Premiere: Boofy - Warzone [TUM006]

Without a doubt one of the most exciting new labels around at the moment, Tumble Audio rumble onto their sixth release, welcoming Bristolian Boofy to the roster in the process. The EP's title track - all rapid hi-hats, clattering snares and a bounding bassline - has been doing the rounds for a while now, cropping up in sets from fellow south-westerners, Kahn, Neek, Asa and Joker, and thus accordingly gets some remix treatment to keep things fresh: Hi5ghost adopts a classic grime pairing of distorted synths and skittering strings, whilst Nativ takes the tempo down a little and delivers a Champion-esque synth groove for a succession of claps and snares to bounce off.

The B-side, premiered here today, rounds off the release perfectly: all the raw, pirate radio venom that Boofy captures with such consistency, but with a bass lead and rolling rhythm that hits the mid-point between grime and UK funky that Tumble have been pushing since first leaving the blocks. That Wiley's choice words for God's Gift that are sampled here - and the sore jaw he received in return - would contribute to grime being banned from Rinse FM seems almost ironic considering the genre's recent ubiquity.

With every release, Tumble stamp their unique identity onto the UK's club scene more prominently, and long may it continue.



Boofy's 'Nank EP' will be released digitally on December the 2nd 2013.

W.

Shop: Hedmuk X The Tribes - Tee #005

After the success of our first sweatshirts, and the Generic Greeting collaboration tee before those, comes our link-up with Nottingham-based painter and designer Mac, AKA The Tribes. With most of the stock gone on pre-orders, there are just a few more of these left. The usual (low) postage and packaging rates apply and, as always, this is a limited print run.


Cop one here: http://hedmuk.bigcartel.com/product/hedmuk-x-the-tribes-tee-005


W.

Free Download: Anex - The Real EP / Exclusively Anex Mix

Another Notts talent, Anex has been carving a steady path over the last year with tunes being picked up by M.U.D and Deep Heads. His music is laid back, but consciously avoids crossing into banal territory by choice sampling and immaculately clean synths. This EP, delivered after hitting the 1000 followers mark over on Facebook, is a showcase of the variation in his styles: not easily bracketed by genre delineation, yet held together by that rarity of a 'signature sound'. 'Real' steps lightly with a nod to the dubwise root; 'Province' is more tense, lulling back and forth on a textured synth; 'Occam's Razor' works a jazz piano through the loops; and his rework of another rising talent, Vaun's 'Comatose', doubles up the half-step pattern with organ stabs and a rolling vocal sample.


Download: Anex - The Real EP [320kbps mp3]


Tracklist:

Anex - Real

Anex - Province

Anex - Occam's Razor

Vaun - Comatose (Anex's Roots Remix)



Download: Anex - Real [WAV]
Download: Anex - Province [WAV]
Download: Anex - Occam's Razor [WAV]


And the generosity doesn't stop there, as Anex has put together this mix comprised entirely of dubs and forthcomings from himself for a further introduction to his sound.


Download: Anex - Exclusively Anex Mix


Preacha.

Featuring: Fable

Mary Anne Hobbs once said there must be something in the water in Bristol, as there was no other apparent explanation for the seemingly endless stream of talent bubbling out of the city. Whatever it was that was enhancing the River Avon then must, we have to speculate, have also made it's way down the Trent to Nottingham, such is the wealth of inspiration that seems to be decorating the city currently. Fable is one of a number, and impressive variety, of producers hailing from the area who are gathering a momentum which is firmly cementing a credible position for Nottingham on the UK's musical map. Fable makes music which wears its influences proudly, but without an awkward hybridity: influence is adopted as an extra element, something which adds character to a core element of warm sub-bass and tight-rope percussion rather than being a fence-post from which the tune hangs like some sort of single lost glove. Ultimately the key is a resulting originality and this is something which Fable, along with the rest of his Notts cohorts, are constantly striving towards and, more and more, achieving with clarity. With this in mind, it was only right to invite him for a chat and to contribute the latest in our mix series.


Hedmuk: As an introduction, what's your name, where are you from and how would you describe your sound?

Fable: Hello, I'm Fable and I'm from Nottingham, UK and I produce dubstep music. My beats hold a range of influences; they mainly consist of raw percussion, rolling subs and anything else over them two things that I think sound good.

H: You've been producing for around seven years now, and started at an early age: what was it that lead you towards producing in particular? Would you say that you're from a musical background?

F: Well I have an older brother who used to listen to a mix between garage and hip-hop, so I was always around that sort of music growing up. I really got into hip-hop and wanted to start making beats but didn't have a clue how, and I remember my Uncle gave me this music magazine which came with a free copy of Ejay. So it started from there, sequencing ready-made hip-hop loops. Then I wanted to progress on to something more challenging, so my mum bought me Fruity Loops for my 14th birthday - and from there I took producing beats more seriously.

I wouldn't say I'm from a very musical background at all, my mum had loads of 70's records that she bought in her teen years and my brother had a load of Michael Jackson cassettes, but that's about it.


H: Having produced a wide variety of styles in the past, is this something that you continue to do? Or has your approach to production become more focussed?


F: Yeah I'm definitely going to continue to write different styles of beats - I have too many influences and icons to stick to one style. It depends what mixes I'm listening to and which producers are pushing boundaries, which then inspire and influence my input to be more creative.



H: You've recently seen a couple of releases come out on Redshift-One; how did this come about? The first of these was a vinyl only release, is this something that you generally consider important when deciding to go ahead with a release?

F: Tallan, who runs Redshift-One, got in touch with me and we started sending each other loads of beats and I guess it went from there. He originally wanted to sign some of my older material but I lost a lot of my original session files because my PC broke down. So I made 'Bad Circles' and sent it to him and straight away he wanted to sign that. Then recently I made a track called 'Roots' and Tallan really wanted to sign that for the second Redshift-One release, which is a digital compilation featuring tracks from myself, Congi, Gantz, Subreachers and more.

Yeah to me vinyl is important because it was the first format that I started independently buying music on, so to have my own music released on vinyl is like a dream come true!

H: Nottingham seems to be a very healthy place for music at the moment, with lots of people working hard to push the city's homegrown talent: what's your view on this? Do you feel, being from Nottingham, like a part of something that is positive and progressive?

F: I agree with you -  at the moment there's lots of producers working together and showing each other support which I think is important and what dubstep is about. A great thing about Nottingham is the amount of local support people show you; sometimes I don't realise how many people actually listen to and appreciate my music.

For such a small place, Nottingham is definitely a progressive city with a lot of positive input and great potential to go further.

H: You're also a member of PlayNoGames (PNG); tell us a bit about the thinking behind the collective, who else is involved and the music that you release under the PNG title.

F: PNG is like my music family: Solero, Congi, Neon and our host MC, Pubman. We started working together around 2010. Between us we have so many influences, and therefore try and push and represent all elements of dubstep music. We've been putting out free music for a while now and have received some great support, locally and world-wide. You can download all our free EP's here.



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

F: For the mix I've recorded I wanted to include some exclusive music as well as released stuff too, so there's a couple unheard dubplates in there as well as some old favourites. I think it's an enjoyable mix and includes a good variety.

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

F: For now, I'm sitting on a lot of music. I've been spending a lot of time in the studio with my boys Congi too, so keep an ear out for some music from us.

Download: Fable - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix


Tracklist:

Mr. Rigsby - Run [Soul Prolapse]
Skream - Shake It [Tempa]
Goli & Ashburner - Field of Vibrations (Core Remix) [Dub]
Arkwright - Pum Pum (DT Remix) [Dub]
Parson - Throw Some D's [Planet Mu]
Congi - Cult (Gantz Remix) [Dub]
Congi - Disorder [Dub]
Congi - Disorder (Fable Remix) [Dub]
Fable - Untitled Dub [Dub]
Mala - Left Leg Out [DMZ]
Kontext - Plumes (Relocate Remix) [Immerse]
Fable - Oscillating Dreams [Dub]

Fable - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

.Preacha.

Featuring: Goli & Ashburner

Through their back-to-back sets all over the country, diverse productions and tireless work in pushing new artists with their label For The Win Records, Goli & Ashburner have steadily and quietly established themselves as the dubstep dons of the Midlands. We caught up with Goli to chat about his influences, views on the potential for crossover between dubstep and grime and what we can expect in the future from the duo and their label. Goli has also laid down an exclusive mix, with the usual spread of deep, weighty bits and straight-up bangers. 2011 is looking to be an exciting year for Goli & Ashburner and FTW.

Hedmuk: To introduce yourself to those who don't know: what's your name, where are you from and how would you describe the sound of the tunes you make?

Goli: Hi I am Oliver Gibbons (Goli) from Nottingham, but at University in Leeds. I would describe our sound as a tough mixture of grime and bass weight aimed predominantly at the dance floor.


H: When did you start making beats, and have you always produced as a duo or is this something that was adopted further down the line?

G: I started building beats about 9 months ago because Mike (Ashburner) and I had been DJing as a pair since last August, so it made sense to produce collaboratively.


H: What were your earliest influences that might have pushed you in the direction of making music? And do these things remain influential to you now?

G: I was first influenced to make music when I first got into drum & bass, this was around 2003. I was listening to people like Amit, DJ Ink and Kryptic Minds, all the darker side of drum and bass, from there I got into DJing and played around on ejay loads, but instead of learning music production and pursuing the DJing I started playing in a death metal band until I was 18, which lead me onto dubstep. All the old drum & bass, hardcore and death metal I used to listen to is a big influence on what I do now: the drops in dubstep are so similar to breakdowns in hardcore music and the intensity in the raves are similar too.

You're Not There by Goli & Ashburner

H: What, would you say, are the most prominent advantages or disadvantages to producing as a duo?

G: To be honest from my experience if you find someone you work well with, then there aren’t any disadvantages, because you are both on the same level with every tune so it is second nature to know whether the other one is going to enjoy the ideas you bring to the table. The only disadvantage we have is that I am in Leeds and Mike is in London so we don’t have a full time studio space, other than that its bless.

H: One thing that has always stood out to us here is your willingness to use grime vocals in your tunes, Ashburner's 'Next Hype Refix' being the most obvious example and your more recent use of up-and-comer Merky ACE's vocal: how do you select the vocal to use and how do you approach using these vocals to add an extra layer to your beats?

G: To be honest Mike is the one who deals with all the vocal work. He definitely has an uncanny knack at being able to make vocals sit well on tunes. We like to see the vocal work ‘we’ do as our niche in some ways; not many dubstep producers bridge the gap between grime and dubstep, and we are very heavily influenced by grime so it made sense to use grime vocals in our tunes. The selection process isn’t really something we think about, we get sent a lot of vocals so we just use what we are feeling and either fit the vocals over an existing tune or create a new one. Merky ACE definitely caught our attention; he is a very talented MC coming up the ranks so we have been doing a couple of tracks with him which we are really happy with.

H: Further to that, what's your view on the potential crossover between grime and dubstep?

G: I personally think the crossover potential is huge, just look at Breakage's tune with Newham Generals 'Hard', it is a brilliant reworking of the original Breakage tune 'Together,’ and the vocals have made it an absolute anthem. To be honest I don’t think there is enough collaboration between the dubstep and grime world, a lot of the old grime producers are making UK funky instead of dubstep now, and the MCs are doing more and more tech house aiming for the charts or just working with the biggest artists in the scene. Thus making dubstep and grime collaborations few and far between.

BOXED (Remix) ft. Merky Ace by Goli & Ashburner

H: You've been previewing a lot of new material lately and you don't appear to have been nailing yourselves to any one sound in particular: what can we expect from you production-wise in the near future?

G: As we are relatively new to the production world we have been playing around with where we want to take our sound and are really happy with what we have achieved so far. Through these experiments we have been making a lot deeper stuff, these tunes are going to be coming out under our new alias, so watch out for them. As for Goli & Ashburner it will be business as usual.

H: You also run one of the UK's best and most consistent new labels in the form of For The Win: what was it that made you want to start your own label?

G: Cheers for the props. We started the label because in Nottingham there were very few outlets for electronic music and we were hearing some really great stuff coming out of the city, so we decided to make a label and start releasing it.

H: How do you go about choosing which beats you want to release on the imprint, as the roster as it stands is a particularly diverse one?

G: We both take a very active role in searching for new music and if we hear something we instantly like we sign it. As we started without any prior knowledge of how to run a label we have made a few mistakes along the way, but now we are very proud of our roster and the beats we are promoting and releasing.

H: Do you find that your location in a city not necessarily strongly associated with dubstep has been a help or a hindrance to your work as both producer/DJs and label managers?

G: When we first started out, being situated in Nottingham was not perfect. Three years ago a lot of nights were bickering and it was very hard to get DJ bookings in the city if you didn’t know someone involved with the night. I mean we played our first five or six gigs outside of Nottingham before we actually got booked in Nottingham (laughs). Thanks to what we have achieved it has allowed us to represent Nottingham all over Europe and even the USA which we are really proud of. Label-wise it was good because we were one of the only dubstep labels not just in Nottingham, but in the whole of the Midlands so this allowed us a pretty free reign with signing beats off the local artists. Also now we have a night in the city and have become pretty established as part of the furniture in the Nottingham dubstep scene, it has made it a lot easier for us to comfortably grow the label and collaborate with different brands coming out of the city.

H: Do you consider most strongly as producers, DJs or label managers?

G: All three.

H: How do you balance these three commitments with each other: do certain aspects of your involvement in music occasionally have to take a back seat whilst you focus on another area, for instance?

G: It is a very difficult balancing act at times especially as I am in the third year of my degree, work part time and have a girlfriend, so from time to time things do get neglected; but I would say on the whole we both keep on top of things pretty well. To be honest I love what I do so I could never complain.

H: Finally, is there any news or projects in the pipeline that you want to put a word out about?

G: Got a few things: release-wise we have the ‘One’ EP 12” coming out on Loft Party Recordings very soon, also Kraken digital release of 'Gutter Riddem' / 'Badness'. FTW011, Magenta's Sphynx EP, is coming out early next year and will be available on Beatport, DJ Tunes, Junodownload etcetera. Then we have our own six track Goli & Ashburner EP coming out in a few months on For The Win, which is our first collaborative release on our own imprint. Then finally, we have started a new label which should be releasing some tunes off our alias soon. Also we are releasing a Free For The Win LP to say thank you for the support this year and that should be out in a week or so. And big up William, Subreachers, Benton, Killa & Instinct, Antics and all the For The Win crew.

Goli & Ashburner - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

Download: Goli & Ashburner - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix

Tracklist:

1. Killa & Instinct - Indica (Subreachers Remix) [Dub]
2. Core - Switchblade [Dub]
3. Shredexx - Silence [Forthcoming Subdepth]
4. Skream - Amity Step [Tempa]
5. Darqwan - Perplex [Dub]
6. Cyrus - Junk Yard [Get Darker]
7. Subreachers - Voids [Dub]
8. Radic & Saulya - Syndicate [Forthcoming For The Win]
9. Dom Hz - Two Minutes [Dub]
10. Commodo - The Shock [Dub]
11. F - Chillin' [7even]
12. Goli & Ashburner - Dubfare [Dub]
13. Dom - Suntime [Faisty Records]
14. Headhunter - Three Mad P's [Tempa]
15. Skream - Pick Up Ya Knees [Freeizm]
16. Subreachers - Voids (Killa & Instinct Remix) [Dub]
17. Gemmy & Djunya - Sour D [Dub]
18. Benton - The Demons Engineer [Dub]

.Fukhed.