‘We visualised the stuttered Reece basslines as laser beams being fired in a full blown intergalactic space battle’
After making interstellar waves via strong releases on Viper since 2014, Insomniax have worked solidly – well it’s evident by their name – to arrive in 2016 with ‘Uridium’ and ‘Longest Night’. We made contact with the crew and got up to date with them…
Hello. So it looks like 2016’s off to a strong start for you?
2016’s has kicked off to a good start, it’s been busy for us so far. Lunar Dub – on Viper’s DnB Annual 2016 – has been doing well, I think it was nine in the Beatport D&B chart last time we looked. The feedback for the new single ‘Uridium’ and ‘Longest Night’ couldn’t be much better!
First off tell us about you and what first ever stung you about D&B?
We both wanted to get samplers as soon as we heard jungle hardcore in the early 90s, as kids it took a few more years to be able to actually afford the equipment. In that time we had messed around on other people’s kit and gone to a few raves.
So we were both hooked on the going to the events and on chopping up beats right from the start of the jungle movement.
… btw are you actually insomniacs? Does it imply late nights? Not good when you have an early start next day I find.
Ha ha yeah, we both constantly suffer from sleep deprivation which is why the name was so fitting. It’s something that we’re used to after so many years of it, and don’t expect that we’ll be getting more sleep anytime soon either!
‘Uridium’… it’s a great title: does it tie in with the cool – and slightly menacing – cover art?
Thanks, the track is named and themed after a classic commodore 64 video game from the 1980s, which is a space-age shoot-em up game.
Yeah, it definitely ties together with the art. The designer was great and took our vision of the sci-fi, space-wars feel that we were looking for and we think it looks great.
Can you take us through ‘Uridium’?
We wanted to go for something that sounded really sci fi, big and aggressive.the intro started off with atmospheric pads to give it an out of space feel, leading into the arpeggiated riser section which gives the track a certain intensity and feeling that something huge is about to go down. Then the drop.
We visualised the stuttered Reece basslines as laser beams being fired in a full blown intergalactic space battle.
What inspired ‘Longest Night’? Was it insomnia… ?
Longest night was a very long time in the making. We spent a good month just working on the string section which in the end you can hardly hear! We spent so much time staying up late trying to get the track right and finished, so taking that in to consideration and the vocal in the track the title just made complete sense.
What’s a few tunes that would fit in with this tune, in your mind: similar vein, similar effect on the floor… or ones that simply influenced?
Here are a few tunes that fit the feel of Uridium:
Origin Unknown ‘Lunar Bass’ Ram Records
Andy C & Shimon ‘Quest’ Ram Records
Bad Company ‘Hornet’ BC Recordings
Emperor ‘Monolith’ Critical Records
Would you say that you’re evolving as producers… maybe if you look back and compare a few years back and what you were into?
We feel like we’re constantly evolving as producer – especially now. We’ve both always written many different kinds of styles and continue to do so. Since being signed to Viper we’ve really learnt to pay more attention to the detail which ultimately makes the production better.
The best bit is – we can get ideas on the canvas a lot quicker than a few years back.
What’s next for 2016?
Viper has definitely shot up in the big-label ranks in the last few years and 2015 was the biggest year for the label so far, thanks to all the big artists on there. It’s a great label to be on, not just for our music but also because everyone that we work for and work with is so genuine.
We have several tracks that have been finished, as well as a few in progress. Also we have been working with some great artist on some collabs that we’re really excited about, so lots to come from the Insomniax in 2016!