MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #146 - Dub Mechz

Back in February, after a few weeks’ of discussions, Wil and I decided to call time on the MIG x FatKidOnFire feature series - after a prolific 3+ years and 145 features. We left the series at an unsuspecting end (albeit a high one with Calski/ Lamont’s brilliant feature) with one or two outstanding interviews and feature requests floating about. One of these was with DEEP MEDi’s Dub Mechz, a south London-based production and DJ duo who Wil and I had been long-time fans of. When the guys hit us up around the time of their latest MEDi065 plate, we got the ball rolling on one last MIG x FKOF feature - the final farewell if you will…

How’s it going guys, you both well? For those that don’t know you, who and what are The Dub Mechz?

The Dub Mechz is a way of life, like a direction or guideline of life. In terms of music it’s the creation and manipulation of spiritual, emotional and visual sound.

How would you describe your sound?

Colourful, Raw, Astral. Haha!

How did you guys meet?

We’ve always known each other - just through living in the same area and stuff.

When did you decide you wanted to produce dubstep - and were you producing individually before you started making The Dub Mechz tunes?

K-Man: well I mainly produced grime. In between the times of me making grime, I was gliding more towards dubstep. I’d always produced music, even back from school days… Even though it wasn’t of a certain standard!

Kero: My main part of producing started from knowing K-Man for a few years - while he was making a lot of grime. After about a year of standing in front of the speaker at FWD», I starting trying to build dubstep. I built loads of hip-hop stuff back then as well. The Dub Mechanics started when we realised we had extremely similar mentalities towards life and music.

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

Normally, we can go on anything (even if it’s like a little sci-fi blip or something).K-Man mainly likes to go for a soundscape when building tracks. We’re using a very basic setup at the moment, mainly because we move around quite a lot. We use 5:1 surround speakers, a midi keyboard, a pair of Sony M7506s and our DAW preference is PC (or Mac for a few hip-hop bits).

You’re affiliated with some of the best labels in dubstep, and have had support from some of the biggest DJs in the scene. How did you first getting talking to Mala and how did the Deep Medi release come about?

It’s funny because we’ve been going to FWD» from the very beginning. In those days, most other producers were young too - so we were all involved and eager to link up with them. I’d say we’ve known Chef from pretty much the beginning, and we’ve always linked up as friends and in music. He’s been supporting our stuff for many years. It eventually got to the point where we had a ridiculous amount of tunes but no releases or anything so Chef picked out some bits and sent them to Mala and he was feeling what we were doing. After a few link ups and talks he said he’d like to sign us to MEDi and that’s how it started…

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

We like the conversion of sound on turntables, but CDJs are convenient for people who want to travel light. As long as the sound and music is good and consistent it doesn’t really matter too much in our opinion!

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

We’re been playing out for about 2 years now. Our favourite booking has been Italy mainly because it’s a really nice place and the people have a good positive attitude (and vibe) towards music. Plus we got a lot of people we consider family over there so it’s always good to be in their home country!

Have you always produced dubstep? Ever tried your hand at anything else? Do you think producers need to make more than one genre of music these days?

Nah we’ve produced grime, hip-hop,jungle, D&B, house… Quite a lot of stuff over the years.

Km: Well in my opinion that is the definition of a “producer”. You’re meant to be able to translate your feel and style into anything and everything. Producing other genres is definitely a thing people should do; it keeps you fresh with ideas and styles to pick from and incorporate where ever you choose.

Where do you see the dubstep ‘sound’ moving to over the next year or so?

Km: Hopefully it will be revived from the stage it’s floating on at the moment. I’d love to see it develop into something unique because it definitely has the potential.

K: I feel the same, and do kind of feel like there’s been a big wave of multi- genre experimentation in dubstep the past few years, some would see this as an evolution, and to some a devolution. I think this has been good experience for dubstep mainly because as a new genre it will have phases of trial and error to define what the true sounds of dubstep really is - like most other genres that have been around for more then a decade. It’s a fact that good music stands the test of time, and I can see this coming year defining the strongest and most timeless musical areas of dubstep.

Other than the releases discussed earlier, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

K-Man will be dropping a free EP every month until Dec 2013 , but there’s loads of other stuff going on which we can’t really reveal at the minute!

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Stay true to yourself and make sure whatever image you’re trying to put across is solid. Getting heard or signed properly is a hard journey and can be discouraging. Originality and dedication is what counts the most.

3 producers we should be following are…?

Km: Numa crew, L-Wiz and Cluekid.

K: I’d say Perverse, Subtle Minds & Commodo as newcomers.

Best dubstep track ever produced is?

Ahhh! It’s between Skream’s ‘Colourful’ and Coki’s ‘Seek Knowledge’ (if that’s even the name of the track).

Best producer in dubstep to collab with is?

We’d say Silkie.

So this is it. The final MIG x FKOF mix - and what a mix it is. Thanks to the K-Man and Kero for a fitting end to the MIG x FKOF series. Good to finally get you guys involved A massive thanks also go to the artists, labels, fans and everyone else who have contributed to the series in the last three years. It’s been awesome!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Let us know what you think of our last mix in the series either via Facebook or Twitter.

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #145 - Lamont

It has been a while since our last MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire feature, so we figured it was about time to release the next one. Peep the interview below, and don’t forget to download Lamont’s mix! 

Easy man, you good?

All good! Can’t complain.

For those that don’t know you, who is Lamont?

I’m a bass type music producer from Bristol, UK.

You’ll be widely known as the producer Calski - but less so as Lamont. What’s the logic behind the name switch?

Couple reasons really but the main one being I just felt like it was time for a fresh start. There’s a long list of tunes I made under ‘Calski’ that I’m not really into anymore and I’ve got a few releases coming this year that I’m excited about so it seemed like the perfect time to make the switch!

How would you describe your sound?

I try to make a variation of sounds to be honest, when I sit down at my computer I never know what sort of vibe is going to come out of it – which makes it more exciting for me personally. But typically if it’s not something melodic and spacey; it’s going to be something dark, sinister and upbeat. Tempos usually range between 120-140bpm.

When did you decide you wanted to produce bass music – and have you ever produced non-bass music?

When I first started making beats it was on a free demo of Fruity Loops. I just made super bait cheap grime tracks that you couldn’t even save! It was a while between then and the time I actually got my home studio but I was probably about 20 when I decided I wanted to do it properly. So I went to college to study music tech for a couple years - then after that just kept practising production; I’m still practising now!

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

I’ve got a pretty modest setup really. I use an iMac and Logic Pro 9, I’ve got a couple of KRK rockit 8s, a Focusrite Saffire 6 soundcard and an M-Audio midi keyboard. Nothing too fancy but it works for me.

Your EP on Overcooked Records last year was met with many positive reviews, what’s your release schedule looking like for 2013? Anything physical?

Nothing on wax as of yet unfortunately, but I have got a steady flow of releases ready to go for this year… A couple more EPs with Overcooked Records and a release with ICU Audio – which I’m happy about because I’ve been a fan of the ICU gang for a long time so shouts to them!

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

I’d say in an ideal world vinyl is always better, but unfortunately most of the tunes I play aren’t out on vinyl yet and getting every tune you like cut to dubplate is pretty costly, so at the moment I’m using CDs.

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite – and why?

I’ve been playing out and about for a couple years now. I did the whole playing for free thing for about a year to get my name about at the beginning but there is only so far you can go doing that. I had some really good gigs last year, probably the highlight for me was going to play at a festival in Venice, Italy. I also did the F.A.O nights in Cardiff twice last year and they are live so big up to those guys for having me down!

Going back to the above production question, do you think producers need to make more than one genre of music these days? Where do you see the dubstep ‘sound’ moving to over the next year or so?

I think people should just make whatever makes them happy rather then trying to conform to a genre or sound. I think people get too hung up on genres/ bpm etc these days, don’t worry about what people are going to call it just make sure you enjoy the music. There are so many sick producers at the moment it’s nice to see so many people doing their thing!

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Practice makes perfect, just keep going with it. Stick to your guns and make the music you want to make. But most importantly, enjoy yourself when you’re doing it!

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

I tried to get a mix of tunes in there, it starts off more melodic, goes in to darker stuff in the middle and then gets a bit more housey towards the end. Big up to everyone that took a listen I hope you enjoyed it!

Any shoutouts?

Yeah big shout to Overcooked records, the ICU Audio gang and all the Bristol boys - Boofy, Hi5Ghost, OH91, Lemzly Dale, My Nu Leng, Kahn, Prime, Peaman, Sly-One and most of all you guys.

3 producers we should be following are…?

Boofy, Hi5Ghost and OH91.

Best bass music track ever produced is…?

What a question! There has been so many huge tracks but I’d say my personal favourite would be…. Pinch’s ‘Punisher’.

Best label in bass music is…?

Deep Medi.

After hearing this one for the first time, Lamont’s MIG x FKOF mix went into one of our favourites from the series - a definite must grab!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Calski - If I Had It My Way [Overcooked records]
2. Geode - Vie [forthcoming Innamind Recordings]
3. Calski - St.Andrews [Overcooked records]
4. Fantastic Mr Fox - Evelyn [Black Acre]
5. Ifan Daffyd - Treehouse [Push & Run]
6. TNGHT - Bugg’n [Warp Records]
7. Calski - Black Tape [forthcoming ICU Audio]
8. Blawan - Iddy [Hessle Audio]
9. Calski - Route 66 [Overcooked records]
10. Pheral - Hatchway [Innamind Recordings]
11. Demon ft. Beezy - Ramification [M.U.D]
12. Kahn ft. Rider Shafique - Late Night Blues [Deep Medi Musik]
13. Perverse ft. Beezy - Cross Examination [Innamind Recordings]
14. Headhunter - Prototype (Modeselektor remix) [Tempa]
15. Zed Bias ft. Holly G - Fairplay [Tru Thoughts]
16. Enigma Dubz & Calski - Rushing [Overcooked records]
17. Geode - Get Dem (Calski remix) [Free Download]
18. Wookie - Live On [Soul Heaven]
19. Sub Focus - Tidal Wave (Shadow Child remix) [Mercury UK]
20. Gatekeeper - Something Sleeps [Deca Rythm]
21. Shadow Child - 23 [FOOD MUSIC]
22. S.K.A.M - Rush Hour [Gruuv]
23. Hackman - Close [Greco-Roman]
24. Trevino - Lag [Revolve:r]

Let us know what you think of Lamont’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #144 - Snare Surgeon

Having only just recovered from our event on Friday at Cable for GetDarker’s new album launch party, we thought it was about time we got our next MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire feature up! Before we begin, got to say a massive thanks to everyone that reached and all the artists that played. Vibes were flowing! So, lets begin. Next up in the spotlight is Leeds based DJ/producer Snare Surgeon. He is definitely one to watch, so sit back, and enjoy this read!

First off, tell us a little about yourself…

My names Will (Snare Surgeon), A 21 year old Dj/producer currently based in Leeds but originally from London.

How long have you been producing/djing for? What made you start?Who are your influences?

I have been Djing for 5 years and Producing for 3 although haven’t produced anything recently as am busy with a full time degree at Leeds University. I produce with my friend Silas a bit but he’s we use different software so he ends up producing most of it! I got into Djing because my mate had a pair of decks and I always used to go round to his and id get really bored just watching him so started to get involved. Later on I bought my own decks and I was hooked. Influences at the start of my Djing career where Jump Up drum and bass Djs like Hazard, Hype, Andy c and Original Sin. Then I got into grime and then fell in love with the darker side of dubstep so my biggest influence Dj wise, would have to be Youngsta. Production wise there’s so many to choose from a lot of them have had features on here BIG UP!

How would you describe your sound?

I try to push anything and everything 140 bpm from grime to Hip Hop. I was recently given the chance to be one of the residents at Bigger Than Barry in Leeds which really broadened by Dj horizons as I began to play house, garage, funky and future bass stuff, however my true sound in my opinion is 140 Uk and a bit of American bass music, anything from Juicy-J to J-Kenzo or Busta Rhymes to Biome. I like to keep the mixing quick as well to keep the crowd guessing and keep it the vibe varied and exciting.

Turntables or CDJ’s?

I’m not one of those guys who bad mouths people because of their set up, If I like what they are playing and think their mixing is good then I’m happy! In an ideal world I would say turntables all the time, I still collect a lot of vinyl and its what I started on so I hold it close to my heart. Increasingly, clubs are not taking care of their turntables and also there is the issue of money when it comes to cutting dub plates. This is why I have so much respect for vinyl Djs who are still carrying a bag full of acetate around, Mala and Compa spring to mind but I know there’s loads more! So I am currently using cdjs and have to say I think they are a fantastic invention especially the new 2000’s!

What’s the bass music scene like in Leeds? If you could change one thing about it, what would it be?

The bass music scene in Leeds is outrageous! There’s so many great nights promoting all different types of bass music and I feel honored to have played at a wide variety of them. It is the home of the mighty Sub Dub and Exodus nights, which helped put Dubstep on the map. It also is home to Vagabondz who consistently get ridiculous line ups to play to thousands and these two nights are instrumental in the running of Outlook Festival, which just so happens to be my favourite festival as well! There’s are also a lot of great smaller scale nights such as Full Fat, Rewind and Reggae Roast who have all been smashing it recently and Brotherhood Sound system which I co run with 3 of my best mates! There is so much variety in both bass music type and venue that you can never get bored and there will always be a couple of nights that tickle your fancy every week. There are also always new nights popping up regularly like Big Joe’s new night Nudist who smashed their debut with Hackman. Thinking of something to change about it is so hard because I love it so much! If there where less nights I’m sure I would be doing much better in my degree! Getting the balance between the two is so hard!

Best set you’ve played and why?

Another really hard question! All of the best sets I have played have been with Silas, who is the person I normally Dj with. Two have stood out recently which would have to be playing after Oneman at Bigger Than Barry to a packed Mint club where people where just having it, we could play any tune and the crowd response would be so good! Also when Brotherhood Sound System hosted a room at the last Metropolis with SBTRKT, Rustie and Koreless all the djs in our room smashed it and we kept the room full all night even though the line up next door was ridiculous! Silas and me played a 130 bpm set and it went OFF!

Who are your top 5 producers at the moment? And why?

In no particular order

Biome – his mix downs are unbelievable and I have liked and played out everything he has ever put out.

Silkie – I always found his productions really original and again insanely well produced and always get me moving.

Lex Luger – This guys productions are so gully. Truly inspirational American artist.

Chimpo – He’s such a Sick producer and he’s a really good Dj he also happens to be a really sound guy!

Barely Legal – Although she doesn’t produce this girl is one hell of a Dj and she always smashes it. Every set if seen from her I haven’t stopped moving, watch out for her in the future she’s going to be BIG!

Any advice to those starting out?

I would still class myself in the starting out/ Upcoming category so it’s a tough one to answer!

In terms of production I would say always finish your tunes, If you get stuck really try and finish them. It means you just get a lot more content out for people to listen to and more of a chance of getting heard.

In terms of Djing Persistence is key; I was playing in my bedroom for 2 years before even going near a club so stick at it. Also take any opportunity you can get when you start out, play for a couple of beers at your mates house parties or for free in smaller venues and then hopefully you will get noticed!

3 people dead or alive you’d love to have a drink with…?

Skream – I like to think I can take my drink but apparently this guy is next level so would like to see him in action.

Bob Dylan – Always been a musical hero of mine and would like to see what he’s like in the flesh.

My Grandfather – I never got to meet him but apparently he was a boss!

Twitter or Facebook?

Twitter because it’s easier to get replies from artists who wouldn’t normally speak to you on Facebook. Half the artists I am into at the moment have managers who run their Facebook pages anyway whereas I think on the most part their Twitter is a personal thing!

I’d just like to say a big thank you to MakeItGood and FatKidOnFire for this opportunity and like to shout out Brotherhood, Blackfoot Phoenix, Vagabondz, Bigger Than Barry, Just Jam, Sub Dub and anyone else who has supported me so far!

Turn your subs up, and get listening to Snare Surgeon exclusive mix for MIG x FKOF. 

Track list:

1. Clue Kid - Evolution [Tectonic]
2. Soap Dodgers - Contact [Tempa]
3. The Bug – Skeng [Ninja Tune]
4. Skream - Midnight Request Line [Tempa]
5. Ludacris - Whats Your Fantasy [Def Jam]
6. Girl Unit – Wut [Night Slugz]
7. Wiley - Gangsters [Big Dada]
8. TMSV and June Miller  - Lost Cause [Black Box]
9. Radikal Guru - Dread Commandments (Killawatt remix) [Moonshine]
10. Preditah - Solitaire [Stay Fresh]
11. Claude VonStroke - Who’s Afraid of Detroit (Dj Madd refix) [Free DL]
12. Facta – FWD [dub]
13. Youngsta - Poseidon [Tempa}
14. Phaeleh - In The Twilight [Afterglo]
15. Kryptic Minds - The Divide [Osiris Music]
16. Synkro - Connected [Free DL]
17. Silas - DP 001 [dub] 

Let us know what you think of Snare Surgeon’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #143 - Genetix

Matt and Rich, aka Genetix, have led a fairly unconventional production life. Their first dubstep track, ‘Squid Attack’ was picked up by Funtcase, the Circus Records lot and eventually Nero - receiving Radio 1 airtime and millions of plays online in the process. Since then, the Genetix guys have wracked up almost 20,000 fans on Facebook and over 10,000 followers on SoundCloud and have been picked up by a variety of huge tearout labels. So when we noticed they’d lined up releases with fam Bacon Dubs and minimal dubstep champions Artikal Music, we thought we better have a chat…

How’s it going guys, you both well?

We’re fine thanks, can’t complain!

For those that don’t know you, who and what is Genetix?

Genetix is the collaborative efforts of two people producing dubstep, Matt Sharp & Rich Dawson.

You’ve had a fairly unconventional journey into the deep and dark sound. How did you move from tunes like Squid Attack into the sounds you’re releasing with Artikal Music?

We’ve always been into dubstep (since the beginnings when it was all pretty much deep). But at that time we were producing jump up DnB so when we decided to try our hand at dubstep the natural progression was to make the tearout kind of stuff. Around a year ago though we started listening to a lot of J:Kenzo’s Daily Dose shows and Youngsta sets from Rinse FM. We just became hooked on the deeper minimal sound!

How did you guys meet? When did you decide you wanted to produce dubstep - and were you producing individually before you started making Genetix tunes?

We met through a mutual friend around 8 years ago and found we had similar interests like music and mixing etc. We stayed good friends and went to college to learn production. We’ve always produced together right from the start but always dabbled in our own solo productions as well. We find we get the best results working together though, like the saying goes two heads are better than one. We decided to try dubstep around 3 years ago now. Even though our main love at the time was DnB, after many years of producing it and stacking up a lot of releases on some decent labels we found that we just couldn’t find our big break in the scene. Our good mate Funtcase had had similar issues with DnB and had recently switched to dubstep as well and was smashing it, so I guess that influenced us a lot.

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

Usually drums first as you’d imagine, then get a good sub groove running with the drums, then we’d probably find a sample or synth to set the mood of the track and then move on to making some bass sounds. Our production set up is pretty simple, we use a dual core PC, 4 gig ram etc, Tapco s’8 monitors (which were becoming increasingly pissed off with!), a Yamaha mixing desk, Novation midi keyboard and a Emu soundcard. Nothing fancy to be honest although we’d love to upgrade our studio, but as you know it can be very expensive.

You’re affiliated with some of the best labels in dubstep (in all its various forms), and have had support from some of the biggest DJs across the scene. How did it all come about? What caused the change from tearout to the more minimal sounds?

Well we haven’t actually changed from tearout, we just produce both. We really enjoy producing both genres and will continue to do so. Our first dubstep track ‘Squid Attack’ was picked up straight away by Funtcase and all the Circus crew and from there it went to being played by Nero on Radio 1, so we made a good name for ourselves early on. If you have a big hit like that it really helps because the really big producers that want to play your tracks will always be like “Oh its those guys who made that squid attack tune, we’ll give they’re new stuff a listen”. Whereas if you’re unknown it can be difficult to get the bigger guys to take notice.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

CDJs as cutting dubplates costs a fortune and the majority of our sets is unreleased music. We wouldn’t be able to play a Genetix set on a set of turntables.

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

All in all about 6 years playing out regulary, favourite booking recently has to be UKF in Bulgaria. Wicked club and sound system, really good responsive crowd as well.

Have you always produced dubstep? Ever tried your hand at anything else? Do you think producers need to make more than one genre of music these days? Where do you see the dubstep ‘sound’ moving to over the next year or so?

We’ve always dabbled with dubstep but it’s only been full time the last few years. We used to make some hip-hop years ago and have also tried a bit of techno. We think it helps to try other genres because it broadens your horizons. We listen to all sorts of other music in the car and at home so why not have a go at making it? Its hard to predict where dubstep will go to be honest, the deeper stuff doesn’t really need to change that much because that’s the original dubstep sound and it’s thriving in the underground. The more mainstream stuff seems to be changing all the time with sub-genres popping up all over the place. There’s only so long before people get bored of the high pitch laser sounds and screaming mid range bass that are dominating right now, we find it becomes stale quite quickly (because it all sounds the same).

Other than the releases discussed earlier, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

We have a 3 part thing coming on Biscuit Factory - the first of which is coming very soon, that’s all vinyl as well. We have another release on circus coming in the next few months, we’re in talks with some more deeper labels about releases as well and there’s also our own label (Big Tuna) that’s launching soon and will be showcasing our more tearout stuff.

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Try and be different. Have your own sound. There are so many producers these days it’s hard to stand out from the crowd unless you’re individual and fresh. If you go for something a bit different you’re more likely to get noticed. Skream and Benga seem to support a lot of up and comers on their radio show as well so they’re good to hit up.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

It’s a mix of a lot of our own stuff, some dubs that people kindly send to us and some of our favourite releases of late.

Any shoutouts?

Everyone over at Circus and Maximum Boost agency. J:Kenzo, Youngsta, N-Type and Walsh for supporting us. As well as all the other producers that have been supporting us (too many to mention)!

3 producers we should be following are…?

Funtcase aka Haze for his deeper stuff, Audio Sleaze and Buchan.

Best dubstep track ever produced is…?

Sorry but that just seems impossible to answer! Too many classics.

Best label in dubstep is…?

Circus or Tempa.

We’re stoked to launch MIG x FKOF’s 2013 with ultimate crossover artists Genetix - as Matta and Rich raid their dub collection to kick the year off with as many huge tunes (which turns out to be 51) as they can fit into two hours. Enjoy!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Genetix - Limbs [dub]
2. Distance - Blue Meanie [Tectonic]
3. Ben Verse - Tiger Foot [Crunch]
4. LX One - Losing Control [Wheel & Deal]
5. Genetix - Mohair [Bacon Dubs dub]
6. Format ft. Fix - Outsiders [dub]
7. Sparxy & Mannix - The Guardian [dub]
8. Genetix - Crow Sector [dub]
9. Truth ft. Datsik - No Chance [Smog] 
10. Standard Procedure - Babylon Shall Fall [dub]
11. Genetix - The Doctor [dub]
12. Subreachers & 11th Hour - Immortal [dub]
13. Sleeper & District - The Risk [dub]
14. Genetix - Installation [Artikal Music]
15. Baitface - Focus Mode (Deafblind remix) [dub]
16. Southbound Hangers - Vague [dub]
17. Genetix - Powers [Biscuit Factory dub]
18. Sparxy - Oxygen [dub]
19. Kahn - Dread [Deep Medi]
20. Genetix - Decoding [Artikal Music]
21. LX One - On My Own [Wheel & Deal]
22. District - Below VIP [dub]
23. Genetix - Prototype [Bacon Dubs dub]
24. Biak & Baitface - Cellula [Badimup free]
25. Subreachers - Dark Souls [dub]
26. Genetix - Mindrise [Biscuit Factory dub]
27. Konvex - Atheist [dub]
28. Standard Procedure & Jamakabi - Concrete Jungle [dub]
29. Genetix - Bandicoot [Biscuit Factory dub]
30. Razor Rekta - Tugboat [dub]
31. Ben Verse ft. LX One, Youngsta & Darrison - Different Way [Crunch]
32. Genetix - 24/7 Re Flex [Biscuit Factory dub]
33. Baitface - Trackers [dub]
34. Format - Warpath [dub]
35. Genetix - Africa B.C [dub]
36. Kryptic Minds - The Divide [Osiris]
37. Sleeper - Shelter [Chestplate]
38. Genetix - Natural State [Artikal Music]
39. Perverse - Mizrahi [dub]
40. Deafblind & Baitface - Penta [dub]
41. Genetix - Destroyer [dub]
42. Youngsta - Destruction [Tempa]
43. John B & Jillian Ann - Love Again (LX One remix) [Beta]
44. Genetix - Skyliner [Biscuit Factory dub]
45. Subreachers - Hrvatska [dub]
46. Standard Procedure - Shadows [dub]
47. Genetix ft. Skydro - Goin’ In [Biscuit Factory dub]
48. Sparxy & Dubfreq - Convulsion [dub]
49. Genetix - Killzone [Biscuit Factory dub]
50. Ohmtrix - Waste Some Time [dub]
51. Genetix - Sequence VIP [Biscuit Factory dub]

Let us know what you think of Genetix interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #142 - Juss B

So it’s about damn time to kick this year’s MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire series off. We’ve had our eyes and ears on Juss B for a good long time now - and in our continued efforts to find decent new labels and support their releases, we caught up with Torrey as his latest EP dropped on Vulcan Audio…

Yo! What’s good?

Ez bro, been real good! Thanks.

Introduce yourself, who is Juss B? It’s a question you might get asked a lot, but the tattoos! Tell us about them?

Haha yeah, not much to say about the tats - other than I got the skelly hand so I won’t need to dress up for Halloween any more…

How would you describe your sound? How do you go about building your tunes – what’s your production setup like?

I would like to think my sound tends to lean on the darker, minimal side with an emphasis mainly on the sub-bass and percussion. I start every tune by setting up the beat then making the sub and so on. My production setup consists of FL Studio on a Mac running Bootcamp sitting on top of my girlfriend’s bed with a pair of Pioneer headphones… Haha!

How did you get into the deep and dark 140 sounds? What was the first dubstep track you ever heard?

I started out producing a bit more of the dancehall-type dubstep before I had heard any of the deeper/darker stuff. I was really into the older Rusko/Caspa stuff as well. The tune that turned me over to the deeper/minimal style of things was ‘Hunted’ by SP:MC & LX One.

You’re affiliated with some of the best labels in dubstep, and have had support from some of the biggest DJs in the scene. Of your back catalogue, what’s your favourite release and why?

I’ve been really lucky this past year to get in contact with labels and producers that I highly respect. I feel my strongest release as of now has been the ‘Metaphysics/Symbols’ EP on Vulcan Audio because it caught the attention of quite a few people and kind of put me on the radar within the dubstep community.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

CDJs, because CDs are easy for me to travel around with.

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

I’ve been spinning gigs for the last two years now. My personal favorite show to date was in San Francisco at Temple with N-Type. It was a nice and dark venue and heaps of people came out to show support (most likely because of N-Type haha).

Have you always produced dubstep? Ever tried your hand at anything else? Do you think producers need to make more than one genre of music these days? Where do you see the dubstep ‘sound’ moving to over the next year or so?

As bad as it may sound, I haven’t dabbled much in producing any genre other than dubstep. I’m pretty focused on shaping my overall sound at the moment. If other producers are motivated to experiment with other genres, good on them! I’m hoping the dubstep scene will start putting more focus on the deeper/minimal side of things and expand from there.

Other than the releases we discussed earlier, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

There are some things up in the air which I’m pretty excited about but nothing that can be announced at this moment…

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Be patient. This was (and still is) the hardest thing for me to cope with. Try not to push out tracks that are premature because there is no rush or time limit. Focus on making one great tune rather than ten mediocre tunes. This will get the attention of record labels and show them maturity in my opinion.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

I made the mix with the intention of showcasing every tune involved. It was a real treat for me to have so many top notch producers send over their unreleased material for the mix. Big thanks to all of them and of course MIG x FKOF for the opportunity!

Any shoutouts?

To all the record labels I’ve released on and been in contact with - big up! There’s way too many names for me to spell out, so massive thanks to everyone who I’ve been involved with thus far and looking forward to big things for 2013! O yeah, and out to Skrillex haha!

Best up-and-coming label we should be following is…?

Vulcan Audio, Gradient Audio and Phantom Hertz have some big releases lined up for 2013 from what I hear…

Best dubstep track ever produced is…?

At the moment, I’m really hooked on ‘Gatekeeper’ by DJ Madd.

One dubstep producer to watch for in 2013 is…?

There’s so many out there, but ‘the man of mystery’ Warsa is definitely one to watch in my opinion…

Juss B’s VLCN004 release sat up in the top 5 of the dubstep charts on Juno a good week or two after its release - and his mix for MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire is testament to both his production (with 2 Juss B dubs and 2 releases included) and mixing skills. 17 tracks, 51 minutes and a whole lot of free download! Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Warsa - Tungsten [dub]
2. Killawatt & Thelem - Point of No Return [Black Box]
3. Olie Bassweight & Dubfonik ft. DMG MC - The Message [Bassweight Recordings dub]
4. Juss B - The Cell [dub]
5. Mesck - No Shelter [dub]
6. Juss B - Symbols [Vulcan Audio]
7. FNC - Prism [dub]
8. Juss B - The Omen [dub]
9. Skeptix & Fuced Forces - Medusa [dub]
10. FNC - Code Signal [forthcoming ????]
11. Youngsta - Poseidon [Tempa]
12. Juss B - The Incas [Sub Pressure Records dub]
13. Mesck - Conquista [dub]
14. Truth - Spook (Olie Bassweight remix) [Bassweight Recordings dub]
15. Muttley - Tiled (Boofy remix) [dub]
16. Killawatt & Thelem - Kaba [Black Box]
17. Juss B - Metaphysics [Vulcan Audio]

Let us know what you think of Juss B’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #141 - Wayfarer

There are few artists in the world who can say their debut release got a wheel at Mala and VIVEK’s System. There are even fewer artists who can say they’ve been supported by the likes of Joe Nice, BunZer0, Kryptic Minds, Biome, Kaiju, Killawatt, Perverse and N-Type with a single release under their belt. That list is indicative – and justification – of the hype around Wayfarer, a young producer from Nottingham injecting a truly startling energy into 140. Taking the more roots sound and flipping its focus from bass to percussion, without losing either’s force, Wayfarer is a breath of much-needed fresh air in a sometimes tired genre. Announcing himself with the truly astounding ‘Fall of the Zulu’ on Tribe12, with a selection of his trademark percussive monstrosities forthcoming on digital and 12” on some of the best labels in dubstep, it’s safe to say Wayfarer has thrown the towel down and jumped in at the deep end. This is most definitely an artist to watch…

Wayfarer! What you doing with yourself?

Sup, just chillin’, bear grillin’!

For those that don’t know, introduce Wayfarer?

Wayfarer is an alias that I have been producing dark 140 tunes under since January 2012.

First question, because it’s something we’ve joked about before, but it’s always good to get a detailed answer. How on earth do you describe the sounds only you seem to be able to produce?

Haha, please! Well, everyone has their own way of working and it’s difficult to differentiate how I make tunes compared to others. From what I gather, it tends to be that an artist has their own way of writing and I’ve never really been exposed to anyone else’s. I guess I started writing with the intention of creating big, raw vibes – a bit dirty and not too clinical. I don’t record anything myself, there’s nothing special going on there. I’m pretty naive technically so when I started out the focus was on the ideas behind the tunes. I never really used to worry too much about making tunes that sat well in the mix either but that’s something that’s changing a bit more as the bookings come in and things like that. Obviously I realise that most people will listen my tunes in a mix but I struggle to sit and write beats that aren’t a bit wonky.

How did you get into dubstep? When did you decide you wanted to make as well as listen? How on earth did you develop your sound? I’ve not heard anyone making music like you!

I started listening to DnB around 14 and picked up on dubstep not longer after, so probably late 2007 when a friend sent me a bunch of tunes and guys like Skream, Mala, Peverelist and D1 stood out. Also I remember listening to Burials first album, rinsing it for about two months then ‘Untrue’ came out. I think those albums really hooked me on the sound. Given that, I only started properly making tunes this year, I took my time with getting round to producing really but I guess that was because I was hung up on so many genres of music. I love the earlier dubstep sound, how no one really knew what they were doing and were making tunes their own way. I kind of wanted to emulate that mentally and just make angry, unadulterated, organic energy.

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

I run a Macbook Pro with Logic 9 with Yamaha HS80s - no hardware unfortunately. I actually use my HD25s quite a lot whilst building tunes, just because I kind of know how they translate to other speakers (and it means can crash on the sofa and make noises). As far as synths go I don’t really venture much further than Massive and Alchemy. I draw for Kontakt a lot too, perfect piece of kit for me. Izotope, PSP vintage warmer and Shaack Audio’s Transient Shaper are all pretty standard. When I’m making a beat I tend to start with a 16 bar drum loop and just keep adding elements until I get somewhere close to what I had in mind for when the tune is in full flow. I’ll then strip it back out and add in some structure.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

I love vinyl and used to buy the occasional release if it was special but I just couldn’t afford to buy it all the time. I recently swapped my 1210s for a pair of Pioneers with a mate, which I’m kind of regretting now but they are generally less of a pain. There is a certain hypocrisy (that I’m guilty of) with wanting my music on vinyl and not really buying it myself – but it’s something I want to start collecting properly when I’m not a miserable pikey student anymore.

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

I’ve played a few times up in Aberdeen but there isn’t a very strong scene for dark dance music here – so was mostly playing to empty to rooms. I’ve only played two out of town bookings so far both were wicked but for different reasons. Hit&Run was great as it was pretty busy. I was warming up for Enei and Kasra so there were some nutjob DnB heads in the crowd and the system was lovely. The FKOF vs. M.U.D night on the other hand was really wicked for meeting other producers on a similar tip.

There’s been a pretty decent return to the roots, with good support of Wayfarer productions (I remember ‘…Zulu’ destroying System for example). I, and a few others, have bemoaned the (perceived/) lack of innovative producers out there at the moment; do you see your sound as something that can set an example? Bringing something fresh back to dubstep?

Ha, that’s some compliment – thank you! I don’t really sit around constantly analysing what I’m doing as a producer so I’ve never really thought about whether I’m bringing anything new to the table every time I sit down to write. If thats how people see my tunes then I’m succeeding. It’s nice to think you might have your own little niche but I don’t think of it as innovation.

Other than the recent releases on T12 and one or two special tunes in the pipeline, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

Everything has been a bit up in the air as far as releases go. I’ve recently signed to Uprise Audio which I’m really happy about. I’m pencilled in for some nice releases next year on a couple of labels, that’s about as much as I can say. I’m toying with the idea of an album, probably not dancefloor material so that’s something way off in the future but definitely something I want to pursue.

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

I don’t feel like I should be giving out any advice – I’m making mistakes and learning every day. If I had to though I’d just tell people find their own palette of sounds and be a pleasant person.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

Sort of what you’d expect to hear me playing out really; half my tunes, half contributions from other artists I’m feeling.

Any shoutouts?

There are really too many people to mention who have been a support over the past year. Out to Seven, Verity, Will from Hedmuk and Rich Reason for getting me to Manchester recently and of course MIG & FKOF. 

3 producers we should be following are…?

Gantz, Cauze and Taiko. These boys will be running things soon.

Best dubstep track ever produced is…?

Urgh, I hate this question. Loefah’s ‘The Goat Stare’.

Best label in dubstep is…?

Obviously Deep Medi.

It is time… Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Wayfarer - Yezo [dub]
2. Kaiju - Ice [dub]
3. Wayfarer - Shiro Ishii [forthcoming Tribe12]
4. Wayfarer - Iris [dub]
5. Taiko - Unrest [dub]
6. Wayfarer ft. Beezy - Diminished Nation [dub]
7. Wayfarer - Chandra [dub]
8. Wayfarer & Konvex - Omertà [dub]
9. Taiko - Levels [dub]
10. Wayfarer - Kendo [dub]
11. Kanjira - Ojama Black [dub]
12. J.Robinson & Gantz - Misread [dub]
13. Perverse & Gantz - Seismic [dub]
14. Wayfarer & Taiko - Untitled [dub]
15. Perverse - Resistance (Wayfarer remix) [dub]
16. J.Robinson & Shima - Tundra [dub]
17. Wayfarer - Shaman [forthcoming Tribe12]
18. Asylum - Blindfold [forthcoming Uprise Audio]
19. Taiko - Hands [dub]
20. Wayfarer - Untitled [dub]

Let us know what you think of Wayfarer’s mix and interview via Twitter or Facebook.

Loud Noise ‘End Of The World Party’ @ Cable - 21/12/12

Our friends over at Loud Noise are back with their last party of the year… and maybe ever (if you believe in that stuff). With such a killer line-up, it’s bound to be a memorable night. 

Make sure you grab Jakes’ exclusive mix for Loud Noise.

Advanced tickets are £10, available here. There will a limited number on the door. For more information, follow Loud Noise on Facebook / Twitter.

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #140 - Lost

We have been following the one and only Lost for a long, long time – and we’ve been trying to grab him for a feature for almost as long as we can remember. Luckily, Justin had a bit of time in his touring/ production schedule a few weeks ago to sit down and have a chat with us and mix the first of two additions to the MIG x FKOF mix series… Thanks to Chris for the awesome artwork and thanks to Lawrence’s help with the interview.

Firstly, of course, how are you?

Great thanks!

Awesome. Lost, we at FKOF x M.I.G have been big fans of yours for a long time. To those who don’t know you, who exactly is Lost?

I’m a DJ and producer, one of the early members on HENCH. Born and bred in Croydon, I’m 23 and living it large.

How would you describe your sound?

I can’t really describe it because it constantly changes and every track is unique. Compare ‘Al Barsha’ to ‘Groupies’, they sound completely different.

How did you get into dubstep in the first place? When did you decide you wanted to produce as well as listen?

I grew up around music so it always interested me. I started mixing when I was 12 and it wasn’t until I went to college that I started making dubstep. I first heard dubstep back in 2006 listening to Hatcha on KissFm, then went on to attend FWD» at Plastic People on a regular basis.

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

I’ve got a laptop running FL Studio 9 and use a pair of Yamahas.

You’ve had some big releases in the past few years on labels such as HENCH and Sin City, have you found it easy to get your music signed or is there a lot of your music we haven’t heard yet?

I’d say only a small fraction of all the music I’ve produced has been signed and released, or even heard. I can only release my solo music on the label I’m signed to, so it limits me as to how much music I can put out as there is more than one artist on that label. Everyone has their turn for release so I can only release a couple a year. Were working on speeding that up for the next year.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

It depends on the person’s preference to the equipment, they both have their good and bad points. But for playing out, it would be easier to use CDJs as the rate in music production has increased and the vinyl preservation has decreased (which almost forces DJs to use CDJs).

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

I’ve been playing out since 2009 and got the opportunity to play worldwide. My favourite place to visit and play was Brooklyn, New York – an amazing place! But my favourite venue and crowd would have to be at Paradiso, Amsterdam; because the atmosphere, sound system and crowd were outstanding.

With everyone seemingly moving away from strictly focusing on 140bpm dubstep, how do you think the genre will evolve over the coming months/ years? Where do you see your sounds progressing to?

The genre has evolved well beyond what anyone could’ve predicted, so it’s hard to say where I think it will go at the moment. But I have a feeling the commercial side will become less popular causing more demand for the underground scene.

After the huge ‘Groupies/Ironhide VIP’ release recently, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for?

Theres ‘Giant Orbs/Metric Weight’ forthcoming on Sin City, date TBC. I also have two other very interesting projects coming up, one of which is ready for master. It’s bigger than my last release ‘Groupies EP’ so I’m excited for the release!

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Don’t sound like everyone else, or anyone else. Be original and don’t feel like you have to live up to the current trend. For DJs, try your best to entertain – that’s what you should do as a DJ, entertain. It’s so easy now to mix, there’s equipment that make the job a hell of a lot easier and takes the talent out of the meaning ‘DJ’. Learn how to mix on vinyl first, that’ll really determine if you’ve got it in you.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

I haven’t done a give away mix in a while, so I wanted to make it special by splitting it into two parts. First you’ve got the grime mix which has got a selected few of my past favourites, and then there’s the [forthcoming] dubstep mix featuring current tracks that I’m supporting as well as new productions from myself.

Any shoutouts?

Shouts to everyone that has let me use their tracks in the mixes, to my HENCH crew and family, to the peeps supporting my music and what I do, you guys at FKOF x MIG and to my mum and girl.

Any producers we should watch out for (in any genre)?

Ipman, Kinzy, 50 Carrot, Badklaat, Mutated Mindz, Kahlil and Nickelback.

If you had to choose your favourite dubstep tune of 2012, what would it be?

There’s sooooooo many tunes in 1 year, plus it all depends on what mood you’re in at the time. It’s difficult to pick and favourite! Here’s my top 5 I have been playing this year, if that makes it easier.

1. Jakes ft. Sgt Pokes - Someone Say
2. Requake - Razia
3. Ipman - In Atari
4. LifeCycle - Zero X (Lost VIP)
5. Lost - Groupies.

Best current label in the scene?

HENCH! Obviously haha. But I’m supporting what BassClash have been releasing recently, also GetDarker. I’m not really up to date with releases in the shops at the moment so it’s hard to tell which label is pushing the strongest material right now.

As hinted above, Lost will be contributing two mixes to the series. His first instalment is a half-hour grime special, with white labels, instrumentals and dubs galore! I’ll update the post once we get the second dubstep mix, but until then grab the download and follow Lost on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. The Ends - Are You Really From The Ends (Jammer remix instrumental [PRECS006]
2. Dj Target - Poltergeist (Terra Danjah mix) [AIMH004]
3. Z Virus - Rudesting Refix [Westbeat 12 Soundsystem]
4. Ludacris - Whats Your Fantasy [Def Jam]
5. Macabre Unit - Slow Jam [Square Recordings]
6. Unknown - Ho (bootleg) [White label]
7. Unknown - Untitled [White label]
8. Nocturnal - Back in a big way (instrumental) [Night Knights productions]
9. Dizzee Rascal - Go [Dirty Stank TP]
10. Dj Zinc - Hold On [Bingo promo]
11. Youngstar - Darkside (Youngstar Remix) [Public Demand]
12. Plastic Man vs Mark One - Hard Graft [Virus Syndicates]
13. J-Sweet - Gutter (Alias remix) [Sweet Beats]
14. Mark One vs Plastic Man - Untitled [dub?]
15. Wizzbit - Quantum Leep [Road005 TP]
16. Geenius vs Slimzee - Log Off [Valve records]
17. Corporation of London - Roar Beats [Locked On]
18. Benga - Skank [Big Apple Records]

Let us know what you think of Lost’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #139 - Truth

The following MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire feature has been a long, long time coming. One of our goals/ ambitions with the MIG x FKOF series is to push the sounds of the young up-and-coming producers, labels and DJs in dubstep – but also (try to) feature the more established artists in the genre (and bass music as a whole). We first started talking to Tristan and Dre from Truth back when we were finalising the artists we were going to feature in MIG x FKOF 100. These two NZ producers (New Zealand bringing the bassweight as per usual) have set the stakes for what is possible with a few releases from the best labels in 140bpm-led bass music. With singles out on Black Box, Tempa, Deep Medi, Wheel & Deal and an LP out on Aquatic Lab, Truth have toured the world and played events like DMZ in London and Club Love in NYC. So it’s safe to say Truth are possibly the biggest artists to ever feature in the MIG x FKOF series. Timings didn’t allow for the feature to occur during the #100 celebrations (as the guys were moving from NZ to America at the time) – but Tristan hit us up last week saying they had a bit of time and wanted to finally sort the feature…

Who and what is Truth?

Truth is Dre and Tristan from New Zealand, music producers, DJs… We travel to a lot of crazy places, play a lot of crazy gigs and release a bunch of music on a variety of labels. What is Truth? That’s a whole other question. Truth is portrayed as ‘the facts’, something which is unalterably right, rock solid and unable to be argued against. But in reality, Truth is the opposite, there are many sides to the Truth. Everybody has their own Truths, some of which can be mutually exclusive. On a more sinister level, Truth is what we are constantly told to believe by everyone else: religions, governments, corporations, family, ‘common sense’… It all adds up to layer upon layer of bullsh!t which we all have to wade through. We have to accept the fact that what we consider ‘Truth’ is anything but. You can be a sheep and follow the lies, or you can choose your own path.

Dubstep and New Zealand. There’s a complete madness with the number of brilliant producers coming out of NZ (and that area of the world as a whole) – what’s up with that?!

It’s pretty crazy isn’t it, especially for such a small place (4 million people spread out over 2 islands bigger than the UK)? New Zealand has had a very strong bass-music tradition for a long time now. We like to think it all started when Bob Marley visited NZ in the early 80s. That visit had a profound influence on the roots/ reggae scene in New Zealand, ever since and to this day NZ has had a very strong reggae culture. A lot of kids of our generation grew up with that music being played by their parents. In the early 90s the rave/ hardcore scene took a big hold on NZ, and especially the more broken beat/ darker sound. Ed Rush was touring NZ years before he ever hit Australia. That sh!t evolved, heavily influenced by the UK… And from the mid-90s Christchurch (our home town) was one of “the” places for international DnB DJs to come tour. As teenagers the two of us saw so many influential artists like Ed Rush & Optical, Konflict, Bad Company, Shy FX, Grooverider, Roni Size… And we’re talking BIG parties with real soundsystems where you felt totally immersed in the sound. Partly a result of all that, and the visionary promoters throwing the shows, a lot of producers emerged in that scene, and also in other electronic genres like house. Those cats like Concord Dawn, The Upbeats, State of Mind, Bulletproof etc managed to get a foothold in the international DnB scene which is pretty inspiring for a bunch of people in NZ… And more and more people have been making music ever since.. Over the past 2/3 years things have really gone nuts with so much new talent emerging, maybe it’s something in the water. Also, it must have something to do with the extreme isolation of New Zealand as well. There are literally 4 cities you can regularly tour to without flying 3.5 hours to Australia. So as a producer, you can get quite a name for yourself, and still play very few shows. It means less distractions and more time to focus on making music. For example, when we signed ‘The Fatman’, it was over a year before we played our first show as Truth. You’d probably find the same thing if you talked to Perverse right now… Blowing up all over the place, very talented, but I bet they are playing very few shows at home. You can also guarantee they are in the studio every single night honing their sound and probably working a fulltime job too! Also, in an isolated place like NZ, there is also a need and support for a local bunch of producers to make their name, with a reasonably receptive audience, but an audience with very high standards and expectations too.

How did you both get into mixing and producing dubstep? How would you describe your production style?

As far as production style is concerned, thats a pretty subjective question, it’s really in the eye of the beholder… To us we make dancefloor music, quite often heavy and dark with a focus on the bassline. We like cinematic atmospherics and bad 70/ 80s horror sounds. But at the end of the day, any artist creates their thing – and once it’s made, it’s the person experiencing the art who gives it context and meaning. Some people say our music is minimal, others think it’s heavy as FKOF, some people have claimed we are leading the battle against brostep, others think our music is dark and twisted and a lot of people say we have a very diverse sound as far as style, but with distinctive production values. We got into dubstep about 5 or 6 years ago. We had already been making and releasing music and running a pretty successful night in NZ. One day our friend one day brought Mala round to Dre’s place to chill for the day. They ended up talking music and playing each other beats. Mala left a CD of the first few Deep Medi releases which were coming out soon. The next day we got together (there were three of us back then, but now two), Dre played us the CD and we thought that it would be fun to have a go making something around that tempo… Especially as we had a massive sample collection of sounds which simply didn’t work in a DnB context. Straight away, making dubstep caught hold of us. It was fun, tons of space to play with, less “rules”. Never having listened to dubstep before we had no preconceptions as to what it should sound like, just absolute freedom. Those first 2/3 days we made a bunch of tunes including ‘The Fatman’ and ‘Stolen Children‘… Both of which ended up being our first release as Truth, and our first release with Deep Medi.

How long have you both been producing and Djing?

Since about roughly 1998.

How do you go about building your tunes? Is there a process behind each one? What software do you use?

We pretty much always start a new track when we get together in the studio, as you never know when inspiration is going to strike. Give it a couple of hours to see if there is something we can work with. Must tunes start with the drums so we have a rhythmic backbone for the track. We usually get a rough beat together pretty quickly so we have something to work with… But we don’t initially spend too long fine-tuning as we want to keep it fresh and get the ideas flowing. From there, there are a number of ways to take things, could be the bassline next, could be putting some samples together, or creating musical elements from synths or it might be a vocal we want to work with. Once again, this is the creative phase where the bulk of the musical ideas are composed so for us it’s important to work relatively quickly and get our ideas out. Often one person will be operating the machine playing ideas/riffs whatever while the other is like “keep that”, “record that” …”that sucks” or whatever… Often in the case of a ‘good’ tune (i.e., tracks we like later down the track), the musical ideas will come together in a few hours, and then be finalised or polished over the coming days or weeks.

You’ve had a long list of releases on some of the most respected record labels in dubstep. What’s your favourite from your back catalogue and why?

We’ve said this before… Each of our tracks is a ‘favourite’ for its own reason. We wouldn’t finish and put out a track we weren’t proud of. Having said this there are some tunes which are particularly close to our hearts! ‘The Fatman’ and ‘Stolen Children’ equally since they were our first release, that’s always going to be something special! Also since it got pretty big in the scene when they came out, which did great things for our name and opened a few doors for us. Our debut album ‘Puppets’, for similar reasons… We worked on the album for 18 months straight, and when it came out the response was really good. Great reviews in print and blogs. Lots of people feeling the tunes. It was nominated for the Dubstep Forum Album of the year. Our only regret was that we didn’t release more of the album on vinyl, but that was out of our hands. This year, we’ve been blessed with a release on Tempa, which has always been a dream of ours and a relationship we’re going to continue… Of course the second album ‘Love’s Shadow’ has been a labour of love, especially as we’ve given it out for free to the fans! Something personal and direct from us.

Turntables or CDJs for when you play out?

Turntables.

What’s been your best gig and if you could DJ alongside anyone, who would it be?

That’s a hard one. We have played so many awesome gigs over the past few years. There are a couple that come to mind from the recent tour – one was headlining Razmatazz in Barcelona, Spain – on a huge sound sysytem to almost 3,000 packed in the club. The other was the Deep Medi Boat party at Outlook Festival which I played alongside Mala and VIVEK – which was pure vibes on a boat in Croatia. In the USA, playing at the Deep Medi night in Denver for the 5 year Sub.Mission birthday was really special. The album release party in San Francisco at our residency (Deep, Dark & Dangerous) was also pretty amazing, people down there really feeling the vibes on a Tuesday night! And finally, going back to New Zealand for a couple of album release gigs was dope… The people there came out in support, and really know the music!

Who are your top 5 dubstep producers at the moment; and why? Any labels you’re feeling?

All the new guys are killing it right now… here are 6!

• Kaiju
• Content
• J:Kenzo
• Biome
• Perverse
• Dubtek

The future of dubstep. Do you think the ‘deep and dark’ side of things has been overdone yet? If so, what’s next?

The ‘Deep and Dark’ side of things has always been there since the beginning of dubstep and has always been a major element of the sound as far as we’re concerned. Clearly to us, the current resurgence of that sound stems from the over-saturation of ‘Brostep’ as a bit of a backlash against it. Many of the dope new producers have very few (if any) tunes even released, so it will be really interesting to see where they take their sound. Right now some of what is coming out is sounding a little bit formulaic. The next step within the deep/dark side of things is a bit more innovation coming in… More interesting beat structures and edits would be part of that, but also changes in the overall aesthetic of the sound being produced, still keeping the tension there, but innovating in the mix maybe, bringing different elements to the fore etc etc… If you look outside the dubstep genre, really good producers are doing a lot of cool stuff and working outside the box with sound, but often taking an influence from dubstep… And we think that’s going to bleed back into dubstep as a whole. But really, who knows? There’s always going to be a need and demand for darker music in any genre… It’s the alternative to the mass produced poppy bullsh!t our lives are constantly saturated with.

You’ve just put out a free album. What inspired the very generous gift?! Any other forthcoming releases we can look forward to?

We simply felt that after putting out music on a ton of labels, all of which we’re very proud of, it was time to do something direct for our fans… We’ve been planning a second album for a while, and when it came down to working out label details, we decided to go a different route. There are a lot of people all over the world who have supported us in various ways, and a lot of people who buy all our releases, so the album is a way of thanking them. It also means people don’t have to feel bad if they want to share the music with their friends, it’s not ‘stealing’ if the music was free to start with… And when you say ‘free’, you have to realize that the album definitely is not free as far as we’re concerned, we have put countless weeks, days and hours into producing and testing those tracks, and coming up with an album we’re really happy with. So if anything, we hope people will just pay it forward by introducing new people to the music. We’ve got a bunch of exciting music coming out in the near future including a 4 track EP on L.A.-based SMOG. That release is called ‘Evil in the Woods’ [see image/ link above] and is a diverse release musically. There is an EP we have produced with Dutty Ranks which is being released on vinyl on Boka… it’s exciting for us as it explores the style of collaboration we have done with Dutty even further. We’ve also signed a number of the dubplates which Youngsta has been pushing recently… Can’t make any announcement as to label quite yet.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

This mix is pretty much packed full of dubs, there’s a lot of fresh Truth material, including some fresh new signings which are coming out sometime on some dope labes. There is a lot of music by up & coming producers as well… We get sent a ton of really dope music by people, so a mix like this is a great opportunity to play that music and have it heard.

Have you got any advice to new DJs or producers looking to get their music heard or signed?

Finish as many tunes as you can as the last 10% is the hardest and it’s a real skill to have. A/B reference without copying other people’s music – i.e. find a track you like the sound of, and make your tune sound like that (as far as mixdown is concerned, but don’t copy the actual musical ideas). If you send tunes out, make sure you are REALLY happy with them. Be realistic that the person listening to the music is also probably listening to 100 other tunes, so you really need to make your tunes stand out if possible! Very likely the person listening is going to skip through the intro and head straight to the drop. Make it personal, and if you feel you have to email a million people at once, don’t include all the email addresses in the “to” field; learn how to use BCC… Some of those contacts might not want their details shared with all of your other contacts. Sometimes you have to forge your own path too… Not all successful producers made it big by sending out tunes to other DJs and having their stuff signed to labels. If you can be innovative and smart with getting music out there, that can have even more impact.

3 people (dead or alive) you’d chill with (and why)?

Dre:

• King Tubby - he is the greatest, super inspirational, the foundation of our music
• Jack Nicholson - actual proper badman
• Snoop Dogg - would be really fun smoking a phattie with this top dogg.

Tristan:

• John Coltrane – Such a badman with a style of his own
• J Dilla – This guy has influenced so much music out there right now, would love to make a track with him
• David Attenborough – the one and only.

In your opinion, the best dubstep producer out there is…?

It’s a tough one, we’re really feeling the productions of all the new guys mentioned above, but there are guys like Kryptic Minds, Mala, Icicle and J:Kenzo that have been smashing it for a few years now.

In your opinion, the best dubstep track ever made is…?

Dre: It’s a really tough one… But as far as classics go for me the ones that really got me into it were:

• Digital Mystikz - Anti-War Dub
• The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart
• Skream - Midnight Request Line

Tristan: So many great tunes, but these three are classics:

• Kromestar – Kaliwanji
• Breakage ft David Rodigan & Newham Generals – Hard (Caspa & The Others remix)
• Antiserum & Eskmo - Monstahs.

So there you have it. A long, detailed and definitely well-thought out interview – and, unsurprisingly, the mix is as brilliant as Tristan and Dre’s responses to my questions. And just look at the dubs inside…

Track list:

1. Truth & Yayne – I Belong [dub] 
2. SP:MC – Receptors [dub] 
3. Ben Verse – Different Way [Crunch dub] 
4. Badklaat ft. Beezy – Calling [dub] 
5. Truth – Gaza (Andrew VC remix) [Defy dub] 
6. Truth – Triads [dub] 
7. FNC – Imprinted [dub] 
8. District – Kraken [dub] 
9. Truth & Yayne – Surveillance Society [dub] 
10. Truth – Spook (Olie Bassweight remix) [Defy dub] 
11. Collision – Politics [dub] 
12. Kaiju – Close Break VIP [dub] 
13. J:Kenzo – Invaderz (Truth remix) [dub] 
— Ben Verse – Tiger Foot [Crunch dub] 
14. Sleeper – Dawn of the Replicants [Chestplate dub] 
15. Truth & Crushington – Death Row [Defy] 
16. Ben Verse ft. Darrison – Sativa Soldier [dub] 
17. Truth – Iron Lung [dub] 
18. Truth ft. Yayne – Raindancer (Babyon System remix) [Defy dub] 
19. Truth ft. Yayne – Raindancer (J:Kenzo remix) [Truth free] 
— Dubtek – Carnivorous [dub] 
20. Strago – 4117 [??] 
21. Truth & Dutty Ranks – Weave [BOKA dub] 
22. DyAD – Losing Touch [dub] 
23. Content – HDR830 [dub] 
24. Cyntel & Hex – Jesters [??] 
25. ARtroniks – Onset [??] 
26. Von D – Try Me [dub] 
27. Boot – Dreaming Again [dub] 
28. Dubfreq ft. Fanton Mojah – Hail Di King [??] 
29. Sleeper – Shook [??] 
30. Truth – Born Enemies [dub] 
31. Truth – Spook (Biome remix) [Defy dub] 
32. Truth – Subconcious [dub] 
33. Pistonsbeneath – Black Sleep [Mindstep dub] 
34. Truth – Talking to Myself [SMOG dub] 
35. Truth – All Over [SMOG dub] 
36. Truth – Devil’s Hands [dub] 
37. Truth - Eternal [dub]

Here more of Truth via the links below: ‘Devil’s Hands’: http://soundcloud.com/truthdubstep/truth-devils-hands-dubplate

The Weeknd’s ‘Rolling Stone’ remix: http://soundcloud.com/truthdubstep/the-weeknd-rolling-stone-truth

Truth remix of Flight Facilities’ ‘Clair De Lune ft. Christing Hoburg’: http://soundcloud.com/truthdubstep/flight-facilities-clair-de 

Find Truth using the links below:

http://facebook.com/truthnz

http://twitter.com/truthdubstep

http://soundcloud.com/truthdubstep

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #138 - Disonata

Our next feature is with Disonata. We’ve been hearing bits from Karl Disonata in mixes and from other producers for as long as we can remember; he’s released tunes with some of the best smaller labels and been on collabs that have been long-term residents on our iTunes archive. We’re pretty pleased to finally caught up with him and added him to the list of producers we’ve featured, I’m just sorry it’s taken this long…

How’s it going Karl, all good?

I am very well thank you!

Awesome! Disonata – who and what is he?

Disonata is the name of my electronic music production project, mainly focusing on the 140bpm area (with a few variations from time to time).

How would you describe your sound?

Well, it’s hard to say as I don’t always stick to the more aggressive “dancefloor” stuff or the darker or more melodic side of things. I always like to use melodies in my music – and create a type of energy. Whether it be one that makes you want to jump about or one that makes you want to sit and just listen to the soundscape that’s been created. People say that they can tell when a track is mine, but I don’t know what it is that makes them say that or defines it as a Disonata track. So if I ever find out I can let you know haha!

What was the first dubstep tune you ever heard?

I think it was L-Wiz’s ‘Girl From Codiene City’, or at least thats the first one that made me sit up and be like “what the FKOF is this?! I need more of it in my life”!

When did you decide you wanted to produce as well as listen?

For me it wasn’t so much a decision of “I want to be a producer” as much as it was a natural progression. I always played in bands and stuff and when I started college in 2008 I had access to computers with DAWs and just started messing around. It wasn’t long before I realised I could make a finished product without having to rely on other people and shifting loads of gear to different rehearsal studios, so I got myself set up at home and just cracked on.

How do you go about building your tunes?

I have no set formula really, I rarely even start a tune knowing how I want it to sound. It will usually just be messing around with samples or different synths to just get that one line or sound that sparks off the rest of the tune. Drums and percussion are the main thing I do early on though, once I’ve got a rough idea of any musicality down I usually start building my drums and build on from there.

What’s your production setup like?

Pretty basic really, I don’t have loads of analogue equipment or anything like that. I use Reason 5 (but about to step up to 6.5), KRK VXT8s, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24, M-Audio Oxygen 49 midi keyboard and AKG K240 MK2 referencing headphones.

You’re affiliated with some of the best smaller labels in dubstep, and have had support from some of the biggest DJs in the scene. How have you found getting your beats signed and supported, has it been a relatively easy process?

I think it can be difficult with so many people sending people tunes on a daily basis, the bigger the name of the person the more sh!t they get flooded with. I think that the music always speaks for itself though, if you’re getting noticed then it’s for a reason. You just have to network and be nice to people, if you get criticism then take it on the chin and work harder. It can’t hurt to have high standards!

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

I prefer turntables, but that’s because I’ve never actually used CDJs! The unfortunate thing is though, that because they’ve been somewhat phased out the maintenance on turntables in clubs is getting increasingly poor so it’s getting harder and harder to play on them. From my experience at least, this is what I’ve found. Generally though, no I don’t think it matters what you use. It’s a way for people to play the music they like to others.

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

About 2 years now, and I’d have to say Bassliebe in Cologne, Germany. Just because everyone there was so friendly and I was over there for a few days and the city was awesome too. So it was just a great experience all around!

Have you always produced dubstep? Ever tried your hand at anything else?

Yeah pretty much, there has been a couple of tunes nearer the 132/134bpm mark which are little more funky house/garage like but mainly it’s been dubstep yeah.

Do you think producers need to make more than one genre of music these days?

Not necessarily, I don’t think they need to but I do think it shows good versatility when a producer can nail all sorts of different genres.

Where do you see the dubstep ‘sound’ moving to over the next year or so?

Hmmmm… I’m already seeing a lot more of the techno influenced stuff make its way into the light, so for the darker sounds I can see this direction maybe being pushed. I think the commercial stuff will still be there but the people who are interested in discovering the truer sounds will take the time to find them.

Other than the recent releases discussed earlier, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

I have a lot of things lined up for the next few months, including tracks with Bassclash, Requiem Audio, Second To None and other labels I can’t confirm until it’s 100%, but there are things in the works. There was a physical release due, but as a result of the volatile physical music market at the moment it’s at an uncertain status so I can’t really confirm that at the moment.

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Take your time, I can’t tell you how many people I see post stuff you can tell hasn’t had the time it needs. Other then that just speak to labels that release music you like and make connections and be friendly.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

In a nutshell, it’s a collection of the more chilled out music I’ve been sent that I like. I don’t get much opportunity to play as much of this side of dubstep as I’d like so I took the opportunity to focus on the more melodic and atmospheric material.

Any shoutouts?

Just to all the people that listen to my music and give me the support to keep doing it!

3 producers we should be following are…?

I honestly can’t narrow it down that much, but just check out all the artists in the mix I did. They’re all making awesome tunes!

Best dubstep track ever produced is…?

Ugh, what a horrible question! Haha…. I’d have to say Cher Lloyd’s ‘Dub on the Track‘………. because I can’t think of an actual answer.

As you do…?! Anyway. Best producer in dubstep to collab with is…?

For me the easiest I’ve worked with is Anex, we’ve made a few tunes and they all seemed to just click.

66 minutes, 39 tracks and 38 of some of the most ridiculous dubs I’ve been fortunate enough to hear for a long time. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Brownz - Think [dub] 
2. Jafu - No More [dub]
3. Anex - Bella [dub] 
4. Perverse - Obtuse [dub] 
5. Geode - Aliased Fever [dub] 
6. Percept - Khalka [dub] 
7. Deadweight (Disonata & Anex) - Jigsaw [dub] 
8. Dubapes - Africa Calling (Sparxy remix) [dub] 
9. Caski - Infested [dub] 
10. Perverse - Fucking Insanity [dub] 
11. Gantz - Lifebound [dub] 
12. Wayfarer - Spitting Fire [dub] 
13. Taiko - Kukhuri [dub] 
14. Klax - Lost Levels [dub] 
15. District - The Shift [dub] 
16. Twisted & Rakoon ft. Beezy - Secluded [dub] 
17. Aelho - The Alliance [dub] 
18. Droid Sector - Centipede [dub] 
19. Perverse & Eleven8 - Cryosphere [dub] 
20. Fable - Untitled Dub [dub] 
21. Deadweight - Scratch The Surface [dub] 
22. Congi - Disorder [dub] 
23. Standard Procedure - Dusk (Disonata remix) [Drop Dem Records] 
24. Geode - Get Dem [dub] 
25. Vaun - Love & Learn [dub] 
26. Nanobyte - Want For Nothing [dub] 
27. Wayfarer - Shaman [dub] 
28. Occult & Vantage - Contagion [dub] 
29. Caski - Sandstone [forthcoming ****] 
30. Disonata - Overload [dub] 
31. Eleven8 - Catch Your Breath [dub] 
32. Blynk - Phonic [dub] 
33. Jafu - Devil’s Night [dub] 
34. Tallan - All Night [dub] 
35. Pheral - Tribesman [dub] 
36. Deadweight - Bring Me Down [dub] 
37. Catacombs & Knowledge - Old Town (District remix) [dub] 
38. Disonata & Badklaat - Colossus [dub] 
39. District - Kraken [dub]

Let us know what you think of Disonata’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #137 - The Attic Project

The next feature sees us catch up with the latest interviewee in the MakeItGood x FKOF series. We’ve been a fan of The Attic Project ever since Gus first sent us his tunes a few months back – since then there’s been a two track FKOF EP and now there’s a lot of words to go with his amazing mix. Hit play on the mix or EP below and read on…

Easy Gus, you well?

I’m grand mate!

Awesome. Introduce yourself, who is The Attic Project?

The Attic Project is the pseudonym I use for my musical output. It is basically me avoiding life’s responsibilities by living in my own little production-fuelled world. I’m 19 and studying at the University of Manchester, currently in my 2nd year.

How would you describe your sound?

In my mind, it’s a fusion of the steppy, bass sounds coming out of the UK at the moment combined with instrumentation and melodies from around the world, mainly influenced by the sounds of the far-east. I try and incorporate as many interweaving melodies as possible on as many natural sounding instruments as possible sampled from around the world, combined with deep rolling subs, so I would love to think there is a lot of depth and interpretation there. The sound of the Guzheng and the Tabla will always get me jiving!

How did you get into bass music in the first place? When did you decide you wanted to produce as well as listen?

It was probably my love of trip-hop and glitch artists like Prefuse 73, Four Tet and Aphex Twin when I was first getting into electronic music that lead me to diverse sounds like Burial, Bonobo, Phaeleh, Eleven Tigers, Erykah Badhu and Digital Mystikz (to name a few)… I don’t look at my influence as ‘bass’ music as my inspiration ranges from downtempo to drum N bass to Chinese and Indian classical music… (to make a massive obscure leap in genre). The sounds coming from people like Burial at the time when I was starting my music GCSE was what made me want to create soundscapes and atmospheres rather than tunes. My school got a single copy of Cubase 4 when I was 15 and the teacher said ‘if anyone can work it, you can do your GCSE composition on it’, and that was it. The teacher was useless…

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

I will usually hear an atmospheric or ethnic sound of some sort that makes me go ‘sh!t, that’s awesome, I want to recreate something like that’. Then I tend to forget the tasks I’m meant to be doing and get preoccupied with how I can make a similar sound into a tune that hopefully people will like. Once I have the sound and a simple melody down, I tend to build the drum part around that then layer more melodies over each other. My setup’s a Macbook Pro running Reason 6 and Reason Recycle, an M-Audio Keyboard and a Lexicon Alpha soundcard. I also use a Samson Dynamic Mic for recording noise, vocal parts, my mates arguing (which can just about be heard in the background in some tunes) and anything interesting. My monitors are a sweet pair of JVC speakers my dad got me when I was 12 as part of a Hi-Fi system. I never appreciated the awesome quality they fire out until a couple of years ago. I’m never parting with them now…

You’ve had a pretty good run with recent releases, putting out on a few awesome labels with support from some of the best names in the genre. How have you found getting your beats signed and supported, has it been a relatively easy process?

Na it hasn’t been easy. I had a stroke of luck when I was 16 after posting three tunes online. I got an email from the Italian house label Aenaria Recordings asking if they could sign them even though the style of those tunes was pretty downtempo. They were released in late 2010. After that no one really took much interest so I honed my sound for a couple of years. At the start of this year I sent emails to loads of different labels, blogs and promo platforms just to get some feedback. Then I got an email from Andy Bee at Slime Recordings who was really positive about my music. After hearing that they had previously released tunes by Phaeleh and Submerse, I was ecstatic! That release got a wicked review from Juno Download at the same time that I got a tweet from Phaeleh saying that he really liked my release. Since then, I’ve had a release on Soulstep and another on Velcro City.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

Aha, I wish I could say I have a massive vinyl collection but unfortunately it’s my parents who beat me to that. As I started out producing well before I thought about DJing, I only started to promote TAP more when people were taking an interest. I wanted to do something different that involved my own tunes so I bought a Novation Launchpad and started slicing and dicing mine and other people’s tracks into what I thought was a unique approach to mixing (turns out other people beat me to that too)! But yeah, I’m all about controllerism and recreation and remixing of songs live rather than straightforward mixing as it allows more creativity with your own tunes (in my opinion anyway).

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

I only started playing out properly earlier this year. Producing for me has always been a personal thing so playing out became something I felt I needed to do when I started to get tunes signed. The production was always the main factor in persuading me to play out. Inflect in Bristol was probably my favourite recent booking. They host it in a small, intimate venue so it wasn’t a massive night but that was where I supported iTal tEk and BunZer0 so I was pretty stoked to be playing there. I also recently played in Sankeys in Manchester and as it’s theoretically one of the top ten clubs in the world, that’s pretty awesome. Since then I’ve got quite a few dates lined up at some exciting nights like Selective Hearing Manchester and Apex Bristol so I’m super stoked that I’ve been asked to play at them.

With producers expanding their repertoires from seemingly focusing on one genre when producing, how do you think bass music will evolve over the coming months/ years? Will we see everything starting to merge into one? Where do you see your sounds progressing to?

That’s what I love about sound, it’s yours to interpret how you want. The label ‘bass music’ already covers a massive spectrum of sounds, so I lost track of what it meant a while ago. An emphasis on bass and some swing in its (dub)step, and I think the term ‘bass music’ will probably cover a significant aspect of a lot of new tunes. Diversity is an awesome thing, without it there would be no creativity so I love the fact people are now stuttering when trying to define the genre of all this new music that has exploded onto the scene recently. As for my sound, I will continue to produce what inspires me and if all of a sudden I start to love something like gabba (which I highly doubt I ever will) then I will probably start creating that as that’s what I want to do. Realistically though, I see myself exploring more world sounds, getting more vocalists involved and playing around with tempos a lot more.

Other than the recent releases discussed earlier and one or two special tunes in the pipeline, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

As of the moment I have one forthcoming release. It’s a remix I did a while ago of a Sophie Barker track (Zero 7) and is meant to be released on the same label as her solo work (Ho Hum Records) but it keeps getting delayed so I’m not sure that will ever be released. It would be nice if it was though. Once more tunes have been finished though I will definitely set about getting those released. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a physical release. I got an offer to have some tunes pressed to vinyl by a small label a couple of months back but when I replied to the email, they never replied back to me again so that fell through. Those were the tunes I have recently released on Velcro City. I hear Soulstep Records are also starting to release things on vinyl in the near future with all the profits going back into building up the label which I think is a great idea. Shame my release just missed out on that.

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

I think the most important thing is to concentrate on the music YOU want to make and not what you feel would get you signed. Once you have got tracks down that you are genuinely happy with just send them to people and places you reckon will appreciate your sound. Even if you don’t hear back from anyone just keep persevering by making what makes you happy.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

Awesome melodies x rolling basslines x what I’m listening at the moment x recent releases x atmosphere = MIG x FKOF mix… I’m not really sure if that answers the question!? But seriously though, it took 5 times to get it past the SoundCloud copyright filter and I had loads of sick tunes I wanted to put in from the Symbols Recordings roster. After playing around with it endlessly and replacing a few tunes it got through the filter – but it’s not the mix I originally had in mind.

Any shoutouts?

Anyone who has ever listened to my tunes and decided they like it. For that, I’m eternally grateful. Also, the labels I have released on and the people that make those labels work. None of this would have been possible without them.

3 producers we should be following are…?

• Bhok - Part of the Slime Rec fam and a mate of mine. His vocal sampling is just sublime
• Sorrow - So much feeling and emotion in every tune he puts out, plus I love a dark garage tip
• Synkro - Every tune is a world in itself.

Best bass music track ever produced is…?

Sh!t, this is a hard question! Here’s a few:

• Walter Ego - Shadows
• Phaeleh ft. Indi Kaur - Rise
• Eleven Tigers - Songs For You
• Burial - Unite

Best label in bass music is…?

Currently it’s Symbols Recordings for me but I only got into that label recently. No doubt my favourite label will change again as soon as I find another label where not a single release can be faulted.

Gus’ mix for MIG x FKOF is definitely one of my favourite from the recent additions to the series. It’s on more of a chill tip from the normal deep and dark stuff we feature but that’s by no means a bad thing. Grab the download or keep scrolling for The Attic Project’s FKOF EP…

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list: 

1. Deep Focus - Lilly’s Beat [Free] 
2. Atlas - Denver [Symbols] 
3. The Attic Project - Adversity Face [Velcro City] 
4. Atlas - 4AM [Symbols] 
5. The Attic Project - Welcome To Your Perception [FKOF Free] 
6. Bhok - Glacier[Slime] 
7. iO - Slow Guys [Get Some UK Free] 
8. The Attic Project - Seraph [Velcro City] 
9. EPLP - Leave Me [Hot n Heavy Free] 
10. The Attic Project - Narayan Alone [FKOF Free] 
11. Phaeleh - Nothing’s Wrong [Free] 
12. Pariah - Orpheus [R&S] 
13. Sorrow - The Reaper [Self Released] 
14. EPLP - Ochre [BackTheTooFuture Free] 
15. DFRNT - Dark Spaces [Cut] 
16. Sabre, Stray, Halogenix ft. Frank Carter III - Oblique [Critical] 
17. Vanity ft. Charlotte Rawling – Shelter [FKOF Free]

If you missed Gus’ FKOF EP from a few months back, find both FKOF free downloads below. Definitely two tunes to add to your collection! Click to DOWNLOAD ‘Narayan Alone’ Click to DOWNLOAD ‘Welcome to Your Perception’

Let us know what you think of The Attic Project’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara

MakeItGood x FatKidOnFire #136 - Boofy

As the backlog of MakeItGoodx FatKidOnFire features slowly start to clear, we’re fast approaching the ideal frequency for posting new mixes and interviews. Once #137 (the feature following the one below) goes live, we’ll be uploading new mixes and interviews once a week - usually on a Monday or Tuesday. Oh, and we’ve started producing custom artwork for each of the features (a huge thank you, as always, to Chris) - so future MIG x FKOF features will start looking a bit more coherent(/ nicer). MIG x FKOF #136 sees us sit down and talk to Bristol’s Boofy, who’s been on my radar for a while now. I was introduced to Boofy by Vulcan Audio co-founder Medik, who was singing Boofy’s praises and suggested I check his tunes. I did and was blown away…

For the unaware, who is Boofy?

Boofy is a producer who sits in his production cave and doesn’t get enough sun in his life. I come from Bristol, and it sounds very biased but I think it’s one of the greatest cities to share sounds and make connects.

How would you describe your sound?

I can rarely describe my sound but I think I can accurately say it’s heavily 140-based. It’s developed quite a bit in the last year especially. Last year my sound was more wonky-based dubstep and now I think I try to focus more on the percussion and melody of the sound. How I see it is, if you like sub bass heavy music, I’ll give it a go.

How did you get into dubstep in the first place? When did you decide you wanted to produce as well as listen?

I’ve always wanted to be a music producer. Ever since I can remember. When I was younger I used to listen to tonnes of Dr. Dre and G-funk as well as older Marvin Gaye along with a lot of soul music – on this cassette Walkman I begged for off of my parents because my older brother had one. When I was a todd’ I used to say I wanted be a “musicianer”. I used to play trumpet and piano and whatnot too. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. And dubstep? I can remember actually getting into and using the term ‘dubstep’ in 2009 but I used to listen to it quite a bit before that. I used to think it was just grime but slower pace if you know what I mean, for example, I used to listen to a lot of Joker’s earlier stuff before he blew up, he was hot in Bristol before the ‘Kapsize EP’ in ‘07. He had mixtapes with his old crew KHK. And the ‘Skream!’ album I used to be hooked to that in ’06.

How do you go about building your tunes? What’s your production setup like?

My set up consists of 2x Adam A7X, iMac 27” 2009 with another screen to spread out my projects, Reason 6.5, Focusrite soundcard, 1 standard MIDI keyboard, se2200a II microphone and a Shure SM57. And on the other side of my room, I have normal Hi-Fi speakers plugged into a 5-channel mixer with 2x technics 1210 mk2 & MacBook Pro with SL3. There’s no real structured way I go about building my tunes. Most of the time I try to come up with a chord to work on and to develop on. And after that, if I’ve got that chord down, I get a sub-bass around it and see how it sounds as I’d want it to sound as heavy as possible. But then I could be just messing around the house with my microphone hitting sh!t like wooden or metal spoons, African drums, recording the rain, etc. etc.

You’ve had a pretty good run with recent releases, putting out on one of my new favourite labels (shouts and love to Biak, Medik and the rest of the Vulcan Audio crew!) and a few others. How have you found getting your beats signed, has it been a relatively easy process?

Yeah no doubt, man. I was so happy with VLCN003 and it’s probably been the highlight of my year so far. I’ve had an EP on Soulstep Records too this year but I don’t think it picked up as much attention as the ‘Momentum EP’ did. I wasn’t too sure about it at first because the tunes weren’t my most up to date and the promo was pretty much me being on Instagram and Facebook, but it’s done me proud. Shout out to my boy Gutcha as well for being involved. Getting tunes signed has been a lot easier this year than it was last year. I could’ve killed for a release last year, but I’ve always thought if I was good enough people will find me through good work. That’s why I gave out the ‘BooFree files’ [password: loveandting] in 2011 just to start a fresh on a new sound and try to sculpture some sort of base for the New Year. The aim of 2012 was to get an EP out, minimum. But I’ve had two, as well as the Scriptures release on Vulcan. So it’s been a really good year for me.

Another standard question you’re probably bored to death of. Do you prefer turntables or CDJs for playing out? Does it matter?

Personally, I love vinyl, but it’s personal. I just love the movement of vinyl and the process of making records is magical, especially its authentic crackle from being wheeled. But I don’t hate CDs, it’s what is relevant for the individual person. In all honesty I know some DJs who have switched to CDs because it’s just convenient to carry round a pouch instead of record cases which weigh a tonne. Stop being anal and let people play. Plus vinyl kills my wallet so I understand!

How long have you been playing out? If you could pick any of your recent bookings, what would be your favourite - and why?

In all honesty, I have really slacked on the playing out thing. I can’t remember the last time I did play out. I think it might’ve been last year? But that’s when I was using a really budget MIDI controller and it was just so long to set up. One of the last times I played out a girl threw alcohol all over it, and it broke. At the time I was livid, but she probably done me a massive favour. I’m getting back on it for next year though once I get my music sitting where I want it to be and I’m comfortable with it.

With everyone seemingly moving away from strictly focusing on 140bpm dubstep, how do you think the genre will evolve over the coming months/ years? Where do you see your sounds progressing to?

I think it’s great everyone’s trying to move or expand onto other genres. Still keeping the dubstep feel, I can see the scene moving more into more garage & house territory again for some reason, I don’t know why. As for me, I don’t really know? I mean I make a lot of stuff, but only put out stuff I’m really confident with. I suppose I don’t know what my sounds are going to be like, I just know I want to progress and be in a better place than I am this year for sure.

Other than the recent releases discussed earlier and one or two special tunes in the pipeline, have you got any tunes forthcoming we should be looking out for? Anything physical?

Forthcoming – I’ve just signed my ‘Wheel of Dharma (Dharmachakra)’ to Gradient Audio for a various artist release. I don’t know when yet but will keep everyone posted on my Facebook page once I get more details. I’m also in talks with quite a few labels at the moment so I’ve got to really work now for next year. I want to keep on board with the Vulcan team as well. Physical is the next step. If I get a vinyl release I will be sure I’m heading in the direction I want to be. But yeah, that’s the aim for next year to secure a 12”, so hopefully I can do it.

In terms of advice, what are your top points for new producers and DJs looking to get heard or signed?

Just keep doing what you’re doing. Look for honest criticisms. Experiment. Give the people you look towards a reason to listen. Keep it fresh. Don’t focus on getting tunes signed; focus on developing your sound.

Tell us about your MIG x FKOF mix…

Dodgy I hadn’t mixed in ages and I was using one headphone at the time, but I only have myself to blame. Overall though, the mix was full of most of my favourite producers. It kind of describes what direction I want to push myself in. The first tune was mine, because I thought that’s where I’m at right now, so it would be good to start there. There’s a balance of percussive brilliance, bass heavy music & persy’s throughout.

Any shoutouts?

Definite shout outs to Biak & Medik for giving me the opportunity to do work with a label I’ve fell in love with. Calski, Sparkerboi, Thieves, Kahlil Dubz, Hanns, Gutcha, Jafu, Muttley, Lemz & Pea Whitey, Superisk, Kahn & anybody I have missed out that has pushed my tunes and have supported me it means the world to me.

3 producers we should be following are..?

- Peaman. He’ll sit dormant for a while, abuse sissy emotional commenters and verbally violate spammers on his SoundCloud, but his attention to detail and production is outstanding. He doesn’t upload much but the last time he did, if I can remember it was like 4 or 5 tunes all at the same time, which blew me away. If you get a chance listen to ‘Icarus’. - Calski. He’s always supported me and we’re very good friends. Not a biased opinion because he’s my friend, but because the reason I started talking to him was because his percussion and melodic music amazed me. A lot of upcoming producers could learn a thing or two from his music. - Thieves. I really don’t think this guy can see how much of a good producer he is. He’s told me a few times that I’m killing it but taking this guy’s sounds into account is was like “are you kidding me?!” As well as support, this guy can produce some gems. I just think most the time he doesn’t know it! He said he wanted to collab a few months back, which I may hold him to and take up the offer As I stated before, I think this sound is what more people are going to move towards in the near future.

Best dubstep track ever produced is…?

Either Mark Pritchard’s ‘Elephant Dub’ or Peverelist’s ‘Roll With The Punches’.

Best label in dubstep is…?

You’re killing me! Only one!? Tectonic or Punch Drunk. Leave it at that!

I enjoyed interviewing Boofy. And, as much as he might be a little unhappy with it, I love Boofy’s mix for MIG x FKOF as well. It’s not dodgy at all man! 18 tunes, 44 minutes and an awesome selection of dubs, releases and forthcoming bits Hit the free download and head over to the Facebook page to show Boofy your support.

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Boofy - Dharmachakra [dub] 
2. Congi - Somnium [Deep Heads] 
3. Biak & Baitface - Cellula [dub] 
4. Calski - Someones Missing (Kaiju re-edit) [Calski xmas freebie] 
5. Jack Sparrow - Way Out West [Cloqworq Recordings] 
6. DJ Madd - Lightsaber (Sith mix) [DJ Madd free download] 
7. Catacombs - Mantis [Tribe 12] 
8. LX ONE - Give It Up [Wheel & Deal] 
9. Hex - No Mercy [dub] 
10. Phaeleh & DJ Madd - Ritual [Black Box] 
11. Jafu - Desperate Falcons [dub] 
12. Submatiks - Proxima Centauri [dub] 
13. Icicle ft. Proxima - Breathing Again [Shogun Audio] 
14. DJ Madd - The Life You Chose [Black Box] 
15. Author - Revolutions [Tectonic] 
16. Breakage - Late Night [Naked Lunch] 
17. Icicle - Need A Job [Shogun Audio] 
18. Superisk - Find A Way (Kahn JA refix) [dub]

Let us know what you think of Boofy’s interview and mix via Twitter or Facebook.

Lara