Danny Byrd has recently gone in on a certain ‘Climb High’ with Brookes Brothers: instantly memorable and energised, totally effective… made sense to get lost in the ascent with Danny Byrd. Get the Byrd’s eye view.
How has 2015 been?
2015 has been good so far!
D&B is everywhere, as has been the case for so many years now, why has it hit the public in general so hard?
I think some people are generally surprised D&B is still around, but I see it like Hip Hop; it’s music that’s here for a very long time.
I don’t think D&B – since a long time – has had such a mainstream interest, with pop star-type people doing D&B tempo stuff, hence it connecting with a wider audience.
I don’t think it’s affected the underground though, and they are almost two separate genres in a way.
Why else does it connect?
One thing is that when people heard D&B years ago the tempo sounded very alien to people that had not heard it before. Now it’s been around for so long it’s accepted a bit more in, say, a top 40 style club.
Tell us some stories about what you guys are seeing on the road, what sort of reactions and receptions… festivals and so forth.
Well, luckily with this single Brookes and myself have had the chance to do some of our first back to back shows. Which is quite strange considering how long we’ve known each other but its been exciting none the less.
It’s quite fun as I play off USB mainly but Brookes are still on CDs, so makes it quite nail biting not ejecting the wrong CD and so forth. We definitely work well together though, we generally play three tunes each and roll of each others’ vibes!
Playing Fabric with Phil Brookes was a great highlight of the year!
So tell me about the brilliant ‘Climb Higher’… when did the song originate? My first impression when I heard it on Friction’s show was that it was a bonafide Swerve tune, to be heard down The End! Big system, proper liquid funk vibe.
Thank you! It was for sure a track that we made with intention of getting back to some classic liquid funk vibes so hopefully we achieved that.
We went in on a lot of sampling which I find new producers not doing enough of sometimes.
That’s really the essence of that sound, using samples but then building up your own soundscapes with chords and so forth on top of that. We were both big fans of going down to Swerve.
It always had the best system and I wish we could have heard this tune played down there!
Big up Fabio! Where’s my time machine?
And how did it work out that you all collabed on this? Sounds like the tune came about fast, was that the case?
Ha… quite the opposite! It probably took about eight months on and off.
I’d come down to London and stay at Brookes’ studio for a week and we’d get like some chords and vibes down and keep building on that.
Then I’d come down a month later and we’d do the baseline. It was build piece by piece. With that wall of sound vibe there’s no way you can just roll that out quickly, it takes a lot of layering and programming.
I guess also the fact that there’s three of us it takes three times longer to work though disagreements over arrangement and so on… but in all in all it makes a better tune in the end hopefully!
It’s inspirational tune so… can I ask you for five inspirational tunes? Any era/genre.
In no particular order…
Goldie – Inner City Life (RIP Diane xx)
Common ‘The Light’ (Brookes Brothers Remix)
Dave East feat Nas ‘Forbes List’
Masters at Work ‘To Be In Love’
London Elektricty ‘Remember The Future’ (High Contrast Remix)
… and what tunes are doing the business on the live front? What’s on the stick?
DJ Sly ‘Quarter Pound Bass’ (Serum remix) is doing the damage in the clubs at the moment! You have to hear it on a system!
What’s next for you guys, what’s in the works?
Working on new music, expect 2016 to be release heavy! Thank you.
