Following hot on the heels of their wicked remix of Camo & Krooked’s ‘Good Times Bad Times’ comes Document One with another massive head-nodder. This time heavily influenced by everyone’s favourite sheet of A4 paper…
We caught up to grab the lowdown…
Before we go any further.. Shogun Audio – BIG! How did it all happen? Talk us through the process.
“We had been in talks with Shogun for a while, and as a label we’ve always massively respected them, so are just super happy to join the family and start releasing with them. Ultimately we think its going to be a great home for us, we have so much new music to get out there, and with these guys backing us it feels like great times ahead.”
Was this always the game plan? To be signed to a major player in the drum and bass scene?
“Ha ha, maybe… Guess we were just lucky enough to have them interested in our music, so feel happy to be a part of the team. It’s a really great feeling to be going about your day and have the fact that you are signed to Shogun pop in you head!”
Did you find the process frustrating at all? I know some producers churn out a bucket load of tracks and never seem to progress or end up doing it all solo. Was this ever an option?
“Not at all, because there are two of us we naturally write a lot anyways, however we don’t try to just ‘churn out’ stuff for the sake of it. The vibe we are on at the moment seems to be taking us in this direction, so felt like it was a perfect match. Frustration just didn’t really come into it, things are moving fluidly and we are happy with the way things are progressing.
It’s a tight industry, so we try to stay grounded and have always tried to to take the rough with the smooth – you will go crazy if you let things get under your skin. It’s all part of the journey. The only frustrating bit was keeping signing a secret, when we just wanted to shout about it!
Any crazy ideas on how to get noticed for your production? Dropping off gold plated memory sticks at Friction’s DJ gigs? Sending Amy some tunes on cassette?
“Yeah as simple as it sounds just keep at it. We took a long time to get to a sound we both felt is right for us, and within D&B scene. We’ve had our fair share of knock-backs and people saying we weren’t “there” yet, but getting out there and meeting and talking to as many peeps within the scene helps a lot. For us it was all about being patient while developing our sound, we knew it was a bit niche, so would take longer for us to find our place within the scene, but stick to your guns – don’t try and fit to the scene too much.”
How does it feel to have broken down the iron clad, triple locked gates to the world of drum and bass?
“It doesn’t feel like were there yet, but then it’s probably healthy to always feel like there is work to do! Saying that, signing to Shogun has been a real blessing and the best kind of acknowledgement we have had. We still have a lot to deliver in the future, and are constantly developing our sound, so hopefully in time we might really have something amazing under our belts.”
In your opinion, is it harder to be noticed in 2018 than say 1998? It was once the story that you had to be a DJ and a producer (either way suits!). Is this the same now? Can you really just produce in the land of breakbeats?
“It’s definitely hard times today, especially for producers starting out, but then 20 years ago it wasn’t easy either!
There’s so much music out there you really have to be unique and find a sound that is your own to create waves within the scene and get noticed. Having so many platforms to release on and promote with, can be a blessing and a curse.
LSD is an absolute banger! How long have you been sitting on it? Did it do the rounds on virtual dubplate? If so, who was supporting it the hardest other than Friction?
“Its been knocking about for a while now, and seems to be the track getting the most love (from DJs that have heard it) Friction has been a fan since day one, and was a big part in suggesting we release this tune first.”
That double bass is so reminiscent of that feel good vibe brought to us from the likes of Roni Size, Krust and Die from way back when. It’s as if ‘LSD’ brings forth a truck load of vibes from all corners of the scene. As producers, how do you feel you create these kind of feelings?
“Well ‘LSD’ was a strange one because we wanted to create something really club orientated whilst retaining our jazzy element. We’ve always been big on the old school players such as Roni Size etc, and whilst producing LSD we came across a load of vintage sounds which we just had to use.”
Talking about production, what’s your go to plug-in at present? Anything undercover you want to share with the masses?
“Serum is our go to synth, other than that its all about manipulating samples with synths till you find something truly special. There is no big secret to production, the key is just time and keeping open minded. We write-off tunes all the time only to go back to them months later and see them in a whole new light.”
We can all probably remember some of the biggest tracks that reflect upon illegal substances. The likes of The Shamen’s ‘Ebeneezer Goode’, 4 Hero’s ‘ Mr Kirk’s Nightmare’ and Technohead’s ‘I Wanna Be A Hippy’ to name but a few. Were these tracks an influence on ‘LSD’ or did the vocal samples used just lead to you going down this route?
“The vocal sample was really the only influence in this respect. We thought it captured something cool and it influenced the nature of the track creatively once we added it to the intro.”
You might also remember that pre-jungle, some of the tracks produced in the hardcore days specifically took influence on ravers feelings under the influence to somewhat heighten their experience. Do you think this vibe could make a comeback?
“Ha ha! We don’t know about that, like most producers in the D&B scene, we don’t party anywhere near as much as people would expect! But across loads of genres people use music to escape all the time, so I guess in many ways it never left, there are defiantly still parallels to what you are referring to, but a lot has changed in the party scene, especially in the UK since the pre jungle hardcore days.!
What’s next for Document One? Plenty more production in the pipeline? Any other genres being covered?
“Yeah, loads of new music and an EP in the works for Shogun. We feel like we have tuned a corner recently with our sound, we can’t wait to share what we have been up to with everyone – and see how it develops ourselves! We are looking forward to the future put it that way.”
As we previously talked about classics from a few genres, can you name the first 3 tunes that spring to mind that have stayed with you throughout your journey into drum and bass?
Brown Paper Bag – Roni Size
Vault – Pendulum
Racing Green – High Contrast
If Friction came to you with the opportunity to remix an earlier release, what would it be and why?
“Dreadnaught by Icicle. The vocals and the beat on the original is sick, it would be a lot of fun to play about with!
Any shouts?
“Obviously all the Drum&BassArena crew and our Shogun Audio fam for taking us under their wing. Finally a massive shout out to anyone out there supporting us, booking us, turning up to our gigs, and generally sticking by us.”
Grab a copy of the track here.
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