What the HELL is that devious, wobbly, criminally-infectious thing doing the rounds? ‘Lineformer’ by the interestingly-monikered Tom SMall. That’s what.
As unshakable and un-put-downable as any good paperback and as weighty as a stack of them… turns out there’s a story attached to the tune too.
Time to catch up to talk about the super-slick, slightly ‘sci-fi’ Lineformer EP not to mention the line between the Arctic Monkeys & Dvořák!
I was pretty hurt the first time I heard ‘Lineformer’ and Bailey’s been featuring it a lot. But first things first when did you get bitten by D&B?
Well, it started like five or six years ago. I tried to mix music together with my friend and after a while, I became interested in production, because I wanted to make my own sounds. So I produced music for about five years and at the start of it, I produced kind of techno or tech-house, house stuff, something like that.
What was the key moment though, was there one?
I suddenly heard Alix Perez’s album 1984. It is so amazing: this thing brought me to D&B, & since this moment I produce this music.
Many overlook that release: one of the best D&B albums ever! What was next for you?
The really big moment was my first release on Deafmuted and of course a collab with Bredren for Dispatch recordings. Which lead to some releases on Broken Audio, Zenith Music and Intelligent recs.
When did ‘Lineformer’ come about?
At the start of last summer.
And it’s part of an ep on Dust Audio?
Yes: the whole EP is called Lineformer and it’s named because that tune. That track is really a kind of personal thing, and it was my friend who inspired me to make this tune because she is an amazing person. So, I really tried to put in some pressure, movement and little bit of airiness as well, as thats like our relationship, but everything fits together. It’s really hard to explain this, but it works.
What else will we find on the Lineformer EP?
The next tune is ‘Affected’ and this is a completely different thing. It has been made more for the dancefloor, but keeps the story in line. It’s kind of a half beat track with steppy kicks and a tight snare, you can hear that movement.
How does it come together on the live front? I feel you’re a bit lethal in this dept.
I DJ out and when I do I always try to create a story, so I usually start with some easy, but really dark and deep stuff and then escalate it into harder sounds. So, at the end of my set, you can hear deep/neuro tunes like Dispatch sounds, Invisible etc.
So as an artist what lessons have you learned in the last year or two that have helped you develop?
I think that I’ve simply learnt the way of thinking, patience and some things from production and mastering as well, but I enjoying this, it makes me happy.
So what music in general inspires you?
I listen to almost everything. I really like film music/soundtracks, late 40s or 60s, rock’n’roll etc. Even classical music inspires me, I really like Chopin and of course Antonin Dvořák. And I love Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and Keane.
Tell me what’s in the pipeline for you this year?
Well, I hope that collab with mr. A-Cray will come out this year on Im:Ltd with two other tunes separately. And I’m working on a single for Basher’s Proximity
What Names To Watch have you got?
You should check Fre4knc, he is badboy. Also Bredren, MTWN, M-Zine & Scepticz, Ower etc.
Shouts to my family, because they always support me in this. Shouts to my friends, bosses from labels, where I had chance to release some music. And Big shouts to my fans. Thanks a lot for your support.
Dust Audio