Arcatype‘s Tempest ep is – as you’d expect- a trip into the Unknown: well with a title such as ‘Voyager’ what else would you expect. We caught with the trio to find out the view from their base in Manchester.
Hi the ep sounds great: first off how did you and Ingredients come to be working together?
It actually came about fairly quickly. At the time we had been writing tracks as a trio for about a year and had what we thought were two solid tracks in the bag. I – Karl – had sent ‘Old Fashioned’ to a friend of mine, Laurence a.k.a Halogenix who was digging it and passed it over to Clive, amongst others.
Clive hit us up via email about a week later and asked us if it was signed, and if not that he wanted it for Ingredients – and so it all snowballed from there really. We sent another track over to Clive in the form of ‘Tempest’ which also got a good reception.
Off the back off that we wrote another couple of tracks and the EP was finalised within a few months.
Could you take us through ‘Voyager’? Is it named after the deepspace probe? if so why, and what’s you fave voyager story/encounter? or any space story.
Karl: ‘Voyager’ was great fun to make. To be honest it wasn’t intentionally named after anything relating to the deepspace probe – more the fact that the overall vibe of the tune and the samples, synth lines we wrote seemed quite spacey and other worldly.
That, plus the notion that the track takes the listener on a little journey through the various themes we have used across the EP as a whole.
Space as a whole is such a weird thing to get your head around – I’ll always remember the first time I watched Apollo 13 as a kid and thinking how mad the universe was.
Who influences you in D&B?
Too many to mention, but if we had to pick one each they would be:
Konflict (Karl), Calibre (Justin) and Alix Perez. (Tommy)
You mentioned the tune before but can you take us through ‘Old Fashioned’ and why the title?
‘Old Fashioned’ was written over the space of a few weekends at the start of 2015 and finished off on a return flight back from Budapest in March. We had been on a mad sampling hunt over the previous couple of months after being inspired by a large body of ambient work, piano based film music and wanted to blend similar ideas with really clean beats, interweaving synth lines and a deep sub heavy bass line.
The title is pretty self-explanatory for anyone who knows a thing or two about cocktails – the ‘Old Fashioned’ being a bourbon based classic. We’d been drinking them quite heavily throughout the session and all agreed that the track had to be named after our favourite tipple.
And what influenced you in D&B, the first sort of ‘light bulb’ moment where it clicked, even if wasn’t the first time you heard D&B…
(Tommy) I’ve loved D&B for years – some of my first influences were D&B arena mixes and albums actually – but I wouldn’t say there was a single moment when it clicked that I wanted to start making it.
If I had to choose one it would be around the time I started going out and listening to D&B on proper systems – in terms of creative inspiration it can’t be beaten!
(Karl) I think my earliest memory of listening to D&B was back when I around 15. A friend of mine played me the Shy Fx & Skiba / Fearless Prophecy 89.5FM tapes and I was instantly hooked. That and going to Fabric for the first time, seeing Andy C in room 2 and just being blown away by the power and weight of the music.
If you had the chance to buy a) some production gear all in the box or b) older gear that had bells and whistles and more involved processes/filters… but both cost the same which would you go for, and why?
Seeing as up until this point we’ve written all our tracks in the box, using just a computer, plug ins and soft synths I think we’d have to go for the later and pick the older hardware option. We’ve recently been using an old Virus desktop synth, leant to us by a friend which we’ve routed through a Novation Bass Station 2 and have been getting some great results.
It’s just really good fun being able to tweak sounds and patches on the fly by the touch of a button or twist of a knob and to just jam over a drum break or musical section in order to come up with new ideas.
Can you take us through ‘Tempest’?
(Tommy) Funnily enough Tempest was only the second track we wrote together. The track came together over a few stages – Justin went to Karl’s with some beats and they both got a general vibe down in a day or so. Karl laid down some beautiful atmospheres and pads and combined that with the beats Justin had been working on.
The three of us eventually sat down one weekend in Manchester and wrote the baseline and built the structure together.
This track was really exciting to write; as once we had got the sounds it just seemed to make itself. We’re very happy with the resulting mood and flow of the track.
Where’s your fave spot to go out in D&B?
(Justin) We pretty much all enjoy going to the same D&B nights really, as we are all into the same styles of the genre. Karl recently went to a Soul in Motion night down in London for Break’s Simpler Times album launch. He said the quality of music being played was amazing, and the crowd was spot on.
Funnily enough, all being massive fans of Break, we all went to his album launch in Manchester. The night was run by Relapse – shouts to Foz – who are currently boasting some of the best D&B line ups in the region. Relapse is a must if you find yourself up in Manchester.
Finally, we can’t answer this question without mentioning Soul:ution (shouts to Jim aka Bane). We have all been to countless nights at its home Band on the Wall… it’s definitely shaped the style of drum & bass we listen to today.
Sadly they haven’t put on a night in the last couple of months, but we’re hoping it will surface again soon as possible… *cough cough Marcus Intalex*
Who inspires you in D&B because of their personality?
It’s got to be Break! Hugely down to earth guy for someone who has been responsible for so much great drum & bass over the past 10 years – has never sold out and stays true to both his craft and fans alike. A big inspiration for us and many others we’re sure.
Any shouts Arcatype?
Shouts to Clive & Hanna at Ingredients, our parents for putting up with years of drum & bass blasting from our bedrooms, friends, family and everyone who is supporting our music.
Big ups!