Hyper junglist D&B marauder Erb N Dub‘s new sample pack is a labour of organic, homegrown, sustainably-sourced digital love… It’s The Red Collection. Read on to find the connection between M&S tills and supercars… plus that special synth-centric gig.
Hi first things first: I heard that you played a unique gig recently… can you tell us about it?
Yeah I played at Abbey Road with my live project Wicked City at the UK launch of the new Yamaha synths: Reface.
It was nuts to play in the same room as many of our great bands that wrote and recorded there. I was actually more excited when I saw they had recorded the soundtrack to the original Star Wars films rather than the tales of the Beatles recording sessions.
Where’s actual home base, where do you operate from?
I now live in Brighton with my girlfriend but my studio is still based in Kent. It’s a house in the countryside we converted into three music studios and a live booth.
I love writing music there, it’s like I’ve won the lottery every time I drive in. Beautiful spot!
Has your studio setup changed radically over time? Consider how you used to work 10 years ago compared to today… what are a few things that have shifted?
Massively! I started with a PC that was originally a Marks and Spencer cash till. It was being thrown away so I ended up with it.
It ran Windows and was just about good enough to install Reason on it and I was off.
A few years later I became endorsed by Yamaha and have helped developed a few products in the last few years. I now play Yamaha DTX Drums and use Yamaha monitors.
Recently I work a lot in audio. This is why my sample pack is focused on Bass and Drum audio. Don’t get it twisted, you can do more with audio than any synth!
How do you focus on the gameplan… what with external distractions and so forth. How do you concentrate on the job in hand?
This I am constantly fighting. Slowly but surely I am stopping any music sessions that don’t benefit my career. I have helped many people with their careers and music and seen no return.
So yeah don’t ask me for studio time or mixdowns. My answer will be triple what you thought my fee would be if at all.
Tell us about the The Red Collection: do you need a certain spec of computer to run it?
This sample pack will run on anything. Apart from the Massive and Kontakt patches I have thrown in, it’s audio based.
I made this sample pack with sounds and loops I use in my productions. You will 100% hear some of these drums and synths in my next releases on Technique Recordings.
Is it aimed at beginners, intermediate… can you just start to produce immediately with the sounds?
It’s aimed at everyone. I made the samples ready to use!
Are the sounds a good basis for people to create new sounds from… can they morph them into new things?
Yes they are good to go. Please load the bass into samplers twist em to f*ck! Re-pitch the drums… F*ck some shit up!!!
And what sort of sounds will you find here that are nowhere else?
My signature processed, synths, drums, vocals by Smk, live drumming by me on a custom built jazz kit, recordings of my chick’s 1995 Porsche 911, Lamborghini Diablo and a few other bits.
Who are some producers you admire, and why?
Hazard, Noisia, Skope, Teebee, Mind Vortex, Mefjus, Dimension, Tantrum Desire…
Very good producers. But more importantly they make sick tunes that destroy dancefloors at my DJ sets!
What tune is in your head right now and why?
‘Whip Slap’. Because it’s played every set by every DJ and will be for years to come.
