Original Sin has casually drawn something as understated-yet-filthy as only he would know how, in the form of the Fire Inside ep on Playaz, featuring vocalists Koo and Ayah Marah: respectively quite luminescent and fire-y in their own capacities.
It’s simply an organic thing really: all that creative fire’s not going to be easily contained, is it?
One of the first things that strikes you about Fire Inside is the vocalist presence here: Ayah Marar and Koo… who I recognise from your recent past. Can I ask when the hookup with the vocalists came about? More than a ‘vocal detail’, these seems big to me: a big occasion. It’s a big ep!
Thanks! I wrote the vocal tracks this year. I met Ayah briefly when we were performing at the same event in Belgium. And I met Koo through Becky Hill whom I was approaching with a different track entirely at the time.
Was it good to work with them, two really different personalities?
It’s always good to work with other people: it helps keeps things fresh and brings a new angle on the track.
When I worked with Ayah it was a fairly standard procedure, I sent her a track and she wrote and recorded the vocal with one of her producers. They then supplied me with a guide accapella and raw stems of the vocal parts. From a technical perspective it was enjoyable to have such a great source to work from. Her voice has a lot of presence in the mix naturally and she can obviously sing very well.
When I work with Koo she usually comes to the studio in the UK as she lives fairly local again Koo has no problem tracking in one take and I think her voice has a very ethereal tone. Both methods work just fine and there are pros and cons to both. I’m sometimes concerned that my presence in the studio during the writing process could influence the session in some way or equally if I’m not there I might miss some accidental hook that I might want to explore.
Would you say you’ve changed a little bit on this ep, re the production… and is the title a clue about this? This is a big sound and a slightly different sound.
I’ve made tracks covering almost all angles of drum and bass way before the Fire Inside ep. I’m just continuing to do what I’ve always done. I have to write whatever I feel like writing or it’s going to end up feeling like a job!
I already have a bunch of brand new dancefloor tracks done and ready. I’m refusing to be put into a neat box right now and I’m sure some people will have issues with that.
I’m going to write whatever music I feel like, no doubt mistakes will be made but I have as much confidence great things will happen in the process too
What does ‘Function’ refer to? Makes me think of a sound system.
I’m afraid it’s just a word that picked out for no good reason!
OK! Moving on, ‘That’s Why’ floored me, can you talk about this tune, it’s filthy!
It’s a roller. I’d been looking through some of my old tracks and felt like making a little ‘revival’ beat. It’s obviously a nod to a track I did with my bro taxman in around 2009, ‘Seen’. I’ve been playing it every set for a while so I wanted to include it in the release
Speaking of the past, it’s 10 years since 2004 which was an ace year of D&B. Even THEN it seemed like it was a ‘modern’ phase of D&B, much in contrast to ten years before THAT, so how do feel: much changed for you? Business as usual? How have you changed?
My own goals as a producer have changed a lot since 2004, I mean, it’s a decade later. in 2004 I didn’t know a thing about the scene or the politics behind it and my taste in music has changed but I’ll still always have time for a good solid dancefloor banger!
It’s the same cut-throat, political melting pot of ego it was back then, except now we seem a little more in tune with the rest of the music community than before, we’re not so alienated and we have more commercial presence as a scene.
Major labels are currently plucking the bigger acts from the genre. I think it’s great: I have every intention of trying to take my career in music as far I can, so knowing that there is no limit to how much can be achieved is very motivating for me.
In short, D&B will always have a modern edge to it because it’s experimental by nature.
Back to the ep, let’s talk about the ‘Labyrinth’…
For me this EP (from a dancefoor and creative perspective) was all about ‘Labyrinth’. It’s the most popular track on the release by far.
It’s had good support from my peers. I had fun writing it. I used a lot of analog gear for the cinematic section and FX, something I’m doing more and more. Not just for synth sounds but signal processing too.
I got sick of coming across great sounds in Ominsphere (for example) and finding they were sampled from analog gear or filter plugins that are supposedly emulating a Moog filter.
Tell us more on that front.
I prefer to have as much control over the parameters of a sound as possible so I decided to get the real deal. I’m doing a lot more ‘out of the box’ work as opposed to ‘in the box’: it’s given me so much inspiration. The sound I got in the mix of ‘Labyrinth’ is something I’ve been wanting/trying to execute correctly for years.
OK, so what’s the best way to hear the Original Sin flex L.I.V.E?
I’m out every weekend and have been most of the year, watch my twitter for updates! Big up to everyone who’s been supporting me!
