Featuring: Wayfarer

Wayfarer brought, with breakthrough track 'Fall Of The Zulu', a startling new energy to the 140 sound; and this fresh momentum was no mere gust, but something which has maintained a continued presence and influence. Bringing an intensely percussive sound and a sense of wide-ranging roots, the template has been flipped and re-extrapolated: the basslines and mid-ranges are still there, but in service to the groove of the drums rather than the other way around. We caught up with Wayfarer to discuss his take on this, and he's also contributed something of a showcase mix to our exclusive mix series.


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

Wayfarer: My name's Alex, I'm from Nottingham and live in Aberdeen where I study Philosophy. I think I'd just describe my music as energetic, often dark, 140 music.

H: When did you start making beats, and had you been involved in any other musical projects before Wayfarer? What was it that lead you towards producing?

W: I've always made music, for almost as long as I remember, and had messed around with music software when trying to record other stuff for bands when I was a kid but I only persevered on the technical side of production at the start of 2012. I made it something of a resolution to go for this vision I had, and that's how this project started.



H: There's a, for want of a better word, 'worldly' or 'global' sound in your music: do you draw from a wide range of influences to achieve this?

W: Absolutely, I like the description 'worldly' - I guess that's one reason why I settled on the name of my alias. (That, and it's a bit of a homage to the Burial remix of Jamie Woon's cover of 'Wayfaring Stranger'). When I started in January, I felt like there were a handful of producers being emulated by a lot of people and things were starting to sound too clinically stripped back and a bit soulless; I listen to everything from Muslimgauze, James Brown, Helios, Burial, Tycho, Erik Satie to Fela Kuti and I love the organic energy in live music. I try to inject as much of that as I can into my tunes without sacrificing too many elements which make a tune 'danceable'. Ultimately though, I guess I want my music to grab people by their genitalia when they hear it on a system, just like every other dance music producer.

H: You recently had your debut release on J.Robinson's Tribe12 imprint; how did it feel to be included on such a strong release, and to see it reach the top of Juno's weekly chart? Do you have plans to release more music via Tribe12?

W: The 'Levitation EP' is something I am immensely proud to be a part of - all the people on that release are fantastically innovative producers and there are some huge artists involved with the label, all at the top of their game. I'm really excited to be sharing a roster with them and it pushes me to work as hard as possible on my music. I think J.Rob and I share certain ideals about dubstep and he's good to work with, I definitely want to stay close and I have plans to release more on the label.



H: Take us through how you went about putting together the mix you've done for us.

W: The mix, which I will just say now was done using a completely battered little Numark mixer, is about half my tunes and half contributions from other producers: essentially a bit of showcase of what I've been up to for the past months and a few new, unheard bits. I have been sent so much brilliant music recently, it was really difficult to pick tunes and I felt bad leaving out certain tracks that I really like. Essentially, the selection are tracks which bare some relation to the kind of vibe I go for. Out to all those who let me include their music and everyone else who continually send me great tunes.

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

I have a four track EP due on Tribe12 in the near future, no dates yet. Another release, hopefully a 12" for Shaman, is looking likely at the moment, I'm working on the details. Equally though, I'm hoping to secure a few gigs soon: I think the prospect of playing out is just as exciting as release opportunities. I build tunes for systems and I want to deliver new productions that way, rather than on Soundcloud or through other peoples' radio shows. I rarely get to play out because there is a very small scene for any kind of bass music in the city I live in. Still, I've only been at this for seven months so I'm happy with how fast things have progressed and I have only thank the listeners for that.

Enjoy the mix, and thanks to Willum and Sam for the support - much appreciated!

Download: Wayfarer - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix


Tracklist:

Wayfarer - Untitled [Dub]
Wayfarer - The Hunter [Dub]
Gantz - Tesseract [Dub]
FNC - Code Signal [Dub]
Gutcha - Into Your Mind [Dub]
Wayfarer - Untitled [Dub]
J.Robinson & Shima - Tundra [Dub]
Server - Them [Dub]
Perverse - Fucking Insanity [Dub]
Wayfarer - Jotnar [Forthcoming Tribe12]
Wayfarer - Meiji [Dub]
Kaiju - Centipede Style [Dub]
Wayfarer - Spitting Fire [Dub]
Wayfarer - Gozu [Forthcoming Tribe12]
Wayfarer - Shiro Ishi [Forthcoming Tribe12]
Kaiju - Double Dragon [Dub]
Server - The Wanderer  [Dub]
Anex & Disonata - Scratch The Surface [Dub]
Pheral - Tribe [Dub]
Wayfarer - Shaman [Dub]
Wayfarer -Fall of the Zulu VIP [Dub]

Wayfarer - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

.Preacha.

Featuring: Collision

Collision has, for the last three years, been steadily sculpting his own sound from the 140bpm spectrum and now, with a couple of releases under his belt already, is establishing himself as one of the most consistent producers of original and intricate, deep dubstep. His tunes are characterised by their variation: each built around drum patterns constructed to test the confines of their tempo range, with an almost rhythmic, if not obsessively groove-based, approach to basslines and a sparing application of mid-ranges. Last month we showcased this with a free EP from the young producer, and since then have caught up with Collision to ask him about his approach to making music and to have him lay down a mix for our exclusive series.

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

Collision: I'm Jay, I'm based out of Birmingham and I would put my music on the darker, deeper end of the 140 spectrum.

H: How long have you been making beats for, and what was it that first made you want to start producing music?

C: I started producing in January 2009, when I was 16. I always wanted to make music but never really knew where to start; I stumbled across the trial version of FL Studio one day and at first it looked very daunting. After a few months of nothing but turning knobs and pressing buttons I started to make something that sounded remotely like music. After that it was just a matter of practice makes perfect or, in my case, practice makes decent.



H: Which producers do you consider as having an influence on the music you make? Or do you tend to take more inspiration from things or people outside of music?

C: I listen to a lot of music outside of dubstep and electronic music: musicians from Moby to Portishead, Radiohead to Jai Paul, Warpaint to Little Dragon. I think it's important to take in some influence from music outside of the stuff you make, otherwise the influences become too obvious. For dubstep there really are too many producers I admire to mention here, but when you listen to a lot of it then it almost becomes impossible to not take in those influnces, regardless of what kind of music it is. For example, lately Ive been listening to a lot of techno and house, and I feel that that's had a positive impact on my music.

H: The variation in your tunes seems to stem from the attention paid to drum sounds and patterns: is this something you do consciously? Do you tend to sit down with intentions to make a certain style, or do you just let it come naturally?

C: It's definitely something that comes naturally. I think if you sit down and try to write a certain type of tune then you're going to have problems. I usually just playing around until I find a decent pattern to work on and then let that carry the tune. It usually starts with the drums as I find it's easier to fit the drums to a bassline rather than the other way around.

I find when I'm producing it's important to keep raising your own standards, this way you are always going to be getting naturally better over time and not fall into a period of just making bad tunes and not even realising it.



H: Birmingham is a city perhaps better known for its contributions to the grime and bassline scenes: what sort of a community - in terms of labels, clubnights, other producers etcetera - is there for dubstep?

C: There's always been a space for dubstep in Birmingham. The scene here has improved massively in the last year or so, with events like Substep and Movement promoting quality 140 music, and labels like Area Recordings and Night Tracks putting out great music. And with DJs and producers such as Be-1ne, Krytikal, Burlish, Lysergene and myself the scene is starting to look very healthy in Birmingham, at least compared to how grim it once looked.

H: Take us through how you went about putting together the exclusive mix you've recorded for us.

C: The tracklist is made up of a mixture of tunes I've been sent by producers I'm feeling and by myself, some newly released bits that I wanted to throw in as well as a couple things to keep it fresh.

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

C: I've got a tune I made with Gantz called 'Chant' that will be coming out on a 4 track EP on Tribe12, also featuring Perverse, Catacombs and Congi. I've also got a solo release on the ever-prolific Innamind Recordings imprint which will be out later in the year. If anyone wants to book me they can get at me at collisiondub@gmail.com. Also big up to every DJ who's ever played one of my tunes: it means a lot.



Download: Collision - Hedmuk Exclusive Mix

Collision - HEDMUK Exclusive Mix by Hedmuk on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

Pinch & Moving Ninja - False Flag [Tectonic]
Kfka - O Plus [Dub]
J Robinson & Gantz - Spontaneous [Dub]
Perverse - Resistance [Dub]
LAS - Tigersleep [Forthcoming SUB LAB]
Unknown [Dub]
Collision - Shadow Groove VIP [Dub]
Tallan - East [Dub]
Ipman - Aight [Dub]
Collision - Obey [Forthcoming Innamind]
Reamz - Engage [Dub]
Goth Trad - Airbreaker [Deep Medi]
Sleeper - Zombies [Chestplate]
Collision - Manhunt [Dub]
Catacombs - Mantis [Forthcoming Tribe12]
Collision - Transparent [Dub]
Gantz - Salamander [Forthcoming Redshift-One]
Distal & Hxdb - Booyant [Tectonic]
Gantz - Ethics [Dub]
Collision & Gantz - Chant [Forthcoming Tribe12]
Gantz & Stiver - Dead Dance [Dub]
M83 - In The Cold Im Standing [EMI France]



.Preacha.