Acid Lab‘s unique, absorbing D&B is hitting both some unexpected pleasure zones and points of enthusiastic reception, DJ-wise. Move in to his subterranean enclosure and you won’t be leaving in a hurry, put it that way. But a new name, overall? Maybe not as new as you’d think, as you’ll read.
You are new to some but have produced a lot. If all of your material was compiled onto Acid Lab albums, I think you have a few already!
To be honest, I think I’m a bit underrated and a bit like an ‘unsung hero’, ha ha.
After over 140 tracks on 35 labels in six years, I got some attention.
How did the linkup with Fade and his fine label come about?
It was through AIM: I like his way of working.
I always feel like you have a ‘by stealth’ way of working, that you are not in any rush…
I’m just a 33 year old guy from Germany who is making beats since years and if you’re doing something over and over again, you’ll get better and better. It’s a combination of that. Of course a bit of talent is needed, too.
When it comes to albums, last year T3K released my first minimal D&B album ‘Constructs Of The Mind’ and at the moment I’m working on my second album, which will be a dreamy Drumfunk journey. My second album will come out on cd & for me it makes sense to make a whole album, because you got the possibility to show different sides.
You can tell a whole story about sixty or seventy minutes: interludes, intros or outros wouldn’t fit to an digital album.
That’s a killer point: the unique parts of D&B – intros, breakdowns – have to be factored in, when it comes to albums.
The musical taste of the younger generation has changed, too. A lot of them, only listen to single tunes and they prefer a random selection.
We spoke before and maybe ambient works may happen for you one day?
Maybe some Ambient stuff will be on my second album, which is so far untitled, we will see, time will tell. Stay tuned for the album and even some Downbeat numbers.
Now to your new release on Faded: if this Lost Species ep was a place, then it’s a broad traverse: it travels far and wide! I feel that, after I listen to it that I have been to a lot of places. Does that make sense?
Yes, that’s right and for me it makes sense. I always want to create a certain atmosphere in fact of my tracks, mostly I prefer dark and experimental sounds and for me D&B is a way of escaping from your daily struggle and problems, from reality. Some people are releaxing to chill out music and I’m having a nice time with 172 bpm, ha ha.
On Lost Species, my fave tunes are ‘Dark Waters’, ‘All of A Sudden’ and ‘Geometric Shapes’…
‘All Of A Sudden’ was originally a remix for another artist, but somehow this special label didn’t liked the remix. So I replaced all the stems and now it’s a solo tune of mine. It’s one of my best Drumfunk tunes in a while and the tune was mainly inspired from older Source Direct and Paradox tracks.
I like this booming bass sound and the Funky Mule and Soul Pride breaks are still wicked.
What else can you talk us through?
‘Lost Species’ is a typcial oldschool Techstepper. Once again I used the Worm break and mixed it with some heavy midranges, six or seven hours later it was done. It happened very quickly and it reminds me on classic tunes like ‘Mystery Machine’ from Ed Rush & Optical.
What in D&B first hooked you?
From day one I was really hooked up by imprints like Creative Source, Virus, Paradox Music, Science, Certificate 18, Metalheadz, Reinforced to name a few. I nearly like all sides of D&B music… excepting Jump Up.
How does music reach you?
Sometimes people like Fade, Gremlinz, Scale or Double O send me their new tunes, sometimes I use the Youtube channels and I find new artists or I’m reading a music
magazine like Groove, I do also have a listen to new podcasts and radio shows, through that I’m getting my inspiration.
So it all comes together: you have a very DIFFERENT take on D&B, why is this? Why do you think Acid Lab sounds like nothing else?
At the beginning I tried to sound very close to my musical idols like Photek or Teebee and later on I created my own style, which you could call futuristic – retro – music. But I come from an small town, without any musical infrastructure – no cd or vinyl record stores – and in the 90s only a few people had the chance to use the Internet, so nobody in my environment had the knowledge to teach me some things in fact of making tunes.
It took years, to collect enough experience and so I developed this special Acid Lab/Kodama/Parametric sound.
Wrapping up, what’s one last glimpse into the Lab?
I think some people believe that I got a big studio, but I only got a pair of headphones, a laptop and I use Fruity Loops, nothing else. No Cubase, Logic, Ableton or Reaktor.
I also working on a new project: cannot drop titles or names so far, but it will be something big!
Be excited & may the force be with you.
Faded Music