Make way for Mayan Audio, a brand new label that’s successfully propelled itself into the heart of the D&B sphere this week with the massive Impact Zone/Pulverize.
Already marked as one of the 10 essential D&B releases you need to check this week by Beatport, the epic double-sider comes courtesy of relative newcomer Tuff Touch. Also known as Konflix in the dubstep world, London-based Tuffy first emerged last year with early releases on Lucky Breaks and X-Act. Now fully signed to Mayan – and already working on his debut artist album! – we gave Mr Touch a shout…
Easy Pat! Thanks for joining us, what have we caught you doing today?
Hey! Today is the day I start the first track for the EP I’m working on for Mayan Audio. It’s gonna be a long day, but no doubt I’ll enjoy every moment!
How would you describe your sound to those who aren’t acquainted?
I’d like to think of my sound as dancefloor drum & bass with elements of liquid and neuro thrown in. I like a wide variety of drum ‘n’ bass so I try to include elements of many sub genres into my productions.
How did you discover drum & bass and get into production yourself?
I started listening to Jungle when I was in school. I was in love with the Jungle Mania LPs and I even had a pop at playing some breaks on the drums whenever I had the chance! I also used to have Music 2000 on the Playstation and that was my first taste of production, I was hooked on it. I remember you could sample a few seconds from an audio CD and incorporate it into your tracks.
Who were some of the artists who influenced you and inspired you to develop your own sound?
Hmmm… there are so many talented artists in electronic music now days, there are influences coming from all directions. I’d like to say that Smooth, The Prototypes, Metrik and Mediks have definitely inspired me over the past few years as I’ve developed my own sound.
Your tunes Impact Zone and Pulverise feature as the debut releases for new label Mayan Audio. Impact Zone strikes me as almost militant, launching into an all-out assault… what was the concept behind the tune?
Around the time I started working on my track Impact Zone I was listening to a little electro house. I really liked the sound that has developed in the scene and I wanted to try to incorporate it into the track somehow. I pictured the dancefloor being the impact zone when the tune drops!
And tell us how Pulverize came together…
I wanted something a little more on the neuro side with Pulverize. There was some influence from Telekinesis on this one. I’m really feeling their tracks at the moment.
How did the connection with Mayan Audio come about, anyway?
Roklo (Tony and Gary) approached me around a year ago and offered me a deal. I really like what they are doing and there are some really talented artists on the label. Happy to be making my debut into the scene with them!
You also produce under the alias Konflix producing dubstep, do the two genres allow you to fully express yourself creatively or do you experiment with any other genres?
Drum & bass in my number one love but I like experimenting with many other genres including dubstep, electro house, moombahcore and even a bit of trance. I don’t like to confuse people by producing too many genres under one name. I find that using Konflix allows me to experiment with other genres, keeps things a little more organised and allows me to stray freely away from drum & bass every once in while.
Dream gig?
My dream gig… Maybe somewhere like Global Gathering. Playing your tunes to a sea of people is the dream!
And your dream collab?
I’d love to get in the studio with The Prototypes or Smooth. I love everything I hear from these guys!
Finally, what’s coming up next for you?
I have another two track single coming out in a few months on Mayan. I’m in the process of working on my next EP and after that I’ll be working on my first album. There’ll also be a few releases featuring some fantastic vocalists including Jonny Rose, Tasha Baxter and Esther Monolo.
Impact Zone and Pulverize are out now.