Thanet has always been quite creative in its endeavours. We have a long history of literary and painting greats that have called this fair isle home and we now have a new generation coming through. A generation of 20 somethings raised on a musical diet of grime, garage and drum and bass and a bleak outlook on life similar to that of the concrete sarcophagus encasing Arlington House. Over the past two or three years, there has been something important brewing underneath the surface around here. From the humble beginnings of the Skank Nasti Sound System boys down on the beaches in and around Cliftonville, to the latest up and coming events from the Seeerious boys with this, their 2nd Birthday.

The main proponents of this new scene are the ones they call Wen and J-One. Hailing from Broadstairs and Ramsgate respectively, they both share a love for dubstep, grime and garage and took those influences and just fucking ran with them. This isn’t anything different from what producers around the country do over and over again, but when they got to their personal boundaries, they carried on going and never looked back. J-One releasing his debut album on the Urban Scrumping label by Phaeleh a few years back brought a breath of positivity to what was happening around here.

Wen released a four track EP through seminal and highly lauded LDN centric label Keysound Recordings earlier this year to critical acclaim across the globe. He put Thanet on the map in a way that none of us ever thought possible. For those around here that still haven’t taken notice, this is a call to you. Go out and buy his new release on Baitface’s Badimup label.

Baitface and Konvex come from the depths of Sittingbourne. Baitface runs the Badimup label pushing both his own tunes and those of his friends. Konvex has recently signed with seminal Dj Hatcha’s “Hatched music” label, Wheel and Deal Records (N-Type’s label) and Crunch Recordings (Ben Verse’s label) so expect big things to come from these two over the next twelve to eighteen months.

As for the rest of the DJ’s we have Parris representing his label Soundman Chronicles and London based record store BM SoHo with his vinyl and dubplate treats. Wlf brings the upfront house flavours with plenty of bounce, soul and feeling. LKD and K-Loh are the brains behind the operation and you can see them going b2b with Konvex and J-One respectively. Jim Jam and Dave Over come from Sheppey and bring the vinyl only flavours from grime, to garage to dubstep and everything inbetween.

Room 2 will be hosted by Pleasant DNB aka Skank Nasti related crewdem. Expect all styles of DNB to be covered.

Set times are as follows…

8 – 845 – TOBY P
845 – 930 – LKD v KONVEX
930 – 1015 – WLF v ARCANE
1015 -1100 – JIMJAM v OVER
1100 – 1145 – BAITFACE v ARKTRIX
1145 – 1230 – J-ONE v K-LOH
1230 – 115 – WEN
115 – 215 – DUSK + BLACKDOWN
215 – 300 – PARRIS

Facebook event page

Myself and Wen have talked about doing a feature for 45hz for over a year now. So with his meteoric rise over the past twelve months, we decided to take things in a slightly different direction and start a whole new mix series. This is Wen showing us the sounds that moved him into making beats himself. The sort of beats that influenced the dread grime he has become associated with.

(Sidenote: these mixes will not replace the mix series you know and love, it will be ran alongside the current one.)

By now, if people don’t know your name and what you do, I don’t know what they’ve been doing, but for them, can you give us a little run down on how you got here?

I basically started making beats when I was 16 and still in school, I had a lot of support from my friends around me which has always been strong and something I value highly. I sent my music to some mates who were playing at local nights, there were decent sound systems and I got to hear my tracks on them… I got addicted to this straight away. Every time one of these dances came up I was so hungry to make something new especially for it, I rallied stuff I heard or noticed the last time back through to my newest beats and it really helped me understand how to make my music sound the best it could in that situation. I continued doing this for a long time, with taste my style has changed quite a lot over the past few years, but I was still making music for that same reason.

Then I started to send stuff out past my close circle of friends. Which was pretty much one or two tunes to a few dj’s I was really into at the time, I thought they might play them on radio or something. I had tried sending to Youngsta but it was only one, Fossil I think.. Maybe that Lo-Fi refix aswell, but he never got back to me.

Then a while later I sent Dusk + Blackdown a few tracks, I had been listening to their Rinse show for about a year – which had a lot to do with my shift in tempo, they were playing some really fresh music and Blackdown always put tracklists up so I would seek out the ones I was feeling and get in touch, a lot of the producers were ‘new’ and quite happy to send me tracks, I got hooked on discovering all these new sounds which proved to be really accessible.

About 6 months after I started sending them tunes they played Takin’ Over, which was crazy and a real milestone. They continued to play my tracks for consecutive months, which I got addicted to (the whole locking in live and chattin to people on twitter who were listening too), one thing led to another and my bedroom music pastime escalated with them rapidly; I guested on their Rinse show (twice!), played the Keysound takeover at Fabric and have just dropped my EP on the label.

It feels really good to be a part of Keysound. I’ve found a home for my music.

The past twelve months gave you gifts that none of us local heads could have envisioned, do you feel that locally and further afield, the more leftfield approaches to bass music have become more acceptable?

2012 was a big year for me, I really got a grasp on a style I was happy with and got some support at the right time, from the right DJ’s and label + its affiliated artists which helped me gain some exposure. This whole 130 sound really evolved last year, and it’s kind of a thing now… not saying its fully established or anything, it is still really young and is shifting in so many directions which is healthy. It’s certainly been recognised and embraced by a handful of people who are in a position to push it.

I think locally it’s become more acceptable simply because we had opportunities to play our music on sound systems in Margate, at the same time I’ve been playing music from people I have been fortunate enough to meet and work with. The exposure of their stuff seems to have run almost parallel with mine, especially Epoch, the track we made together is the most leftfield ive contributed to, but it gets a mad reaction wherever I play it.

Collabs with Epoch, Visionist and Beneath under your belt and one with Gantz on the way, what is it about these producers that made you want to work with them?

I find their sounds really interest me, it’s all fresh, dark and underground but I can tell they are inspired in a similar way that I am. There’s a consensus in the direction were all travelling; while there are different speeds, colours and energies, there’s a focus and motivation. Those guys each have their own signature which is important, especially in collab’s – you need to bounce off each other and have a certain trait in your production to bring to the table, something that stands up in the track.

Working with producers is wicked, you learn a lot from certain people’s techniques and approach. If I’m honest the thought of working with vocalists, not singers though – MC’s, is a hell of a lot more exciting for me… But that’s a whole different thing.

So MC wise, who would you ideally want over your tracks? Do you have anything lined up in that direction soon?

I’d love to say I have, but I don’t at the moment – the 1Xtra thing is still sinking in to be honest haha I could probably ride that one out forever though. Thing is, now I’ve had a taste of what it sounds like live and improvised, I feel like I might prefer a spontaneous ‘freestyle’ over my beat, as oppose to a carefully crafted ‘song’ written with the MC.

Maybe it’s a thing where I’m not quite ready to make a track with an MC yet, think I need that phase of hearing them freestyle over my tune – which I guess I’m beginning to get involved in at the moment with the Roll Deep 1Xtra scenario and Illaman spitting over the second half of one of my sets last year.

There is a handful of MC’s I have always wanted to work with, but most of them are doing really big things now and aren’t so involved in the scene I hold close to my heart– but that scene is of a moment that’s happened and passed by. I’d like to think something similar will come back around, I feel like there’s an opportunity that’s currently being missed. The music were doing is instrumental, there’s room for some 130 MC’s, maybe the tempo change might throw them off to begin. But really it gives them more room, more opportunity to style out their flows… where are all the vocalists who are bored of 140? Not all of them made it to the popular charts or mobo’s.

Back to the question though, if were talking grime MC’s its pretty much any of the ones I chop into my tracks. Would love to do music with Trim, Skepta, Wiley, Raider, Dot Rotten or Lil Nasty; but there’s road rap artists I would equally like to work with – Youngs Teflon, Loopz, Colours and Fix Dot’m.

What was the process involved in picking the tracks for the Commotion EP on Keysound? I know you sent a whole load over so were the tracks you used chosen by Dusk + Blackdown or did you both have an equal hand in the selection process?

I think Nightcrawler was the track that tipped them over wanting to put together an EP with me, I’d already written Spark It which was on a similar flex. There was gonna be two slightly chilled tracks on the flip, but after I made Commotion we decided to go in and do 4 dance floor tracks, Road just felt right to finish and balance the collection. It was exciting to keep that one off the radar until the release. It’s actually the oldest track on there, but a lot of the reviews highlighted it as the show stealer.

Lets talk about your mix. It’s a first for us in the respect that it is an “influences” mix , so does the tracklisting follow your own personal timeline through music?

Yeah, I tried to keep it as true to my discovery of the music included as I could. I treated it more as a compilation project than a live mix; there are cuts from radio shows and even album skits that contribute to an atmosphere that I couldn’t achieve through a standard mix. I had so many tracks I wanted to include but it would have been a mess or way too long to listen to in one sitting, so I had to cut the list down to make it coherent.

For me it was a good opportunity to reminisce, I hope it creates similar nostalgia for anyone that listens.

Thanks for doing this man, shout outs?

Shouts: Dusk + Blackdown and the Keysound Family, Seerious Bass Family and everyone at home, Epoch reppin’ in NZ, South Fork Sound in NY, all the bristol crew, Butterz, yourselves at 45Hz, OliMurky, Parris, Score5, AJP, Leicester crew at Sous Sol Project, everyone that has booked me this past year, and all the people who have played / shared / hyped / listened to my music along the journey, its been commotional so far. More to come from me in 2013 I assure you..

Download here

Wen Soundcloud
Keysound Recordings

Ryan/Arktrix

Hey man, how is Brazil today?

Hey. Well, we still deal with a lot of the infamous “third world problems” such as corruption, high criminality caused by international/national drug trafficking, bad public services and politicians having power plans rather than government plans, but I guess it’s a lot better than it used to be.

I noticed you via Dubstepforum, do you still think it is a helpful place for getting your music noticed and bouncing ideas around with people?

Yeah. Some of the old threads are literally gold mines of information about production and the history of the genre. I got to meet a lot of producers and djs that I now consider friends through the forum too. Plus, even with all the trolling and youtube dwelling edm wannabe stars spamming the board, there are always people up for some in depth conversation about the new (or old) directions of electronic music as a whole.

South America is a country full of passionate people and I know the Drum and Bass scene is pretty large over there, does this passion for bass heavy music extend to the dubstep scene too?

In the last few years we had Razor Rekta and Skream in Brazil, Joe Nice in Argentina and I think either Quest or Silkie in Venezuela. Here in São Paulo we used to have a nice deep dubstep and mid tempo music oriented night but I think they are going through some sort of reformulation or so, last set I heard from them was some borderlining 4×4 808 driven “future” music. Aside from that and a few other brostep/electro house crews throwing parties, there’s not much going on dubstep wise. I teamed up with the blog/night Urbanoise and we are planning a deep dubstep and vinyl culture oriented night that’s going to happen by the end of February. There’s not much of a fanbase around here, so we really don’t know what to expect and that’s really exciting. I hope to expand people’s idea of what dubstep is and help them understand the roots of the sound.

Have you ever considered travelling to experience new music in different cultures?

I’ve been all around South America and was able to experience a lot of different musical tendencies and genres but I still keep a list of places that I’d like to visit one day for their local music. The top priority countries are Japan, South Africa, UK and the Venezuelan Caribe. The music in those places really make you rethink all your concepts of timbres, song structures and rhythm divisions, specially eastern music. They don’t have all the tempo restrains that western music has and they really strafe away from the whole quartenary feel. Plus the concept of arranging instruments is really difference, it’s a kind of music where you try to fit all the timbres rather than frequencies in a particular space. I don’t know if I was able to make myself clear, but it’s an amazing view of how to make music and I think that every producer and enthusiast should take their time and study the eastern, african and latin american rhythms, sounds and scales.

Iron Shirt, how did you get involved with the team behind the label and how do you see yourself helping it to develop in the future?

I think it was around September 2012, I was about to close a deal with a label for a single until they backed out. I was really feeling some NZ deep dubstep music at the time and started looking into labels to submit a few tracks, that was when I came across Iron Shirt. They had and still have a really good artist roster that includes a few big names that I was listening for inspiration at the time and some really good artists that I met through soundcloud. So I sent them an email with the link for the tracks and in the next day they replied me asking what I wanted to do with four of the tracks and so the Gaia EP came to be. Konsida is probably one of the best label managers in the scene. He’s really nice and it’s so easy to reach him any time, plus he introduced me to a lot of people that later I’d release music or team up with, such as M.A.K.Z from Deep, Dark, Dungeon Dubstep, the FatKidOnFire guys and a few other DJs and producers. With the label help I was able to reach the top of the Juno charts on single tune and ep categories with my first EP. I know that it may not sound like much, but it wasn’t something I was expecting being a really unexpressive artist so far away from the scene.

Right now we are hosting a remix competition for my tune “Civilization” and plan to put a four track ep for free featuring 3 remixes and an original tune by me through FKOF plus a four track remix ep via Juno. Again, I’m completely blown away by the number of entries we have so far, the stems pack has been downloaded hundreds of times. This really attracted some online exposure for myself and the label and I’m sure the standards for this one will be really high. I definitely can see myself working together again with Iron Shirt in the future.

Top 5 South American producers we may, or may not know of?

Aside from the obvious DJ Marky and DJ Patife, there’s Cavalaska, you may have heard his sounds on Bunzer0′s Sub.fm show, he’s been putting out some amazing dark mid tempo music and has a ton of collaborations in the ragga music scene. DubMastor is also worth a mention, his tracks and collaborations are always spot on, plus his label Big Chunes puts out some solid music. Recently I rediscovered DJ Maumau’s older tracks, his beats have some sort of thickness and groove to them that I simply can’t explain, quality stuff.

Any shout outs and thanks?

I would like to thank everyone who supported me this far, Mortal Grey from Phantom Hertz, Konsida from Iron Shirt, Olie from Bassweight, M.A.K.Z from DDDD the blog, Korrupt from FKOF, DJ Anthologic, my good friends Echomaker, Drooka and Phaeo, my crew Urbanoise.org, the guys from System Dubstep Brasil (INCA and Hardstep), the DSF users that nominated me for Best New Producer, everyone that likes my facebook or follows me on soundcloud and buys or plays my tunes and so on. I’m thankful for being able to make music that moves people.

Mishva – Execution (Forthcoming)
Mishva – Ghosts (Dub)
Mishva and Olie Bassweight – Golem (Forthcoming)
Echomaker – Gunman (Dub)
Cotti featuring P Money – Going To War (Mishva Refix) (Dub)
Deco and Mesck – Clear Depth (Dub)
Deafblind – Shattered Vision (Dub)
Darj – Kyoketsu Shoge (Dub)
Mishva – Civilization (Baku Remix) (Dub)
Vanity – Aikido (Forthcoming)
Mishva – Soundboy (Forthcoming)
Warsa – Forsworn (Forthcoming)

DOWNLOAD MIX
Mishva Facebook
Mishva Soundcloud
Iron Shirt Facebook

‘Titan’ is the Distance driven effort of the two tracks. Cyrus’ clean, minimal drum work allows Distance’s signature overdriven, metal riff influenced bass and futuristic synth work to absolutely dominate in the way you’d expect. Its a style you’ve come to expect from the man behind the label, but it is one that works everytime. The rapture from longtime fans of the two producers and label when this release was announced is testament to that fact.

The Cyrus led effort ‘Rude’ rolls out with class and panache. His restrained use of drums and percussion drives the track forward in the manner Cyrus has become most well known for. Pitch bent, wobbling sub bass emphatically rolls in and out of the space created by the drums and gives you a proper head space to get lost in. Meditative bassweight power!

You can buy the release from here

Surus
Distance Soundcloud
Cyrus Soundcloud
Chestplate Youtube
Arktrix/Ryan

You’re part of the Seeerious crew. How do you think its helped having a local bunch of like minded people to collab and bounce ideas around with?

It’s helped ridiculously. Having people you know in person that you trust to run an idea past or send a WIP too is definitely a blessing. For a while before I met you lot I was pretty much a loner in terms of my involvement with music. Everyone I knew were doing other things and I’d moved on from that. I’m so glad to have met people local to me that were doing the same and had a similar taste, attitude and passion for the music… Cos let’s face it, Kent isn’t exactly thriving with underground music – in fact – where I live is just a joke, it’s turned me into a hermit, I rarely go out here cos I just can’t stand all the shit music and all the uninteresting sheep that flock to it!

Your love of garage and grime is something you don’t really hide, what is it about those sounds that got you hooked? You were listening to those styles before moving on to the Dubstep, correct?

Yeah, Garage, early Dubstep and Grime are my foundation, my groundworks. It’s what I grew up listening to (along with bits of other stuff), and what inspired me to start playing and making music in the first place. Obviously being born and growing up in South London and being surrounded by friends and family that were into it (and old enough to go to clubs, I was just a kid with a radio in my bedroom at this point) was what introduced me to it.

From that point I was hooked though. It was the swinging groove and that warm feeling Garage had around it that appealed to me and Grime was an aggressive and bass-heavier mutation of it. A scene flooded with MC’s full of adolescent aggression, being a teenager at the time meant I could relate to where it was coming from. The beats sounded like Garage from the future which naturally caught my attention. Then as I got older (and calmed down a bit) I was losing interest in the MC and the art of lyrical content and was drawn more to the music itself just like I was with Garage, but this time around, it had evolved into something deeper, darker and minimal. Dread half-step was the new 2-Step and the exaggerated swing was replaced by a just as exaggerated sense of space… what we now know as Dubstep.

So Badimup is your label. Why start it and where is it going this year?

I’ll be honest and say I had the idea to start it purely so I could get my own music out there. Quite a well-established Producer gave me one of the best bits of advice. He said “If you want people to hear your music, for whatever reason, the best thing you can do is not try to break into an existing scene but to build your own.”

So that’s what I decided to do with Badimup. As I said, initially it was about providing a platform for my own music but then I realised I’d much rather involve others too and this year will showcase that. We’re currently on our second release which came out in December just gone, so we have quite a way to go yet but the artists involved and I are very excited about the releases planned for the future. Im going to stick to my morals and go for quality over quantity.

I don’t want to be managing a digital-only label, releasing the same kind of music every two weeks… We’ll be putting EVERYTHING into each one and try our best to keep things interesting and different, both in terms of “sound” and format.

You took the route of self distribution of your vinyl via The BADIMUP Big Cartel,what was the motivation behind this choice? Has it been easier or harder than you were expecting so far? What tips would you give to those who are thinking about going down this route?

At first, I decided to do it this way as I had no choice. I’d already signed a 2 year deal for digital distribution, because initially that’s all we had planned to push, until people started showing an interest in us putting out vinyl. All of the distributors (that deal with physical releases) I contacted either just straight up ignored me or were not interested unless they could distribute the digital formats too, which we’d already signed away the rights to… So it was check mate.

However, I then started to look into the industry more and found out that more and more labels these days are taking the DIY approach and cutting out the middle man, so to speak, and either selling direct-to-fan through websites like Big Cartel or Bandcamp and/or dealing with record shops direct. Doing it this way allows you to generate more return for the artist whilst still pressing the same amount of records because you don’t have a distributor and a shop taking their “cut” from final sale price. If your record is good enough and you promote it well, it also means theres less risk when it comes to covering costs, which is important to be able to keep the label going. We’re not doing this to make loads of profit, we’re doing it because we enjoy providing a platform, but at the same time you can’t just throw money down the drain, you’ve got to try your best to break even.

I’m not saying I’d no longer consider a physical distribution deal though, I mean it would give us a lot more time to concentrate on marketing and promotion, as we wouldn’t have to actually deal with unit by unit selling of the record, but I’m happy with where we are at the moment. We have plans to expand into some shops this year as well as still selling directly to fans through our own Badimup Store. We’re looking at the costs of this as an investment in our potential customer base, the idea of more people being able to find out about us and our releases can only be a good thing!

Going back to what we said about the Seeerious stuff and the making your own scene advice, how do you see things developing around here over the next year or so and outside of making tunes, have you thought about putting your own nights on locally in Medway?

Obviously the music is constantly evolving so its hard to pin point exactly where we’ll be. I prefer not to draw on the local aspect of it too much though. I mean yeah it’s great to have people doing things that I’m feeling nearby and I’m proud to be a part of some of it but I’d rather look at the bigger picture in terms of our potential audience. Putting on a Badimup night is definitely something to think about for the future and I’ve been asked if I’d like to collaborate on some events but at the moment I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew. Maybe once we’ve built a solid bunch of releases we’ll be able to sort a line up that truly represents us and isn’t just thrown together.

Any self respecting music fan likes lists and the discussions they create, so here goes…

Top 3 tunes at this current moment?
D-Operation Drop – 786
Slaven & Biak – Whispers
Geode – Britten

Top 3 tunes of all time?
Skream – Glamma
Headhunter – In Motion
Loefah – Rufage

Top 3 favourite sets by other DJ’s?
1. Loefah’s Roots of Dubstep set for Tectonic @ Fabric, 2012
2. Wen’s set for Mono Audio @ Corsica Studios, 2013
3. Oneman’s set for 81502 @ Corsica Studios, 2012

In regards to the mix, why choose the tunes you did?

I included a lot of my stuff, old and new, both solo work and collaborations, cos I thought it would be cool for people who haven’t heard of me before to hear what I’m about, a production showcase, if you like. Other than that, It’s really just a collection of the best tunes in my record bag at the moment. I also wanted to include some dubs from my favourite up-and-comers like Etch, Facta and D-Operation Drop for instance. All very different artists but equally ones to keep an eye on this year!

001 Kryptic Minds – The Divide – Osiris
002 Etch – Nose Bleed – Dub
003 Facta – Watertank – Dub
004 LX-One – Losing Control – Wheel & Deal
005 Baitface, Konvex & Deafblind – Badmind Breed – Soulstep
006 D-Operation Drop – 786 – Dub
007 Baitface & Deafblind – Penta – Soulstep
008 Baitface & Konvex – 37th Method (Requake Remix) – Dub
009 Geode – Britten – Vulcan
010 Youngsta – Destruction – Tempa
011 Baitface – Orbital VIP – Dub
012 Core Feat. Jamakabi – Civil War – Aquatic Lab
013 Biak & Baitface – Cellula – Dub
014 Youngsta – Poseidon – Tempa
015 Wen Vs Epoch – Hydraulics – Egyptian Avenue
016 Baitface – Substratum – Badimup
017 Facta – Amazon – Dub
018 Baitface – Trackers – Dub
019 Etch – Mellodee – Dub
020 FNC – Stalker’s Imagery – Dub
021 Facta – Upsetter – Dub
022 Kahn Feat. Rider Shafique – Late Night Blues – Deep Medi
023 Wen – In – Dub

DOWNLOAD HERE

Any shouts and thanks?

Yes! Obvious love for you and 45hz for having me! Out to everyone following my output from the very beginning, you know who you are. Big up Joe Muggs, Deafblind, Slaven and everyone else involved in helping Badimup do what it’s doing. Big up my good friend, musical peer and artwork don Simon “J-One” Jones, absolute genius at what he does! Out to Jamie, Kieran and Joe at Seeerious, Wen for breaking the mould, and killing it, so well deserved mate! Also gotta big up Lex and Bevan for being absolute G’s and anyone and everyone else I haven’t mentioned that’s supported me and/or Badimup up to now, thank you! We have so much more to come, I hope you enjoy the mix!

Badimup Website and Store
Badimup Facebook
Baitface Soundcloud
Baitface Facebook

Arktrix/Ryan.

Dolphin is the name sake track of the release. A simple hi hat introduction allows ambient washes to break through as a beautiful call and response melody sits beneath wobbling cloudy atmospherics that swirl in and out of time with the expertly crafted beat. This track captures that same vibe I get from those early Bukem & Conrad ‘Progression Sessions’. Melody, space, progression and heavyweight sub bass.

Fossil is built around clinical, spatial grooves whilst delayed techy chords drive the melodic side of this tune into a state of blissed out trance. Its nice to hear a release from a Dubstep producer that actually manages to keep that “Dub” feel fully intact. Meditation through bass weight is achieved easily whilst listening to this track. It sucks you in and before you know it your eyes are shut and your head is just bobbing away. Full blown roller and for me is the stand out track on the release.

Digital exclusive Nihonto takes an Eastern Asian influenced sample and puts it to work under a heavily driven, heavily swung minimal beat. Purple-esque synths wash in and out of those samples whilst lone notes stand tall within the mix. A nice addition to the digital release, but I feel this could have worked even better in place of Fossil.

Purchase HERE
Cluekid Soundcloud
Aquatic Lab Soundcloud

Arktrix/Ryan.

Into our second year we stepped things up a notch. We bought the domain name, pulled in two new writers and started pushing those we felt made their mark in the strongest way possible within their respective circles. Focusing primarily on the deeper side of dubstep and other electronic music forms with the occasional forays into some slower and faster niches.

Our third year is set to combine the two outputs. We will be focusing on the already established mix series and starting another to run alongside the original. The new mix series will be an “influences” type of affair. Producers and DJs will be supplying mixes of tunes they’ve been forever repping, sampled or taken inspiration from. The first two to appear are local dudes. One we’ve featured before, and one new. I’ll leave you to guess as to who they are…

So as we move forward, here is what a couple of label people and producers you should know will have in store for early next year…

Baitface (Badimup/Soulstep)

‘Most of our plans are under lock and key for the moment, but expect 003 to drop in February.’

Farj (Aquatic Lab)

‘We have LAB014 – Cluekid’s Dolphin EP scheduled for a January release. Following that we have our next Aquatic Lab Sessions Album (volume 2) which will feature established LAB artists as well as new artists which we also have slated to feature on a number of 12″ singles later in the year.’

Sparxy (Bacon Dubs)

‘We have fresh EPs coming from DubApes, Reamz, Hiloxam, Deafblind & Mesck and Genetix between now and March 2013. We are also planning on launching ourselves as a physical label some time nearer to the summer, so keep a lookout for Bacon Dubs on vinyl in 2013. Furthermore, we are running our first ever Bacon Dubs event in celebration of our 2nd birthday, in May. Genetix, Beezy, myself, Reamz, DubApes, Format and Hiloxam are all involved and it is going to be sick.’

Dj Foster (SubFM)

‘Production, I’m learning more and more every day so there should be beats from me. A couple of sick guests into my Sub FM show: FNC (Content & Fornax) and Surge (Wheel & Deal) just to name a few! I’m going to put together a compilation for No.Mad Records (http://www.nomadrecords.it/), as a kind of art director for the project. This is a big thing and I’m very focused…can’t say more right about now though. Also a new mix for your blog…’

Epoch (Egyptian Avenue)

‘We’ve got a release by a producer called Filter Dread coming up (awesome producer, stoked to have him on board) and an Epoch LP in the works which is currently in the process of being mixed down. Both scheduled for release early next year.’

Merry Christmas and big up to everyone we’ve featured music by this year!

Here is a thank you present. No TL, more fun that way…

EOY2012 Studio Mix. 320Kbs

Think of some of the beats from Crooklyn Cuts, The Shining and Doughnuts and you’re heading down the right track. Slick, polished production reigns but still oozes ounces of soul and funk. Its like the calendar is stuck in a loop between 92 and 94.

(You can download the preview above for free!)

If you’re a fan of Kilamanjaro Studios/Dilla and Premier, you’re no doubt going to be in headnod heaven. This is a BIG big look for Loveless and a big look for UK based instrumental hip hop in general.

Loveless Site
Handbook Bandcamp

Arktrix

You’ve been around for a good few years could you shed a little light on what you’ve been doing since the Dubbed Out releases to now?

It might seem as if I have gone off-grid for the last couple of years – my last Dubbed Out release was ‘Herb Time’, in 2010 – but it was around that time that I co-founded ‘Cymatic’ (with Ruckspin and DLR initially, later joined by Octane), so I have been keeping busy behind the scenes. I’ve also done a few international gigs since then – in Germany, Belgium and Poland – and have generally been building up a wealth of new material with a view to releasing as much of it as possible in the near future.

Cymatic seemed to point the way forward for all involved, significantly raising the bar of what could be achieved sonically. We all wanted to go as deep as we could go without limits or extraneous pressures. Our first release was a drum and bass track on Shady Brain, followed by two dubstep releases on Boxclever in 2010 and 2011. Our latest batch of tunes have just come out on Octane and DLR’s album on Dispatch Recordings – something we are all really proud of.

Whilst all this has been going on I have been focussed on developing my own sound, continuing to push into areas that were hinted at in my earlier material. My interest in low frequencies, tribal rhythms and mystical soundscapes were all present from the beginning and are now re-emerging with more depth and power than before, and to a wider audience (thanks to the new social media which wasn’t around when I first released music back in 2007).

What does music mean to you in its base form? The same thing it did when you first got into it?

My understanding of music has changed a lot over the years, but my basic appreciation of it has remained more or less consistent: I’ve always been drawn to the immediacy of music, the raw feeling you get from it. Bob Marley famously said about music ‘when it hits you you feel no pain’ – I’ve always felt that. Music has always been a positive force that I could never find anywhere else. I have been drawn towards it all my life, and understanding it has become a passion of mine. Music has grown to mean much more to me over the 10 years or so that I have been producing it seriously.

What makes you tick sonically within films, for example?

I’m inspired by all kinds of sounds, but in particular I favour a balance of organic sounds and synthetic ones. I find the combination of classical elements such as emotive chord sequences with haunting vocalisations, are effective at producing a heightened emotional response, and world percussion with low end rumbles alluding to distant menace always do a good job of raising the adrenaline levels.

Are there certain sounds that still set your teeth on edge the same way they first did?

In terms of sounds that ‘set my teeth on edge’: sometimes a door might scrape and evoke a gut reaction. I find that raw, natural sounds evoke more of this visceral type of response in me than synthesised sounds. Well-produced ‘film noises’ always seem highly processed so as to rid them of their essential ‘rawness’, leaving a more clinical sound.

You mentioned the dabbling with drum and bass, could we expect to see more of that from you in the future?

I had a drum and bass release with Linden earlier in the year, on Horizon’s sister label Inside Recordings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X326p4FE6RY), so I won’t rule out the possibility of more drum and bass releases in the future. That release showed me that, as a genre, drum and bass was something that I could contribute to. When I am fully happy with my solo material I will see about getting some released, so watch this space.

Could you ever see yourself going in the direction of many other producers/Djs, with a ‘live’ set/performance?

My DJ sets are representative of the spectrum of sounds I produce, and I see doing a ‘live’ set as a logical progression for me at some point. It definitely appeals to me as a way of taking the presentation of my music to a new level.

With what you said about new forms of social media not being around when you first came about, do you think too many people are way too open and overly enthusiastic to share everything they do and think these days?

Whether people can be too open or enthusiastic is a relative judgement, and it depends what platform you are talking about. Different media encourage more or less openness in my opinion, and it is up to each person to decide how much of themselves – there private lives, beliefs or opinions – they want to reveal publicly. The boundary between private and public is an important one to maintain, and people shouldn’t feel pressured to reveal more about themselves than they want to just because a medium facilitates it, or feel that they have to share everything they find on the internet just because they can. Discernment is more important than ever in the digital age.

Label wise, which is your current favourite, and which is your favourite of the past five years?

It’s difficult to choose one current favourite, as there are so many smaller labels coming through nowadays with strong rosters of artists, but Tribe 12 and Innamind get my joint current vote for their fresh and uncompromising approach. Over the past 5 years I have found Deep Medi to be the most consistent, holding true to its core values.

You’re given unlimited time in any studio, anywhere in the world with your choice of musicians alive or dead. Where would go and who would you take with you?

If we’re talking about unlimited imaginary scope here, then something like Real World Studios, only in the middle of the Pacific, with Pythagorus, Bach, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, Sid Barrett, Miles Davies, Lisa Gerrard, Alice Coltrane, King Tubby… you get the idea.

Are there any production tips that you’d consider pretty essential or little tricks that have helped you out over the years?

- Learn to control the basics, don’t try to run before you can walk.

- Get a good set of headphones and monitors (or access to them at least) and compare your mix on both regularly.

- Mix down as much as you can as you go along – you save time at the end of the process if you learn this.

- Alternate between quiet monitoring when building a track, and loud monitoring when you want to check levels. You need your ears to last a long time, and constantly battering them doesn’t help in the long term.

- Don’t discard all your old projects – save some them for a few years down the line. You never know what your production capabilities will be like in the future: there may be gems waiting to be polished in those old folders.

Tracklist

1. Evocation (dub)
>>Meditation (dub)
2. Xolotl (dub)
3. Dema Dub (dub)
4. Savage (dub)
5. Formation (dub)
6. Otherside (dub)
7. Jangala (Innamind dub)
8. Agora (dub)
9. Decypher (dub)
10. Incubate (dub)
11. Triad (dub)
12. Eschaton (dub)
13. Eye of the Storm (dub)
14. Warlord (dub)
15. Long Time VIP

DOWNLOAD THE MIX HERE

Thanks again for doing the interview Guy, any shouts and thanks?

Thanks for the interview Ryan/45hz. I’d like to give a shout to Jack Robinson (Tribe12), Jeremy (Innamind), Brett and Alex (Perverse), AJP, Oli Gizzle, Wil and Olaf (FKOF), BunZer0, Syte, (SUBFM) Beezy, NType (Rinse) Joe Nice (Gourmet Beats), and all the DJs and promoters who have supported my sound to date. I’d also like to thank everybody worldwide who has shown support over the years, bought my tunes, been to my gigs, been in contact with me directly or helped spread the sound in any way, including 45hz, and all the blogs and people that support this scene, my music, and music in general.

Peace and sub.

Quantum Soul Soundcloud

Arktrix.

Musically, the title track Brixton Bass is reminiscent of the first time I heard Coki play Goblin at DMZ, blunt sub bass trauma you will never, ever recover from. Sometimes you need subtlety to make your point and sometimes you need a claw hammer to enforce it. This track falls firmly into the latter of the two and does so with a relentless, almost thrash metal sounding mid line.

Empty Spaces is a more meditative affair with the ever popular reece bass resurgency puncturing the background ambience. A head nodding plodder and the sort of tune you’d expect to see sound-tracking a protracted fight scene in European martial arts movie.

Dark Future reminds me of those eighties horror movie intro pieces. Of all the tracks on the EP, this is ticking the most boxes for me. The way Tunnidge has used a melodic structure within the bass, and the driving nature of the beat gives off more of those metal tinged sounds, but this time with some droney, doom vibes.

All in all, Brixton Bass is yet another reason why 2012 has been the year of Chestplate and its sub-soldiers.

Buy Brixton Bass on Chemical Records

Tunnidge Soundcloud

Ryan.