Artificial Intelligence AKA AI have stepped back into the limelight and shifted gears with the momentous Dillirious so it was time to Switch On the Big Picture… without sounding like some Desperado.
Interview: Damian B
Tell me how the tune came about? It’s come from nowhere!
Dilirious came about while reminiscing over the old Headz at Blue Note years, which we went to on a regular basis from the very first opening night. Dillinja was a producer which made a big impact for us at the time which inspired the vibe of the tune. We sent it over to him when we were half way through and we got the big thumbs up.
I think that’s about the greatest paragraph in D&B history.
We are experimenting with various vibes and sounds with the forthcoming material. There are a number of tracks that some will have no clue at all that we are behind them, unlike our previous sound.
So I take it there’s lots of new tunes from this batch?
Watch this space – We are slowly unleashing a whole batch of fresh sounds over spring/summer.
Tell me about what else you’ve been up to… what’s been happening in the AI camp? I picked up the Mind Control EP, but what else is new?
We are about to unleash a barrage of new material this year. Firstly, Our Metalheadz 12 is dropping in May which consists of Dillirious and a full vocal track we done with Steo. This is a very deep one, and one of our personal faves. Steo came through with an absolute killer vocal for this one which we were over the moon with. This track is the very last track to come out which was made on our previous setup consisting of a fully outboard set up.
Can I interject on that? You guys are notoriously ‘outboard’ in terms of your recording setup, so is that still the case?
Yes we do still have our full outboard set up. But we’ve also incorporated this with the latest digital software and hardware based plug-ins which had to be installed, in keeping with what’s around us.
I always think it has lots to do with THAT ‘AI’ window rattling vibe. So back to Steo?
We have a few vocal tracks forthcoming with Steo who we really enjoy working with. He really has it all. We refer to him as the Irish Justin Timberlake, ha ha! We’ve also done two new tracks with DRS. And we’ve also done an epic summertime track with New Zealand’s Tiki and a further track for Ayah Marar.
People may not know you worked with her on ‘The Raver’.
There’s also a full original vocal track with Kathy Brown which was really interesting. We had to record a full band with her which we incorporated with modern day production to capture the sound we were trying to find. Production-wise there is something else with Command Strange, work in progress with S.P.Y and something we started a while back with dBridge which we need to get back on .
I have to come back to Command Strange as there’s another link that people may not be aware of, but first I want to backtrack to Dillirious and that Blue Note mention… What is it like to work with Headz?
It’s been something we have always wanted to be involved with at some point. We still have the first 50 Metalheadz releases bought on promo at the time and it’s a pleasure to be part of the catalogue now. We remixed Goldie’s ‘Letting Go’ a few Years ago which went down really well and he has always wanted more from us. We had the ‘Mad One/Broken Grounds’ 12 out on Metalheadz Platinum at the end of last year. And there is more to follow after the Dillirious 12.
Talking about D&B in London throws up huge memories for us all and I personally miss places like The End, so what is the London scene like right now?
We don’t seem to have the regular nights any more where everyone used to meet up which is a real shame. Places like Metalheadz, Speed, Swerve, Movement, even Essence of Chi. They were always really cool places where you were guaranteed to catch up with people and hear the latest cutting edge music. Today, the new warehouse style parties are cropping up all over the place again. East London, Peckham etc. So they’ve been an exciting addition to the existing London scene.
Okay, so overall D&B is flourishing like never before, it is on fire everywhere and people like Command Strange who we mentioned, plus Fade, Survey, Hibea, Enei are turning heads, what sort of global vibes are you feeling?
There are too many to mention from all over the globe. Obviously there’s Command Strange, who we have been backed on Integral Records and production. There are also people like Bungle in Brazil, we were blown away by Astral Travel. There’s also Enei, Upbeats, Trei, Tokyo Prose… Like we said, too many to mention!
Lastly, what’s on the release horizon? And what’s with the Shogun rumour?
In general this year it’s all about reinstating AI. There will be a number of 12s, EPs, remixes, production projects and co-labs. Label-wise we have singles and comp album material forthcoming on Metalheadz. We have also signed a mammoth EP to Shogun Audio which we are just finalising. It should hopefully drop this summer followed by another track on the forthcoming Shogun compilation.
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