‘Do It Now!’ No: it’s not Arnold Schwarzenegger, covered in mud, harrassing some poor, tired, bedraggled Predator.
It’s Tyke.
Either way, the vocal sample is as random, as eerie & as drenched with THAT special atmosphere – drawn from the gutter world of B movies, cheap VHS soundtracks, even bad microphones (read on)… well, it can of course only be from Planet Playaz, where Tyke has touched down with this Uzi 9mm of an ep…
Tyke, ‘Do It Now’: can you talk us through how the tune came about? Cannot. Shake. It. Out. Of. Head.
I had the drums sitting there for a while unused, maybe four months. One day at the end of an eight hour session of not being able to make anything I stumbled on them. I quickly loaded them up and made the bass within an hour, to me it sounded really weak but my after playing it to a friend I decided to finish it.
I came back the next day after watching an obscure sci-fi which was probably one of the worse films ever and built everything around it.
‘Keep Shining’ is a wicked, wicked one, it gets the balance right, can you tell us about this work with vocalist Cat Knight?
It was a cool tune to work on. I’ve known Cat for years as she used to be in a relationship with one of my best mates. Me and Alex built the tune and I immediately though of her. I got her down to the studio and chose my worst mic…
Why was that?
I wanted to get a really ‘dirty’ feel to the vocal. I have now actually had a couple of mates ask which mic and pre did I use as they feel it has a really warm and saturated sound – I refuse to tell them!
‘Hold a Thought In Your Hand’ on the Do It Now ep… it really manages to be ugly and sort of ‘silky’ all at once! When did it come about?
This was the first track I finished at my new studio; it’s only a couple of months old. I struggled finishing a track at first at the new studio so this was a relief although I never played it out as wasn’t confident in it at all, although Hype kept saying how much he liked the groove of it.
I was then at Fabric and heard him play it… and it didn’t sound great to me!
I then took the plunge into the unknown and played it myself at a night in Bristol and it really went down well, and sounded powerful. I think for me I don’t listen to the tune so much anymore… I listen more for the sound.
But after hearing it a few more times I’m really glad we released it.
So speaking of the live thing, do you have a setlist in your head or does it change with each club you play?
A bit of both to be honest, I have a set list but every club and the people at the shows have their own vibe going down, so I try to watch and see what goes down early and slightly adjust the set to suit them a bit. But ultimately I’ll keep to the music I like and feel and am changing the set list every party.
What things find their way into your sets, what artists do you draw?
I’ll play anything as long as it makes me move. It’s all D&B to me.
Recently I’ve been playing a bit of Taxman, A asides, Annix, Magistrate, Heist & Pleasure, Break, Audio and Potential Badboy.
I feel when I listen to you that there’s a lot of personal enjoyment in creating the sounds you do… what do you enjoy about production?
The finishing touches, getting a sound. All the programming and so on is long: I like hitting final mixes with some outboard stuff: my choice of desk or mixer at the end of a session is a big decision for me as all the gear I have access to brings a certain character. But I’m pretty sure the average listener wouldn’t even know the difference so I’m not sure why I drive myself crazy over it!
Lastly let’s step back: what exactly drew you to D&B in the first place?
I just loved the sound of the music from an early age after being shown it by the older kids on the estate. I remember one of them lent me Jungle Hits on vinyl, it was game over after that – I was sold.
