An incredible year for drum & bass continues. Track of the year?
It’s not often a major producer comes out with the line “one of the most in demand tracks I’ve ever played”…but those are the exact words that Andy C stated recently when talking about ‘City Lights’. Dan Prince checks in with an underground don who just bought his ticket for the main line…
James a huge welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you right now?
Hey Dan, I’m in Belgium on the way to the airport
What was the first piece of music you heard this morning after rolling out of bed…?
There was some jazzy background muzak playing over breakfast in the hotel…this kind of stuff will be written by robots soon.
Well young man, it’s not often a track catches the imagination of a whole scene like your ‘City Lights’ masterpiece has. When the don Andy C comes out with “City Lights is classic, timeless DnB and one of the most in demand tracks I’ve ever played”…you know you’ve have a serious bit of music on your hands. Please tell us the history of the making of the track…
I think it started with the bass sounds: it’s a distorted electric bass. Then it was the phasered strings – they’re both classic disco production sounds. The vibe of the whole track came from the texture and structure from those elements, then everything else fitted in around them. I always wanted some vocals on there, but they came quite a while later.
And ‘City Lights’ will now be coming out as a joint release in May via RAM and Virgin records, a relationship which has given crossover hits for Sub Focus and Wilkinson in the past. Kinda massive huh?
Yeah it’s great to have Virgin onboard…I think it will open the track up to new audiences which is great. Be interesting to see how it does as it was written as a straight up d&b club track.
So how are you looking forward to the summer…can’t wait or some slight trepidation?
Bring on the summer…I love it. Having said that I secretly like this time of year as there’s nothing like grey sky for putting the studio time in.
The instrumental version has now achieved near legendary status on forum and social media, only a handful of DJs have a copy. Whose idea was that and other than Andy C…who else has a copy?
I gave it out to quite a few people last year as it looked like it was finally getting a release. Before that it was just Andy C.
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend…
– DLR & Break ‘Human Error’
A very cool, minimal techy funk
– Mad Face ‘Bright Future’
Very lush, synth-tastic ultra vibey. Would work equally well towards the end of the set and also in my headphones when travelling
– Bungle – ‘Arcadia’
Bungle is back
– Mind Vortex – ‘Against The Grain’
No messing about…big big drums, big bass…guaranteed to get the party started.
– Culture Shock ‘City Lights’ Instrumental
….no explanation…!
We had Bensley in the DMCWORLD interview chamber a couple of weeks ago…a lot of quotes flying around about him and his new album. You a fan?
I’ve only heard a couple of tracks so far sounding nice…minimal liquid vibes, look forward to hearing more
I noticed you were up in Mayrhofen a couple of weeks ago in the Austrian Alps. Tell me dude, did you stay at the hotel with the all naked spa and pool in the basement?!?!?
Not sure about that but I had a swim (in shorts) in the amazing indoor / outdoor steel lined pool. Gotta be wary of Austrian basements you know.
3 bucket list adventures you wanna do in your lifetime…
Skydive
Dive the Great Barrier Reef
Explore another planet
Okay let’s rewind for a moment. How old were you when you first heard the strains of drum & bass and who were the DJs/producers/artists that first grabbed you by your short n’ curlies?
11 or 12… I first heard it on London pirate radio stations, then I bought my first CD…’Jungle Mania 2 mixed by Grooverider;’ LTJ Bukem’s ‘Horizons’ featured on there…and I was hooked.
When did the whole idea of producing and DJing start to form in your mind and what were the first steps?
First thing I wanted to know was who makes this stuff and how do they do it? I didn’t know what a sampler was, there was no info back then…you couldn’t just search google…there weren’t that many books on music technology let alone electronic music production. I started reading Sound on Sound magazine cover to cover which taught me some of the fundamentals of music technology and recording. It was a while before I had a computer capable of making music, but by then it was clear to me that going fully “digital in the box” was the future…I didn’t bother investing in expensive hardware but instead focused on getting the most out of the 8 available audio channels
What did your family think of your career choice?
They’re pretty supportive, my dad works in the arts, he understands not doing 9-5 and being on the road endlessly.
Can you recall the moment when it hit you that yes, you could make a career out of this crazy game?
I never really thought about it, there was no other option in my mind.
You have done some cool collabs with some big names…who would you really love to spend a few days in the studio with?
Hans Zimmer, Steve Reich, Quincy Jones.
Not many people know this, but James Pountney is really good at…
Making breakfast…I eat a cooked breakfast at least twice a weak. I don’t believe in this cereal nonsense.
And finally…what is coming out next from you studio wise?
Too early to say at this point…watch this space DMCWORLD…
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CULTURE SHOCK – ‘CITY LIGHTS’ (FEATURING BRYN CHRISTOPHER)
RAM RECORDS / VIRGIN EMI
RELEASED 10TH MAY / OUT NOW ON BEATPORT
YouTube stream: http://po.st/CityLightsYT
Pre-order: http://po.st/iTCL
Available now on Beatport: http://po.st/CSCLbp
Links :
www.cultureshockmusic.co.uk
www.twitter.com/Culture_Shock
@Culture_Shock
www.soundcloud.com/Culture-Shock
www.ramrecords.com
www.facebook.com/RAMrecordsltd
www.twitter.com/RAMrecordsltd
www.youtube.com/RamRecordsTV
