Bristol institutions don’t come more fully immersed in D&B as Intrigue and to celebrate 12 years of the club, Intrigue 12 is dropping March 16.
And names involved? Break, Randall, Zero T, Jaybee, Random Movement, a certain Ben Soundscape – and that’s along with an appearance by The Insiders, of which he’s a part – it’s pretty formidable. And the cover’s nice too. So to get the lowdown from the West Country, we chatted with Ben Soundscape post-haste.
FIRST off, how do you work out the inclusion and running order of so many great tracks?
It came together pretty naturally. I spent about six months selecting and preparing the tracks for the album. The tricky part was choosing the running order.
I had to sit down and place them in different orders till I got what I wanted. I started by choosing the first and last tunes, ‘We Ramping’ and ‘After Hours’ and went from there. I thought those were great intro and outro tunes.
I wanted the album to really flow from one tune into the next, and create a bit of a journey for the listener.
There’s a Lurch here: is this the same Lurch from the Bristol scene of yore?
No. It’s a new guy from Caterham called Lurch.
He sent me a couple of tracks out the blue last year, and I was blown away by ‘Body Language’. Had to snap it up for the label. Originally it was gonna come out as a single with ‘Waves VIP’ but I thought it worked better on the album instead. Look out for more from him on Intrigue soon.
Break’s tune ‘Chainmail’ is amazing, don’t even know how to describe it! It’s genre-elusive…
Yes, Break has been a long-time friend of mine and contributor to Intrigue Music. He had the A side of our second release back in 2009, with a track called ‘Out of Nowhere’. He also takes care of mastering some of the releases, and recently mastered the Intrigue 12 album. I asked him for a track for it and he delivered this piece, something really different for him. Like you said, genre-elusive. Big up to Break!
The Ben Soundscape and Randall tune, wow… tell us about how Randall came to be involved. I know he has a Bristol connection.
Randall is another good mate, also based in Bristol, and came round my studio one day to work on a tune. He brought MC Supa along with him, who’s from Birmingham.
We chatted about ideas for what we were gonna do, and checked a few samples out. Then we got stuck into a few Desperados and got on a vibe, and the track flowed from there. It all came together pretty quickly actually. Within a few weeks it was being slammed at Fabric, which was a real honour for me.
A certain Ben Soundscape is here in a few capacities I note! You are active sir to say the least!
Yes, trying to be! I’ve got about twenty tunes that are 80-90% finished, they just need that final push to get ‘em done. The mixdown is always the hardest part, and the most frustrating! My tunes on the album are collabs with different guys from all over.
Everyone brought their own vibe to it, which I loved, and I’m really happy with how they’ve all turned out. They’ve all been tried and tested in clubs and have been going down well.
btw good pic below, where was that taken?
It’s San Francisco. Amazing skyline in that city. It’s quite like Bristol as a city, very hilly!
Back to the album, Jaybee’s tune is a cracker, can you tell us who TRAC and Ella Jones is?
Yes Jaybee is doin’ it right now. TRAC is an MC from NYC who has worked with a lot of the top producers in the scene, he’s on it.
Ella Jones is a singer from the UK. They’ve come together on ‘Holding Pattern’ and produced something very unique, with two great singers on the same tune.
Your tune with Random Movement is totally extraordinary: head-noddingly great.
Thanks! Mike is another good buddy who stayed with me last September to work on music. ‘Love I Gave’ seems to be a very popular tune, I just got word that Marky is playing it, as well as Friction. We both couldn’t be happier! There’s another new one we’ve done as well, we’re just working out the plans for it.
The Rogreen/Protone/Pennygiles/Jaybee ‘Wake Up’, have to say this is a personal fave…
‘Wake Up’ was a big tune on Intrigue Music last year. Roygreen and Protone started the track in Austria, and then they got Pennygiles involved. They also had some live vocals laid down by a girl called Nina.
Then, when I was in the early stages of putting together ‘Intrigue 12’, Jaybee asked if he could remix it. So I got hold of the parts and sent them across. Within a few weeks we had a truly fantastic remix, ready for the album.
The Insiders are here and with a wicked fresh sound I think! The slightly electro vibe. Can you tell us what you guys set out to do?
We wanted to create something deep and moody, stripped back, and a bit of a groover for the late night dancefloor. ‘After Hours’ is one of our new batch we’ve been working on. Expect to see more from us over the coming months on Intrigue and other labels.
There’s a track called ‘Keep On’ coming on Mac II in April so look out for that!
So from ‘then to now’ as this is an anniversary collection: what are some contrasts you’d make from those early days to now? What have you noticed has changed?
A lot has changed over the years for sure. I would say overall the crowds have become more open to hearing other styles of D&B. I would also say the music has diversified in incredible ways. In the past year there has been a drastic change in DJing – people are now using USB more than ever before. It’s great as it saves a lot of hassle, whilst being good for the environment. Gone are the days of piles and piles of CDs stacked up everywhere!
OK Ben, any shouts?
Thanks to you for the interview! I’d also like to say massive shouts to everyone who’s supported Intrigue over the years, both the club and the label. My family and friends. Everyone who’s come to an Intrigue event. All the DJs and MCs who’ve performed.
All the artists on the label, and everyone on ‘Intrigue 12’ who makes this compilation our best release yet!
Massive respect to each and every one of you.
Tracklist:
Randall & Ben Soundscape feat. MC Supa ‘We Ramping’
Lurch ‘Body Language’
Break ‘Chainmail’
Random Movement ‘Scotch Bonnet’ (Raw Q Remix)
Stereotype ‘Lost in Los Angeles’
Random Movement & Ben Soundscape ‘Love I Gave’
Raw Q feat. T.R.A.C. ‘NY State of Mine VIP’
RoyGreen & Protone feat. Pennygiles & Nina ‘Wake Up’ (Jaybee Remix)
Ben Soundscape & Superior Selectionz ‘Talk to Me’
Roygreen, Protone & Ben Soundscape ‘Dusk’ (Zero T Remix)
Jaybee feat. T.R.A.C. & Ella Jones ‘Holding Pattern’
The Insiders ‘After Hours’