Tyke as always delivers a swift, sharp shock: standard, making you realise how much you love the brash energy of D&B, never more so than on the live front on which the man is formidable… there’s a mix at the end of this spot to back it up.
But wait… is that ALSO the point of the title of the new ep on Playaz: Closed In? As in “Locked In, Deep In The Mode, Lost In Music”? I put it to him right away!
What’s the title Locked In about, Tyke sir?
The title and the track was all about people, life and the music scene these days. I just found that people in general seemed to be becoming more and more closed in, keeping to themselves and their own and the sense of community in the UK especially London is disappearing quickly.
I believe It’s also infected the D&B scene whereby people seem to have closed in to their own scenes and it’s all been separated into sub genres and people now are so fussy about what they listen to without given the rest of the music a chance. D&B to me is D&B – one sound.
Amen to THAT! I was initially wondering if the title was about playing out; speaking of which, where’s some great spots to play?
In the UK, club-wise you will never top Fabric, and Playaz at Fabric is where it’s at!
I’ll always love the vibe in Germany, but I loved LA also, it’s up there as they are so passionate about their music.
OK: with Closed In here’s loads of variation here: the use of samples, the reggae feel, there’s to me a nod to old liquid funk, there’s ‘in your face material’ so what did you want to put out there with this ep, and with it, about Tyke?
When approaching a release I never really think about how I will be perceived: I just try to make tunes and see what comes of it… in my eyes the more a producer thinks the less freedom comes out in what they do.
I think I’ve always had variation in my music but I’ll admit this ep has a lot more of it, but this wasn’t pre-planned or sought after, it’s just what happened when I was in the studio.
Approaching the tunes, ‘Bloody Mess’ gave me a smile…
Ha ha, it’s a really funny track in terms of the vocal sample but again like all my tracks, it just came together.
I was experimenting with the drums and the bass and the sample just seemed to fit. Around this track I wasn’t taking it too serious and I always like to have a bit of laugh when sampling. It’s more the guy’s voice and expression that catches my ear than the actual words. Some tracks you just can’t take seriously!
What’s another tune you’d talk us through?
‘It Came From The Sky’ is a similar one to ‘Buzzards’ in the sense that it wasn’t an idea I was to keen on but was pushed to finished it by Hype who really liked it… I really couldn’t hear what he was hearing and was uncomfortable with it.
I mean it was experimental in the sense that mix-wise there was no fitting it together as the drums were built in an off-key way and the bass just didn’t make any sense!
But I’m glad I finished now as it I believe it captured what I was after which was a sense of eeriness and a little brother for ‘Buzzards’.
There’s work here from the Prestige who I am a big fan of, what was it like to collab?
Well we always try and work together when we can and have done for a long while now! It’s great, he’s a good friend and very talented, we just really bounce well off each other.
Bailey mentioned the awesome spread of styles and vibes he witnessed you put down on the live front (at Serotone in Brighton), so what do you aim to bring live? What is your approach to the set?
That means a lot coming from him, he’s a great DJ and has an exceptional ear for sound! Recently I’ve came into my own DJ wise and settled. I’ve started to play what I want people to hear. I approach is set a little differently but not much, I just try to enjoy myself by playing what I like and hope everyone else gets on my vibe!
On the live front is it spontaneous, what you want to do… do you evaluate tunes for the set beforehand?
I don’t really go that deep to be honest, but sometimes when I get a new tune through I know that it will work in my set and what with. So it’s just fitting it in.
My thoughts are mostly with producing so the live side only comes into play a couple of hours before the show!
Images: Chelone Wolf
Tyke mix
