Binary is as mysterious, looming and strangely ‘silent’ as his moniker suggests: the sound of that big hulking mainframe in the next room, the sound of its own lonely AI soul ticking over. Turns out the ‘solitary’ thing isn’t a coincidence…
What are some snapshots of the creation of ‘Etched/Polaris’?
Both sides of the release came about after locking myself away in my bedroom for a few months. Was out of work and needed something to focus my mind on and making beats is always the solution!
You sound like you operate from a very particular place, creatively: locked down.
I’m notorious for starting new projects when I am not feeling a beat, so in turn I’ve got 100s of unfinished beats on my PC, many just drum loops… and I tend to refer back to them and grab ideas for new projects.
Getting ideas down really varies on my mood, or what I am planning to create. I quite often sit down and plan an idea out, for the end result to be a completely different product. This can definitely be a good thing however!
Is the material built for the live arena? Can imagine this rolling deep into the night at some really good session!
Definitely, I’m a club music kind of person, and for me it’s all about hearing a tearing bassline and punchy drums when I am out and about.
I am a definite raver at heart and love attending nights – not just d&b – so quite often I draw influences from sounds that are weighty on a club system, and go from there!
Where are you based, re the getting out and about?
I live in a small village, deep in rural Somerset, the home of fine cider and big tractors. It’s pretty remote and there isn’t a music scene here, but I am often out in Bristol checking nights out – only 45 minutes up the M5. To have a scene as strong as that close by, is a blessing.
So what music in and out of D&B are you into?
In D&B, the sounds of Skeptical, Dub Phizix, Photek, Source Direct – in fact all of Metalheadz – are big influences of mine.
Outside of it, I grew up listening to the sounds of Leftfield, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, Morcheeba, big fan of THAT voice. Many things.
I just really enjoy music and I am fascinated about how it becomes an essential part of our lives; and the fact I am very much obsessed with music at the 170bpm tempo range!
Who are people that you want to shout?
Got to give massive shouts to Pennygiles for supporting my beats and to the Cardiff crew, you know who you are!… to Liam at E-Motion for signing my music and being patient whilst I got it finished, ha ha… to all that have helped me out, and given me a nudge in the right direction along the way, couldn’t have done it without you.
So back to those unfinished tunes… ?
It’s back to the drawing board for me now, new music to work on, and existing projects to finish!
More beats coming from me later this year, keep your eyes peeled.
Etched/Polaris