War Machine‘s new Limitless album’s about to drop via Serial Killaz and fulfills the promise of that title with each listen: a solid, eclectic beast of an album, full of scything spartan beats, glacial atmospheres and inspired collabs. We spoke to the Machine himself to find out how Limitless came to pass, considering the work he’s done for his own Violation label, not to mention contributions to the Med School and more: the juggernaut rolls on & on regardless!
War Machine! I can’t get enough of this album, it’s so fresh! When did you start work on it? Considering your work running your label, you’re certainly prolific.
Thanks! I’m just doing my own thing.
I started working on late April I think. Limitless was supposed to be a four track ep before I threw about twenty tracks in Tobie’s inbox. I’m very happy with the response it’s got so far.
How did the linkup with Serial Killaz come about, speaking of Tobie?
I saw that they were looking for new artists and always liked what they were doing even though it’s very different to my style. So I sent over ‘Bootstrap’ and things progressed from there.
I like the combo of sounds & vibes on ‘Bootstrap’…
For me I’ve always been very much influenced by Kraftwerk, Warp Records, Ed Banger, Record Makers and so forth so combination of those and the real breakthrough I’ve had regarding my sound is just to really not look what else everyone else is doing and just try and put my own stamp on things.
Let’s talk about some more tracks here… ‘Wasteman’ caught me. And who is Inflex?
Inflex is from Bucharest, Romania, a great producer. Some may have seen his tracks or heard him on Liquidity or UKF fliers.
We both had a lot in common so made it very easy to work with him making ‘Wasteman’ and ‘Inner Circles’. Hopefully should be working on some more bits together soon.
More on the collabs, it’s great to see your Violation colleague Talabun here on ‘Dem Bars’, wicked tune too.
Yeah, I was worried losing Sol aka Talabun to Dubstep after he had big track come out with Truth last year but great to make tracks for him as he has very unique voice opens up some different production possibilities.
The overall sound of the album is great, what sort of thoughts do you have on production?
I wouldn’t give production tips ha ha! I’m still learning all the time myself! I’d just recommend that, rather than watching Eastenders, people should check out Pensado’s Place online: some great information on there.
Back to the beats: ‘Bogata’, sounds great: who’s the vocalist?
It’s Kryptomedic – Virus, Eatbrain – who’s based in Germany and plays all the big European stuff and a great MC. We like working together and have some more tracks in the works which are sounding very promising.
‘100 Whats’ could be a standout of 2015: any club that doesn’t react to this is probably a pretty shabby club…
That’s what this one is all about for me: this tune has a slight bit of attitude to it.
‘Ain’t Half Hot!’: I love the title as remember the dodgy old show… did this inspire the tune?
Weirdly this track is inspired by old video game Donkey Kong Country and idea stemmed from there!
I have to really mention the cool atmospheres and ambience throughout the album… ‘Infrasonic’ being a great example.
I’d just watched Hunt For Red October and thought I’d try to go for something really deep. I got 90% finished on the track before I showed it to Flipz. I always heard him with Reamz doing the deeper Dubstep side of things and thought he would be great for it.
Where do you get inspiration from in general then, mentioning films and games etc?
A guilty pleasure of mine is old tv and cinema, I’m glad you picked up on it. Anything there is great inspiration wise for me as they all have great soundtracks. It could be films like The Warriors or Risky Business. Film scores is something I’ve always been into and should be doing some for video game over next year.
What’s next on the Violation front? What’s next on your label?
I’ve signed M-Soul & S27 from Belgium: they’ve done a terrific track with P-fine.
I should also have a single to put out under the alias Shadow Signal in next month or so.
OK WM, any shouts?
Yeah Tobie & Graham of Serial Killaz, Tony, Chris, Ash & Mullett at Hospital… I’d like to thank them a lot for giving me needed advice and supporting the style of my what I’m trying to do. Also anyone else supporting Limitless.
Limitless is released March 16