Rabit Vs. Parris - Keysound FabricLive Promo Mix

This Friday, London's legendary Fabric plays host to one of the labels of the moment and, more specifically, a fast-rising Texan's UK debut. Rabit's standout appearance on Keysound's 'This Is How We Roll', as well as providing one of the standout releases of the year with his 'Double Dragon EP' on Glacial Sound, has seen him increasingly held up as one to watch. Perhaps it's the fact that he moves so effortlessly between the delicate synth arrangements of 'Sun Showers' and the sucker-punch percussion of 'Black Dragons', or maybe just the fact that he doesn't talk much and leaves the natter to the music - either way, he's got plenty of ears on this side of the Atlantic.

In the run-up to the aforementioned debut we caught a few words from the man himself and he - hours after hitting the tarmac, no less - hooked up with BM Soho counterman and, to quote Etch, 'the Randall of our generation', Parris, to record a special promo mix for the event.

Cop the mix below, and head over to the Fabric website to grab advance tickets to guarantee entry to Friday's event.

Hedmuk: How does it feel to be making your UK debut in one of the world's most renowned clubs?

Rabit: It feels surreal, I haven't really had the chance to process it all because I've been so busy. But yeah, it feels great: I'm blessed to have the opportunity.

H: What else have you got planned for your trip across the pond?

R: A lot. I'm playing clubs in Dublin and Berlin, and one night in Bristol as well. I'll be getting in the studio with a few different people also, definitely set aside a week or two for that. And I'll be on Rinse FM for a guest spot too.

H: In your recent studio mixes you've drifted from hip hop, to synth-led soundscapes, to the off-kilter rhythmic blends of grime and UK funky, but what can people expect from a Rabit live set?

R: The same, but different. Variety...dynamics...feelings...

H: Grime has typically developed in very localised scenes and Texas most likely wouldn't be the first place that springs to people's minds when thinking about grime, but what sort of a scene is there for it in Houston, and the US more generally?

R: In Houston there is none. As far as the rest of the US, there are some parties that do well but even then the best turn out is for the US artists that have a little bit of grime to their sound. There's a big disconnect, there may be people that are into grime because Total Freedom put it in a mix but these same people wouldn't pay money if Wiley or JME came to town. There's a general lack of knowledge about the whole thing. I don't really care if there's a scene or audience for grime here: I'm not into making anyone like anything, it's either for you or it's not.

H: Are there benefits, do you think, to being perhaps more isolated from what's going on in the UK? Do you feel any less pressured to confine yourself to certain or singular genres and influences?

R: Possibly. I'm not sure, do producers in the UK feel confined to having a certain sound, because they have to represent or something? I just do what I like. There's never pressure. The only pressure is to make that shit bang harder than the last one.

H: With an appearance on the This Is How We Roll compilation, and now joining the crew for this Fabric takeover, can we expect to see more link-ups between you and the label in the near future?

R: Possibly. I'm featured on Logos' full length, 'Cold Mission', that comes out mid-November. The link up with Keysound has been fluid so far, I'm just rollin' with it.


Download: Rabit Vs. Parris - Keysound FabricLive Promo Mix




Tracklist:

Grovestreet - Mook
Chemist - Blocks
DJ Eastwood - U Ain't Ready (Dubbel Dutch Refix)
Acre - Symbols
Wen & Parris - Time
E.M.M.A - Glitter
Dubbel Dutch - Deepa (Vocal Dub)
DJ Tev - Ready Or Not (feat. Gutta)
Rabit - Black Dragon
Strictface - Taipan Showers VIP
Plasticman - Shallow Grave (Wen Remix)
Epoch - Windmill (feat. Afiya) (138 Mix)

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Featuring: Wen

Ever since 'Takin Over' dropped in midway through Etch's Hedmuk Exclusive Mix, Wen has been firmly on the "to-feature" list. Someone else with their ear in was Blackdown, who stirred things up by asking 'what's all the commotion about?' Those in the know, of course, already knew - and that the track referred to was to fill out 12 inches of wax a few months later on the Keysound imprint came as no surprise. This, for many, was the first introduction to the abrupt rhythms, guttural space and stretched synths of the young producer from Margate. And a successful introduction it proved to be. Since then - and by then, we mean since the 'Commotion EP' sold out entirely - Wen's tunes have been picked up and rinsed by everyone from Kahn, Akkord, Elijah & Skilliam, My Nu Leng and, of course, the interlinked collection of producers who have spent the last year and half bouncing off each other and providing us with some of the most forward-thinking music the UK underground has to offer. Producers like Facta, Sepia, Underclass, Threnody and Etch have featured heavily across Hedmuk's pages and work within context of the UK's rich underground heritage - and with the releases mounting, it may not be long before they're commanding their own shared shelf in the record stores that have been at the heart of that heritage.

Hedmuk: To introduce those who might not already know, how would you describe your sound?

Wen: Dark and kind of violent, I guess - there are moments of cold emptiness interrupted with bright bursts of energy, there's a sense of urgency in the rolling versus stop/start pace of it and lots of contrast in the palette of sounds.

H: Your beats are minimal in the sense of leaving a lot of pregnant space, in the same way in which a lot of early grime instrumentals were very stripped back, and yet they don't seem to be as inviting to an MC: do you ever find yourself writing beats with an MC in mind? Is working directly with an MC something you'd be interested in doing, perhaps in the future? 

W: I make my beats to hold their own on the dancefloor, it's never really been about making instrumentals for vocalists. They are sparse for the sake of being spacious and giving the rhythm some silent groove, not really to be filled with vocals. It's fun to chop vocals in like verses ([see] Patwah, Lo-Fidelity), but I prefer the impact of occasional lyrics - something to hold onto while the drums and bass roll out. So that's probably why they aren't inviting. Most of the time when I use vocals it's of a moment I enjoyed in a set, so I do write with that particular MC in mind, but I'm just trying to catch their vibe and energy, accentuate it a bit and take it further my way. I’d love to have the opportunity to work directly with an MC though for sure, it would be a completely different way of making music

H: And how does it feel to hear the likes of Wiley, Riko, Scratchy and God's Gift riding your beats on radio?

W: Yeah that was something else; it felt like a massive accomplishment, something I aspired to do when I started to make music and still will, it's not something that’s ticked off the list by any means. If I'm honest I kind of lost hope of that aspiration when the freestyle radio shows slipped away - Logan's show and Westwoods short lived 1Xtra Grime slot, they were the major ones I listened to potentially send instrumentals to. I sent stuff to a couple of blogs, Hyperfrank used one for an intro to a Griminal freestyle once, which was a bit of a tease, so it was great to finally hear some MC’s over my tune.



H: Your debut 12” on Keysound was one of the label’s biggest to date; how did you get involved with the label? Do you feel that working alongside a label which has a deep-rooted sense of influence and musical narratives with regards UK-based electronic music has helped with giving you a certain fixity and confidence when it comes to producing and pushing your own take on the underground electronic music of the last decade or so?

W: It feels right to be a part of Keysound, there's a lot of energy and a sense of focus within the crew. I got hooked on the label when I heard 'The Bits (feat. Trim)', it was one of those edgier instrumentals that Trim's known for but was actually accessible and had a path to follow (in contrast to Brain / T-Spark / Jerzey etc. who you didn't hear of, aside from on his mixtapes). I started checking Dusk + Blackdown on Rinse and eventually sent them some music. I think as a label it’s always been really quick to expose new sounds and make sure what it's doing is innovative. And that process feels continual, I find that important, it’s reassuring to know I can do my thing; I'm not expected to make tracks like the ones we did with the EP, it's more “cool, that was fun... let’s keep the momentum going".

H: In recent interviews with Threnody and Underclass, we touched on the idea of hybridity: in the mixture of influence, sound components and tropes or styles of music. Is this something that you can relate to in terms of your own music, and its apparent refusal to fit any preconceived or notional genre? 

W: I think that’s interesting, and I agree with the hybrid influences in my own music, but that’s probably as far as I consider it. I just draw from styles I like and found some space in 130 to try to do my own thing, the main reason I started to make beats at that tempo was 'cause I was listening to the Keysound Rinse show. I held that as a catalyst that I wanted to be a part of - through 2011 and particularly towards the end of that year there was something really exciting building, I wanted to be involved in that movement. I could never predict what they were going to play but I knew it was going to be cutting edge. I wasn't intentionally refusing to fit in with dubstep or grime, I was just addicted to this alien sound I discovered on their show.

H: Is this hybridity something that you see reflected in the 'cluster', as Blackdown himself puts it, of producers currently peddling this darker take on 130bpm music?

W: You can narrow it down to 'hybrid' but I feel it's quite dismissive, there's a lot more than a two-fold hybridity going on with us lot; if that was the case I'm sure a genre name would have been coined by us to label it and call it our own. We share a gravity, which is, in my opinion, UK underground music, LDN, no doubt it's the origin everyone draws considerable influence from. Blackdown talked about this idea of satellites before, it's the sickest image, every producer being a satellite, worldwide. It's important there are other styles and clusters in this thing, I kind of feel I need the colourful synths/rolling funky/zero rhythm grime/4 to the floor energy/swung 2-step/warm (and cold) jungle nods. All these sounds compliment each other and give me something to draw influence from, the scene's so healthy at the moment - "these are fine times".



H: You’ve since followed the Keysound release up with a vinyl-only 12" on Baitface’s Badimup; how important is it to you to be releasing your music on a physical format?

W: It's even more important than I thought it would be. I did two digital releases before the debut 12"; once that dropped and I held the full artwork record it completely changed the way I wanted to see my music being out there and represented. The first one with Epoch felt real 'cause he cut a few dubplates of it, so I did get my own physical copy. I'm not against digital by any means, just strongly prefer the idea of people buying my music in a tangible format. I felt really proud when I saw the record in shops, friends sending me photos of them buying it etc. I didn't feel that way when I saw my music up on a website for instant download - maybe a little bit at the time, but in hindsight it didn't compare at all. It's funny actually, I was more excited when my EP got leaked: despite it being annoying that someone we trusted had shared it, it was a compliment at the same time. Growing up hounding the grime forums for Rapidshare links, you know the hot music gets uploaded quick, so I'm quietly grateful. Anyway, yeah, the 'Swingin' vinyl: I felt I needed to balance out the physical/digital with the Badimup record, I'm glad Baitface was supportive of doing vinyl only. There was no process in choosing the tracks, I just sent him those two and they clicked with him instantly. In fact I thought the decision was kind of brash a couple of months later, it was a situation where there was such a big impulse connection between my music and Baitface it left me feeling it shouldn't have been so smooth, the whole thing was a natural process; even when he mentioned about 180g it felt like it would have been rude not to.

H: Bootlegs and versions have always been a big part of grime, and your ‘Strings Hoe’ refix has caught the attention of some of grime’s biggest DJs: how does it feel to be picked up on by the likes of Elijah, Skilliam, Score 5 and Logan Sama?

W: Yeah my favourite Dizzee instrumental. It was always a bit of a gamble doing that bootleg, but it seems to get nothing but love. Glad I finally have that connection to some of the grime DJs, particularly the Butterz guys I love what they're about.



H: As your music begins to attract more and more attention, do you feel a greater pressure to deliver or do you see it as an opportunity to push at your own creative boundaries?

W: It's all positive to be honest, pressure is good for me, I welcome it. I probably feel more pressure from the way my friends are getting exposure to be honest, not really in a seriously competitive way but there's this whole one-up ethos going on amidst the entire family moving forward. I'm just having fun with it right now, enjoying 2013 so far.

H: Tell us a little about how you went about putting together the mix you've done for us.

W: It's a collection of music I feel has been influential on me lately, lots of producers included who are new on my radar and others who I'm always listening to.

H: Finally, what do the coming months hold for Wen: are there any forthcomings or anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to put the word out on?

W: There will be new Wen records out before 2013 is over. Doing a small tour of Australia at the end of August, gonna finally link Epoch out there - he's just moved to Melbourne - and Arctic too, hopefully be the grounds of some new collab projects. Also come join our bi-monthly Sunday Keysound Sessions at The Waiting Room, London - the E.M.M.A album launch was special.


Download: Wen - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix


Tracklist:

Skepta - Mastermind [Boy Better Know]
Walton - Haze [Dub]
Self Evident - Calgary [South Fork Sound]
My Nu Leng - Waltaknocks VIP [Dub]
Arka - Innamorta [Dub]
Akkord - Compound [Houndstooth]
Neana - Bow Kat [Dub]
Elmono - Shadows on the Moon [Cold Recordings]
Dizzee Rascal - Strings Hoe (Wen Refix) [Dub]
Luthor - STL [Dub]
Elsewhere - The Espers [Mindset]
Wen - Persian [Dub]
E.m.m.a - Nostrum (feat. Sully) [Forthcoming Keysound]
Facta - Hieroglyph [Dub]
>>> President T - Heard What I Said [Adamantium Music]
J-One - Ask Me [Dub]
LAS - Liketha [Forthcoming Signal Life]
Etch - Rise [Soundman Chronicles]
Teeth - Black Thigh Snakes [Forthcoming Signal Life]
K-Lone - Crunch [Dub]
>>> Lil Nasty - Firework [Rock N Rolla II]
Mickey Freeze - Carbon [Dub]
Kahn & Neek - Thief In The Law [Bandulu]
Dot Rotten - Give Me The Money [Ghetto Platinum Productions]
Epoch - The Steppenwolf (Gantz Remix) [Dub]

Wen - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

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Free Download: Dark0 - Zero

One of the very first artists to feature on Hedmuk, a zipped-up email from Dark0 is always bound to impress - whether on the sort of 'HYLI' girly-garage flex that had (if you'd believe it) the Boiler Room crowd two-stepping, the quick switches of 'Violate', or bending bootlegs over backwards and giving a track a whole new feel, as in 'Dnt Phone Me'.

After a quiet few months, there was finally more news on a long-promised mixtape. Collecting material from the last two years, and covering the full range of the Neasden producer's sonic palette, this is both an ideal introduction for the uninitiated and something to whet the appetites of the existing fans in the lead up to more releases later on in the year. And to add that little something extra, we've also snagged an exclusive grime instrumental - with a heavy nod to the dark sublow strain - to bring the total to 16 tracks.


Download: Dark0 - Zero


Tracklist:

1. HYLI (Grime Refix)
2. North West Nights
3. DNT PHONE ME
4. I KNW
5. Shinigami
6. Justice Riddim
7. Trapped Phase
8. Violate
9. WISE
10. MIDI Symphony

Bonus tracks:

11. GymGroup
12. UNTTLD
13. #3Titch
14. Killing Me (feat. Context)
15. Her

Hedmuk Exclusive Bonus:

Download: Dark0 - Bora



W.

Featuring: Sepia

Photo by Ben Donoghue Photography

One of the reasons why it's so easy to like Sepia's music, or for that matter so difficult to dislike it, is the way in which each track captures a mood so effortlessly and coherently. And while maintaining a simple, linear mood or tone across six or so minutes of music isn't necessarily a stand-out achievement, to create, develop and challenge - through the deployment and subtraction of subtle rhythmic and tonal inflections - a complex atmospheric web is most definitely something to be celebrated; and when all that is built around big basslines, intensely intricate drums and a doffed cap to all that's worth nodding to from the past twenty or so years of UK dance music culture, then celebrating becomes all the more easy. The last time we were this excited about a new producer was probably the last time Sepia sent a new beat through. Or Etch did, or Facta did, or Underclass or - well, you can probably see that there's a pattern emerging here...


Hedmuk: To introduce yourself, what's your name, where are you from and how would you describe your sound?

Sepia: Hello. My name is Theo, I currently reside in East London and make tunes and DJ under the name of Sepia.

It's kind of hard to describe my sound, as it varies depending on what tempo I am working on or what mood I am in, but I think there are some consistencies in my tunes; for instance, you'll always find my tunes are very percussive and focus a lot on intricacies in the drum patterns. I play drums, so I think that influences my drum programming a lot. I also try to capture certain moods and atmospheres through the melodies I use and always a warm rumbling sub bass. I have only really just gotten my head around building synth patches. Most of my earlier works were literally just melodies, drums and sub bass, but it worked for the kind of vibe I was going for. So yeah, I just kind of make percussive and deep, bass-driven music. Sorry for rambling (laughs).

H: How long have you been involved in making music? What was it that first got you into making beats?

S: Well, throughout my teenage years I was writing music with old bands I was in until I was about 17 or 18. I still write music on that side, but have been more focused on electronic music since 2008 I guess; I have always been interested in it, but I never really got into making music or DJing until I went to a party in a forest where I used to live on the Isle of Wight (a little island down south, near Portsmouth). I remember watching my mate Ben (who also runs the rig and parties) playing an incredible set with tunes by Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Luke Vibert etc. and then later through the night another guy was playing a dubstep set and the sounds just drew me in. I was gone at the time (laughs) but thought 'I really wanna play at one of these parties'. So I acquired some turntables and started collecting records and started DJing.

I started producing towards the end of 2008, but was only really messing about, I got a copy of FL Studio 7 and taught myself how to produce. I was under a different name back then and still finding my feet, but when I moved to Brighton I was playing shows weekly with some huge people (Skream, N-Type, Coki, Joy Orbison, James Blake etc.), had residencies and played at nights like Subsplash, Supercharged, Aka Aka Roar etc. and it is through playing them shows and networking in Brighton that I got to meet and become friends with the likes of Riskotheque, Marchmellow, Southbound Hangers, Dismantle, Gangoon Dubz, Etch and Ashley (from Well Rounded). It was about late-2009/early-2010 that I really got to grips with my production and finally developed my own sound and I started taking it a bit more seriously.

And now here I am I guess, I am still learning new things every day with DJing and making tunes, but I guess everybody is really because music and methods are constantly evolving and changing. Nobody ever stops learning, to be honest.



H: In terms of where you take your influence from musically, your tunes give the impression that your listening ear is a open one: is this the case? Who would you say you most often find yourself looking towards for influence?

S: Yeah, you could say that. I listen to a lot of different music, man, a lot of which are bands. If honest, I'd have to say my biggest musical influence would be Sigur Ros: words can not describe the effect their music has on me, so I am not even going to try. You may not be able to hear their influence in all of my tunes, but if you listen carefully to some of the melodies and arrangements I put together (for example in my tune 'If Only We Could See Us Now'), you can detect a hint of the ambient and orchestral sounds I use in some of the intros and atmospheres I create.

As far as bass music goes, my influences will always be the first who got me into this sound, for instance Mala, Coki, Loefah, Burial, Kode 9,  El-B, Cluekid, Horsepower Productions, Steve Gurley etc. and then you have just some incredible producers such as Four Tet, Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada, Luke Vibert, J Dilla, Quasimoto etc. I wouldn't say they influence the sounds I make, but they influenced me to experiment with electronic music in the first place, way before I even discovered dubstep or garage. Also, you have more recent producers such as Phaeleh, Congi, and DjRum whose music really blows me away.

But my influences go beyond music too: books, movies, people, situations, atmospheres, summer, past experiences and life itself are all influences in my sound. I guess everything has an influence on me, it also has a lot to do with where I am at the time musically, consciously, emotionally and physically: it all plays a part in my process of making music.

H: Your music covers a wide range of styles - from Grime to UK Funky to Garage and Dubstep and more - is this something you're conscious of? Do you approach making a tune with a certain idea or style in mind or is it a more organic process of just seeing where it takes you?

S: I am aware of it after the tune is completed, but it is not something that is planned or thought out. I never sit and think to make a certain genre. Going with influences again, it all just depends where my mind is at the time. I usually start my tunes with an 8-bar drum loop and from there I try out some little bass hooks to try get a feel of what kind of groove it is going to be. From there I separate everything and start from scratch and build an intro, drums, basses, synths, atmospheres etc. and start constructing the sounds I have made into a song. But it is hard to say really, as each tune is different; I never produce in a certain way, it's ever-changing. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it works.




H: How does it feel, despite not easily fitting into a particular genre category, to be receiving airplay and support from the likes of Joe Nice, Dusk & Blackdown, Phaeleh and B Traits? Do you feel like this recognition puts the pressure on to deliver more in the future, or does it just encourage you to progress with your sound?

S: I have been stoked and overwhelmed by the support and plays from the people who have been into my sounds. It might not be much to many people, but I am so stoked that 'Observer' got played on Radio 1. Even more stoked that Joe Nice cut 'Observer' and played it on Sub FM. Skream & Benga recently dropped my tune 'Cornered' on Radio 1 too which I am stoked about. And the support and plays that Dusk & Blackdown have given me have definitely influenced me to keep striving to push my sound further and excel.

I do feel that knowing that some people enjoy the music does influence me to progress my sound and deliver more, but at the same time it also scares me. Sometimes I make tunes and won't even show them to anybody as I don't feel they are worthy because some people might be looking for a certain sound and I am not sure that it will be the one they are looking for. This goes back to the way I produce, I can't stick to a certain sound or genre because I'm influenced and intrigued by so many things and I like to experiment with different sounds and styles sometimes. I don't like to think there are any restrictions or boundaries in music: everybody should just be allowed to go with their instinct and see where their creative flow takes them.

H: Tell us a bit about the mix you've put together for us.

S: The mix was recorded at my friend's house on his CDJs (big up Etch for letting me use them); when I play out I like to try and give the listener a taste of where I am at musically, so I tend to jump genres and create different atmospheres and also try to keep the listener interested by playing different things that hopefully everybody can enjoy at least a part of. A lot of the tunes in my mix are made by my friends, and that is something I am loving about the underground music scene right now: a lot of us are actually friends, we all network with each other and we are all bouncing off each other to excel and progress. So this mix features a lot of dubs, forthcoming pieces, and a few new releases by more established artists that I am feeling. There is a sneaky VIP in the mix also and an upcoming project too...



H: Finally, are there are anything forthcomings lined up or anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to put the word out on? 

S: Yes there is, 'Cornered' and 'Outbreak' are forthcoming on Redshift-One and are due out June 24th (available from all the usual digital outlets). I've got something else lined up too but nothing is 100% confirmed yet, so keep an eye out on my Soundcloud or Facebook for forthcoming releases, gigs and new music. Hopefully you'll be hearing more from me in the near future.
And lastly, big up and shouts to yourselves at Hedmuk, Etch, Atlas, J-One, Lex, Breen, Facta, Underclass, Rabit, Scalade, Konvex, Threnody, Dusk & Blackdown, Joe Nice, Phaeleh, Congi, Quest, Glacial Sound and too many more. And of course my girlfriend for putting up with my noise all hours of the day (laughs).





Download: Sepia - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix



Tracklist:


Sepia - Bullets [Dub]
Sepia - Because Of Me [Dub]
Wen - Swingin' [Badimup]
Sepia - Outbreak VIP [Dub]
Walton - Homage [Keysound]
Pearson Sound - Quivver [Nonplus+]
Fresh Paul - Sunblazed [Keysound]
Bloom - Quartz [Gobstopper]
Vivek - Asteroids [System Music]
??? - ??? [Dub]
Sepia - If Only We Could See Us Now [Free]
Sepia - Into The Abyss [Dub]
Sepia - Observer [Dub]
Sepia - Skyline [Dub]
Congi - Somnium VIP [Dub]
Sub Basics - In The Quiet [Dub]
Klax & Disonata - Lost Souls [Forthcoming Uprise Audio]
Daega Sound - Land In Motion [Black Box]
SPD - Habitus [Slime]
Sepia - Cornered [Forthcoming Redshift One]
DjRum - Honey [2nd Drop]

Sepia - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

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Featuring: Facta

Photo by ShotAway.com

A young producer who's been fairly firmly on the Hedmuk radar since first hitting us up with a pack of beats a few years back, Facta has, since then, been steadily carving his own niche into the UK underground's ever-shifting sound map. With one foot held steady in his '06-dubstep roots, the other treads through garage, grime, UK funky, hip-hop and the trippier side of experimental electronic and what results is sturdy, rough-edged and system ready. This broad approach is what makes the East Londoner's beats so captivating: whilst one might be swinging out off tough kicks and snappy snares, the next will be all tucked grooves and slinky hi-hats, and the next still will just have you sat bewildered at how he's managed to fit every bit of it together to make something that moves so slickly. It's not worth simply saying he's one to keep an eye on; it would be more accurate to just wish anyone luck in predicting which direction he might lead that eye in next...

Hedmuk: By way of introduction, what's your name, where do you hail from and how would you describe your sound?

Facta: My name’s Oscar; I grew up in Hackney, East London, and currently live between there and Bristol, where I’m living and studying most of the year. In terms of my sound, I tend to see everything I make in terms of dubstep as that’s where I initially found my roots – realistically, though, I produce a variety of styles that draw from garage, grime, dubstep, techno, hip-hop and breaks to varying degrees.

H: Would you consider yourself as being from a musical background, or is it an interest that you've developed yourself?

F: Well it wasn’t as if my parents were playing in bands or singing in choirs or anything, but like most families there was always music about in the house and from a young age I was slightly obsessive about finding my own path within music, which was something that my family always encouraged. When I was 9 I was convinced that I’d be in a world famous punk rock band touring the world by the time I was 16 – I’m ashamed to say that I’ve let my kid-self down in that respect, but I guess I’m still driven by the same ambition to create stuff now as I was then.



H: In terms of your actual production, you seem to take a mostly sample-based approach; do you feel like having a wide sphere of influence helps with this? Where, or from whom, would you say you take most influence from?

F: Yeah, well that’s definitely the key characteristic of my sound – I work almost entirely from samples; it’s partly due to an inability to programme synths very well and partly down to a deep respect of the whole culture and procedure around sampling. I listen to a lot of hip-hop and experimental electronic music, from which I have developed a love of rough, fast sample work. I’m also heavily influenced by non-electronic music – most recently jazz in particular. For this reason I’m always hesitant to make music that sounds overly polished or fine tuned; when I produce a track I like to cut up the samples right on the grid, trying not to quantize things too heavily or cut the clips too precisely: I tend to leave in trails and imperfections so as to maintain as many of the nuances of the original source material as possible.

H: A lot of people from the city talk about Bristol as being a great creative environment to live and work in: is this something you would agree with? How important is the sense of existing within a creative community to you?

F: Bristol is definitely a special place. I could talk on for hours about it, but anyone who has spent any length of time here will agree that there is something about the city and the scene here that just feels distinct from the rest of the UK. It’s always had its own path and it continues to develop on its own trajectory: Bristol Dub and Reggae, Bristol Jungle, Bristol Trip-Hop, Bristol Dubstep and Grime, Bristol Techno – these have always been special, unique pockets within their relevant scenes and all have a unifying trace running through them. It’s a constant source of inspiration and motivation to work and play out here, not only is there a huge audience for forward-thinking, experimental music but everybody is willing to help one another out and collaborate in a way that I never see happen in places like London.

H: Your tracks have featured heavily on Dusk & Blackdown's Rinse show in recent months, how does it feel to have that kind of backing? How far would you consider this idea of a musical community to extend to the tight group of artists being represented on the show?

F: It’s been a massive honour to receive recognition from figures that I have looked to and respected for years and years, and it’s been particularly great to be involved with the pocket of artists working within the Keysound sphere over the last half a year or so: it has the perfect combination of feeling like a tight, cohesive movement whilst still remaining totally undefined and uncontained. There’s a massive variety in sound from producer to producer: nobody feels like they’re stepping on each other’s toes. We’ve all got our own room to breathe within a collectively-occupied space and that’s a very inspiring thing to be a part of.



H: You've also recently started a night in Bristol: can tell us a bit about your reasoning behind it, and what sort of ethos you're aiming for?

F: The night in Bristol developed as a result of me and two friends deciding we wanted to throw no-nonsense parties at some of the cooler, smaller venues across Bristol: you can’t move for great, cutting-edge line ups at big clubs in Bristol, but we did feel that there was room for a party where the emphasis was taken off new music and reinvested in location and atmosphere. So we hatched the idea of throwing house party-esque events at cool locations where we’d just ask friends and DJs to come down and play sets that they wouldn’t be expected to play, giving them the chance to draw strictly for their favourite party jams. We called it Elephant 'cause that’s a dumb name for a dumb club night. It’s going to be sweet.

H: Take us through how you approached the mix you've put together for us.

F: Well I’ve recently been lucky enough to get to know a bunch of stupidly talented producers – both in person and through exchanging tunes online – and so I wanted to throw as many of them in as possible, plus include a few of my own. The mix sits somewhere between what I’d consider to be home listening and the sort of thing I’d play in a club. Normally when playing out I tend to get carried away dropping fruity old garage tracks and golden era dubstep and grime; I’ve reigned that in a bit for this mix, although couldn’t help but slip a few percies in.

H: Finally, are there any forthcomings lined up or anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to put the word out on?

F: I have a vinyl-only 12” EP coming out this summer which will feature 'Montpelier', 'Kobra' and 'Upsetter'; I have a track with K-Lone that's just come out on the unbelievably-good debut 'Chord Marauders' compilation [now available exclusively from the Chord Marauders website]; I’m in talks about a few other 12”s, although nothing is set in stone; I’m working on collaborations with a bunch of producers including Gantz, Wen, Rabit and B9. I’m going to be playing at Summer Saturnalia festival in July alongside Pinch, Elijah + Skilliam, ∆kkord and Gantz, and that’s about it on news. Thanks a lot for having me on – been a pleasure to get involved.



Download: Facta - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix



Tracklist:


$tush - Dollar Sign [Social Circles]
E.M.M.A - Cherry Favour [Dub]
Facta - Montpelier [Forthcoming]
Beneath - You & Me Remix [Forthcoming]
Dizzee Rascal - Strings Hoe (Wen Remix) [Dub]
Facta - Kobra [Forthcoming]
Brunks - Steppin' [Dub]
E.M.M.A - Untitled [Dub]
Facta - Hieroglyph [Dub]
Epoch - Gun Talk - [Egyptian Avenue]
Gantz - Free Focus [Forthcoming]
Sepia - Outbreak [forthcoming Redshift One]
James Fox - Put It Back (Ramadanman Remix) [TAKE Records]
Etch - Lost Methods [Dub]
Karma - Armshouse Dub [Dub]
Wen - Galactic [Dub]
Bloom - Quartz [Gobstopper Records]
Facta - FWD [Dub]
Amoss - Tangent (Geode Remix) [forthcoming Horizons X]
Facta & K-Lone - Voodoo [Chord Marauders]
Solwork - L Town [Dub]
Geode, B9 & Congi - Scrumpy [Chord Marauders]
Facta - 36th Chamber [Dub]
Kode9 - Addiction - [Hyperdub]
Rabit - Wolf Spider [forthcoming Glacial Sound]
K-Lone - Melt [Dub]
Mark Pritchard - Heavy As Stone [Deep Medi]

Facta - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

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Review: Keysound - This Is How We Roll [LDN036]

There's a certain casual swagger to everything Keysound, and it's that sense that's caught up in the title of their debut compilation 'This Is How We Roll': a title that all-at-once nods to old-school jungle rollers, a previous release on the label from garage legends Zed Bias and Steve Gurley, and, perhaps most strongly in this instance, to the sense of a crew (and with this, by no small stretch, grime and the importance of the sound's founder crews such as Meridian, Ruff Sqwad, Slew Dem and, by no coincidence we might suggest, Roll Deep). And despite this ease of reference, the title is purposefully obfuscating; in recent discussions we've had with label co-owner Blackdown and intrigued attendees to the sound pushed here, there has always been an emphasis on a much wider approach to the sound: this is just music, let's just leave it at that, and "let's just roll".

In a similar way to the original 'Grime' compilations on Rephlex, this compilation might be taken as a moment of pause to collect what we've got so far and to - very loosely - define where things are with the sound; and it's that uncollected hybridity (a word which has appeared on plenty of occasions during our conversations with some of this sound's proponents) of styles that makes the whole move, and this compilation, so attractive. Opening up with a triple-header collaboration from Dusk & Blackdown Rinse regulars Visionist, Beneath and Wen, the tone is set to dark and drum-led as Beneath's characteristic kicks drive through the eery synths and grimey snips that can be found littered throughout both Visionist and Wen's beats. Each of these three appear once more as solo artists on the CD, with Beneath's gully take on tightly-syncopated UK funky rhythms, Visionist offering what it might sound like if Horsepower Productions made grime, and Wen delivering an enormous 130 VIP of his already large 'Commotion'.

Throughout there is a sense of musical pedigree, and pride in it: all over the CD are flecks and inflections of grime, UK funky, garage, jungle and dubstep but nowhere is there anything that might be straightly defined as any of these things individually: Epoch's 'The Steppenwolf' has been receiving regular rotation on the Keysound Rinse show, and rightly so as it is pure mood, taking the listener through a complete route of skunk-smoke head-nods; Double Helix' 'LDN VIP' rolls along all warm basslines and the tightest drums around, and Dusk + Blackdown's own offering - in the form of the the Android Heartbreak Drumz Remix of 'Lonely Moon' - achieves a similarly tense hybridity in its drum patterns as it skips in the mid-distance between garage and UK funky beats; Gremino and Samrai, meanwhile, both stretch as much pace out of the standardised 130 tempo, with jumpy bashment- and dancehall-influenced funky that would have most crossover MCs passing the mic back.

Showcased too is the label's fondness for experimentation with sound, as Rabit strips everything back to the coldest synths since Wiley was pressing white labels, and Mumdance & Logos include a tune literally 'In Reverse', and end up with a driving pulse that would have a dancefloor in fits.  The compilation is not all dark drones and tripped-up beats, however, as Fresh Paul delivers a purple synth workout and E.m.m.a. and Moleskin close out the affair with the sunrise that follows the murky late-night walk through, as the catalogue number would have it, a figurative LDN.


Keysound - This Is How We Roll [LDN036] will be available for purchase on 25th March 2013, on CD and as a digital download. In the meantime, the entire release is available to stream over here on Resident Advisor.


Tracklisting:

01. Visionist, Beneath & Wen - New Wave
02. Beneath - PVO
03. Samrai - Hear Me Now
04. Visionist - Dangerous
05. Wen - Commotion VIP
06. Double Helix - LDN VIP
07. Epoch - The Steppenwolf
08. Dusk + Blackdown - Lonely Moon (feat. Farrah) (Android Heartbreak Drumz Remix)
09. Fresh Paul - Blaster
10. Mumdance & Logos - In Reverse
11. Gremino ‘Monster VIP’
12. Rabit ‘Satelite’
13. E.m.m.a. ‘Peridot’
14. Moleskin ‘Burst’

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Featuring: Underclass

Reflecting a period in which dubstep and grime were still just undefined - or perhaps even over-defined, carrying with them a multiplicity of different, and differently inadequate, names - offshoots of a similarly difficult dark strain of UK garage, Underclass is emblematic of that raw, somehow-cohesive multiplicity that had an increasing number of disenchanted and disillusioned garage heads entranced as the UK crept into the noughties. Similarly to the way in which the likes of Threnody, Etch, Wen, Beneath, Visionist all contain, in their music, nods towards the rich musical history they have - often simply by making music where they do - inherited, Underclass' beats are aware of their influences and rejoice in twisting them into a new, informed figure. But what is striking about tunes like 'Ecko', though, is the intensity of their sparsity; and while this may sound paradoxical, it's a concept well-illustrated and illuminated below as we receive an insight, as unlikely as it might be, into the influence of John Cage and of Futurist theorists on Underclass' music. The result is a sound which is very raw and very engaging.



Hedmuk: Your tunes tend to share a raw, stripped-back aesthetic: is this something you feel you aim for consciously, or does it seem to come naturally?

Underclass: I do separate the textures and the rhythms consciously. The beats and bass are about vibes, movement and flex whilst the textures are more precise and all about depth. If you listen to my beats the instruments might be stripped back, but that is just to leave space for the incidental sounds in the background.  I’ve always been interested in the ambience encasing sounds, natural reverb on mechanical sounds like a helicopter or traffic, so leaving other areas sparse to let ambience ring out is important.

H: What was it that first got you involved with producing and making beats?

U: I got into making beats through DJing. I have a decent collection of early grime and dubstep and have been mixing it for a long time now. Really I started making beats mainly because my old vinyls had more crackle than bass as I’d rinsed them, so I wanted to make something with that aesthetic but for this decade. I wanted music that was raw, dark, cold but also paid attention to detail. 10 years ago coming out with something made on a Playstation was acceptable and new, but whilst the melodies and beats are still sick the depth isn’t there in terms of texture.



H: It's clear that you draw a significant influence from early grime and dubstep sounds, but do you find yourself trying to step away from your influences, to an extent, in order to set your music within a new, fresh framework? Where else do you tend to draw influence from, is it mostly music or are there other things that you find to be inspiring?

U: Early grime and dubstep are just what I grew up with so those sounds and that aesthetic is just ingrained in me. I have some older friends who were junglists and it is the same with them, 'Amens' are part of their psyche. Alongside grime I listen to a lot of electroacoustic music and I've listened to that since before I locked onto grime. I felt grime fitted into that, especially early on it was abstract and vanguard in the same way Jonathan Harvey, Jonty Harrison, Pierre Schaeffer etc. are. I use a lot of those composers as references for sounds and textures, while my rhythms & bass come from grime. I don’t look to step away from or step towards my influences, I just see what comes. I never think ‘I want this track to sound like DJ Oddz/Luigi Russolo/Trevor Wishart’, I just write.

I’m not interested in going back and trying to recreate anything that isn’t already ingrained within me. I don’t want to go back further and make a rave, garage or jungle pastiche because that was then. I also don’t want to make a record that sounds like 'eski' or early grime, but these sounds and rhythms are just what are in my head and what my brain is wired to so they probably come out. If I ever write a track with an Amen or an obvious 2-step beat then I have sold out because I would deliberately be trying to be something I am not. I didn’t experience garage or jungle first hand and I don’t have a complex about that and feel the need to make neo-garage/jungle through guilt, so I just write what comes.

As for taking influence from other places, like I mentioned probably the biggest thing is how sound behaves in space and just using my ears at different times in different places and thinking ‘how do I make a police siren sound like it is travelling towards me at 120mph through a city at 3am, and how can I incorporate that in a tune’. Probably the single biggest influences on how I listen to sound comes from the Futurists and their writing, and also John Cage and his lectures. Reading those teaches you to really listen to everything and without the Futurists we probably wouldn’t treat the sounds of industry as music. It is almost 100 years ago now but without them I don’t think we would be open to sounds and textures in electronic music today.

H: Like many of the producers within this loose grouping which we've mentioned previously, you're taking certain core aspects of styles such as dubstep and grime and pulling them back to a slower 130 tempo: what was your initial thinking behind this, and how important is the extra space that doing this can give?

U: Well, I don’t write dubstep and apart from a few tracks and producers I’m not interested in it particularly these days. A lot of the grime I have on vinyl is slower than 140 too and the beats I was making weren’t halfstep so they didn’t need the extra tempo to drive them. 130 leaves enough space for the background sounds and textures and it is a bit of a coincidence that some other producers seem to be working at that tempo too. I thought when people talked about 130 they were talking about Swamp81 or Night Slugs and although I like some records from those labels it is a completely different sound, although the framework might be similar. It is the difference between standing in front of a speaker in a rave or listening to the beats from the back of the room. One is direct and the other has space. I think the same difference was present in grime vs. dubstep 10 years ago. I suppose the only thing linking a lot of this loose grouping is the use of grime aesthetic with early dubstep’s sense of space. Obviously a lot of new dubstep has moved from the back of the room to in front of the speaker and lost that space whilst other stuff is obsessed with the space and has lost the vibes.



H: You've recently been picked up by Dusk & Blackdown, receiving regular airplay on their Rinse show: how does it feel to be getting that level of recognition and exposure? 

U: I’m shocked that I have been picked up so quickly by some big names but I had spent a while working on tracks and I knew at the end of last year that I had reached the right level to send beats out. Initially Threnody played a few tracks and this got me a lot of attention very quickly. Blackdown messaged me to say he had heard my beats on Threnody’s show and asked if I could send some. I locked onto his show the next week and him & Dusk were playing them. Brackles and J:Kenzo have played them out too, which surprised me a bit, but I’m honored they like them and feel they work in their sets. If anyone plays my music then it means a lot and the fact that people I’m playing, like Filter Dread, Epoch and Rabit are playing me means more to me than if someone told me Skrillex had just dropped my track.

Hearing Blackdown & Dusk drop them was special as Keysound is on fire at the moment and that Rinse show is a monthly ritual for me. It’s good for me to get support from DJs because I’m not that up for the hype game of Facebook pages or whatever. I have a Twitter to communicate and a Soundcloud to put out some tunes, but I’d prefer to be judged by my beats than how many followers I have. DJs are the important people for repping my beats and getting them out to the wider public.

H: How did you go about putting together the mix you've done for us?

U: I started off by pulling out all my vinyl and thinking what I could put in but in the end the only track that did was an old SLT Mob one. I think it is far more important to rep what is now rather than what I like. I can listen to my vinyl for fun at any time. I did consider putting in a little live re-edit of Loefah’s 'Mud' that I do with 2 vinyls, but I just thought if I start messing around with vinyls and tunes everyone knows already it is too much of a vanity thing. Everyone knows and loves 'Mud' so it was too easy playing that.

After that I just sat down and mixed. A few producers have sent me dubs that I’m really feeling and I feel work with my tracks so I just hunched over the decks and treated it like any mix I do. Nothing was planned I just went with the mood.

H: Finally, are there any forthcomings or anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to put the word out on?

U: Nothing is set in stone at the moment. I have given out a track with you and another one out for free with Below The Line, and then I'll be seeing which labels are interested. I’ve been chatting to a few and now just need to find the right home. I may just stick out a white label 12” to get a couple of tracks out there. Really it is only a couple of months since I came out the dark so I’d like to get a few gigs to hear my beats on a system within the space of a rave whilst continuing to develop new material too.



Download: Underclass - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix



Tracklist:


Steve Reich – Come Out (Underclass Edit) [Dub]
Underclass – Ecko [Dub]
Threnody – Emergency [Dub]
Underclass – The Revenge [Dub]
Sepia – No One Is Safe [Dub]
TMP – Battleground [Dub]
Rabit – Black Dragon (Shy Mix) [Dub]
Underclass – Klang [Free]
Name_Pending – 1snewve2 [Dub]
Filter Dread – She Glitched It [Dub]
Si Begg – UFO (Threnody Remix) [Dub]
Filter Dread – Murky [Dub]
Rabit – Air Port Systems [Dub]
Underclass – Istiklal Avenue [Dub]
Threnody – Ark [Dub]
Slaugter Mob – Fireweaver [Rephlex]
Underclass – Hype Dem [Dub]

Underclass - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

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Damu - 2011 Mix

Damu has been kind enough to send us over his latest mix as another little exclusive, featuring new dubs from himself and others. For those unaware, Damu has had an almost meteoric rise since we first featured him in May and has become something of a favourite of Dusk & Blackdown's (see Blackdown's interview with the man here). With forthcomings on Keysound Recordings, Local Action and Silverback Recordings amongst others, now is the time to get to know.

Download: Damu - 2011 Mix

Tracklist:

Wiley - Ice Pole Remix

Gremino - Finneskimo

Coldcut – Tru Skool (Zomby Remix)

Becoming Real - Like Me (feat. Trim)

Arp 101 - Korg-A-Tron

Eomac - Dublin, Are You Ready?

Eomac - Clap Your hands [Pt.2]

Logos - Kowloon 1

Damu - It Wants To Snow

Starkey - Robot Hands (Egyptrixx Remix)

Jera - Treeeball

Slackk - Crucial Love

Cedaa - Hypnotiq (Juxta Remix)

XXXY - You Always Start It

TLC – Scrubs (Funkystepz & Scott Remix)

Rita Indiana - Los Poderes (Kingdom Remix)

French Fries & Chaos In The CBD - With You

Amerie - One Thing (French Fries Remix)

Soulja Boy - Pretty Boy Swag (Club Cheval Remix)

Brenmar - You Make Me Say (Ikonika & Optimum Remix)

Sines - Wiley Riddim

Melvin - Feathers

Clicks & Whistles - When I Feel (Cedaa Remix)

Brenmar - At It Again (DJ Rashad & DJ Earl & DJ BMT Remix)

Andrea - Write Off

Damu - Skylo

Damu - September Megamix

We've banged on about Damu for a while now and with his production currently seeing airplay on Rinse FM, notably by Dusk and Blackdown, it's the perfect time to post a new mix by the man. Enjoy:

Download: Damu - September Megamix

Tracklist:

Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows
Johnny Jungle - Johnny 94 (Origin Unknown Remix)
DJ Nate - Ima Burn Him
Leatherface - Jigglin’
DJ T Why - Beat That Shit Up
Dj Killa - Take Yo Azz Out Da' Circle
DJ T Why - Lets Juke On The Wall
DJ Clent - How Low Can U Go
DJ Roc - One Blood
Diplo & Laidback Luke - Hey! (Starfoxxx Juke)
Cedaa - Juke Clap
Damu - She's Liquid
Maxmillion Dunbar - Way Down
J-Wow & Sui Zhen - River Song
Kaiser - The Art of War
C.R.S.T. - The Bells (Distal Remix)
Kavsrave - Deluded
Bloom - Love Phaze
Damu - Ridin'
Lazer Sword - Batman
XXXY - Turn
Raffertie - ▼▲
Brey - All Black 1959 Ford Thunderbird
Raffertie - They Pecked Off Her Nose
Mu-Gen - Fizzdom (Sam Tiba Remix)
Nguzunguzu - Unfold
Sebastian - H.A.L. (Munchi Bootleg Kuduro-More Rmx)
Damu - 2010
Sentinels - Synaesthesia
Roulet - Kitamanda (Girl Unit Remix)
Myd - Train to Bamako (Monsieur Monsieur Remix)
Breach - Fatherless (Doc Daneeka Remix)
Kanji Kinetic - Thrill Seeka
Brackles - Blo
Slackk - Eski Clicks
Damu - Crystal Gaea
Jacques Greene - (Baby I Don't Know) What You Want
KidKut - ILove04