Get to know Lynx. Hardly new to the scene, the Portsmouth-based producer has been perfecting his craft since 2002. One of Hospital Records’ newest recruits, he’s just released his third album (and debut LP on the label) entitled I Am Lynx. A versatile blend of forward-thinking productions and some seriously wicked collaborations, it’s truly an impressive release. Enough chatter, we caught up with the man himself…
Ez Steve! What’s on the agenda today? What does a typical day for Lynx look like?
Always start the day with a cup of tea, then maybe a second cup. If it’s a good day then I’m in the studio writing tunes. If it’s a bad day I’m at home pretending to write music or doing something else ‘important’, where I’m actually being distracted by the internet, TV, phone, Xbox etc. I don’t have any of that when I actually go to the studio, the world takes a back seat and it’s all about the music.
Straight to business: You’ve just released your debut LP on Hospital Records – I Am Lynx. What an intriguing release. Huge congrats are in order. How did the project come about and did you approach it with a particular mindset?
Thanks! I didn’t have a particular mindset as such for the whole project. When I’m writing a track I have no idea what the outcome will be. As I build the track I let the elements in there inspire my next move. I find it more fluid and exciting than planning ahead. I’m an impulsive producer who often gets fed up with the last couple of tunes I did, and go completely off the rails and go the opposite direction stylistically. It keeps things interesting! Early on Hospital were happy for me to write whatever came out – so they could see how I work and vice versa. They soon found out how unpredictable my productions can be. From their point of view I think this album has been all about getting a cohesive body of work together as an album.
At what point do you decide, “Ok, I’m ready to make an album…” Is it purely an over-abundance of material that you think you could work with, or do you feel like you need to be mentally prepared to tackle such a project as well?
I easily had enough music to release an album with Hospital the moment I signed with them. It was more a case of us picking the right album rather than having enough material to work with. When I signed with the label I had a catalogue of over 150 tracks. Probably around half were d&b tunes. However I didn’t want to just release an album with my back catalogue of unreleased music.
Did it take a while to finish then?
It’s hard for me to pinpoint an exact starting point for the album because I’m always writing material and generally not with any particular idea what will happen with it. I started writing tunes knowing I would be signed with Hospital around the beginning of 2014. In terms of writing new music for the album it was between 9 months and a year of writing. However a couple of tunes were taken from my back catalogue of unreleased music. Ghost Train & Born Game are proper old. 7 years old! I was a bit uncomfortable with that at first to be honest but it seems people have warmed t0 them.
7 years old and still sounding fresh! Take us through the album art… Seems like a flashback to your childhood? Love the baby pics, and your hair in the bottom left… 😉
Haha yes, it’s a flashback to my youth in general from family to films, kids tv programmes, inspirations and a healthy dose of randomness. I really didn’t want to do another moody album cover and this seemed like a nice honest approach to the visual side of the album.
Couple of wicked collabs on there – my favourite has to be with Marcus Intalex on Ghost Train. That wobble is straight-up naughty! And love the chopped vocals. How’d the link with Marcus come about and how did the tune come together?
Thanks! Me and Marcus go way back when I released my first single Global Enemies with Soul:R in 2007. I also release my first album The Raw Truth on there too in 2009. Ghost Train was originally written for that album way back in 2008. I had sent it over to Marcus at the time and it wasn’t far off the finished article you hear now. Marcus added the vocal snippets in the intro. We both were never sure about the tune so we sat on it until Hospital picked up on it recently for my album I Am Lynx. Both myself and Marcus Intalex are still a little shocked it’s on it, and even more shocked people are loving it!
Must have been incredible working with someone who you’ve no doubt looked up to for years?
Sure, Marcus is always fun to write with, he is pretty relaxed and happy to go with the flow when writing, I like that.
Did you learn a lot from him, or did you have a thing or two to teach him yourself?
Over the years I have learnt a lot about the industry from Marcus. He tells it how it is and that’s cool in my book. As for learning from each other in the studio, collaborations always bring new ideas it doesn’t matter who it is you’re working with. I do recall in a studio session years ago he said that myself and Calibre are the best producers he has worked with, was nice to hear at the time.
The ultimate compliment! Really diverse material throughout the album.. From smooth, ambient numbers like ‘Circles’ and ‘Only She Knows’, to rollers like ‘Chord Time’ and experimental stuff like ‘Genesis’… There is truly something for everyone on this LP. Do you feel that as you get older and more comfortable as a producer it gives you the freedom to experiment with your sound and see where it takes you?
I have always experimented with my sound. It’s quite often the case that you only hear what gets released, it would have been very interesting to know what people would have thought of the new music I wrote that never made the cut, but I guess I’ll never know. It would have been even more diverse had I totally chose the tracklisting, however that’s what Hospital are there for to help me build a coherent and exciting album and I respect their experience when it comes to that.
Clap Track… Not even sure what to ask you about it, but I love it and I want you to know that… 😉 It makes me want to drive out on a wide plain somewhere for some reason… Tracks like this scream ‘LYNX’ to me. You bring a real interesting flavor to Hospital and it’s been really interesting to see you settle in to your sound.. Do you feel like you’ve progressed a lot in the last couple of years?
Hmm, I think I have progressed yes, but I don’t like thinking in terms of ‘levels’ and all that. I do however always need to feel like I’m learning and pushing my own boundaries, otherwise what’s the point? Clap track for example is a great groove track and awesome to drop as a DJ, but not really a track that shows progression as an artist. Some might say its Disco Dodo all over again… Where as Drop That I listen back to and feel very happy with the result and how it pushed me as a musician, however it’s not a go-to DJ tune, it’s more of a song. That’s not to say either is better than the other they are just very different styles of tune.
Chord Time – Perhaps my favourite track on the LP… So many different layers.. Incredibly uplifting, and yet at the same time something melancholic about it in parts as well. Heart-wrencher for me. Is there a story behind it?
Yeah it does have that potential heart-wrenching feel to it. It’s always nice to know that your music has an emotional effect on the listener, much better than no feeling. There’s no story behind it as such. I always felt this track needed a vocal on it, to tell a story and convey that feeling into words. We tried out a couple of vocalists but it never totally stuck. I’d love to do a VIP with a vocal… any vocalists out there…
“Only She Knows” – Beautifully arranged and really shows a maturity in your production. Who’s that on vocals?
The vocal is written by Newsome, an electronic musician/vocalist from Brighton who I also collaborated with on my RAM release Take Back the Night. Newsome’s writing skills were far beyond his years as a vocalist so I got a talented blues singer from America to re-vocalize the track. I felt terrible for doing it as Newsome had done such an awesome job anyway, but thankfully he understood my reasoning and also really liked the end result.
And so, who is she Steve, and what does she know? 😉 Have you been bitten by the love bug?
Haha, quite the opposite. I have bitten and chewed out, loved, lost and run from a few crazy relationships too. I now happily reside in Singlesville, it’s a happy town where there’s little to no stress and you can do what you want, when you want, without having to answer to anyone!
Let’s turn our attention to the Hospital crew- you’ve been signed to the label for less than a year – how has the experience been so far? Such a family vibe over at the Hospital camp, must’ve been special to become a part of that family?
In general it’s been great so far. I have never really had a problem as an artist with the writing of music, or production. My downfall is promoting it and making the best out of what I have. Hospital are great with that. They are all a really friendly bunch of people too who are always on hand via mail or phone whenever they’re needed, it’s great to have that support. This first album has been a bit of a learning process for us all, I’m quite a stubborn artist (shouldn’t all musicians be?) who always knows best, and of course Hospital are an established label who always know best. Finding the middle ground has been a bit of a task but ultimately one that will get easier as time goes on.
One of your tunes that I was absolutely blown away by recently was ‘Captivity’ with DRS which appeared on his album Mid Mic Crisis – what an incredible track. How did that tune and the link with DRS come about?
Thanks! Yeah it was a really cool track to write. Pretending im Bob James (or someone like that) over a dubstep beat I made previously was great fun. I did the backing track 3 years ago now. I couldn’t really place it anywhere at the time. Fast forward a year or so and I was asked to record and edit the vocals for DRS’ album, which was really cool to do. I played the track to DRS in one of our recording sessions up in Manchester and he started writing to it straight away. We recorded and nailed the tune in a few hours.
Nicely done! It seems like you’re truly a master of all trades when it comes to production, do you experiment with a lot of other genres?
Yep I have done a lot of other genres of music but they rarely seem to go anywhere, it’s a shame as there are some awesome tunes I have in my catalogue that will never see the light of day. I mean who has the time to fully commit to having another alias and give it your all….? If I had my way i’d put it all under Lynx, it’s all me in the end, but I think it confuses the listener if done that way, which is a real shame as a lot of music just never gets heard.
Release it all I say… So what’s coming up next for you? Will you be taking some time to chill after all this, or straight on to the next project?
I never stop writing music, it’s a bit of a habit! I’ll certainly be writing another album with Hospital going forward but I’m not thinking about what comes next right now, I’m just happy and proud that the albums out there, enjoying the gigs and we will see what happens next.
Nice one. Before you go, give us a ridiculous fun fact about yourself that people may not know… Who are you Lynx?
When I‘m not making d&b beats I like listening to Neil Young. (yep that’ll be the header) 😉
Pure bait mate 😉 Final shout outs?
Thanks to all collaborators on the album! Master X (who is now my MC at gigs), Sense MC, Bagshot, Marcus Intalex, Newsome, Zero One, Malibu and the Hospital Records crew for making it happen!
I Am Lynx is out now. Get it here.
Follow Lynx on Facebook / Twitter / SoundCloud.
