‘I was thinking – people are gonna really love it or fully hate it’
Bone‘s stepped up with the Radiation ep, on Faded. With a title like that should we take cover or become totally exposed? Decisions decisions.
Hi, must say first off that no-one sounds like you! Sounds that are simple and understated. What music inspires you, and in D&B?
I find inspiration in all kinds of music. I like listening to layered, emotional, skilfully constructed songs – both deeply felt and expressed or madly upbeat and powerful. In drum and bass I have a wide and open taste – from minimal to neurofunk.
For me there are no “sub genres” – it’s all just drum and bass.
I like the sound of guys who are really pushing the boundaries, for example Rockwell, Icicle, Skeptical, Rene LaVice, Alix Perez, Ivy Lab, Royalston, Amoss & Frankee to name a few.
Also from the melodical side of drum and bass guys like Seba, Blu Mar Ten, Calibre and Technimatic. And there are moments in my life when I need to bring in the heavyweights like Noisia, Borderline, Silent Witness, C4C, Joe Ford, Mefjus and so on. I have to admit that there are even some great “wobble” tracks in my recordbox.
So yeah, I truly like the whole spectrum of drum and bass, and this fact also reflects in my own production.
The Radiation ep grows on you… is it meant to do that, to be a journey?
I think it wasn’t intentional, but after we had selected these tracks, it all made sense. I do consider this EP to be a journey through the darker corners of my production, where each track have something different to bring to the table so that the whole EP would stand out and would have that extra punch in it.
Take us into ‘Form and Void’? I really love this, it’s amazing.
‘Form and Void’ is a track I made after ‘Pulsate’, I was aiming for it to be a straight up roller as ‘Pulsate’ explores more experimental grounds.
It has that darkness and mystery which can be found also in my earlier darker releases.
Fun fact – ‘Form & Void’ was an episode title of True Detective which I was watching that time, some of the darkness comes from there as well.
Have you played the material out live?
In my DJ sets I’ve played these a couple of times.
If I think on the dancefloor then ‘Form and Void’ is the one that packs a punch to make the crowd move a little bit more.
And the feedback from DJs like Quadrant, Iris, FD and others has been also quite heartwarming and motivating.
Take us behind ‘Brawl’: what inspired the mood?
It was my take on the “old-schoolish” sound. I remember I was listening a lot of Spectrasoul during that time and most likely got some inspiration from there as well.
I had that bassline ready for couple of months but couldn’t make it work with everything else around it. So after a small break I sat down and at one point it “clicked” and I was quite happy with the result.
There’s a secret studio tip hiding in here which works well for me: take longer breaks and return to studio with a ton of ideas and a clear mind.
‘Radiation’ will make a lot of people smile… when did the tune come about?
I’ve always loved to experiment with the beats and synths and then at one evening I had a 16 bar loop on repeat, I was thinking – people are gonna really love it or fully hate it. An earworm with nervous synths – for a while.
I wasn’t sure if I should send it out to people, but I’m genuinely glad I did; as you said, it will make a lot of people smile.
I actually made this track in 2014 so its been sitting in my computer for a while now, waiting to be unleashed.
What’s next for you with live plans and so forth, Bone?
So, Radiation EP will be out soon, two of my tracks were just released on the Authentic Music label LP Art Of Deception. There’s a roller coming soon on Broken Audio’s Musical Currency vol. 4 LP, which will a limited edition USB kinda thing.
Also I’m now closing a deal with a small starting label for a single which features also a vocalist called Snowflake.
And then we have another EP coming out later this year on the Faded Music label. It will feature a more melodic side of me and my production and if I’m lucky enough, Fade will provide a remix for me as well.
What tune is inspiring you right now as in… in your head and makes you go wow.
The Upbeats & Shapeshifter ‘Solitaire’ (Ulterior Motive Remix) – this pretty much represents everything I love about D&B. Beautiful melody, vocals, rolling drums and menacing bass – whole package.
Finally what does the cover represent?
To me it represents the title track pretty well, but overall it was the creation of Julia Fade and she nailed it.