Bailey has dug deep into the back catalogue to draw a mix for the new release on Vivid Sounds, a snapshot above. In it you will find tunes from the likes of Danny Breaks, Dylan, Dillinja, Jonny L. A Resurrection of sorts. Label spokesperson Leila chatted to us about it, as well as Bailey himself, READ on.
Could you take us into the mix… and why the time period in focus here?
For me the passion for the idea came from the fact that I love the days gone by of drum and bass.
I love the happenings of today, too, but it could just be an age – being able to reminisce!
I loved the breaks, the way the arrangements were, the sub basses, the atmosphere, the samples, the rawness of the tracks without being overly polished, and at an earlier time period those things sounded fresh and paved the way for what we have going on today.
There were so many tracks I wanted to use and I was heading towards a double CD with around 40-50 tracks, but having that many tracks doesn’t give you the chance to listen to the run of the mixes for as long as they are, and wouldn’t have allowed Bailey to do all the things he did.
I’m personally not a fan of a few bars of one track before the next one is playing, I like to hear some creativity in a mix and let the tracks roll out a bit more, appreciate the tunes as well as the art of the mixes if you get what I mean.
What does this label stand for in terms of vision, what releases will you have?
The label for me is something I’ve always wanted to do really, just do/get stuff and put it out! We are just in a different age of music now and I’m learning that there are so many changes today from 10, 20 years ago. I’ve always had a love for the darker, harder side of the music and having the first mix done on the Vivid Mixes side has reflected my tastes. I certainly want to put out more Vivid Sounds tracks by various artists.
It’s a pleasure for me, and I also envision more mixes down the line. Basically I want to keep doing what I’m doing, but just keep getting better at it. In terms of new mix compilations that is at idea stage for now, but I have a few tracks that will be released in the next few coming months by Dub Frequency and Artilect.
Quite excited by those to be honest. Threshold kicked off the label with his four track EP and there will be some more future work from him, too.
Where will we find it?
Should be available in all good download stores. Also HMV for the sexy looking CD!
Any shouts?
Shout out to Bailey obviously first and foremost! Everyone whose tracks are on the compilation,
Seiji Forster for the great artwork, Pat Cooper for the CD mastering and everyone who loves these times and these vibes in the mix.. one love!
BAILEY gave us some words about D&B right now…
How is D&B changing… what are you seeing out there on the road?
I’m mainly seeing the rise of mid week underground D&B club vibes again. Particularly so with the success of Soul In Motion which is a fortnightly club I run with Need For Mirrors. It’s revived mid week clubbing whereas there was nothing happening for many years after Swerve and Movement stopped.
What some tunes are doing the damage?
Tracks like Serum ‘Black Metal’, ‘Unique 3 ‘Daddy Ain’t Around (Benny L Remix)’, Mohican Sun ‘Dead Sea’ and Need For Mirrors ‘Rough Trade’ kick ass everywhere I play them.
It’s great to have an array of weapons like those in the bag.
Radio is the key to D&B, as ever. What things have changed in terms of how you present radio from the days of 1xtra to now, Mi-Soul.
Mi-Soul’s target audience is older than 1Xtra’s so now I get more opportunities to educate listeners from the point of the heritage of Drum & Bass.
It would be a shame to ignore over twenty years of amazing music that got D&B where it is now. Let’s not forget that it’s a UK born music too. We need to be proud of that as much as Americans are pround of their Hip Hop heritage.
Any shouts, Bailey?
Big shout to D&B producer Threshold for linking me up with Vivid to do this CD. I enjoyed the journey back in time.