Last time we spoke to Audio Danger Records head honcho Jimmy Danger, the You Are Now Leaving the Future EP had just dropped. Fast-forward almost a year later and You Are Now Leaving the Future 2 has just been released. Featuring 4 relentless tracks from the likes of T>I, Dorian, Saxxon and Balistik, it’s an impressive follow up to the first installment and is sure to get your toes tapping. We touch base with Mr Danger again to see what’s new at Audio Danger.
The second instalment of You Are Now Leaving the Future EP has just been released- tell us a bit about the contributors on this EP.
Saxxon, Balistik, T<I, and Dorian feature on the EP, and they’re all locals from East Anglia, apart from Dorian who is based in Vienna. Everyone has contributed in an amazing way for this project, and it all comes together in a dnb, jungle, space-age attack on the senses.
Some massive tunes on there! I’m loving T<I’s Misguided Youth– can you shed a little light on where the sample used in the tune comes from?
That’s top secret, but we can say it’s very old! T<I has compiled a vast amount of samples and I genuinely can’t remember exactly where that one is from.
You’ve been doing a mini radio tour to promote the EP- any particular highlights?
We have been all over the place and each show on the tour has been great so far. We want to thank everyone involved from the artists to the radio stations and the listeners. The Rough Tempo show was amazing; John Scott was playing the trumpet live with Saxxon, which was incredible, and must be a first for Rough Tempo! The interview with Tom Simpkins on BBC Introducing was fun as well as we were chatting about the influences for the label and the reason for founding it. BIG up Ben Mckight!
What’s next on the tour?
Next up we have some more radio shows and we are taking some of the team to label events in Germany, Vienna and Bratislava.
You’ve mentioned before that the concept behind ‘You Are Now Leaving the Future’ was inspired by a piece of graffiti near you- tell us about the artwork for this EP.
The artwork for the first EP was based on a piece of graffiti, which was on a building on the A14, and was done by an acquaintance who shall remain nameless. When it was painted over we wanted to immortalise it and that’s how the concept came about. We wanted to do the same with this EP but due to it being illegal the artist used a 3D printer instead to construct ‘the future’ portion of the title, and then took a photo of it. The next instalment will be called ‘Welcome To The New Future’ and will feature a plethora of talented artists with a similar vibe to the others.
Audio Danger has been around for about 4 years now- tell us the inspiration behind the label.
The label was founded by Ben Mckight, BMK and myself as a way of promoting our friends in the drum & bass scene that weren’t getting the exposure we felt they deserved. This went a lot better than anticipated, so we have been expanding ever since. The initial idea was to promote hip-hop as well as dub step but we didn’t have the contacts back then so that has been a slower process. At the end of the day we release what we like, not what’s “trendy” or current. Good music will always be good music regardless of the style or genre! That’s our ethos.
The label is known for being multi-genred, do you find that gives you an advantage over other labels as you’re not fixed to one particular style?
It can be good and bad in both ways, as our fan base will be a lot more varied than other labels, but this may confuse the fans who like a certain sub genre, or only hip-hop, etc. We would really like the label to be recognised for putting out good music from many genres. We think that the best way to stand out is to make your own path, which is what we have been trying to do from the beginning. From our releases, to artwork, artists and we even have our own chilli sauce!
Whats next for Audio Danger?
There is a lot coming up from ADR! At the moment we have a possible single or EP from T<I in the pipe-line, and an EP from Coda is on the way, but I think that will be a little while yet as Coda is currently finishing off an EP for Charge. We have an EP from Deli J nearly finished, and of course more singles from featured artists. 3 hip-hop projects from Skuff, Inja and Moose Funk Squad, music produced by Dirty Dike and many other great producers. We will keep expanding, but only if the process is natural. We don’t force anything and want the artists to be free to do what they want. So in a way the future is in their hands.
You’ve also got a sister label called Switch. Tell us a bit about that and what we can expect from them in the future.
Switch is run by Coda and Pandora and the label goes hand in hand with their event in Vienna called ‘Switch’ and is a platform similar to Audio Danger to showcase new and established talent. The next project is Switch! Recordings 004 – WHITE RABBIT EP – 2N – OUT ON 24/03/14.
Any artists you’re finding particularly dangerous at the moment?
In no particular order: Coda, T<I, Dorian, Skuff, Inja, Moose Funk Squad, MC Azza and Saxxon all continue to amaze us by pushing the boundaries for music and themselves.
You Are Now Leaving The Future 2 is out now on Audio Danger Records
