It’s coming… 16 days to go until our next major Drum&BassArena event! On March 29, Village Underground will be taken over by some of the most exciting names in D&B.
This mission: to celebrate the launch of Drum&BassArena 2013. Our first album of the year, it’s stunning showcase of everything that’s great about drum & bass right now. Out April 7 (download) and April 8 (physical) it’s armed with a whopping 12 exclusives. Watch this space for more details next week.
LTJ Bukem, Calyx & TeeBee, Emperor, Sigma and Dimension have all signed up for the festivities. And of course Spectrasoul. They’ve been deep in studio hibernation since their incredible album Delay No More on Shogun Audio. We thought we’d catch up with Jack Spectrasoul… Grab a mix off them AND give away a few launch party tickets!
Cheers for the mix!
“Pleasure. It’s got some brand new stuff, some classics, some experimental stuff. Basically quite a clubby mix but with a lot of different styles from across the board.”
Experimental?
“Yeah, we’re really into the half-speed stuff. Danny Scrilla, Om Unit, Fracture… those kind of producers. It’s all very dubbed out and very exciting stuff from a producer’s perspective.”
Definitely. So, the last time we spoke was in the run up to Delay No More. How did the album do?
“The album went down very well, thanks. It got recognition within drum & bass, which was great. But it also pushed us beyond the scene, too… Which was very exciting for us! It got such good reception from everyone; from the fans, the clubs, the critics. We couldn’t ask for more, really. Since then we’ve been playing a lot of gigs and toured all over.”
Had time to consider album number two?
“Haha, not straight away! We took a bit of time off after the album to be honest. We were working 100 to 110 hours a week towards the end of the album process so we took a few months off from the end of February and mid June. Until we launched the live show, really. That took about six weeks to bring together. Then we got a new studio. So since then we’ve been working on new stuff. We’re not sure what it will go towards but new ideas are turning and growing.”
Wait… 100 hours a week?
“Yeah! We were getting in the studio from midday and working until 6am, for at least four days a week. It was mental.”
Cripes. Many arguments?
“Tonnes! Too many. Dave and I argue a lot, but it’s part and parcel of a good partnership; if you don’t argue then you don’t care. And it’s all down to the fact that we both want the very best. You’re both trying to push things to be the best the best they can be. It’s so much better working this way. If you work on your own you can’t argue with yourself.”
Agreed. So how about the live show? What was the set-up? And will we see it return later this year?
“Possibly. The set up was two computers, some outboard triggers, keyboards and obviously the vocalists from the album. It was great to do; it was more of an experiment to be honest – just to see if we could do it. It’s a difficult thing to get right. We’re perfectionists, it can’t be done half-arsed. We’d like to see it develop more this year, we’ll see… It’s an interesting challenge because some of the material we were performing isn’t club-based. Dave and I are very interested in live music so neither of us wanted to just sit there and press play. We wanted to do it properly and have stuff going on. We didn’t want to just dance behind our laptop. There are things we wanted to improve from the last one, and we will… Eventually!”
So what’s coming up?
“We’re just working, trying to figure out where we’re going. We’ve got releases scheduled but there’s so many different things we could release we’re not sure what we’ll do. There’s some big remixes from the album coming too. A six or seven track EP with remixes from the album plus new Spectrasoul stuff coming in May or June… It’s all in the pipeline and all coming your way on Shogun, but not a lot we can say solidly.”
Exciting! We’ll see you at the gig…
“Yeah we’re looking forward to it!”
The line-up’s sick, right?
“Yes, very. We’ve played alongside Bukem once or twice before. It’s always good to be playing on the same bill as someone you looked up to back in the day. I’m excited about the venue too, we’ve not played there before. See you there!”
WIN TICKETS!
Fancy grabbing one of two pairs for our Village Underground takeover? Just answer this very easy question….
Spectrasoul’s album Delay No More was released on which label?
A) Ram Records
B) Hed Kandi
C) Shogun Audio
D) Spearhead
Simples. Now email comps@breakbeat.co.uk before Friday March 22 for your chance to win!
DOWNLOAD SPECTRASOUL’S EXCLUSIVE MIX!
Tracklist: