‘We don’t ever stick rigidly to any one style of arrangement or format.’
SCAR: Survival & Script had been rumoured to be in talks on a project for some time. Speculation necessarily arose: what style would it be, what approach would the duo unleash?
The culmination is the Call To Arms ep on Dispatch and it was time to go in.
When did SCAR first appear
We’ve known each other for several years and have had quite a few releases on Dispatch Recordings. Around two years ago we were having a little online battle trying to outdo each other with obscure acid and hardcore music videos.
After several hours and many tunes later we ended up talking about maybe getting on a beat together one day. A year later we finally got our act together and wrote a track called ‘When’.
By this time Ant TC1 had been label manager of Metalheadz for several months as well as running Dispatch so we naturally sent the tune to him. Also Goldie was finalising Platinum Breakz 4 at the time and he liked it and signed it.
Why the name?
Well, for about three months after we had started together we were really trying to come up with a suitable name that was easily recognisable but not cheesy. We also wanted a name that would represent how D&B has affected us over the years. It was a conscious decision to have a new name and not just ‘Survival & Script’
What would you say that SCAR has that isn’t in your separate works, on that point? Does it have an ‘x factor’ all its own?
We’ve both been musically involved in D&B from the beginning and so therefore we have a lot of experience in the different styles of D&B throughout its history. Our music is kind of New Old Skool Dancefloor. That’s the best way we can describe it.
We don’t ever stick rigidly to any one style of arrangement or format.
And related: what was the first tune that you guys thought ‘That’s a SCAR tune… it has a certain vibe’? Is it on the ep?
The first tune that we wrote together ‘When’ that was signed straight away for Platinum Breakz 4 inspired us to continue writing together and see if we could make some other tunes. It was just an experiment really. We had a good vibe and bounced off each other really well.
After a couple of months we had written about about eight tunes which we hadn’t sent to anybody. Ant came round one night and we played them to him. He really liked them and wanted to release an EP and chose ‘Burnside’, ‘Call To Arms’, ‘Dodgy Dalek’ and ‘Time Constant’.
‘Call To Arms’ has a particular vibe that we have in a few of our later tunes. So probably that one, hence the name of the EP.
What’s something about the way you work that you would give us a glimpse into?
We find one of the main things that enables us to keep ourselves interested in working together is making sure we have lots fresh source material on a continual basis. We do have a particular style but we try to incorporate as many aspects of D&B that helped to shape it all to what it is today.
Plus good studio food and plenty of tea.
Got dates lined up? Any dates… and any shouts?
We would like to say thanks to everyone that has supported us so far. We are really taken a back by how well the music has been received already. We really appreciate it.
Also we’d like to big up everybody involved in the labels that have taken a chance on us and will be releasing SCAR tunes this year.
Stay locked for an exclusive free SCAR track next Monday, only on Drum&BassArena
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