Shogun Audio’s latest recruit has just dropped his debut EP on the label, and it’s absolutely sublime.
From the heartfelt title track, to the infectious groove that is Viewpoint, Ed:It has made quite the sonic splash.
We caught up with the man himself to chat about the EP and more, plus scored the full-length premiere of Viewpoint. Read on and get it in your ears.
Yes Ed, thanks for taking the time to chat! First things first – BIG congrats on becoming an official member of the Shogun Audio family! One thing to tick off the bucket list eh? How’d the move to Shogun come about?
Hi mate, thanks! My pleasure. Yeah indeed, it’s a really great feeling & very exciting! The support from everyone so far has been overwhelming. It’s nice to finally get it out and let people know all about it.
The signing all came together around a year ago. I received an email and phone call from Ed Friction asking if it was something i’d like to work towards. I’d been sending him music for a while and after my SGN:LTD release it felt good to have a goal in mind for a more permanent move. After some thought we decided to get together an EP and single for ‘Points of Origin’. Once we had the material we had a meeting in Brighton and on the day I was asked if i’d like to join.
And the rest is history! You’ve had releases on SGN:LTD in the past, were your sights always set on Shogun though?
I think so. I’ve always a been a fan of both labels and the imprint as a whole, so yeah i wanted to approach it with that in mind. As my music & production has grown I was looking for somewhere I could grow as an artist and it’s nice to have a home at Shogun.
You’ve just unleashed your first solo release on the label as a signed artist – Was there a lot of pressure as it was your first release as an official member of the team?
It was slightly intimidating launching onto an imprint that is so established with artists and music that I admire and look up to. There are particular tracks on Shogun Audio that are the reason why I love D&B, so when it came down to writing a debut EP it didn’t come easy. It took me a while to just let that all go and hopefully let the music do the talking.
And that it does! Did you go in knowing this would be your first release on the label or were they tracks you had been working on for a while?
They’re all new tracks I wrote especially for the EP, alongside a few others as well. It went through different stages and took me a while to be really happy with it. I had a bunch of tunes which just needed that extra work. Some didn’t make the cut and others got binned. After a lot of deliberating and help from Shogun I found the 4 tracks that hit home!
There’s something about the title track that’s very emotional for me… The piano, the vocal… It’s simply stunning. What’s the story behind this one?
Glad you like it mate. Subconsciously, it does have a emotional essence that came through while I was putting it together so i’m glad you get that feeling when you listen. It was one out of the four from the EP that came together from scratch and relatively quickly. It was a fresh idea that I made in a day and it just flowed. The mix down and extra melodic vocal parts glued the whole thing together in the end. That took a while to find the material. The female vocal which features throughout is actually my girl which I recorded from home.
Wicked! You have a very distinct sound and Pathways really embodies that sound for me – deep and smooth, with sinister elements growling beneath the surface. What influenced and inspired your sound over the years?
Everything inspires my music, from the people and places around me to the music I listen to, films I watch and since I began producing I feel all of these get thrown into my tunes. I love Liquid D&B and down-tempo beats so I think that will always have some kind of influence when I produce. The gritty, sinister elements come from the tekky side in me. I feel that my tunes have got to have some sort of rawness.
Viewpoint has to be one of my favourites off the EP. I almost get an Amazonian vibe from that vocal. Again I love how smooth it is and yet that distinctive sinister growl is lurking underneath it all. What inspired this track?
I was listening to a lot of old Metalheadz at the time so from the outset on this one it was all about the pads and intro. It was actually created with a view to collab with another producer. Once I got the drop going I remember straight away I knew it was a potential keeper for the EP.
You moved to London from Nottingham last year – do you find it’s beneficial to be in London creatively and is that what prompted the move? Having the opportunity to be closer to a lot of your fellow peers, plus the big club nights, etc.?
There were a few reasons why the move felt right, but definitely the big one was the the fact it is a city where the scene is so abundant. There are D&B nights on pretty much every evening and where i’m at in Brixton there’s so much cultural influence wherever you walk. It’s only been 6 months since the move and you can’t help but be inspired by the people and places. It’s amazing, i’ve been lucky enough to have played some big clubs already and am looking forward to what the scene here has to offer.
You linked with Pennygiles again on ‘All Away’ – how did that link come about? Were you able to actually get into the studio together for this one?
Mr Pennygiles is long time friend/producer with whom i’ve been creating D&B with for a while now. We’ve had a few releases and it just always flows making music together. I love his sense of atmospheric sampling and it just seems to work every time we start a tune. There’s at least 30 unfinished Ed:It & Pennygiles collab’s knocking about though! ‘All Away’ started with Stu sending over some great intro pad parts and cut up sampled loops which I grooved to immediately. We’ve never actually sat in the studio together yet, I think it’s on the cards in 2016 though!
Linguistics features on Night Creeper – how did the connection with him come to fruition?
With Night Creeper I sent the instrumental over to Friction and wondered if he knew anyone who might want to add vocals. As Max Linguistics is his go-to MC he immediately got back to me with the accapella which I was more than happy with. He killed it!
Did you have any new year’s resolutions that you’ve broken already?
Haha, well it was to start exercising more but i’ve not even started that! So I don’t think that can be counted as broken right? I did stop smoking in December and that hasn’t been broken. I was a smoker for ten years though!
Wow! We’ll let you off for the lack of exercise then, props on not smoking 😉 Which releases have been blowing your mind lately?
Really enjoying what Fre4nc is doing. Nottingham-based Transparent have got some great music floating about, and there’s a new bit on Dispatch by Total Science & Nympho called Forward Motion which i’m digging. I enjoy discovering new music and there a lot of old tunes that I never hear out so it’s nice to get them in the record box.
What’s coming up next for you then?
So, next release is a new single on C.I.A due out in March and another track on their 20 years compilation. It’s been planned for a while and nice to support such a well-loved label before more exclusive Shogun bits. Also, a few shows lined up throughout the year. You can catch me at the following shows in the next few months:
5th Feb – Audio Venom – Leicester
12th Feb – Overground Sessions – High Wycombe
11th Mar – Isle of D&B – Leuven, Belgium
12th Mar – Dispatch Recordings – Tallin, Estonia
Shout outs?
Big shouts to everyone at Shogun for the warm welcome and help getting this release off the ground. Big ups to everyone who has bought the EP, and thanks for the kind words and continued support from friends and family!
Pathways is out now. Get it here.
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