Welcome to DMCWORLD! So kicking off, you are cousins – does music run in the family?
JC – To be honest not really! No one in our family plays an instrument or is classically trained, including us lol, we play by ear for the most part. We have looked into music theory in recent years however it usually placed second to what we think sounds good.
Can you give us a brief back-story of how you came to collaborate?
AD – We have both been involved in various projects over the years, independently and with others. In 2016 we both happened to finish our projects at a similar time, we were both getting into bass house and decided to do a project together, so we started ‘Ryuken’.
Does being related make it easier to work together? For example if you disagree on something is it easier to be honest due to the longevity of your relationship?
JC – LOL, definitely, we can be quite brutal to each other but it’s not taken to heart!
AD – It also helps because there is a lot of trust between us, so when it comes to making decisions we can always trust each other’s opinions.
Do you think working alongside someone else is beneficial to creative output?
JC – Yes, definitely, we bounce ideas off of each other all the time.
AD – I agree, I’ve always preferred working in partnerships.
You just released your single Drippin on Bingo Bass- we know you both have backgrounds in Grime and Garage so what vibe were you wanting to communicate this release?
AD – We’ve always liked heavy bass music, so after we went to Amsterdam and saw the reaction from the crowds responding to the heavier, darker bass house we knew we could go dirtier.
JC – When we make tracks we try to get a mood or feeling across, sometimes it can be happy, sometimes emotional and sometimes it can be outright aggressive and in this case it was the later.
Do you have any other releases planned for 2019 ?
JC – We do indeed, we are in talks with some labels at the moment, so don’t want to give too much away.
AD – We hope to finish the year as strong as we started, so keep an eye out!
So we read that you have an arcade machine in your studio- how did you get hold of one of them and is it not a big distraction?!
JC – Believe it or not I built it myself! and amazingly it actually works lol.
AD – We are both pretty disciplined when we are working. We don’t always get a lot of time in the studio, so when we do we have to make it count.
Some artist duos will work on tracks remotely, sending projects back and forth- is a lot of your music created together in the studio and how important do you think this is to the creative process?
JC – We generally work together and if one of us comes up with an idea then we tend to send a clip over to the other to get their opinion, we give feedback over the phone and if we like it then we’ll work on it next time we are in the studio together.
AD – We find it can get messy very quickly when you keep bouncing things back and forth.
Do you have any gigs coming up that you are looking forward to?
AD – To be honest we are yet to gig as ‘Ryuken’! We have both dj’ed in clubs all over the place for previous projects, we have had offers for our first Ryuken gig but we want the first one to be very special.
Final random, non-music related question- chosen way to relax after a busy week in the studio or long weekend of gigging?
JC – Just at home really, a bit of family time (having 3 kids you never really get time to ‘relax’!), maybe some playstation (Fifa!), I think it’s important to switch off sometimes, then you get the enthusiasm and urge to get back into the studio rather than sitting in there with no ideas.
AD – Same here really, spending time with my fiancé, going out for dinner, cinema or watch a film at home – that sort of thing really.
JC – Until the football season starts again!
Buy link…https://fanlink.to/Ryuken-Drippin
