Ending one year with two bags of grass and starting the next with a revelation that you’re a pimp…. Modified Motion and Faction are doing life right.
No change there, then: with Dynamic Audio hitting eight years of big bass business this year, and a repertoire that flexes across all shades and flavours of drum & bass (and beyond if you count their secret multi-genre experiments)
With the release of It’s Spelled P.I.M.P still fresh in our playlists we caught up with Modified Motion to see where the dynamic duo are at… And where they’re heading!
What’s good Modified Motion? How’s 2015 treating you so far?
2015 so far has been amazingly brilliant and a little bit crazy. Seeing in the new year with 2 Bags Of Grass at number was next level… I don’t think we ever thought that it would get the positive reaction to the extent it did.
We’ve been working hard, locked away in the studio for a lot of 2015 so far and we have so many unbelievably exciting things in the pipeline, I won’t say too much as I don’t want to jinx things but to say I’m excited for what the rest of the year has in store is an understatement!
Tell us everything about Dynamic Audio… Its roots, its future and everything in between!
Wow Everything!!!??? Where shall I start…? Okay, Dynamic Audio is the record label we started in 2007, it was originally intended as a platform for our own music; the tech jump-up hybrid sound that we love producing… Although as producers we try to continually explore and push the boundaries of our sound and the sounds and styles D&B has to offer. We have always been multi genre producers (often under pseudonyms) and as the label grows we intend to broaden Dynamic Audios horizons release wise. I absolutely do not believe in pigeonholing either our sound or anybody else’s music we release on the label. That’s the beautiful thing about drum and bass and electronic music in general; it’s the freedom to be creative. We fully intend to use that freedom to produce music that we love…
As a label Dynamic Audio is going from strength to strength. We have a superb team that work with us on the label side of things and this year will see releases from other major players in the scene, some next level remixes as well as releases from fresh talent that are starting to rise through the ranks. Exciting times!
It’s Spelled P.I.M.P is finally out…Are you and Faction pimps on the side?
Well, I can’t speak for Faction but I’m probably the least pimp like person you can meet. The name was actually supposed to be just a working title but somewhere along the line it ended up sticking. I guess because it’s kind of a pimping tune. Haha.
It has the hallmarks of a timeless jump up tune. Where do you think jump up is at in 2015?
It’s in a transitional period, I mean jump up seems to get a lot of stick at the moment, but there are actually some really amazingly strong tunes and producers coming through right now.
What do you think the biggest differences are in jump up and jungle today compared to say, 10 years ago?
Dilution: you know even 10 years ago the technology wasn’t available to everybody to make electronic music. But now, if you want to, you can easily access the means to produce dance music and I think that this does two things… It means that there is a huge amount of new music being released that isn’t always of the quality that it should be (that’s where the dilution comes into it)…. But it also means that there are producers coming through that are fresh and exciting and producing high quality tracks that wouldn’t have been able to access the tools to do that before. Also the music moves so much quicker, our society as a whole is so much more disposable and I think the music reflects that fact.
Amen! Let’s rewind to 2 Bags Of Grass. Love the Fear & Loathing sample! Tell us how that release came about…
It was one of those classic studio moments that really just started as a mess about. We really wanted to make something that had massive swing to it and it just worked! We knew it was something different and to be honest we really didn’t know what peoples reaction to it was going to be, but well luckily they seemed to love it as much as us…..
Judging by your releases, you and Faction seem to work well in the studio together! How did you guys link in the first place? You had your own solo projects for years, right?
Yeah we had both had solo projects for a long time before we met through a mutual friend and just seemed to be on the same wavelength as mates and as producers. I think we complement each other’s sound and skill set and just seem to be able to work together seamlessly.
What else have you guys got cooking in the studio at the moment?
It would probably be easier to say what we don’t have cooking! As always, we are producing everything from the nastiest filthy jump up to the most beautiful melodic liquid and everything in between… As well as house and grime projects on the boil.
What’s your most treasured piece of kit to boil it all up on?
This might sound like a cliché but it’s my ears….
Hear hear! And if you could make a track with any producer right now, who would it be and why?
Quincy jones because he is simply fucking amazing. That man is pure musical genius, the off the wall album has to be my all-time favourite. Or Noisia because I think they are the technical champions. Oh my god Fabio too, in fact there are a lot of supremely talented producers out there we would love to work with.
What was your favourite album of last year?
Knife Party – Abandon Ship. It’s still my favourite album of the moment, the production values on it are just on point, musically it’s next level. Actually can I add them to producers I’d like to work with too?
On that album tip – can we expect a debut from you and Faction any time soon?
Well the EP is on its way, so I guess the next logical step has to be an album, our productivity is always high. But I have to say we are currently next level output wise and when the album comes out it will showcase our diversity as producers.
What else have you guys got planned for the year?
Well we have a release out on Viper, some other releases earmarked for other major imprints and lots of DJ’ing and production.
Any last shouts?
Lloyd innovation, Phantasy, DJ Ollie, Keya, Shimon and Bonnie, Original Sin, all the Viper crew, Dave from Wild West Records and, of course, my right hand woman Fiona.
It’s Spelled P.I.M.P is out now: Beatport, ITunes, Track It Down Juno