Drum roll please….
We’re very pleased to announce the release of Drum&BassArena 2012. Coming your way on April 15, it’s a double disc audio assault featuring the cream of the scene. If you know our previous work, you’ll know how comprehensive our annual releases are: all colours, all flavours, all styles, all players – as our name suggests, we represent!
To celebrate this momentous musical occasion each week we’re checking with some of the key players featured on the release to get their perspective from behind the controls. We’re also hosting a massive party at XOYO, London on April 13th featuring Brookes Brothers, Phace & Misanthrop, Break, Total Science, Interface and Lowqui.
But before we don our party threads, we check in with Sigma, an act so in-demand we collared them just hours before they fly to Australia and New Zealand for yet another tour.
“It’s great to be so busy,” grins Cam, one half of the duo. “Being able to test our tracks out every week alongside other tunes really helps you get an idea of how they balance against other current sounds and other records. That’s a really important part of the process.”
It’s a process that clearly works, too… Sigma have scored an impressive count on Drum&BassArena 2012 featuring no less than four times throughout the release. Cam puts this down to one crucial ingredient; good old fashioned hard graft!
“We haven’t just written one or two tracks and started playing these amazing parties and getting all this great attention,” he explains. “You really have to put in the hours, both in the studio and on the road. All those years of driving to the arse end of the country to play to 50 people at 5am wondering if it will ever go anywhere… But trust me it does pay off!”
There’s talk of an album in the pipeline and plenty more killer singles, but in the mean time we ask Cam for the lowdown on each track that features on Drum&BassArena 2012. Take it away…
Rusko – Somebody To Love [Sigma Remix]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF7wa3j57j0
“This was spun on us with very little time! We liked what we’d done; it’s a cool little roller you know? But the reaction to it has been incredible! We really didn’t think this would blow up like it has. Since then it’s had all the big plays and lots of radio time. The reaction from the crowd is really inspiring; it’s got that feeling to it that just comes naturally. We’re proud of everything we done but this one took us by surprise a bit!”
DJ Nut Nut Featuring Top Cat – Special Dedication [Sigma Remix]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si82bn3jKoM
“This happened when we were only two releases deep on our own label Life Recordings. Nu Urban had been speaking to us about a possible remix so Joe got the acapella and threw it down over a jungle beat we’d been playing with. It was just a beat, a bassline and then the vocal. I think we laid the basics out in a day. It wasn’t finished, but it was enough to play out and test it. All the MCs knew it straight away and had fun with it and it just seemed to work. It’s a very basic track but sometimes simple is best… We polished it up nicely and it took off. It goes loads of reloads which are always great. Very happy with this one!”
Friction vs Camo & Krooked – Stand Up [Sigma Remix]
“We’re obviously huge fans of the original, we’re good friends with Friction and we love what Camo & Krooked do so it was a real privilege to remix this! It was one of those occasions when we sat down to write the remix and really didn’t know what we were going to do with it… It’s such a big tune anyway, what can you do? So we thought we’d take it down a slightly ravier route and add our own Sigma twist. We went in deep and it turned out the way it did!”
Sigma & T-Phonic – Do You Love
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_li9KgE01w
“Massive big ups to T-Phonic on this! His name’s been left out on a few credits to this and he played a big part in this tune so respect where it’s due. This came out on our own label, it’s quite understated but when you play it in a club it always kicks off. It’s got this real disco vibe to it that gets a really good vibe in the club. We’re happy with the mixdown on this too; it sounds loud and fresh and really cuts through the mix. So props to T-Phonic!”
These four tracks plus 36 more. Total dancefloor TNT… Drum&BassArena 2012 is available on April 15th (download) and April 16th (CD)