Do you want the bad news?
Or the good news?
The bad news is Octane & DLR have gone their separate ways. The good news, however, is that we can expect double the amount of beats from them as individuals AND DLR is kicking off with a massive free track…
The track is called EXP. It’s a bonafide banger and it marks the start of a very promising new chapter for DLR. Or should that be Dirty LeRoi?
Read this exclusive interview to find out what the devil’s going on… AND how you get your hands on your free track!
So… You’ve split with Octane. What’s the story?
“We just wanted to move on! It was a natural progression; sorry just let me wipe these tears away… We just thought it was best to move on from the whole Octane & DLR thing; you get that feeling sometimes. We did so many great things together. Instead of becoming like Michael Owen and rotting away (sorry Stoke fans), it’s nice to end on a high. We’d done the album and thought it was good time to follow our own journeys. I’d been making tunes with a lot of other people – at the same time as working on the album project, which looking back was possibly not the right choice, but sometimes you can’t argue with artistic decisions. I enjoyed the vibe, instead of denying it because I had other things on my plate, I went with it. I’m very mobile with my set up now; I move around and do a lot of work with other people. I just invested my life savings in this new Macbook so mobility and possibilities have quadrupled. On our album some of the tunes are collaborations with other people; EBK, Script, Break and everyone. I guess this helped me realise just how much I loved the vibe of writing with not just Chris but other people. Being only 27 and having this burning desire to create, I can’t deny the urge! What’s really important to me is that my time working with Chris was invaluable, we both put our hearts and souls into our album, and working with him I learnt so much, it made me improve so fast being with someone with such incredible technical knowledge. I have no doubt that his future solo tracks will be top quality! Can’t wait to see where we both are in a year! Hopefully I would have legged it abroad, hiding in South America, writing an album with local musicians by then, but who knows?”
But this shouldn’t detract from the album you made together. Six months down the line, it’s still wicked…
“Definitely. It is still wicked. It shouldn’t detract from the fact that we are both Octane and DLR but we’re doing separate things now. We love the album, we had fun doing it. Nothing has changed in regard to who we are and what we do and the music we’re making as individuals now.”
So you might do another co-lab with him in the future? Just not all the time.
“Totally! We’re just two individuals and while we pushed for the whole Octane & DLR thing as it helped share DJ bookings and gave us a profile it’s time to move on. Sure, our names are still synonymous with each other as we’ve worked so hard together but I’ve put too much work into being DLR and been around too long to change my name.”
Where did you get the name anyway? Dirty LeRoi… There’s got to be a good story behind that!
“Ha! It’s just one of those stupid things you pick up as a kid. It was always Dirty LeRoy but I met a French dude in uni and he told me le roi means ‘the king’. No brainer, really. But a bit too stupid for a DJ name. So I changed it to DLR.”
Dirty King! What a name. If you were king, what would your first rule be?
“Haha, wow! Okay… Once someone earns over a certain amount of money they have to give some of it away to useful and beneficial and sustainable sources! People shouldn’t earn stupid amounts of money and get away with it. Let’s have a bit more equality and everyone can get on and enjoy their lives instead of being in a perpetual rat race!”
Wow! I never expected us to get so political. Props. Okay, so let’s chat about your free track EXP…
“I actually made it a year ago. I thought it was cool but then it just sat there as I was working on other things. I eventually sent it out to a few key DJs and it got a really good response. So I thought I’d give it away. It’s a good way to launch what I’m doing and hopefully get people to follow what I’m doing in the future. I’m not big on giving tracks away but there are definitely good times to do it.”
Like a calling card, really…
“Yeah, kinda. I always use the Apple example. They got rid of the dongle you needed to use Logic so people could download the cracked software but they HAD to buy an Apple to work it. That’s intelligent. A free track is a currency; it can be really useful if it’s dealt with in the correct manner.
Not all producers would agree with you. Tracks take days – weeks even – to make. You can see where they’re coming from…
“I know man, but the game has changed and the exposure and profile you can build if you do it right can work really well. I heard about a hip-hop band who gave a whole album away for free. It got out there, more people listened to it, they got more bookings and did really well. This works for everyone; you get a free track and I get to spread the word to as many people as I can and really invest in my future.”
Nice. Speaking of future. What’s coming up next?
“I’m working with Mako, I’ve got a remix with Mako and Ant TC1, I’ve got ‘Blue Room’ with Script that’s lined up for Metalheadz then some bits for Symmetry. So much going on! The doors have opened up again for me; I’m enjoying what I’m doing more than ever before. It’s like I’m starting from scratch again, it’s really exciting!”
DOWNLOAD EXP NOW! All you need to do is like his Facebook page.
Everyone’s a winner.