Today we’re getting to know Pennygiles. A bearded D&B connoisseur located deep in the mid Welsh mountains, his deep, soul-touched grooves refuse to kowtow to any trend or flavour. Instead they come armed with a distinctive timeless feel that, as we said in our 13 For 2013 feature, can be easily compared to the early work of Calibre.
We thought there’d be an interesting story behind his name. But he’s already revealed in another interview that there isn’t. It’s really boring. But there’s plenty more to this man than a beard, a rural location and a distinctive name. Loads more, as we found out….
My latest release is…
“Rhodes Adrift. It’s an exciting release. Inform are a pretty new label and the guys behind it are really enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. So it’s great to work with them and know my music is in very safe hands. Plus Random Movement’s remixed it too. That’s a real honour.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boP___nP9vE
The best feedback I’ve ever had has been…
“The best feedback was also the scariest. I was in Fabric. A few months ago I went down to London to meet up with Mr Joseph and all those boys. I was standing in the corner of Room Two, minding my own business, and suddenly got a tap on my back. This guy with a heavy cockney accent was like ‘are you Pennygiles?’ I said ‘er… yeah.’ It turned out to be Bukem! It scared the shit out of me. I was like ‘how do you know who I am? How did you recognise me?’ He told me he was keeping an eye on me and I should keep on sending him tunes! Mad one. It was very surreal.”
I love sampling, but…
“I do limit myself to what I do with samples. Like I won’t use more than one main sample in a tune. But yeah, a lot of my tunes are sample-based. Whether it’s apparent – like a really obvious hook or vocal – or sometimes you won’t even know it’s a sample. Take the tune I made with Roy Green and Protone, the sample on that is so badly fucked up. It’s reversed and stretched beyond belief. That’s my favourite use of samples.
It’s all about texture. It sounds strange but I’m always looking for proper textures. Like a horn or glass smashing it can be made into a nice texture. That’s what I love about sampling.”
Some mad sample stories I can tell you are…
“There was this second hand record shop in town and they’d just had a whole bunch of things given to them. I asked if I could have a look through and I found the original Amen break! I couldn’t believe it. I asked him how much he wanted for it. He said ‘ah a quid’. My hands were shaking! Couldn’t believe it. I’m going to get it framed on day.
Another one is from this really old, dodgy fishing program. I was pretty high one night and ended up watching an episode that has this mad pad in the background. I thought ‘I got to sample that!’ I can’t tell you how many hours I spent on YouTube trying to find that clip. I found it though… And now I can’t tell you which tune it’s in.”
When I’m not deep in music…
“What do I do? I don’t know! This sounds really bad. I’m 24 living in the middle of Wales, there’s not a lot to do but make music. I’m a big movie freak. 80s B-movies, Escape To New York, Leon, Bladerunner… A standard choice for drum & bass lovers! I’m also a massive cooking fan. I love Greek food. I don’t know why, I’m not Greek or anything, but it just resonates with me. I love it.”
Something I’ve never told in an interview before…
“I used to play for Mid Wales rugby team. I gave up the ghost ages ago. I broke my shoulder and never played again…”
Watch out for Pennygiles at a discotheque near you…
Cardiff (Aperture @Clwb Ifor Bach) February 15
Bristol (Intuition @Tbk2) February 22
Cardiff – (Section5 @Aura) March 14
Rhodes Adrift is out now! Listen and download