Just back from a gig on the weekend in Brussels and bustling with creative energy: Nucleus & Paradox, the names to shake any true D&B to the core, here to discuss their latest: ‘Creator’ and ‘Ease Back’. Plus more: year-long albums, their ‘nod’ to the rave era and about 20 years deep in the Esoteric ethos…
How was the weekend and has there been a line up like that for some time? (see flyer, above) Surely got to have been some serious music drawn on the night? Was it good?
Nucleus: Yeah, it was really good.
It was a pleasure to have Equinox and Bailey with us under one roof for a Paradox and Scientific Wax label night as we’ve never done that before.
We’ve got to give big thanks to Mentality and Kickback in Brussels Belgium for hosting the label night for us, we might do another event next year too.
I have to ask as was hurt by the flyer and it made me think of art: who does your beautiful sleeve art?
Paradox: It’s a nice flyer, very ‘Esoteric Cube’-like I thought.
The Esoteric inner labels were designed by Sami Khan from Reinforced in 2002 and we updated the look plus a striking new 3mm spine art jacket.
We’re suckers for the physical products, no expense gets spared with our labels.
Tell us about Esoteric and the link with Samurai who I note is involved?
Nucleus: Esoteric Music is our collaboration label. We started the label when Reinforced began to wind down in the early 2000’s.
We had a hiatus in 2009 due to the fact that Dev’s year-long studio albums on Paradox and Arctic Music took priority but Esoteric is back in full swing and we’re loving every moment.
We were ready to relaunch last year but our vinyl distributor folded and left us in limbo, then Samurai Music Group approached us with a view to get Esoteric back in the stores so we signed a deal.
Paradox previously worked with the Samurai Red Seal label on a 12″ so a good relationship was already in place.
I hear that vinyl takes ages to press but Samurai always does it, you do it… is it true it’s a tricky medium? I always thought it was! I mean, for decades it has been a tricky prospect, not just ‘now’ as it were.
Paradox: The annual pain in the arse that is known as ‘Record Store Day’ has really slowed down production times like a snail, it’s incredible how it still kicks independent labels in the nuts annually and it’s here to stay it seems.
To be honest we could go on for hours about this topic as it’s so frustrating.
We’re trying to prepare well in advance but nothing ever goes to plan with cutting analogue plastic.
You bundling a shirt with this? Just asking! I like the look of Esoteric!
Nucleus: We did a t-shirt with the previous Esoteric release in May and we’re pleased to say that another Esoteric design will go on sale with the next #15 12″ early next year.
On to the music: ‘Creator”s a stealthy one, that amazing bass hiss, that wintery siren voice…
Paradox: Programming-wise ‘Creator’ rolls not too dissimilar to Trace’s ‘Sonar’.
The breaks carry a punch with subtle edits and this bass hiss you speak of is a deliberate distortion move that adds depth without sounding too angry.
The vocals are a nod to the rave days.
The Esoteric catalogue of 28 titles are all different and ones that we both consider our best collaboration work.
After 20 years of Nucleus & Paradox we can’t see ourselves stopping them really.
Back to Live, do you DJ as such or do you get other more involved gear in there? Like hardware? If you don’t but had the chance, would you do some form of Live Thing?
Paradox: I’ve only ever performed Live PA’s and never gone down the Dj route. I’ve had 1200’s for decades but not used them for mixing at all. I prefer PA’s alongside Nucleus DJ sets as then we get our complete spectrum across.
Nucleus: Well, I’ve been DJing from 1986 since the early B-boy days. I’ve been crate digging from then spinning Funk, Disco and House to Hip Hop and Dub plus D&B and old-school Jungle. PAs aren’t for me; I’ll leave that to Dev.
Take us into ‘Ease Back’. I feel am in the late 90s in this one, it’s a wicked vibe, proper late night city flow and the synths are the stars here. I love the melody and the way the bass simply just pins it, pure D&B!
Nucleus: We’ve done a few melodic AA titles on Esoteric such as ‘Labyrinthine’ and ‘Zenith”s Core so ‘Ease Back’ fits into the mould as the track title suggests.
That’s a good assumption there with late nights as for us driving through flared-light city streets sums it up well.
What’s been a highlight of 2015?
Nucleus & Paradox: Doing our ‘Blade 9/Break North’ 12″ on Metalheadz was one of many highlights as we were able to include an A2 poster version of the jacket sleeve which really rounded off the project from a recording artist perspective.
What final thing would you tell us to look out for from you?
Nucleus & Paradox: We’re going full throttle with Esoteric next year and spreading our brand of B-Boy culture with 12″s on Samurai Music and Metalheadz plus a special vinyl-only album on Paradox Music due out in March 2016.
