Jamie hooks up with the incredible DJ, producer and party animal Ly Da Buddah to talk about music, art and vibes – a bucket load of vibes. Aside from all of that – together with his friend Void they are giving you, the readers, a FREE DOWNLOAD!
2018 was a busy year for you production wise. For those that don’t know, what were the highlights and what went down?
“It began to get really busy with a release on the Serial Killaz ‘Mixtape Vol 1’ compilation in December 2017 featuring Cue and Mystic Dan. Then I released the ‘Revolution EP’ (with remixes by Audiomission and Agro) and ‘The Whip’ with Void. I also had the honour to do Kartoons 010 for Nicky Blackmarket. Big Up! I did a Remix for Dushi Dushi Dushi out on Urban Wildlife and started my own label Real Vibes with Mystic Dan. We had 13 releases in 2018 on our label including ‘Bass for my Shisha’ and ‘High Peak’. Other highlights are the ‘Time Traveller EP’ with Lee Scratch Perry and the wicked ‘Rolling’ Remix by Dutta.”
Massive vibes I bet! Talking of which, what’s your definition of a bucket load of good vibes? How do you create these when playing a DJ set?
“You get what you give. I love to party hard and it doesn’t matter if I play for thousands of people at Radikal Styles Festival in Colombia or in my hometown Braunschweig where I do a monthly night, since 24 years in the same small underground club called Brain. It’s all about the vibes. People say sometimes I look a little crazy when I play. I’m just feeling it and letting go.”
Taking things slightly further back to 2017. You signed something different to Nicky Blackmarket’s Kartoons which went down surprisingly well. Was this always your intention to push something out that wasn’t ‘the norm’ as such?
“I like diversity. I play and produce many styles. Most of my tunes are dubwise rolling drum and bass. But you can hear my roots, from punk to reggae, in every tune. Sometimes I’m in a deeper and sometimes in a wild mood. I did the ‘Beastmode EP’ in a special moment and I think it reflects that.”
‘Rub A Dub’ has been doing big things on dub with support from a ton of A list DJs. What made you want to give this away for free when you could have easily put this out on plenty of labels?
“Void and I did this track and we wanted to release it fast. Just as it is. We are lucky that he’s just sitting next to me and can say some words about himself and why we did it like this.”
Void: “It was quite easy to make this collab with Lyda. I’ve sent him some stems and a day later I got this intro with the rub a dub vocal and those minimal jump up drums. That set the vibe for the track and we both knew, that only a foghorn bass could match it! We both really loved the track and didn’t wanted to lose momentum so we decided to make it. A good friend of Lyda, Dennis Gabbana made the cover, we tried it multiple times in our sets, changed a little bit of the low end in the track and decided to release it for free. Everything really worked out fine and we were quite sure that some of our friends would like the tune but it grew quite fast on SoundCloud and we got great feedback from supporting DJs. We really did not expected that we would reach so many people in a short time.”
Music and artwork always seem to link together hand in hand. Was this always a natural flow for you? Do you listen to drum and bass when creating these masterpieces?
“Most of my friends from back in the days are doing graffiti and other art. I focus on the music, most of the graphic design comes from Dennis Gabbana, who is a close friend, wicked illustrator and the guy I’m doing an online shop with for our psychedelic, junglistic urban art.”
Check out the website here.”
Fog horn bass was a thing in 2018, do you think it will carry on licking paint off the walls in 2019 or are we ready for something new or something old this year?
“If you do something good it will always work, timeless. With ‘Rub A Dub’ we have one of the biggest elephants in our yard. Nonetheless, at the moment you hear many fog horns.
The sound is so special that people will get bored fast. Producers will switch.
It’s always an up and down of deeper or harder and slower or faster. The more colours and healthy influences we use, the better it gets.”
Talking of old, if you had the opportunity to remix a classic from the past, what would it be and why?
“I’ve already done some, for example all my Beatles bootlegs. And there are too many to list all of them.”
Bootlegs.. Everyone is at it at the moment. Do you have an opinion on this touchy subject? Have you heard any of your tracks receive the imitation treatment?
“It can go very well and very wrong. The opinions and emotions about bootlegs can rise extremely. You always should pay respect by sending your bootleg to the original artist and mention them if you put it online.”
The UK scene right now is as popular as ever and the global success of drum and bass pretty evident. If you had the chance to play anywhere in the world for a few hours, where would it be and why?
“Big up everyone for doing so much for drum and bass. I’m really thankful that I can live from my music and have the chance to visit so many different countries. If I could bring my friends I’d choose a warm place in the jungle with a nice view over the sea and no mosquito’s around!”
Grimey bassment or huge, open air festival?
“Both. First the festival and for after hour – the grimey basement.”
What’s next for you and your crew? Any secret DJ dates on the horizon? Any collabs?
“Void and I did a new one called ‘Sound Of The Streets’ (out in the end of May on 40Hz). Next week I’ll release a tune called ‘Yoda Buddah’. I’ve a collab with T:Base, we’ll release a maxi on a new label called United Bass in June. I have two tracks on an upcoming compilation that is supporting the amazon jungle, with many well known artists, out on Masterpeace. Dutta and I are sitting on two new collabs and there are many surprises I can´t talk about now.”