Etherwood has just added yet another blissful production to his impressive repertoire on Med School, and it’s received the remix treatment from Ulterior Motive, S.P.Y and Friend Within. Only fitting to chat to the man himself then…
Hi Etherwood, been some time since we spoke!
Yeah it has. Hope you’re dandy.
What are you doing right now?
Drinking tea and watching Countdown. Keeping it real.
Souvenirs is a wicked track, can you take us behind it? I’m really fond of the ‘lines’ of the tune, the way it flows. Those elements must take a lot of fine tuning to make as ethereal as they are…
Glad you’re feeling it! For me, this track was all about keeping the musical elements light and rolling. It started from a couple of ideas myself and the boys from Dexcell were working on. This was over a year ago now. Since then it’s been growing and growing. I spent a lot of time on the piano, working with chords that held that summery feel. I was careful not to over do it by chucking in a load of drum edits and trying to push it in the wrong direction.
When we spoke once you said you loved the countryside, so does nature play a part in this music? It’s of course very visual too.
Yeah massively. I need to get out of the city every few months to clear my head and get back to my roots. This seems to influence the tunes I make. I always picture grassy fields and heaths and forests when I listen to Zara’s lyrics on this tune. The words mirror the music perfectly so it’s nice when a vocalists just gets it from the first listen.
How did the vocal fit in… was it a spark in the vocal that inspired the tune or… ?
We actually had the tune first. I was spinning through tracks before one of my sets and this vocal came in from nowhere and it blew me away. I got straight online and hit up Zara. She absolutely nailed the vocal pretty much first time. Her voice and lyrics are perfect for the track. Really happy how it turned out.
The remixes are great in that they all do something so unexpected (when I heard the UM one I thought of vintage Bailey, and his taste in D&B btw). So how were the remixes chosen? They sound really thought-through, to me.
Man I love the remixes. I am well into Ulterior Motive’s latest LP. I knew they’d smash this remix. I was in Canada when the first version came back and just had my laptop on me. I loved it when I blasted it through the little macbook speakers. Then I grabbed my headphones and that sub!! So deep.
Same with the S.P.Y.remix. I was confident that they would both bring their own mark and that the two would be completely different. I love what Carlos has done with the vocal pitching and how bouncy the track is.
I’m a big Friend Within fan so it was an honour to have him involved. He really worked with the vocal and the song as opposed to just grabbing a section of the vocal and slamming it out for 5 minutes. Really tasteful.
I have to ask re the title, what are some keepsakes, icons and memorabilia that’s important to you?
I’m not particularly superstitious so I don’t have many. I do have some beads that I made when I was a youngster and I seem to carry them around everywhere with me, whether in my bag or my jacket pocket or whatever. I rarely fly long distance without them. Other than that, I’m way too absent minded to hold onto anything for long.
What else is on the creative cooker for you, what else is brewing?
I’ve actually just finished the second album which is a great feeling. A couple of remixes to crack on with and I’m going to start prepping for a pretty exciting project but I can’t say much more 😉
How have the last few years been as an artist, what changes have you felt?
Everything seems to have been progressing really nicely. I’ve been really busy and feels great. I’m lucky to have been received so well up till now and I’m just going to keep on keeping on.
What music are you checking, of any style and genre?
Rinsing Moody Good’s new LP, new Jamie XX is awesome. Also new Breakage sounds amazing. So much decent music around right now!
Speaking of good music, Souvenirs is out now on Med School. Get it here.
