When it comes to D&B dream teams, the pairing of brothers Nu:Tone and Logistics is definitely right up there with the best. With massive solo profiles and hectic DJ schedules it’s taken years for both Hospital-signed artists to reach Nu:Logic album status… But trust us, it’s been well worth the wait. Pun intended.
What I’ve Always Waited For is 100 per cent dancefloor gold. Loaded with creative, well-bodied rollers, the whole work oozes soul, musicality and timeless D&B class. It even comes with its own visual concept wherein each track comes with a miniature snapshot of day-to-day life. Check them out on the Hospital YouTube channel. Warning: it all gets quite emotional!
And once you’re done watching, have a read as we catch up with Nu:Tone and learn, amongst other things, that’s there’s another Gresham brother signed to Hospital! Enjoy…
Let’s start with this visual concept…
We had the idea of creating a single video for every track on the album. People discover a lot of music on YouTube nowadays so rather than having a static image we wanted to have something that’s more involving and engaging. So rather than fully blown concepts we wanted it simple with focusses on one person or one situation. We brainstormed about what each track meant to us with the director and he went out and shot them all.
So with the case of Brown Shoes, did the title come before or after you filmed the cobbler?
It was called Brown Shoes from the start and that’s where the idea came from. It’s a very exciting concept. It’s difficult coming up with concepts for videos and this has been refreshing. Some people have approached it expecting full blown music videos and have been a bit let down but once you take all of them as a group and approach them in that way it makes more sense.
Definitely. Now this album is a long time coming… Is THIS what you’ve been waiting for?
Ha! It is! We’ve always wanted to write a whole album project together but the timing is great; neither of us feel like there are any particular expectations of us as artists, it’s the perfect point in our career to do this. We’re free to do what we want and make the music that inspires us. We approached it in a self-indulgent way and made the music we love.
Expectations?
It’s pressure you put on yourself, rather than external pressure. It’s what you feel you have to do to develop your profile as an artist. But with the two of us working together we both feel very confident to do what we want to do, enjoy the process and see what comes out of it. We both found it really really easy. The album was done in four months.
From start to finish? Wow!
Yes! That’s quick for both of us. Matt’s a quicker worker than me, but it’s still record time for both of us. We just went into the studio from Monday to Friday and there were few days when we came out frustrated. We were struggling to get the ideas out quick enough!
Brilliant. Was it complicated producing together in terms of different set-ups? I imagine you both approach a studio in different ways?
We do approach production in different ways, but that’s why it was so fun. Matt would have an idea in one direction and I’d have a different idea in another direction. When you put them together you’ve got something that’s hopefully stronger than our own individual ideas.
Definitely. Then there’s the whole brotherly angle… Is it easier to produce together because you can be more honest and clear? Or is it hard because it’s more personal?
No, it’s definitely easier. The most important things in a collaboration is the communication and chemistry; how confident do you feel putting ideas out there? I’ve felt guarded in some collaborations before, too worried to suggest certain ideas in case they’re not into it. But with Matt I don’t have any of that.
It’s quite a responsibility as an older brother. Do you feel proud of him? Or has your relationship gone way beyond that as you’ve become friends and professional peers?
It’s all of the above! People always ask if there’s any rivalry but to be honest we both get a kick out of each other’s success. To be signed to the same label is incredible. And now our other brother Nick is signed to the label too.
Woah! OTHER brother? Enlighten me please…
Yeah! Nick is Other Echoes, he’s making some really interesting music which is really exciting. So yes, we’re signed to the label but completely independently of each other. It’s great fun working together and we’ve toured a lot, which is amazing – going to all these places is incredible, but visiting them with your brother is even better. The album is the icing on the cake really.
For sure. There seems to be less vocals than you’ve both included on your own albums… Was that a conscious decision?
We didn’t want to go crazy with vocals. When you have a singer you’re introducing someone into the mix and because we had quite a strong idea of the direction we wanted to go in we didn’t want to lose that focus. That said, DRS is someone we wanted to work with for a long time, Robert Manos presented us with a great opportunity and Lifford was great to work with too. All of those tunes went in the direction we wanted them to go in.
Fantastic. DRS’s appearance is a personal highlight for me. We Live Here is beautiful…
Oh thanks! He original wrote over a different track. It wasn’t the best thing we’d ever made so we used the vocals over this dubby half time thing. It came together perfectly and is something a bit different to what we’ve done before.
Yes. It sounds like you had quite a lot of fun with the half tempo stuff. There’s All The Things and that trappist Grizzly banger on the last single…
Yeah we’ve both been playing little bits of that sound and it has a great effect on the dancefloor. It’s so much fun to make too. We wanted to keep the album at 174 but pull in different influences as well.
Any plans for a live set-up with this? Or DJ tours?
Lots of DJ tours. We love travelling and DJing together. Who knows about the future? We’ve already written more stuff since the album. So there’ll definitely be more Nu:Logic releases. That said we don’t want to dilute the profiles we’ve established for ourselves over the years either. So there’s plenty of solo material coming soon too!
And maybe some Nu:Tone, Logistics and Other Echoes stuff?
Well yeah! We’ve already done one track between the three of us on the Sub 150 album called Please Answer. I guess it’s dubsteppy, it’s quite deep. There’s definitely potential for more material from the three of us. It’s great working with both brothers.
Your parents must be so proud!
Yeah they love it! They’re really excited to see us do this project together. They get a kick out of what we do anyway but to have a whole collaborative project is even better. It’s great.
What I’ve Always Waited For is out now.
Listen and download.