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Saturday, 22 November, 2008

PLANETNOTION TELEVISION!

CAMERA-FOLK AND FILM EDITORS WANTED!

Planet Notion is looking for guys and dolls to film and edit features for its new TV channel, PNTV. Accompanying Notion to artist interviews, gigs, fashion shows, festivals and international events, you will be skilled, passionate and full of ideas about how to produce shit-hot video content. Camera-folk will be experienced and ideally have their own equipment, or at least access to equipment, while editors must be able to turn projects around quickly, and with stylistic flare. If you can both film and edit content, we would especially like to hear from you! These casual, unpaid positions would be ideal for those looking to develop their showreels, and to get the chance to travel, film major artists and top events.

Please email lucy(at)musichqmedia
(dot)com if you’re interested in getting involved, cheers!

INFO

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Stop Me If You've Heard This One... Mark Ronson

Stop Me If You've Heard This One... Mark Ronson

‘You wouldn’t be able to hear another cover with such great, funky beats and not think it’s a Mark Ronson record.’ Alright, so he may have an ego the size of a small country, but Sir Ronson has certainly been up to some interesting stuff of late. Taking Britney for a spin, teaching Coldplay how to funk and bringing The Smiths into our shiny new century, Mark’s new ‘Version’ album imparts that Marmite factor Channel 4 producers have wet dreams about. Reactions on a postcard please! HOW DID YOU SELECT THE TUNES YOU WERE GOING TO RE-WORK ON ‘VERSION’? Songs that I loved...I’d just try one verse, sit at the piano or with my guitar and find what worked stripped down in another arrangement. I mostly stayed in the indie guitar realm, because I’m supplying songs with a beat. BUT YOU MAKE THE BEAT-TASTIC ‘TOXIC’ SLOW DOWN... Totally, it slows down a lot. It’s like a dusted-out Wu Tang head-fuck version! WERE THERE ANY TUNES YOU COULDN’T MAKE A VERSION OF? Songs from Bloc Party or Franz Ferdinand or The Cure use ‘white type’ minor progressions closer to classical or blues - they don’t lend themselves so well. IS IT YOU SINGING ON ‘TOXIC’? It’s a guy from New York I work with a lot. He played guitar with Jeff Buckley, and I loved his spooky kind of psychedelic T-Rex 70s glam voice, it just worked. WHAT DOES THE RAP SECTION BRING TO THE TUNE? It makes it slightly different; typically raps come in at the beginning or the end. I did a bunch of songs with ODB before he died so I had that verse lying around. We just fucked around with it and he was saying a line about burning up, which is in Britney’s. ODB’s voice is so charismatic, larger than life - that’s the point. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE LILY ALLEN TO SING THE KAISERS’ ‘OH MY GOD’? It had to be someone English...I love how she takes over, changing the melody from ‘Too much time spent dragging the past up...’ It’s cool putting your own stamp on a song without changing it too much or ruining it. HOW DO YOU RETAIN THE ESSENCE OF THE ORIGINAL TRACKS? With songs like (Radiohead’s) ‘Just’ and (The Smiths) ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,’ Morrissey and Thom Yorke both have these pure voices singing something disturbing, but you never know unless you mark the lyrics. You have to at least be true to the emotional sentiment, even if you’re changing the beat. You have to preserve the mood or it’s karaoke. BUT WITH YOUR COLDPLAY COVER THE SENTIMENT SHIFTS... With that song I loved the guitar melody more than anything, and the blurriness of the arrangement is why it strays from the original sentiment. I just couldn’t wait to get to the chorus part with the horns! CAN ‘VERSION’ BE PINNED DOWN TO A PARTICULAR STYLE? I have DJ disease! I put the driving drum beat upfront, I want to make something for a club. So it’s a party record but with complex arrangements. DO YOU VIEW YOUR COVERS AS ORIGINALS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT? I’m a producer first and a songwriter second. When people go, ‘Man, I never liked ‘Toxic’ until I heard your version,’ I think that’s stupid because I didn’t write the record, I just interpreted it. If you like mine, you do like the original, there’s just something in it you didn’t first hear; you turned off because it was Britney or whatever. I wanted to make these songs work for different crowds when I DJ. It’s like making a remix at home when the beat isn’t strong enough for clubs. DOES YOUR HEART STILL LIE WITH HIP HOP? Still so many of my production heroes come from hip hop, but not enough excites me now. Around half of my radio show is hip hop and when I DJ I still play a lot, but it doesn’t consume me anymore. There’s a sort of 60s New Orleans southern soul vibe to my stuff, but it’s also just as much a dusted out kind of Wu-Tang. WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE FOR RECORD SHOPPING? This guy I DJ with from Japan has a store in Tokyo with amazing shit. I love Soho record shops, like Soul Jazz. Samples come from anywhere – I found one watching ‘Boogie Nights’! YOU STARTED OFF DJING IN 90S NEW YORK...HOW HEALTHY IS THE SCENE NOW? It’s coming back around, but for a while it was just all about this kind of people sitting around drinking champagne and I was like, ‘Why am I DJing for this? There’s no dancefloor!’ IS LONDON A MORE INSPIRING PLACE MUSICALLY? Oh yeah! One guy will go, ‘You heard the new something something record?’ and everyone gets so excited. There’s definitely more energy for it here. I love playing at Yo Yo at Notting Hill Arts Club and Newcastle’s World HQ. YOU’RE ABOUT TO BE DEPORTED...WHICH THREE RECORDS WOULD YOU TAKE? Can I cheat? ( Gets out his laptop ) I would take At The Drive In’s ‘Relationship of Command,’ David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and Fiona Apple’s ‘Window.’ VERSION’ IS OUT 16TH APRIL (SONY) Text: Lucy Wilson

tags: | mark ronson | version | sony | britney spears | toxic | lily allen | oh my god | more...

Fabric gets a Spanking - Spank Rock

Fabric gets a Spanking - Spank Rock

Superclub Fabric has squeezed another one out for your listening pleasure, courtesy of Baltimore filth hoppers Spank Rock. Naughty! When Time Out dub something ‘foul mouthed,’ we want to lap it all up with a big greasy spoon, and with their Fabric Live mix these boys have served up a treat indeed. With Armani XXXChange on production duties and computer drums, disco MC Sir Spank Rock himself, Chris Rockwell on the steel wheels and cut creator Ronnie Darko, seminal rap tracks get reworked to grind against future dance and indie classics. Old school opener, Kurtis Blow's 'The Breaks,' is made to melt into their own dark take on CSS' 'Let's Make Love,' while Switch's 'A Bit Patchy' shudders along to pave the way for a modern day 'Do You Love Me,' (The Contours, 1965) complete with string interludes snatched straight off Justin Timberlake. As the mix ransacks eras and musical styles with agility and relish, Spank Rock invite you to hack their pace with this boisterous mix. Notion came up for air to chat techniques and tunes with Alex aka Armani XXXChange. BDSM, you'll be relieved to hear, was firmly off the menu - Alex insists, 'That's really not my thing!' and of course it isn't ours, either. Ouch! Afternoon Alex! Hi there, how you doing? Simply spanking, thanks Sir. So, we've noticed how most artists use the Fabric Live series as a platform for a spot of self-promotion. Your compilation features one Spank Rock mix and no original Spank Rock material - was this a conscious move? Well we've been touring for a year and a half so all of that stuff is really tired! You can go buy a Spank Rock record if you like... So what kind of criteria did you guys use when compiling the mix? We usually put a load more on a mix, and half of those tracks weren’t our first choice, but licensing is tough! We like to pick songs that sound good in a club, and ones that are good for re-editing, where they have breaks and raps or whatever. Who do you imagine will be listening to the mix and when? It's definitely for the dancefloor - I wouldn't want to cook dinner to that! And did you create it with a Fabric crowd in mind? Yeah, I think so. In Europe you can get away with straight up dance music and house shit; in the States it's weird and super eclectic. The tunes you've selected are notable for their vocal element - are instrumentals right out of your remit and what do you think vocals bring? I'm not a fan of straight up trance or hard techno. DFA (Records) had this party recently, James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) and Marcus from Plant played: there wasn’t a single word all night, it was too druggy. I like something to hold onto! Tell us about your Justin Timberlake styled reworking of The Contours' 'Do You Love Me...' It started with the sample, 'Like I Love You,' but we couldn't get the license for it! It also started as a joke, but then we decided to get Tyler from !!! to play the guitar solo. Floor-bound asses and 'funky dancing shoes' fill the record - which body part would you say Spank Rock's music is best married to? I'd have to say feet or hands clapping; asses have been done before! Have you ever been spanked? Only as a kid! I’m not into that sort of thing. Fair play. Rick Ross' 'Hustlin' is a throwback to your American rap roots - is hip hop still a core genre for Spank Rock? It's one of them. We like rap and dance with a whole load of other shit thrown in. When we’re working with tracks we like to leave the song in, but kick it about as far as it is from the original and see how we can make it change. The layer of strings you add at the beginning of Hot Chip's 'Over And Over' really push the tune into a new realm... That was me fucking around a bit! I got the idea when I was working with M.I.A, she wanted to use this Enya sample, which was 150% to clear! Chris (Rockwell) walked into the studio when I was messing around with the strings and it was embarrassing! I just wanted to find something to express the sadness I heard in that Hot Chip tune, to make more of it. Are there any white labels in the mix? All the raps on there are unreleased. Pace’s is the best because of the really long verse, he’s freestyling it, and he fucks it up, groaning in perfect rhythm to the track. It's also a very cosmopolitan mix, taking in France, the UK, the States and more... which country is really rocking it right now in your opinion? The best music is coming from the gutter! There’s a great variety of eras, too - recent stuff, 60s, 80s - if the mix had to take root in one decade, which would it be? The 80s! I think it's special for everyone in our generation; nostalgic, it’s the songs we grew up with. I like finding the less obvious features about them, putting them in a new context and mixing the decades but so they make sense, not for the sake of variety. Have you got any solo production projects lined up? Yeah, with Amanda Blank and Pace (they're part of the Spank Rock family) and I've been working on the soundtrack for a video game for EA Games, it’s a skateboarding thing. Good luck with that, cheers dude! FABRIC LIVE 33: SPANK ROCK, OUT NOW TRACK LISTING 01. Intro 02. Kurtis Blow – The Breaks – Universal 03. CSS – Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above (Spank Rock Remix) – Sub Pop 04. Mr Oizo – Nazis (Justice Mix) – F Communications 05. Dominatrix – The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight – Stuart Argabright 06. Yello – Bostich – Universal 07. Zongamin – Bongo Song – XL 08. Kano – I’m Ready – Antibemusic 09. Daft Punk – Technologic – Virgin 10. Switch – A Bit Patchy – Data 11. The Contours – Do You Love Me – Motown 12. Mylo – Drop The Pressure – Breastfed 13. Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart – Rhino 14. Para One – Dudun Dun – Institubes 15. Best Fwends – Myself (XXXChange Remix) – Moshi Moshi 16. KW Griff – Good Man – Morphius 17. Uffie – Hot Chick (Feadz Edit) – Ed Banger 18. Metro Area – Orange Alert (DFA Remix) – Source 19. Tangerine Dream – Love On A Real Train – Virgin 20. Simian Mobile Disco – Hustler – Wichita 21. The Romantics – Talking In Your Sleep – Nemperor Records 22. Chicks On Speed – Wordy Rappinghood (The Playgroup Remix) – Chicks On Speed Records 23. Bonde Do Role – Melô Do Tabacco (XXXChange Remix With The Ford Granada) – Mad Decent 24. Miss Kittin And The Hacker – Stock Exchange – Miss Kittin 25. Rick Ross – Hustlin’ – Island Def Jam 26. Hot Chip – Over And Over (Maurice Fulton Remix) – EMI 27. Gaz Nevada – I.C. Love Affair – Expanded Music 28. L.T.D. – Love To The World – A&M 29. Outro

tags: | fabric | spank rock | superclub | time out | fabric live | compilation | mix | more...

Sick as dogs: Hungover with The Hot Puppies

Sick as dogs: Hungover with The Hot Puppies

"Isn't that a picture of a man at his absolute lowest point? Just retching whilst shaving!" Notion meets a fragile morning-after Luke Taylor, guitarist and lyricist from the Hot Puppies. It's just a few hours after the band finally got to sleep following the last night of their UK tour at Water Rats (King's Cross), and all of them are feeling the effects. Not that the Puppies are your average testosterone-fuelled sex, drugs and rock'n'roll cliché. Rather, their throwback romanticism and lyrical tale-telling is setting them apart for the indie kids and charming critics along the way. Chat about the scene allows bassist Ben Faircloth to spit some bile: 'Razorlight's new album has just been called the great rock album of the decade or something. It's ridiculous!' 'And they've been compared to Bruce Springsteen,' adds Luke. 'Are they assuming people haven't heard 'Born To Run' and are just going to believe them? That’s just laughable. Laughable!' Here the boys break into a chorus of their most outrageous pantomime laughter as the other three Puppies look on, bemused. So there are five in the band, Beck(y) Newman (vocals), Beth Gibson (keyboard and vocals) and Bert Wood (drums) completing the line-up. Beck and Bert are a couple, as are Beth and Luke. As delicious a scandal some serious postshow orgy resulting in these blissful couplings might have been, the lovers' have actually all been together from the start. So we can be sure they'll never be short of raw emotion to carve tunes from but... isn't it all a little bit Fleetwood Mac? 'It's a little fucked up,' grins Beck. 'But no-one's blown cocaine up my arse recently!' Luke continues, rallying boisterous laughter from the rest of the group. 'It is one of the things that people always ask,' he continues when the noise dies down, 'but if that's all you've ever known, it’s not really that odd. It's probably odd if you're used to being a bunch of blokes in a band together who play out and pull girls afterwards. To me, that would be odd. I would find that quite strange!' Over to Beck: 'In our couples, we've been together for bloody ages. It's always been that way'. So there's no fear that a relationship might splinter and bring the band down with it? Cue five shaking heads. 'If you’re in a relationship with somebody for a long time, explains Luke, who is easily the most talkative Puppy, ‘you can’t really think, ‘Well, who’s going to get this flat if we break up?' You can't really think like that if you’re in a relationship.' 'And also,' adds Beck, 'say if we split up, it would be so devastating that I probably wouldn't care so much about the band. I'd think 'Shit, I've just ruined the best thing in my life.' I wouldn’t think, 'Oh shit, the band's going to break up.' 'I would!' bellows Bert, to a healthy chorus of laughter and a 'Wanker!' from Luke in mock indignation. Since their debut album 'Under The Crooked Moon' was brought out by Fierce Panda last summer the have been touring hard and building an ecstatic following with their bittersweet somg-smithery. Ben confirms, 'Last night was really good - it makes coming to London an absolute joy. We all go home happy rather than sulking!' 'It's a bit of a shock though,' Beck chimes in. 'Like last night, you finish the song and there’s huge applause and screams and it's like, 'What?' And then you look out and there's someone singing along, and not just to a chorus. And it feels wonderful.' 'There can be a big contrast between gigs,' reasons Bert. 'I mean, certain nights it might not have come over that way. But when it's right, it's right.' WORDS: MISCHA PEARLMAN PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID RYLE www.thehotpuppies.com

tags: | the hot puppies | notion | luke taylor | hungover | water rats | king's cross | more...

Dance is rocking - Eddy Temple Morris

Dance is rocking - Eddy Temple Morris

These days Eddy Temple Morris is doing things in reverse. His trousers are getting lower, he’s rocking dancefloors everywhere and his musical tastes are getting wider, which is lucky for us because his latest release ‘Dance Rocks’ is the biggest eclectic mash up to hit us in recent years. With influences as diverse as his fan base, Eddy talks to Planet Notion about how he became the true king of crossover… When you’re not on XFM, you’re out doing live sets! Do you get any time off? Describe a typical weekend in the life of Eddy Temple Morris… I don’t get much time off these days, and my Remix radio show, which used to be on a Sunday, is on a Friday now so I never get a full weekend. I’m a single dad with custody of a beautiful seven year old boy, so weekends off may involve a bike ride with him along the canal to London Zoo, or to visit a castle (he’s mad into knights and medieval stuff.) The indie dance crossover sound that you champion so well really took off last summer with Ibiza Rocks. Which acts have been mostly influential to you and your sound? When I named Ibiza Rocks it was going to be a dance crossover night at Manumission, but it turned into an wonderful indie night at Bar M, and a TV series on Channel 4 – this year it looks like I’m going to take Remix Night to Ibiza, to do what Ibiza Rocks was meant to be in the first place: A dancefloor that rocks. As far as influences go, my first nightclub soundtracks were the dance rock crossover of their time, DAF, Cabaret Voltaire, Dead Or Alive, Sisters Of Mercy in the 1980s, then Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy in the 90s, and labels like Wall Of Sound, Mo Wax and Skint. Bigbeat was a huge influence for me, and more recently, the UK Breaks scene, Evil Nine and Adam Freeland, Tim of Utah Saints/Beat Vandals and right now the energy of Pendulum, the filthiness of French electro-disco-punk music, and the panache of Phones. You’ve been in the game for a while now. Why is now the time to bring out ‘Dance Rocks’? Probably because I used to smoke weed all the time and put everything in my life off, but I gave up just over two years ago, and started the project soon afterwards. It’s taken me, and my amazing management and label (Avalon and Botchit & Scarper) till now to clear all those tracks! How did you choose the tracks to use on the CD? CD1, the mix, is just a representation of what I do when I DJ live in a club, it goes from electro-breaks to drum and bass. I just put some of my favourite tracks from DJing at Manumission, Ibiza Rocks, Cargo, Razzmatazz, Ministry etc in one seamless mix. I wanted certain artists to be there, artists that I’ve really loved and supported over the years: Freestylers, Kasabian, Snow Patrol, Delays, Pendulum, Adam Freeland, Evil Nine, Infadels, Atomic Hooligan. CD 2, is separate tracks, for DJs to play out, and some rare and desirable mixes that didn’t get onto CD 1. XFM listeners have been waiting years for me, or someone to release my mix of Blue Jeans, by Ladytron. There’s a few ‘Losers’ remixes on there. Why did you call your remix group ‘Losers’? It’s a direct reaction against the American ethos of having to be the winner all the time, (while I appreciate not all Americans are like that) I hate that whole 'we are the greatest, we only play to win' attitude that testosterone heavy jocks are brainwashed with (before being sent overseas to murder non Christians). I'd rather do things for the love of it, and be a Loser, but be happy losing. It's an old fashioned ethos of being happy just taking part in a game, rather than having your happiness depend on the outcome. It's more personal than that too...I used to work and be friends with a man who turned out to be so horrible I can't even say his name without ruining my day, and the only thing he cares for is money, that's his whole world, money, success, more money, fame... and he's the type of person who'd step on anyone to get that. I'm the opposite, so I'm a Loser...and very happy being a Loser. According to Wikipedia.com, your dad is a Baron! Were you not tempted to follow him into the world of politics? In a word...no. My dad is a Labour peer and while I’m proud of some of the things he’s done in politics, like taking a stand against Capital Punishment, Poll Tax, and being instrumental in the downfall of one of the most evil despots in British history, Margaret Thatcher, I couldn’t do it. Not in a million years. It would both bore me shitless and frustrate me witless. In your sets you tend to really mash things up, going through breaks, drum and bass, indie… the lot. Can you see your tastes narrowing in the future? Do you think you’re traveling towards one specific sound? I find I’m doing things in reverse...as I get older my trousers are getting lower, and my taste is getting wider. The more I consume the more I love, I can’t see myself narrowing anything when there’s so much fantastic music out there. I feel that I’m representative of a greater musical consciousness, everyone’s taste is widening, and crowds in clubs are so much more eclectic, so DJs like me and Tom Middleton can paint with a broad brush and a huge palette of colours, while DJs like Erol Alkan, bless him, has narrowed right down to his dirty, crunchy electro thing. How do you find most of your music for your radio show and your live sets? Every which way, sent by post to 30 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7LA by record labels, artists, DJs, producers, Publishers, promotions companies, agents, managers, bands, roadies, press people, kids in bedrooms, the lot. Some found on MySpace, some send as downloads, or given to me in the form of demos in clubs and gigs, I’ve even been stopped in the street and in the supermarket and given demos. Some precious tunes and battle-weapons given by a vast network of producer friends and colleagues. Which labels are really doing it for you right now? Modular are on fire, and Kitsune and Ed Bangeur are all producing amazing music. Wall Of Sound is having a particularly fine renaissance, and majors-wise, the dance arm of EMI seems to be targeting my box with some success recently. Breaks wise, Against the Grain, Fingerlickin’ and Botchit’ but my favourite label of all has to be 'White'. You do so many gigs, where is your favourite place to perform? That’s a tough one: the main room of Manumission at Privilege in Ibiza is a trip, over 7000 people, and Razzmatazz in Barcelona is such a pleasure, with a really savvy crowd and great sound system, but I think my favourite environment is festivals. Glade, which I’ve done every year is a special highlight, as is the Secret Garden Party, my favourite festival ever. The best reaction I’ve ever had was at Reading Festival two years ago, and on tour with The Prodigy around the same time. Describe the last time you went out partying/clubbing? I gave up all drugs over two years ago now so if ‘partying’ is a euphemism for getting off my tits and staying up all night, I’d have to reach far into the memory banks...I’m so busy as a DJ that my experience of ‘clubbing’ now is playing there myself, I can’t even remember the last time I went to a club just for the sake of it. If I get a night off I’ll spend it with my neglected girlfriend. What are your plans for the summer? Ibiza? Yes, definitely, for some more Ibiza Rocks and Manumission action, i love it there, and I’m getting around elsewhere on the island for the first time, which is exciting. Secret Garden Party 2007 will be awesome, on the last weekend of July; I've got some of my favourite new bands playing on my Remix Stage, obviously I can’t announce who they are until it’s all signed and sealed, but my favourite new bands include The Girls, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Goose, A Human, Reverend And the Makers, The Officers… Make of that what you will. Eddy Temple Morris's 'Dance Rocks' is out now on the Botchit & Scarper label. Words: Lauren Tones

tags: | eddy temple morris | dance rocks | botchit & scarper | ibiza rocks | dance | rock | more...

Mistical - Keeping it Intalexual

Mistical - Keeping it Intalexual

Introducing themselves on their myspace site in typically modest fashion – '3 blokes who drink beer and moan a lot whilst occasionally making music' - Mist:i:cal are in fact the supreme drum n bass supergroup. Since first hooking up through Marcus Intalex and ST Files’ Soul:R label, the duo’s work with Irish producer Calibre has been famed for its organic depth and leftfield leanings - an all too rare thing in drum n bass at the moment. With the imminent release of the trio’s debut album ‘The Eleventh Hour,’ we caught up with the Detroit house loving Marcus Intalex (tipple of choice – strong German lager) to talk drum n bass, influences and hardcore Belgian techno.... HI MARCUS, HOW ARE YOU? Yeah not bad, man, just got up to tell you the truth! EXCELLENT - I'LL LAUNCH INTO A SOMEWHAT STIMULATING INTERVIEW THEN! Nice one! FIRST OF ALL, YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER FOR A WHILE NOW WHAT DO YOU EACH BRING TO A TRACK WHEN YOU’RE IN THE STUDIO? Well first of all it’s not necessary for all three of us to be in the studio on the same track at the same time. If we are, Calibre can lead on a lot of tracks as he is the man with 6 million samples and 6 million different ways of using each one! He may lay down a nice sample and myself and ST Files will bring the breaks in and try and give that Detroit colour to proceedings. Calibre would make a tune in 2 hours if he wanted to, so in a sense we try and be the brakes on him and let the track develop, to give it an extra something to really stand out. SOUL:R HAS BEEN BRINGING A MORE MATURE AND EXPERIMENTAL SIDE TO DRUM N BASS IN WHICH DIRECTION DO YOU SEE THE LABEL CONTINUING? To be frank, we just want to put out good, interesting music. If it doesn’t turn into the biggest thing in drum n bass then that’s fine. A lot of tunes are heading more for the hardcore rave music style, with huge drops and major BPMs, and that’s really not us. We just want to continue to develop, push things forward and do what we believe in. If something doesn’t excite us, we won’t touch it. SOMETHING THAT OBVIOUSLY DOES EXCITE YOU IS YOUR LOVE OF DETROIT HOUSE, WHICH YOU REPRESENT THROUGH YOUR HOUSE SETS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU THAT PEOPLE APPROACH YOUR MUSIC WITH AN APPRECIATION OF ALL STYLES? It’s cheesy I know but music is a journey! When I was 18 or 19 I was solely into hardcore Belgian techno, where as now I can buzz off almost any sort of music. You can’t force musical development – everyone matures at their own rate but I do think it’s important that people are curious. Drum n bass can attract a lot of young people so you can’t necessarily expect really developed tastes. But at the end of the day you should make music for yourself! That’s what I do and to be honest, I think if we just make music for kids the scene is fucked! IN MAKING MUSIC FOR YOURSELVES, YOU’VE PRODUCED A ‘PROPER’ LP. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT TO YOU? Well Dominick (Calibre) just has a compulsion to make tunes, whether me and Lee are there or not! But we all wanted to create a work that goes in different directions, has different tempos and different moods, yet this is really hard in drum n bass due to the strictness of the tempo. At the same time we didn’t want to just include one token down-tempo track for the sake of it either. We were wanting to paint a palette of different sounds. I personally love tracks that will take the listener on a journey, you know, slowly shifting and changing, which I think we managed to do in the LP. I’m really happy with it and it inspires me to continue doing what we do. WHAT OTHER DRUM N BASS LABELS INSPIRE YOU? I’d have to say Klute’s label Commercial Suicide and D Bridge’s Exit Records. I feel they both make and put out music they truly believe in, whilst bringing maturity to what we all do. AS WELL AS MAKING FANTASTIC TUNES! Exactly! FINALLY, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE OUTSIDE OF DRUM N BASS? Well it would have to be a musical one really. I just love minimal sounds, no matter where they come from. I like taking vibes and translating them into drum n bass - building a gradual progression and intensity rather than just the usual climax climax climax! MISTICAL'S 'THE ELEVENTH HOUR' IS OUT 12TH FEBRUARY (SOUL:R RECORDS) WORDS: LOUIS COOK

tags: | mistical | marcus intalex | interview | st files | soul:r records | calibre | leftfield | more...

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