Feint. If he was a planet – ironic, considering he’s releasing via Subsphere – he’d be luminous but at times pleasantly disconcerting. Of course you’d expect to be disconcerted, being alien territory and all, but you’d quickly have to adapt to a regime of expecting the unexpected, and being assailed on all fronts by things new and ‘known’… 24/7. Or whatever the local time increments are.
You are so into the creation of the music it’s infectious: I’m blown away by the audacity of the Always Here ep.
Ha ha, thanks very much! Really glad you like it!
So when do you write, do you have a special dedicated time to do so and get locked down? With you it’s not just the choice of sounds but the real FINE detail that you’ve selected…
I write whenever I have the time really, I don’t have a set rule for it… generally I write in the mornings and afternoons – I used to only be able to make music at night for some reason but I seem to have gotten over that!
There’s so much detail in the sounds.
I just put down whatever comes to mind, I’m really inspired by ‘wall of sound’ shoegazey type stuff so I try and cram that into what I do too!
Along with that shoegaze aspect, there is a certain ‘celtic’, sort of film-like edge to this if I may be so bold, is that fair to say? What sort of vibe do you strive for?
I am really inspired by filmscore, I think that sometimes you see a film and the combination of the story and the music really elevates the experience to a whole different level – as cliche as it sounds, I try and capture the vibes of things that I experience in the tunes I make!
So the vibe generally just depends on how I’m feeling really, nowadays though I tend to be leaning towards just carefree happy vibes! The tune Straylight on the Always Here EP is probably the saddest tune I’ve done in ages.
What exactly is ‘Always Here’? Earth? What does the title refer to?
I guess its a combination of things, when I name things I don’t think too much about it, I just put down a word or two that seems to ‘fit’ the tune that I’m doing – I guess I was in a bit of a sentimental mood when I did Always Here! If anything it’ll be about being there for your mates… yeah yeah I know, shut up, ha ha.
And ‘Wasted’? And is that you on the tasty guitar I can hear? Tell us about the singer and those very cool lyrics.
Sure. ‘Wasted’ is a collab with my good mate Eric who I’ve known a fair while now, he’s one of the most talented all round musicians I’ve met, being an incredibly vocalist and guitarist. For most of my previous tunes I’d played the guitar myself for, but Eric did the recording for ‘Wasted’. Really, the tune is just a way of merging the rocky/live sound we love with the style that I usually produce.
Why the choice of instrumentation on the title tune? It’s timeless! So fresh but sort of so 70s/retro too… which is great!
Ha ha ‘Always Here’ is a pretty cheesy uplifting tune and I have a thing for strings and shit so it was kind of a perfect fit – I just wanted to write a happy feel-good tune but still something that I’d be happy to play out! In a way, it’s also kind of a nod back to my older stuff, I used to do this type of stuff all the time and I wanted to put my current production skill on top of that.
Can you cook? You put music together so well there must be a link!
Ha ha, I actually DO love cooking – there is a really strong resemblance to producing in a weird way! They’re both all about balancing your ingredients and making sure everything sits well together to make a satisfying whole… as for fave dish there are literally too many but right now I could kill a lamb roast with proper roast potatoes…
I note you go downtempo too, is that in order to express differently?
Some melodies only really work at certain tempos – sometimes I’ll play a cool sounding riff on the guitar but be really disappointed when it doesn’t sound right at 174 ha ha. It’s really because of this that I’ve really started experimenting with different tempos, but still trying to retain the same feel.
What’s your fave producers in D&B? Now and over time, any. No pressure.
That’s a tough one! There’s tons of producers whose production I really really look up to, but I think there’ll be a special place for the people who really got me into D&B a few years ago like Rob Swire, Netsky, Spor… then there’s also absolutely mental producers like the Noisia boys and – maybe not really D&B – Space Laces who I really love nowadays!
If you could play a dream venue, where?
I don’t know about particular venues but I would love to play in places like the US, Canada, Japan – people have reached out and connected from these places over my music but I’ve never even been there!
Any shouts from Planet Feint? Thanks.
Yeah loads – as always I want to give a shoutout to the people who’ve supported me so far like the Liquicity and Monstercat families – great guys who know what they’re doing and always look after me. As always big love to my bro Fox Stevenson for always sharing a similar vision to me – and not feeding too much – and Eric Hayes for always being up for doing music and shit. Charlie Cox for doing a great job with Subsphere – and of course everyone who’s supported me this far by listening to my tunes, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Always Here ep is released on October 13