Much as you’d expect from his American Football-attired alterego, Dimension‘s showing no mercy, leading a fierce Team CYN screaming into the first quarter of 2014… Time to say ‘What’s HUP’ as Dimension goes in with tales of the new release on CYN, meat, beige and fluffy 90s icons. And porridge.
Sir, this new ep tangibly sounds like there were a lot of creative sparks when this ep was in the works?
Why hello there! Sure, after ‘All I Need’ I really wanted to concentrate on putting something out that worked super well in the clubs, it was time to impress the sweaty crew again. All three tunes are very different and I’ve managed to grab influences from individual experiences and places.
‘Pathogen’ in particular has a really great selection of sounds, a really great concoction…
‘Pathogen’ started at the kitchen table over a bowl of porridge.
!!
I remember it was excruciatingly hot so whilst it cooled down, I opened some synthesiser and made some sounds.
After finishing the porridge I headed to the studio – one thing led to another and I had a foundation of a tune. I always wanted to write a song that had a theme or narrative, ‘Pathogen’ is the story of somebody talking to themselves during a bad trip, dipping in and out of reality. I like the idea that although it’s designed for the dancefloor, it has a certain eerie feel.
It’s always a ‘big room’ feel with your music: have you roadtested these tunes live? They are really built for live. ‘Crowd Reaction’ for example is testimony to this too.
I’ll let you into a secret, the first versions of ‘Crowd Reaction’ date back to 2011 BC. I’ve played that tune in every set for the last three years so it’s really nice to see it finally out and doing so well. Seeing people chanting along is always a great feeling!
What is YOUR particular special thing, your niche in D&B you do that others… well, don’t.
D&B is the Oxbridge of dance music. It’s full of the very best producers. Which means making your sound stick out from the crowd is not always easy.
This is a tough question to answer because it’s hard to categorise your own music but I would say I try to put personality into my what I write, be it a melody or sample that will stick in your head. I’m a firm believer in the details, my tunes are littered with inaudible claps and cheers.
Bravo! ‘Command’ is super vibrant example of your approach…
‘Command’ was written after going to a house night at Digital in Brighton. I loved the progressive feel and chords but it felt like it needed more meat. I went back to the studio and started playing around with some sounds – getting the drums right took a lot of work, but I think it makes the tune a little different from anything I’ve done before, whilst fitting in with the rest of the single.
So what’s your 2014 forecast?
I think this year will be a busy one! I’ve just dropped my Example remix and I’ve got another remix coming soon as well. I’m just finishing my next single and I’m looking forward to some really cool shows. I’m also really looking forward of being part of CYN Music develop and grow as a label. There’s going to be some fantastic music coming out this year and I think it’s going to turn some heads.
Say that 2014 was to be curtailed early due to global destruction. What studio item would you run into the street with?
That would have to be Flat Eric.
What’s something about you we don’t know?
I’m colourblind, which means Jamie the label manager has to deal with some interesting artwork requests. Apparently the artwork to ‘Command/Pathogen’ is blue but I’m still convinced it’s beige.
Lastly I hear you harbour respect for another fluffy 90s icon?
2 Unlimited. ‘No Limits’ was the first song I fell in love with. What a banger!