Bastions of the deep, rolling, soulful sound. Hybrid Minds can’t put a foot wrong this year. With their latest release coming our way this Monday on Mainframe we thought we’d give them a call. Read on for their thoughts on Thundercats, Smurfs, the weather and Rolf Harris. WARNING: this feature also contains a super-cute video AND a beautiful free mix!
Let’s chat releases. What goodies can we expect from you soon?
Matt: “Our second EP Heartfelt is dropping on September 10 on Mainframe, we’re very much looking forward to it, albeit slightly anxious. It’s been in the making some time, a lot of effort has gone into making it different from our last & we hope that shows.”
Josh: “We were overwhelmed with the response of our first EP on AudioPorn so there has been a lot of pressure on this one. Fingers crossed that people enjoy it. I like to think it shows a few different styles that we enjoy making. It features a track we made a with our friend Anile which is quite dark and might not be expected from us, so I’m excited to see the response of that one. We also have had a video made for the track Fade so keep your eyes on UKF for that one.”
I read about Warm Winters on Allsorts, tell me more….
Josh: “That’s going to be the follow up release after the EP. I have known Gareth from Allsorts/Grid for a while now so it’s really nice to be working with them. It’s going to be a single 12″ release with a track called Blame on the A side. Both tracks are quite soulful rollers with Grimm on the vocal duties. I’m very proud of both of them and feel they are a bit more organic and true to the style of music that I like to mix.”
Matt: “Both tracks should be out soon, probably two of the Hybrid Minds tracks I play the most. They are very DJ friendly in comparison to a lot of our other tunes.”
Warm Winters, Seasons, Summer Rain… Are we noticing a pattern here?
Josh: “This might have something to do with us both sitting next to windows in our studios. We get stuck for track names quite a lot and I find myself looking out the window for inspiration. It’s a bit corny but I feel that our music caters for lovers of a nice natural landscape.”
Matt: “I have to agree with Josh on this. Summer Rain came about as I was stuck for a name. I needed to give the file a title to save it, looked out the window and it was raining…It was also summer. That’s as inventive and imaginative as we got with that one.”
Speaking of Summer Rain. What a video! Enough to make a grown man blubber. Well, certainly have goosebumps, tell me about it please!
Josh: “Glad you like it man. It’s just something that I made after watching a animation called Lost & Found. I really liked it and thought that it would go well with the track so I started chopping it up. We made it a while ago now but recently thought, why not share it with the world so we uploaded it. It’s far from a official video. Just a bit of fun to make.”
Can we chat animals for a minute? On your facebook there’s chatter about parrots and dolphins and the video’s got a penguin in it. Let’s give some props to animals for just one second….
Josh: “Well, I have a cat but it ends there really. You can thank Matt for 90% of the strange shit on our page. Whatever you do, don’t diss his parrot.”
Matt: “What can I say? Call me Rolf Harris. Not because I play a wobble board, I’m thinking more along the lines of Animal Hospital, great old skool tv programme might I add. I think a few of the Drum&BassArena staff know all about my parrot by now anyway, I had a bit of a drunken rant when we did a D&BTV show. He’s an African grey, he has feathers and a shiny beak, he also says “f**k yourself” and “snarf snarf” [for all those who remember the classic cartoon Thunder Cats, which is pretty amazing]”
Josh: “Thunder Cats! Hoooooo!”
Let’s chat DJ shizzle. Last time we saw you, you smashed it at our special D&BTV 200 show. Had any other super memorable gigs this summer?
Josh: “Thanks, we always enjoy coming down for D&BTV, even if it is at 5am! This summer we have been lucky enough to play a few festivals over in Austria with the Mainframe & AudioPorn gang. The highlight, though, has to be playing the Urban Art Forms festival. It was nuts to find ourselves playing to thousands of people. We don’t tend to get to play to crowds like that so it was a special one and we were like two kids in a sweet shop, fingers crossed it’s the first of many big festivals we get to play at.”
Matt: “I’d have to go with UAF too, the festivals were amazing this year, would love to go back in 2013.”
Got any forthcoming gigs you want to shout about?
Josh: “We have a fair few coming up to see the end of the year out. I’m looking forward to UKF in Bristol quite a lot as it’s an event I have wanted to play at for a while now. Also looking forward to all the abroad ones we have as I love seeing how our music goes down in new places I have never been to before.”
Matt: “Unfortunately I won’t be able to play UKF as I’ll be playing in Europe. I’ve always wanted to play there though. One I’m really looking forward to is Hospitality. Also, a bit of shameless promotion but if you go to our Facebook fan page and click “Tour dates” you can check out for yourself where you can catch us.”
Finally, tell me something you’ve not told any interviewer…
Josh: “I have never told an interviewer that my first album I ever brought was by the legendary Smurfs. I think its purchases like this that really sculpt your sound in the future.”
Matt: “I haven’t ever told an interviewer my parrot has a shiny beak….oh wait…”
Just in case you’ve put something humorous in that answer, please give us another…
Josh: “Okay, here ya go. We are very pleased to have a 12″ forthcoming on Spearhead, This is going to be out before the end of the year and we are very excited about it. It features the track Meant To Be, which seems to be our most desired piece at the moment. It’s doubled up with Unconditional. We can’t wait for this one and really hope people feel it. It’s going to be SPEARLTD015”
Matt: “We’ve also got a cheeky little number forthcoming on Soulr which we are very happy about as we have always admired the label and it’s a very hard one to get anything signed to. We don’t want to give too much away just yet though so will keep the track title to ourselves for now.”
Excellent! Now let’s all enjoy this super exclusive Hybrid Minds mix shall we?
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE MIX HERE!
TRACKLIST:
BCee – Changing Faces [Hybrid Minds Remix]
Hybrid Minds – Standing Still
Hybrid Minds – Blame
Hybrid Minds – Why
Hybrid Minds – Halcyon
Hybrid Minds – Heartfelt
Daughter – Youth – Hybrid Minds Bootleg
Hybrid Minds – Lost VIP
Natalie Duncan – Sky Is Falling [Lenzman Remix]
Temple Cloud – One Big Family – Hybrid Minds Bootleg
Hybrid Minds & Anile – Hitch Hiker
Hybrid Minds – Fade Feat Katies Ambition
Sub Focus – Tidal Wave