Vampire Records have recently delivered the very, very, VERY broad thinking Identity Switch compilation. The clue is definitely in the title: a dizzying array of styles, artists and – above all – personalities… it’s an experience akin to milling about in some sensational club somewhere, a vibe part late 90s, part late noughties, part, well, very contemporary.
Label boss Phil Aslett – formerly of the legendary Source Direct – has nurtured the compilation and his inspiration is inextricably woven through… his pride is tangible.
Phil, this is a massive array of artists, styles and vibes! Can we talk about the vision of the album?
The vision I had for Identity Switch was to move things forward with the label not only with its appearance but also with its sound. Its been two years since we have released anything so I wanted to do something big.
I’ve always tried to ignore what the trends are so we can stand out from the crowd and I believe we have been successful in doing this once again.
How was contact made with the artists over time? So many here!
We do have a lot of people following the label because of my history with Source Direct so we keep the philosophy of looking back to move forward. We have old school vibes mixed in with modern.
We’ve been building relationships with our artists now for eight years. Some of the Artists have never had music released before and this is something that we’ve always tried to do.
We want to break new talent as well as having artists like Phil Source, Mark System, Nusense, Strago, Inztance, and Physics who are all permanent fixtures and will always work with us.
Vampire is about putting good quality music out whether the artists are known or not. We all need a break or a bit of luck at some point in life… I was very lucky to have an older brother who was friends with Photek and the rest is history!
Most of the new signings that we do these days are people coming forward and approaching us is with their own music, which I love! Especially now that I run three different businesses which takes up a lot of my time.
The passion and enthusiasm of the new school reminds me of when I started out. This energy is priceless and you can hear it in their music, which is why I like to break new talent.
Some selections here below I’ve chosen at random… let’s talk about some of the music.
‘Me and Whisky’… who are the people you’ve collaborated with?
‘Me and Whisky’ is a track featuring Phil Source (myself), Strago and Marishka. Strago has been working for Vampire since the album release Once Bitten, Twice High in 2009 and he has been a permanent fixture since then. We met on Myspace when I was scouting for new talent and since then we have been great friends in the studio and out.
He does a lot of work for me on the engineering front and also does the mastering for the label. The guy is a wizard in the studio that’s for sure and we shall be doing a lot more music in the future.
Marishka (below) is a Lebanese Pop Star and approached me a few years ago on Facebook. I think she had a bit of a crush on me initially as she used to send me old school pictures of myself from my Source Direct days.
She’s crazy, sexy, cool!
But on a serious musical tip, she has an original mysterious voice and writes some out there lyrics but mostly for 140bpm tracks. Hence why this track ended up being a 140bpm Amen killer. When the track drops with the ‘Virus’ synth bass it reminds of the scene in Armageddon when The White House gets destroyed… and in the middle of the track it mellows out completely.
I love doing this with production, taking people through light and dark. Changing the mood of a track is so important and is missing in a lot of D&B tracks these days!
H. Shiartori is a DJ/producer from Tokyo/Japan. He’s a new artist to Vampire but not to Drum and Bass. His production works aim to draw from his many influences outside of D&B including Classical Music, Hip Hop, Reggae, Rock, Dub, Techno and House.
‘Deep Cover Operation’ brings a new modern fresh sound to Identity Switch a little bit like what his fellow countryman Heavy1 did on the Nocturnal album with ‘Specium’. The intro builds up so well to the drop and then the bleeps, growling bass and different rhythms on the drums really make this track stand out.
This is definitely how Vampire is going to sound in the future.
I love the vibes the Japanese artists bring to the table and I am sure we shall be seeing a lot more talent coming through from the Far East connection very soon.
Keza from Kolectiv actually sent me ‘Seventh Son’ around three years ago before they had all got together properly. I loved the track as soon as I heard it but I had already got the track listing together for ‘Nocturnal’ which is the last release on Vampire so I decided to hold back on signing it.
Luckily enough when I came round to do doing the Identity Switch track listings it was still available to sign to so I did.
Keza has been sending me music for some time and I did like the tracks he was making but I really think collaborating as ‘Kolectiv’ they’ve hit the nail on the head. They now have their own distinctive style with the drums they use and the effects they use on their bass lines and textures.
‘Seventh Son’ is one I keep in the bag… or should I say USB stick these days. It works well on the dancefloor and I shall be trying to sign some future Kolectiv beats for Vampire that’s for sure!
Skru is another new artist to Vampire but not to music. He won the international remix and sound-design competition, for Damian Marley’s ‘Bun Dem’ and that really kicked off the breakthrough into the jungle universe for him.
He comes from the West Coast of Greece and I actually met him a few years ago in Bios, which is a Club in Athens where I was playing a set with Dev Paradox.
We had a few drinks and I spoke to him for quite a while in the club. I could tell that he was intense and really into his production and beats. He knew virtually all of the Source Direct and Photek tracks from back in the day and is a big fan of that sound.
You can hear this in ‘Samurai Slice’ and ‘Mental’ which are both of his tracks on the album. ‘Samurai Slice’ actually reminds me of a track that I made as Hokusai called ‘Black Rose’. It uses the same ‘Mule’ and ‘Lyn Collins’ breaks chopping in and out with heavy sub bass and the phased and delayed FX were a big thing that we used as Source Direct.
This guy is a real character and a real talent for the future!
None Decay are made up of Duncan and Ollie who met back in 1995 at Boom Tunes records in Cambridge. They became instant friends with a common passion for DD&B.
In 2010 they got back together after a long break apart doing different projects and the None Decay sound was born. Quick support from DJs such as Goldie, Ulterior Motive, Doc Scott and Storm brought them to my attention.
‘Terrapin’ and ‘Nukem’ have a very modern Blue Note/Metalheadz vibe to them and I can see why they get support from a lot of the Metalheadz stable. Even though these guys are pushing the boundaries they still keep an old school edge with the breaks that they use underneath the industrial soundscapes.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys develop as they are on their way to big things!
Inztance has been part of The Vampire stable for some time. He was based in Estonia but now resides in London to be closer to the scene. His big influences growing up were Goldie, Photek, Doc Scott and 4 Hero, which you can hear in his sound.
He started producing in 2002 but before that he learnt piano and was part of a garage band, which has given him good grounding and skills. Since then he has worked on many labels and had support from some of the biggest players in the scene including Flight, Andy C and Moving Fusion.
‘He Knows Me’ is an amazing track and one of my favourite Vampire tracks to date. I love the piano introduction; the growling bass and the drop is just killer!
This sound is Vampire through and through and I can’t wait to drop this track some more on the dance floor!
Scale‘s ‘Designer Drug’ takes us back into D&B mode on the album after the first couple of 140bpm tracks. This track reminds me of the parties at The Blue Note, Hoxton Square.
These parties will always go down in history as some of the most influential nights of D&B ever and ‘Scale’ really has brought the vibe back alive with full force.
The big Amen break in this track is killer and the pads are so old school. The bassline sounds very similar to Ruffige Cru’s ‘Dark Metal’, a track that I had the pleasure of remixing as part of Source Direct on Razors Edge which was Metalheadz remix label.
This is a lesson for all the new producers out there looking to create something old school.
To tie it up, are you down with new production tools or do many of the ‘old’ aspects still deliver, speaking of old school? Your production sounds great here.
With my own productions I still keep the same ethics that I have had since the beginning. I like to use samples, live samples, modern technology and outboard technology all together. You need to keep it cutting edge but also not forgetting the past. Live elements keep it true to music itself so that it does not sound too synthesized!
I think the fact that I don’t have to make D&B for a living these days keeps me fresh and vibrant when I’m making it. It keeps me relaxed in the studio and things just take its path whatever that path may be at that particular time.