware of our love affair with Untold and his potent brew of riotous drums and his relentless musical schedule. Similarly you'll have seen the Glasgow Numbers conglomerate name checked here a bunch of times, whether its been in promotion of some of their legendary club nights or the announcement concerning the formation of the uber label - bore from the fusion of the Stuff, Wireblock and Dress 2 Sweat energies.
Well - the deal is this: Numbers just launched their brand new website - http://nmbrs.net - and they're offering a recording of Untold's set from one of their September '09 Glasgow bashes as a celebration.
Go and buy the first Numbers release 'The Golden Handshake EP,' from both parties behind the LazerSword project, Lando Kal and Low Limit. Its in stores now and you need it for 'Trapperkeeper' alone.
And look out for the Deadboy 'IfUWantMe' release in early April too - some super special single sided laser etched business...
Oh and make sure you attend the clique's next fabric takeover next Friday:
Whilst North London resident and producer-du-jour, Untold, and his profile have risen up into the echelons of cultural notoriety of late, he's also managed to carve himself a neat little plateau to launch other artists, in his own Hemlock imprint. Stylistically, the label sleeve's uniformity - blessed with a dark all-over Hemlock crest screenprint and a stark flash of colour on the artist label - has become a signifier for quality, and somewhat of a collectors item given the print standard and limited run of the pressings.
Having released 3 x 12"s and a double pack EP of Untold material - he seemingly reserves some of his most ground breaking work (see 'Yukon' b/w 'Walk Through Walls' and 'Gonna Work Out Fine') for release on his own imprint - the label has also become a home to work by Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason on a collaborative single as well the ever blossoming harmonies of James Blake; who appeared on his first full 12" and on his dancefloor challenging re-work of Untold's 'Stop What You're Doing.'
For us, Hemlock truly is up there with labels like Ramp Recordings, Hessle Audio and Hotflush in terms of being a no-brainer for on sight purchase, and - ever so kindly - to celebrate both the label's new 12", a collaboration between Untold & LV which features a Mount Kimbie refix on the flip, and their takeover of Room 2 at next Friday's Hyp!Hyp!Hyp! @ Plan B in Brixton, they're offering a few lucky Sonic Router readers the chance to scoop a shit load of bounty.
Top prize: 1x Hemlock Sweatshirt 1x Hemlock T-shirt 1x Full Hemlock vinyl catalogue* 2x Guest list for the Event
3 x Runner up prizes consisting of: 1x Hemlock T-shirt 1xGuest list for the event
O' happy day!
EDIT - This competion is now closed.
Q: Walking through walls is a feat attempted in which recently released film starring George Clooney?
*Hemlock Catalogue to be won:
HEK001 12" Untold - Yukon / Walk through walls HEK001R 10" Untold - Yukon (Fantastic mr fox remix) / Walk through walls (LV remix) HEK002 12" Untold - Discipline / Bones HEK003 12" Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason - Plimsoul / Bleep show HEK004 12" James Blake - Air and Lack Thereof / Sparing the Horses HEK005 2x12" Untold - Gonna work out fine e.p HEK006 10" Untold - Stop what you're doing (James Blake remix) Untold - I can't stop this feeling (Pangaea remix) HEK007 LV & Untold - Beacon / LV & Untold - Beacon (Mount Kimbie remix) (Unreleased advance copy)
Guestlist to be won:
Hemlock Room:
Untold James Blake (DJ set) LV Fantastic Mr Fox b2b Rich Reason
Doors: 2200-0500 Tickets: £7 advance / £12 on the door
I was so close to making the February deadline, but after a run of pars this past week the latest Sonic Router Quietus column managed to surface today, on the 1st March. This edition focuses on F, aka Florent Aupetit, a French producer releasing mainly dub-techno influenced material on the 7even label.
Manchester based producer Fantastic Mr Fox celebrates his appearance in the Hemlock Recordings (the label run by Untold that has not yet but a single foot wrong) room at Plan B on Friday 14th March for Hyp!Hyp!Hype! with a mix. Check the flyer for the full lineup, any LDN heads not at Bloc that w/e would do well to check it out.
Senseless honcho and all round vibeathon DeVille just linked an exclusive mix for the excellent ScenexScience blog featuring a shit load of forthcoming Senseless material.
Untold’s 'Gonna Work Out Fine EP' was a floor stopper, the instigator of countless “what the fuck is this?” moments in the middle of a night. But if ‘Stop What You’re Doing’ is still enough to halt a dancefloor in its tracks entirely, it’s a soft and welcoming hug compared with some of the tracks he’s been piecing together since. ‘Bad Girls,’ his contribution to Fabric’s Elevator Music compilation, jerked back and forth like an unruly child having a full-on temper tantrum, and his remix of Baobinga’s ‘Ride It’ hits the neural circuits so hard it’s nigh on impossible to tell whether that’s pleasure or pain hitting your gut. An exercise in barely restrained dementia, the track’s central drum motif circles in an ever-tightening loop around trademark Untold bass stabs and twisting, pained sampleplay. It’s intense to the point of inducing nausea, and I’m still trying to work out whether that’s entirely a good thing.
Next to such a wonderfully sadistic piece of work, Baobinga’s original never quite stood a chance. Which is a shame in a way, as it’s an addictive – if slightly straightforward – march through what-u-call-it territory, riding off a cheeky cowbell riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a DFA record circa 2002. Its precise house groove can’t help but lack some of the rhythmic fluidity of his earlier ‘Tongue Riddim’ release though, as limb-flailing acrobatics are substituted for head-nods to a tight four-to-the-floor pulse.
All personal bias aside - go read the liner notes - 'Elevator Music Vol. 1' is an impeccable collection of beats and fresh ideas from some extremely talented underground producers. Joining the likes of Mosca, Julio Bashmore, Hackman and Doc Daneeka with more established artists like the work of Martyn, Untold and Starkey pays dividends in the end listen and an extremely high percentage of these tracks are a sheer pleasure to mix.
Ramadoozle just dropped a new mix in aid of the next Ruffage at Wire in Leeds next Friday which features selectors Ben UFO and Untold alongside a headline slot from Hatcha doing a 2004 set.
01. Timeblind - Space Cadet [Agriculture] 02. Rhythm & Sound - Why [Burial Mix] 03. Alix Alvarez - Boom Bip [Sole Channel] 04. DVA - Ganja [Forthcoming Hyperdub] 05. Untold & Roska - Long Range [Forthcoming Build] 06. A Made Up Sound - Sun Touch [Forthcoming A Made Up Sound] 07. Jam city - What I think about you [Unreleased] 08. Ikonika - dckhdbtch [Unreleased] 09. Ramadanman vs. Missy - Mir's a bitch [Unreleased] 10. Mos Wanted Mega - Diffrent Lekstrix [Unreleased] 11. Joy Orbison - So Derobe [Forthcoming Aus] 12. 2562 - Who are you fooling? [Tectonic] 13. Pangaea - 5-htp [Hessle Audio] 14. Ghost - Two Thousand [Ghost] 15. LV feat. Rubi Dan - Crossfire [Unreleased] 16. Bok Bok - Citizens Dub [Forthcoming Blunted Robots] 17. Ramadanman - Glut [Forthcoming Hemlock] 18. Pangaea - Neurons [Hessle Audio] 19. Icicle - Xylophobia [Unreleased] 20. Ramadanman - Bleeper [Unreleased] 21. Lil' Wayne - A millie (Harmonimix) [White] 22. Mala - Blue Notez [DMZ] 23. Ramadanman - Don't Change For Me [Unreleased]
Superb mix from Untold. Featured on Sinden's KISS FM show last night. Headhunter & Invisible - 'Luvdup' - fothcoming Soul Motive. Bok Bok - 'Citizen Dub' - forthcoming Blunted Robots.
Boys noize - Transmission (Untold remix) - forthcoming Boys noize Bok Bok feat. Bubbz - Citizens Dub - forthcoming Blunted Robots Untold - Tastes like chicken - Unreleased Wu Tang – Do It Big (Baobinga & I.D. Remix) – Cdr Mark Pritchard – Elephant Dub – Deep Medi Schlachthofbronx – Ayoba (Inst) – Man Recordings Headhunter & Invisible – Luvdup – Soul Motive Untold – You Dropped Something – Cdr Sisters Of Transistors – Solar Disco (Untold Remix) – This Is Music Ramadanman – Glut – Hemlock Dj Eastwood – U Aint Ready (Untold Remix) – No Hats No Hoods
Laptop battery on 8%... Just time to squeeze in a few glorious mixes from yesterday...
Too many dubs in this first one, Ben UFO's furthering his rep for pre-empting everything with this selection in promotion of the Why Not? rave at Ministry on Boxing Day.
