Over the last few years, Zero has made his UK Bass stamp on the national and international bass scene, with his music championed by the likes of Chris Lorenzo, Holy Goof, Dr. Fresch, My Nu Leng, Jamie Duggan, Anna Lunoe, Turno, and JOYRYDE. Release highlights include ‘Enter The Dragon’ which has clocked up over five million streams across all major platforms worldwide; ‘Pay For Thrills’ which hit new international heights for support and playlisting, and his EP ‘Scenes’ which reached #1 on Beatport and Juno charts within twelve hours of release.
Having already made his name and earned a loyal following with his unmatched gritty bassline sound, Zero’s next release continues to expand his horizons, weaving together the dusky yet invigorating ‘1 More’, featuring the very talented EJ Kitto. Ahead of its release later this month, we caught up with him to get the lowdown on the Zero sound.
Welcome to DMC – where in the world do we find you and what are your plans for the day?
Thanks! You can find me currently living in Woking, just South of London. My plans for the day are to try and work on a new track before it gets to thermonuclear temperatures in my room and I’m no longer even able to be in here. It’s currently 35 degrees every day in England which I am not cut out for. I do have a paddling pool arriving later today though which I plan to lie in for the remainder of the day.
Considering you make a pretty wide variety of music this is a tougher question than usual, but how would you personally describe your sound?
I’d describe my sound as a mix between bassline, drum & bass, dubstep and uk garage – but kept at 130bpm and usually over a 4×4 beat. I like to call it UK Bass or UKB, as do a lot of other producers in the scene but to me it feels like the lines are still quite blurred between what the sound is actually called.
Do you think there’s a single element that defines a Zero production?
Not a single element no but there are definitely certain key elements that I’d say define my sound. I tend to have my drums very aggressive and punchy/transient, with lots of generally quite intricate sound design scattered throughout. However, depending on the tune, the intricate sound design is often replaced with a catchy melody on a single bass patch; like Enter The Dragon or Pay For Thrills. So I guess those 3 things there.
How would you say your approach to production and the music you produce has evolved over the years? Can we expect a further evolution in the future?
Experimentation, influences from other genres and the notion that you don’t have to conform to what’s expected of the genre you’re making, are all things I’ve tried to stick by from day one, and still do now. My music and sound has evolved over the years, just from my production getting better I would say. Also, the fact that I’m playing a load more shows now (than I was say 2 years ago) is a massive help, as I know what goes down well in a club setting now and what doesn’t so much.
Tell us about your latest release on Bingo… how did you hook up with the label?
Me and Zinc have kept up communications over email for a good 2 or 3 years now as he has supported my tracks from quite early on. He’s been wanting to release a track of mine for a while and as have I wanted to release with Bingo for a while, so it seemed fitting to finally get a track out with them. 1 More was all ready to go and Zinc liked it, and that was that!
Zinc has to be one of our favourite ever OG producers… was he someone you were aware of when you first started getting into music?
He’s a legend, and such a sound bloke. Wile Out was probably one of the first-ever tracks i heard in a club when i first started going to raves. I remember hearing it and thinking “oh my god what is that, it is so good”. I didn’t know it was him at the time as I was still quite young and only just getting into UK bass music, but I made sure to find out right away, and was then opened up to a whole world of UK music culture and history that he had been a massive part of over the years.
The UK Bass scene thrives on having tight-knit local communities who regularly rave together.. do you think the scene will be hit harder than most as a result of coronavirus?
It’s honestly so hard to say at the moment. Looking from one angle, I think with this sort of music some of the people who come to your shows are just regular students who aren’t actually that into bass music, they just want a night out. So for them, they’re not that bothered about keeping up with every single release and update, they just want a rave with their other mates every 2 weeks. Naturally, they’ve kind of just switched off for the time being until the clubs reopen again. I do believe however – and this goes for everyone – that when the raves and clubs return, nothing will have changed and if anything they will be even crazier and more energetic than ever.
Do you have any gigs coming up yourself? Or is it too early for that at the moment?
I’ve had a couple of European gigs come in for later this year that I’m bouncing off the walls about and praying they go ahead. They’re a bit further ahead than us with all of this corona stuff so a lot of the clubs have already opened in Russia, Czech Republic, Estonia etc – places where UK bass music is actually very popular.
Taking us back to more rave-friendly days, what’s the best live show you ever played, and what made it so special?
Since September, there have been some really insane nights, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be Crucast at Printworks last year. Best crowd I’ve ever played to. I was so nervous as I was literally the second artist to play out of about thirty others, and I was sure that it would be a dead atmosphere, but honestly, I have never seen energy like it. Just pure chaos start to finish. And to top it all off, loads of my close mates who don’t even like bass music (they all like techno and disco) came and watched me play for the first time in like three years, so that was really nice.
What else should we be looking out for from you for the rest of the year?
Basically just loads more new music. I’ve had so much free time, just like everyone else, to be as productive as possible, and that’s what I’ve done. Keep your eyes peeled for some massive collaborations with some huge vocalists, a 2 track DnB EP, and releases with some really cool labels.
Finally, who’s one up and coming producer on your radar than we should be checking out?
MPH. Been on my radar for a while now but some of his new bits he’s sent over recently are top notch. Go check him out.
Zero – 1More feat. EJ Kitto is out 28 August on Bingo Bass
