“Rebirth, regeneration, reincarnation…” Delta Heavy are feeling inspired right now and this fresh perspective resonates throughout their latest release on RAM Records. Their new single, Reborn- containing a cinematic intro laden with emotive vocals; and a gritty, driving drop- suggests the lads are in top form right now, and with an album on the way, this is an exciting insight into what’s on the horizon. We managed to catch up with the boys amidst their busy schedule in the studio, to chat about the release and the intriguing video accompanying it…
Ez fellas, where in the world are you right now?
We are currently in our studio in Farringdon finishing up our album.
Big up on the new release! It’s been a while between releases and you guys always seem to operate within the ‘quality over quantity’ framework.. Would you say you’re perfectionists in the studio?
We’d like to think we have a high standard but it’s not just about being perfectionists in the studio, although it can be difficult to know when you have really finished a tune. You could always tinker with things here and there and tweak the mix endlessly but sometimes you can just drain the character out of it all together. It’s all about getting that balance.
We find that for tunes to work properly it’s good to have a concept behind them. It can often take a lot of time creating music that we connect with ourselves but it does really help to have a great idea that can take the tune beyond being just a piece of music and fully connect with the listener.
What was the concept behind ‘Reborn’?
Rebirth, regeneration, reincarnation….. generally starting over or moving on.
Is the track title suggestive of how you’re feeling creatively at the moment?
While it was never intended to be it has started off a new chapter with our album on the horizon. We have definitely moved on over the last year or two and wanted to challenge ourselves musically. Right now is quite an interesting time for music as there is quite a lot of freedom to do whatever you please.
You mentioned it’s difficult to know when you’ve really finished a tune.. Some producers say a tune is never really finished and that they could tweak it forever – Is one of you more pedantic than the other when it comes to perfecting your tracks?
We are equally picky when it comes to the details in our music although we do focus on different aspects. Broadly speaking Ben is more interested in the sonics of a track while Si pays more attention to musical detail, however, this all goes out the window when it comes to finishing tunes as you have to pitch in wherever is necessary.
Would you say that having a bit of a gap between releases allows the creative juices to properly manifest themselves and allows you to give the tunes you’re working on the attention they deserve?
Yes and no. Sometimes it gives you too much time to think and you start to lose direction. Getting on a roll when producing is brilliant as the momentum itself can inspire you. I am always surprised when I hear about people who have written ‘hundreds’ of tracks because I can’t imagine us being able to properly finish anywhere near that number, but one thing we’ve learned is to keep writing, keep coming up with new ideas and to not get bogged down with one or two tracks. The best ideas are the simplest ones and can often come very quickly out of nowhere.
Back to the single- What an incredible video! What was the concept behind it and who directed it?
Again the concept was based around rebirth and in this case it is a piece of thread that drifts into a strange world inspired by Salvador Dali and Tim Burton. It is planted like a seed in the ground and explodes into a storm of thread taking over this little world. It is then cut loose and drifts away having been reborn. It’s an idea that was conceived by Chris Bristow who directed it. We used stop motion again as it allows you to do something so different creatively without having huge budgets to play with. Ian Robertson who directed the video for Get By was also involved with the shooting of the Reborn video.
There’s something interesting about music videos taking a tune to the next-level.. What are some of your favourite music videos of all time?
Blur – Coffee & TV
M.I.A. – Bad Girls
Die Antwoord – Fatty Boom Boom
There are some wicked remixes of the tune as well by the likes of June Miller and Spoils, which are both very different – The June Miller remix sounding rather Noisia-esque, whereas Spoils’s remix is on a future-bass tip – both brilliant in their own right! Tell us how the remixes came about…
June Miller have really impressed us with their recent releases and their production is top notch. We thought they would really be able to provide a darker and harder twist to the original. For the Spoils remix we knew that we wanted a bouncy and bassy house mix of Reborn. We loved the collab they did with Monkey Wrench for a tune called ‘Enemies In the Dance’ earlier this year so it was an obvious choice for us.
If you could be remixed by any artist in any genre, who would it be?
Hans Zimmer.
You recently toured with Feed Me, what was it like touring with him?
It was very inspiring. He is one of the most creative people we’ve ever met and his dedication to music and art is ridiculous. It was also a lot of fun!
What’s coming up next for you guys in terms of touring and scheduled releases?
We’re just finishing up our next single which is due early next year and are also currently in the middle of a UK tour supporting Example which for us finishes in Portsmouth on 11th November before Feed Me takes over. We have shows coming up in Amsterdam, Prague and also Ram is back at Fabric for the Christmas party. We will be in Australia and New Zealand over New Years for Origin Festival, Rhythm & Vine Festival and also have shows in Adelaide and Melbourne.
Famous last words?
If you see two dishevelled, ranting zombies wandering around Farringdon it is probably us, although hopefully we will be chained up in our studio with a red bull drip feed finishing our album.
Reborn is out now – Get it here.
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