This November if you weren’t keeping an eye on Flexout Audio‘s feverish output… where were you? FIVE killers week after week this month to celebrate FIVE years of Flexout fun.
So, as it wraps up and grumpy old December comes storming in, Tom from Flexout broke it all down for us. And in addition we got words from Taelimb, one of the stars of the whole deal.
Can you sum up the five years of Flexout deal for people new to the label?
Flexout has been going for five years this year and, although the label only started a couple of years ago we wanted to do something to mark the occasion. Hence we are releasing five singles from five of our favourite artists over five weeks. The ethos behind the label is simple: myself and Stephen AKA Retraflex have an unhealthy obsession with finding new, innovative D&B and Flexout Audio is the platform on which we showcase these artists.
Is it one type of D&B as such?
We love the full spectrum of D&B and don’t pigeonhole ourselves into one sub-genre so if there are any aspiring producers out there send us your tunes!
What shifts are happening in D&B from your perspective? Changes in speed, demand and… flex?
It’s interesting isn’t it, I believe that people always want to have the newest tunes, there is a real culture now where people only want dubs and after a tune has been out for a month its almost forgotten about, the shelflife of tunes for me seems to be getting less and less.
In terms of the actual music itself I’ve started to notice that the BPM has been reduced slightly, more and more tunes are being made at 170 or less rather than 175-180 like they used to be five years ago. I’ve also noticed that the halftime stuff has become more and more popular and everything has gotten really deep and dark.
What’s a quick rundown of the range of people and styles you get here and nowhere else?
OK. With the five releases we have kicked it off with our Italian bass maestro Neve and his crew of artists from Turin, Merikan, Jazzatron, Alina and JHR. A pair of really nice gentle neuro rollers that have been going down a storm in nightclubs over the world.
The second release is from Bazil who we have always been a fan of and we are so glad that he chose to release this single with us. His style takes a lot of influence from 90s tech-step and he has teamed up with a new name Trichome who is one to look out for in the future.
The third release in the series is probably my personal favourite and has had big support so far: it’s from a fellow Brixton boy called Taelimb and the two tracks entitled ‘Wookie Song’ & ‘Wasteman’ have a real jungle feel to them but at the same time sound fresh and futuristic. Breakage and Amoss have both been caining these ones which sums up the vibe of the single. (Taelimb speaks to us, below)
With the fourth release we welcome back Trex with his debut single ‘Loungin’. For me what I love about Trex is it feels like good honest D&B to make a nightclub move and peoples faces screw; the other side, ‘Caffeine’ has been a staple part of our sets for a long time.
Finally, Soligen returns to the limelight with something completely different to his last Flexout release. With ‘Concentration’ he uses a wicked lick of vocal from MC Maroose combined with a drop where the bassline and the drumwork fit perfectly together, he has a great understanding of D&B and we are very excited about his future.
Phew, how do you top that??? What’s forthcoming? What names.
Philth has an EP entitled The Beasts coming out next year and we will actually be doing a launch party for that at PLan B in Brixton on Janury 18th. Other names on the release schedule include Bredren, who features on Phil’s EP. Shiver, Static, Hyroglifics, PRTCL, Frank Carter III, Ben Fawce, Facing Jinx & Quantax all have forthcoming tunes that will see out 2013 and take us through into 2014 with a bang. If you expect the unexpected than you might be prepared!
Over to Taelimb!
How did you become part of the Flexout family? It is a common mindset do you think?
I met Tom through a mutual friend of ours who does a night call Noise in Brixton where we were both DJing. I sent him some of my tunes and it went from there really.
We’re both passionate about the music and have a similar outlook on the type of D&B we like. I had all ready heard some of the stuff Flexout was putting out and felt I could contribute to the label
What’s your background in D&B?
I have loved D&B from the very first time I heard it: the power and energy of the music just grabbed my attention and I have been hooked ever since!
Since?
I’ve been listening to D&B and jungle from about the age of 15 but started making it about eight years ago. It was just for fun at first but the more I do it the more I love it and a couple of years ago felt I was actually good enough to maybe start putting some stuff out there.
When you listen to D&B do you instantly want to… create it?
Of course when I hear D&B it makes me wanna make music. I listen to a lot of D&B for inspiration and to hear what producers are doing with the sound etc, but I also listen to a lot of other stuff too. I like all sorts of music and think it’s healthy to draw ideas and influences from as many different genres and types of music as possible.
Such as?
I can get ideas from all sorts of things, I can hear sounds in a film or people using tools at work which will give me ideas for things to put in tunes. I feel that D&B, as with a lot of other types of electronic music, is kind of… like rhythmic sound design rather than traditionally what people would think of as making music
What killers lurk in your box?
I’m loving Fre4knc at the moment: he’s making some really good tunes I got a few of them not too long ago. I also got the Contemporary EP on Critical which is really cool.
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