Get ready: Manchester’s Quantum Mechanix have unleashed primal, arcane forces in the form of The Balrog. Yes: The Balrog. Say it out loud, you know you want to.
The Balrog.
Hi Quantum Mechanix. What’s a Balrog?
Thrash Pilot: Right, I named this tune so I’ll tell you. I liked Lord of the Rings, but it had nothing to do with that.
When me and my friends were about 17, we used to play paintball. In Manchester, in an indoor arena. Now, about closing time every night they would try and empty the place, but it just didn’t work, people would be hiding around and it was a nightmare for them.
So they invented ‘The Balrog’ He was the best shooter in the place, obviously he worked there so he was good, on stilts, so he was about eight foot tall, wearing a predator mask and armed with a machine gun in each hand.
At about 8pm all the lights would go off and you’d hear a scream. Then strobe lights would flash and it was every man for his f*cking self: the balrog was out and he was mercilessly gunning down EVERYONE…
That’s The Balrog to me, also it’s a monster from The Lord of the Rings.
Fractals: And the boxer from Street Fighter II. Also, my German teacher at high school was called Mrs Balrog.
I note the video treatment, it’s great.
Thrash Pilot: Yes. dLo Media have done the video for ‘The Balrog’, and I think perhaps ‘Darkfly’ is in the works too.
Tell us about conception of ‘The Balrog’ itself?
Thrash Pilot: Fractals started this one so I’ll let him answer. I added some amens and some arrangement. It was mainly him:
Fractals: this was one of those tunes that sort of wrote itself.
I was programming some bass sounds with Massive and ended up making this brutal, tearing, monstrous noise! It sort of evolved from there and sort of became our nod to ‘Alien Girl’.
Once I had a basic structure I fired it over to Thrash Pilot: he’s the musical one so I know he’ll always be able to add some interesting musical decoration, chord progression, something to tie the parts together or even another bassline if that’s what’s needed.
Thrash Pilot: That’s very kind, but you made the bassline, which is the tune Jim. This tune at least.
I feel like you have a shared love of messed up, quite dark imagery. Are there films in your early life that messed with you?
Thrash Pilot: Blade Runner, and Alien for me.
I love the original trailer to Alien: I remember seeing that at my dad’s house on the betamax for Demon Seed, I was obessed by that weird noise that just builds a sense of tension.
We both love sci fi, but Fractals turned me onto Blade Runner, a superb film with a superb soundtrack. Breathtaking.
We used to sit watching Dark Days which is brilliant and has DJ Shadow on the soundtrack after gigs; I’ve always loved darker music.
Fractals: Yeah and that point where sci-fi and horror meet has some amazing films and stories! Event Horizon and Sunshine both spring to mind for me. So much atmosphere…
Thrash Pilot: Event Horizon was pants though wasn’t it?
Fractals: It had it’s moments.
Thrash Pilot: OK Enough said.
And what continues to? What current horror do you like?
Thrash Pilot: Have you seen The Babadook? Jesus…
For films though I love the 80s.
The greatest 80s film is Cobra. Amazing, so many things were done first in that movie: eating a pizza with scissors is just one of them. Also Death Wish and The Warriors…
Can you take us through ‘Phase Shift’? I love that one.
Thrash Pilot: I think Fractals started that one too: Jim?
Fractals: this one came after ‘The Balrog’. More bass programming experimentation to start with I think. I remember wanting something a bit more flowing and less fierce this time, but getting stuck after coming up with a little sixteen bar loop, so at that point I fired it over to Thrash Pilot and he basically constructed a proper tune from the bare bones.
Thrash Pilot: It came in bare bones but the way Fractals mixed it made the tune work. It started off very simple and became more complex as it went along.
What’s another on the ep you’d discuss?
Thrash Pilot: ‘Darkfly’ started as a completely different tune by me, I sent it Jim and was at first disappointed that he’d removed so much, but that’s what I need. If you listen to any of my solo tunes, I get carried away, I need an anchor.
Fractals is a superb anchor, and it helps that he’s an excellent producer too. He sent it me back and I changed it again. A real mash up ‘Darkfly’ is.
Then we sent it to Callide to listen to and he pulled us up on using sample CDs for effects.
So we removed all the samples and made another version, and we’ve never used big samples since.
A real eye opener: when you’re an A&R guy, you listen to so many tunes that the sample CD samples just stand out too much
If I had a word of warning for any new producers it would be stay away from the obvious samples.
Fractals: we’ve always programmed all out bass parts from scratch but since that point we make pretty much everything ourselves, where possible. Gear permitting…
So to talk about Quantum Mechanix yourselves for a second, how did you form?
Thrash Pilot: Jim Fractals and I lived together when we were students and played at all the parties in Leeds, I released on a Manchester label called abstrakt and also on Nu Urban music as Morpheus, then Jim moved to Nottingham and eventually started releasing again and setting up Killscreen Recordings as Thrash Pilot.
Jim moved back to Manchester, had a family of his own, and we both started releasing on the label, eventually working as partners on music.
What things are happening up in your city in terms of music right now? D&B and non D&B. I recently heard Lonelady, I liked that.
Thrash Pilot: I’d say NB Audio is at the forefront of the Manchester sound at the min, heading up superb artists, like Dawn Raid, Semiotix, Chimpo, Tonn Piper and all the other guys. Also Dub Phyzix and his Estate crew are blazing it down.
Fractals: Manchester music is thriving. Soul:r and their night are still representing, as Jim said, Dub Phizix is killing it, and I’m really into DRS’s MCing style at the moment. On top of that NB are doing loads of stuff with some really exciting local artists…
Plus we have a hip hop album in the works with some local battle MC’s like Shcizaflow and his crew.
What tune is in your head right now?
Thrash Pilot: Xanadu ‘Ventricle’
Fractals: Boston ‘Go With Me’
Thrash Pilot: Ooooh that’s a good one. That now.
Any shouts?
Thrash Pilot: Adam at NBAudio and all the NBAudio family plus Doc Scott and dBridge for keeping the scene alive. Obviously my patient wife Sarah and my two beautiful daughters.
Fractals: My two year old and eleven month old sons who I test out new beats on. If they dance then I know it’s rollin!