Cutworks kindly gave us some time to discuss the recent liquid soul fiesta that is the Soulroot ep… and fittingly goes back to his roots as well.
Hello Cutworks, this ep is stunning! Where do you hail from?
Hey, thanks for your support! I’m living in a small city near Moscow which called Zheleznodorozhny. In English it translates to something like “Iron Road city”. Actually I prefer to say that I’m from Moscow, because my hometown’s about 10 km to the east.
What’s the scene there like?
I started to DJ in my hometown back in 2007. There was no scene. We just started to invite producers from Moscow like Electrosoul System and Subwave as headliners to support our gigs and also other local artists.
In Moscow, the scene is really different! You can find everything you want: big raves like Pirate Station or World Of Drum And Bass or small underground parties.
Moscow knows how to party.
The sound is all your own, it is very very unique, can you take us behind the amazing ‘Away With You’? When was it written?
Yeah it was done at the end of 2014. This tune’s influenced by autumn vibes and this is a point when I tried to make my own sound more ‘synthesized’, not just cutting piano samples. In ‘Away With You’ you can hear some autonomic vibes and certain rustles in the background as well.
So much soul here… I’m thinking of certain Brazilian artists who love D&B so much it just shines though, so what D&B artists do you dig?
Yeah, actually I’ve got a big support for Soulroot tunes from Brazilian guys like Andrezz, DJ Chap, L-side and Young:G, they are on fire now and I’m in love with their music too.
I’m diggin a lot at this time for our show I’m starting with my old pal Tony Take on the finest Moscow station Megapolis 89.5 FM.
In my bag you can always find music from our Russian producers like Enei, Eastcolors, Electrosoul System, Impish, Skyweep, Abstract Elements. There’s also my Viennese friends Roygreen & Protone and also big names such as Break, Ulterior Motive, DLR, Mindscape.
I’m forever fan of old techstep school as Ed Rush & Optical, some Underfire crew and also the mighty Konflict etc.
And you like liquid funk? What some favourites?
Definitely! I cut my teeth on liquid funk haha. I’m a big fan of Random Movement, I like his music since his first release about 10 years ago. Also Electrosoul System, Calibre, Zero T & Beta 2, Ill Logic & Raf and so forth.
Here’s five tunes that I still love:
Electrosoul System ‘In The Morning’
Random Movement ‘Psychedelic Drainpipe’
Beta 2, Zero Tolerance & Calibre ‘Diamonds & Pearls’
Ill Logic & Raf ‘One Step To Glory’
Marcus Intalex & ST Files ‘Universe’
When you check D&B, how do you do it? Is it via radio, sites… what’s the pattern?
I’m sure that my friend Cryo showed me this world. I think it was in 2003, I was finishing school. In those years it was bad with the internet in our city, but we read the forums like DOA and DNBArena, also Russian forum jungle.ru, now gone.
I know you like to travel, so where to? If you could play a dream gig, where would it be?
Good question! Well, one day I was playing on the Black Sea. Some unbelievable feelings experienced! It would be nice to repeat this on the all south seas on the planet.
What changes and shifts are you seeing in D&B right now? As in: taste, techniques…
I like that D&B now more than ever diverse.
All substyles that were invented at different times are alive today.
Production has become much cleaner, more aggressive, but hasn’t lost its musicality. I think the scene is currently experiencing its best period and I hope that in the future will be even better.
So what’s next for you?
We started the D&B show with Take, so you can hear me every Tuesday from 9-10 PM GMT on megapolisfm.ru in the Luch Radioshow. Also I have a couple of forthcomings on Kos.Mos.Music. I’m preparing some collabs with Eastcolors, Electrosoul System, Skyweep, Roygreen & Protone and maybe we will start a new project with Cryo as we spend a lot of time together in the studio. Also we’ll start our ‘Luch Takeover’ parties in near future I guess. So watch this space.