Epoch: Interview & Guest Mix

I was a bit late to the show when a new label, Egyptian Avenue Records, dropped a collaboration between two then largely unheard of producers, Wen and Epoch. When I finally dropped some scrilla on their release Hydraulics what I heard was an unsettling, urgent mix of grime and dubstep, a tune with little repetition throughout, something that just screamed "different". Naturally, I took notice from then on, delving a little deeper into what I could find of Epoch. What I found was good. 

Now that the music world is about to find out a little bit more about the two through their involvement with Keysound, I figured I should get Epoch in for a chat and a guest mix...

Limited Download

The mix is a selection of darker sounds around the 130-140 range, containing a healthy selection of dubs and forthcoming from the likes of Rabit, Wen, E.M.M.A, Skream and Epoch himself. Check it out...

NT: First off, for those that don't know yet, introduce yourself...
E: I'm Scott, I live in Christchurch, NZ and I produce under the name Epoch.

NT: While a lot of producers seem to be moving towards more rigid drum structures, producers like yourself seem to be edging away from them. Is the latter a reaction to the former, or part of a more natural process? Some of your tunes seem to stick to a regular drum pattern for only a few bars...

E:Maybe a bit of both! I'm influenced by producers from the likes of Burial to Jakes to Current Value, so it's a pretty broad range of vibes I enjoy when it comes to drums.. I tend to mix it up within the tune, it just keeps things interesting really. And it's great when people are getting down to a UK Funky sort of rhythm and then BOOM it switches up to some dutty halfstep. I love that shit, It's like a DJ set within a tune.

NT: You're part of a group of producers that are being pushed pretty heavily by the likes of Dusk & Blackdown at the moment. Whilst I can see similarities between your productions and those of the likes of Beneath, Wen, etc. I noticed that yours seem to feature vocals more regularly, which is pretty rare for the darker tunes of this nature. Where does this come from?
E: Man I've been wanting to work with vocalists for a long time (especially MC's). I grew up listening to hip hop so I've always liked that combination of vocals and programmed beats.
It's more of a challenge working with an actual vocal instead of just sampling here and there, it turns into actual song writing instead of just building a beat.

An interview and guest mix from Solitude...

As far as Night Tracks goes, we consider Solitude a pretty big name. He's amassed thousands of loyal followers with his mixes that showcase the latest and greatest dark, bass heavy tunes, put together by a man who clearly puts a lot of effort into digging for the perfect tunes, and as part of Solace Records has released a slew of top-notch releases, we considered ourselves pretty lucky recently.

After Budeaux put together a guest mix for the Solace Records podcast series, he offered to return the favour with something we'd really wanted for ages; A Night Tracks guest mix from Solitude. This really is a sublime mix, not just track after track, but a series with a well worked flow, obviously one that a lot of thought has gone into (and the three-way Burial vs Lana Del Rey mix is as amazing as it sounds).

Check it out. We also got in touch with Solitude for a few words.

Limited Download

NT: Hey man. First off, can you give us an introduction... 
S: Hello, I'm a DJ from South East London... Been playing under the name Solitude since around 2003.

NT: Correct me if I'm wrong, but contrary to the traditional ways of building a reputation, playing sets locally, badgering promoters, etc. you built up a following from your "Ambient Dubstep" mixes on the net. Now that you're playing more sets live, would you say it's made things harder or better for you to get noticed by promoters? Can you see more DJs following your method of success? 

S: My intentions were never really to start playing out or to even share the mixes with anyone, the whole 'Ambient Dubstep' thing started out from me not having anything decent to listen to while in the bath one day. I was inspired by a set I'd heard from Canadian producer Graham March 'Desimal' who sadly passed away in 2006. He put out a mix titled 'Ambient Dub' back in 2003, it sent me on a mission to find some deeper moody tunes. I eventually come across Burial's first album at a friend's record shop and was hooked. I was always into the darker side of Garage, so hearing that was pretty big for me. 

Introducing Lyeform...

BANG. That's the sound of the first guest mix of the year, over 100 minutes in length, smashing through your screens courtesy of today's guest, Lyeform, producer and founder of the Life Force Sound collective. Check it out...

NT: First off, introduce yourself to the loyal readers of Night Tracks...

LF: My name is Ben, I produce under Lyeform. I am a 25 year old from South West London and I run the web label Life Force Sound.

Tracklist on Mixcloud

NT: Standard question, but how long have you been producing? From the stuff you've been sending over, you seem to have found an "identity" pretty quickly...

LF: Yeah I am still new to this. I only started producing properly when I discovered Ableton in late 2011. I had messed with other sequencers before then but as a curiosity, thinking I could never actually make anything listenable.

Thanks for the "identity" comment, A producer/musicians's identity is one of the things I enjoy the most when listening to music, so I guess I have been subconsciously trying to form my own little nuances in what I do.

Introducing Witchchild...

Today we've got Witchchild in to deliver a, frankly stunning, guest mix and drop a few words about his music. Read on, and check out the mix at the end, or download it by clicking here now. Approach it with an open mind, and you'll find what is in my opinion, one of the best mixes we've had yet...

By the way, he has no Soundcloud page, because fuck Soundcloud. Mysterious....

In fact, I'm actually gonna drop the mix right at the top here, so you can hit play and listen as you read. Check out the mix and tracklist at the bottom.

NT: Hey man, give us an introduction to Witchchild...

W: Hi there!I’m Kevin, 20 years old and I live in Holland. I study Sound Design in Rotterdam and I’ve been producing music under different aliases since a couple of months now.

I’ve always been wanting to make my own music and I think I made my very first tune in 2007 or 2008 in Reason, but because I really wasn’t happy with how it sounded and was extremely impatient I gave up on producing immediately after that.

Then in January this year I got in contact with a producer from Amsterdam and we really got along well. After a while he kind of pushed me into picking it up again and I decided to do a remix of one of his tunes with different software and was actually very pleased with how that turned out so that’s how it all started, really. Been doing it ever since.

Me and him are still great friends and I really am very thankful for what he did. If it wasn’t for him I definitely wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing right now.

Pistonsbeneath

After a while without an interview, we're bringing things back to you in a suitably grand fashion. Today, we've got Pistonsbeneath into talk to us. There's also a HUGE guest mix that you can check out at the end, or download from here...

NT: To kick things off, introduce us to Pistonsbeneath.

P: Pistonsbeneath is, unbeknownst to many, a duo rather than just being my thing... I work with someone I've known for many many years and we click on a level that I don't think many people do, and have an intuitive relationship when it comes to music. We've both tinkered for many years and compliment each other well.

My name is Jon and I'm from the Croydon area and have been for my whole life pretty much as has the person I work with. Our relationship isn't like most people that work together from what I understand of other duos. They wish to remain anonymous and I'm the public face of Pistonsbeneath hence I do all the DJing and interviews and anything else public.

Pistonsbeneath - Deep Peeping

NT: From what I've read elsewhere, you seem to have been involved in Electronic music for quite a while in some capacity, including running Dubstep nights in its spiritual home, Croydon. Can you tell us how you arrived to where you're at today?

P: I did put on a few nights in Croydon yes, pretty far back and obviously ran Dubkulture every week for 18 months before they decided the clientele wasn't to their liking haha and that pretty much to me sums up Croydon sadly... A strange mix of people all looking at each other, you would have thought Croydon would be a good place to put on grass roots Dubstep nights but the people and the clubs sabotage it themselves, there's not enough patience to allow something to grow and I guess like most towns, the venues just want a quick fix event that will get people through the door but go nowhere and indeed not have enough time to grow a reputation if the promoter wants to build something. Music is pretty poor in Croydon on a week by week basis.

Doing Dubkulture helped me make a lot of contacts and meet lots of DJs/producers that I see randomly at events now. Without having that 20k rig to play through each week (before they insisted it be on a ridiculously quiet volume to the point where people could have a conversation near the speaker) I wouldn't have bothered with delving more seriously into production.

I knew within Croydon a fair few heads before doing Dubkulture and linked back up with them. Shiverz and Lost are the main guys that spring to mind but I also had many other guys play wicked sets. The best DJ technically hands down I had down was Syte and linking him and Crises ultimately led to the Mindstep EP.

My music as an even younger youngster than I am now was pretty mixed. I remember being very connected to tracks like Omni Trio's 'Renegade Snares', LTJ Bukem's 'Atlantis' and also a lot of Orbital tunes like 'Halcyon'...One of the most powerful tracks for me to hear even now despite how cheesy it might sound is Manix 'Feel Real Good'. 4 Hero tunes can be as classy as they want but nothing for me will top that one (Marc Clair from 4 Hero was Manix).

My connection to music in general isn't necessarily the same as many people's, I feel, but maybe this is an assumption. I just know I don't feel all the music I listen too is a reflection of me necessarily and I appreciate the beauty of music in its many many forms regardless of whether I can relate to it on a personal level. I enjoy listening to Kozzie, DMZ, Photek, King Tubby & Clubroot but equally love to listen to Vaughan Williams, Satie, Vashti Bunyan, Billie Holiday, Fela Kuti and Linda Perhacs. I sometimes want to be away from myself and music is the best thing in the world for that. I think many people get too bogged down in the baggage that is musical identity and forget to possibly enjoy the music itself.

Interview with Cogidubnus & Night Tracks 039: Guest Mix

Today we've got the multi-talented Cogidubnus in to talk a little about how he turns his skills to DJing, producing and running a label that should be a perfect case example for anybody thinking of starting their own digital label. His label, Broken Bubble, was definitely one I looked to for inspiration, and Cogi was actually a really big help in getting Night Tracks as a label to where it is today. Read on to learn a little about the man behind the music...

NT: Hey man, can you give us an introduction?

C: I’ve been DJ’ing as Cogidubnus since early 2009 when I started the Sicknote night in Manchester and got into production soon afterwards.

NT: You seem to me to have quite eclectic tastes in music. How were these formed? What influence have they had on your productions and the label you run?

C: I was surrounded by all kinds of different music when I was a kid. My parents between them played piano, cello, violin and viola and played me a lot of classical music, whilst my elder siblings were playing all kinds of rock and metal – Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Queen were all bands I appreciated as a kid and I had a long metal and grunge phase before eventually getting more into electronic with my brother introducing me to the likes of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk and then later The Orb and Future Sound of London. That led me to discover Warp and Ninja Tune artists and head on into the wider world of what I think people were calling “ambient techno” at the time.

Cogidubnus - The Future Boards Of Cheadle 

Night Tracks 038: Sangam Guest Mix

When we interviewed Sangam back in March, he was kind enough to give away a free tune, and his generosity only increases as he dropped a guest mix in my inbox recently.

Fans of Sangam will know his style of murky, late night tunes, with flickering, skeletal drums popping in and out when the need takes them, and this mix is full of them, filled exclusively with self-productions and collaborations that could only really be forged by spending time in the north of the UK.

Anyway, check the mix after the jump or download here...

Night Tracks 037: Davwuh Guest Mix

I've been working on a few tracks with Davwuh that you might've seen if you follow me on Soundcloud, and after we interviewed him before, he presented me with this great mix and asked if I wanted it. One glance at the tracklist proved that I did. Check it out below, and/or download it here.

 

 Davwuh - Broken Lights
Burial - Distant Lights
El-B - Amazon
VVV - Dolven
Volor Flex - I Miss You
Davwuh - Death Poem
Rihanna - We Found Love (Davwuh Remix)
Ghostek - Feathered Skies
Subaeris - The End
Fedbymachines - Will This End?
Davwuh and Budeaux - Faded
Davwuh and +3 - Artifact
Synkro - Look At Yourself
Spurv - Atlanta (Sangam Remix)
Davwuh - Sepukku
Davwuh - Samurai
Digital Mystikz - Misty Winter
Loefah - Goat Stare
Mala - Blue Notez
D1 - Cocaine

_______

Night Tracks 035: Budeaux

What up. Put together this mix a little while ago, and it seems weird to be putting it up in the midst of the scorching sunshine, but whatever, it was now or never. Even timestamped that sheeee-it. Probably the moodiest, darkest, garage-y-est mix I've ever put together, a lot of unreleased stuff from the likes of Sangam, Ghostlight, VVV & Ghostek, Burial, Kelle, etc. Ok, maybe no unreleased Burial.... yet.

Listen after the jump or download here.

Interview with Forensics and Guest Mix

There are plenty of people out there working hard to give dubstep a bad name, and plenty of people willing to buy into it. But for those that think it's become all about the wub, and not about the sub, then look no further than Forensics, who drops in with a guest mix for us today. Check it out.

NT: Dubstep obviously plays a big part in your life. What came first, DJing or Producing? How did you get into it in the first place?

F: Wasn’t really into electronic music until I was about 18. A friend got me going out to jungle/dnb nights, and then got me into mixing the stuff. That was 1998. Didn’t start trying to produce anything until I got into dubstep, in late 2003/early 2004. More specifically, getting Horrorshow by Loefah on vinyl is what inspired me to really try and be a dubstep DJ (and then producer). Seeing Plasticman (Plastician) at the first Subloaded in Bristol was also a big inspiration.

Forensics & Be-1ne - Lighthouse

Night Tracks 034: Ghostek Guest Mix

What a treat. The ever elusive and (sort of) retiring Ghostek has put together a mix for Night Tracks.

The mix starts of with an old Ghostek favourite, 'Velvet' before launching into a more techno-ish style, indicative of the area he's moving in to, and it even includes a couple of new Ghostek demos just to make sure you know what to expect. You can listen to the mix below, or download it by clicking the artwork above.

 

Ghostek - Velvet 

Zoltan - Permutations 

Alex Smoke - What Can I Say

Paleman - Pistons

Midland - Shelter

South London Ordnance - Fjord

Blawan - Getting Me Down

Jakatta - American Dream (Rektchordz Refix)

Das Glow - The Key

Ghostek - Secrets

Ghostek - Guilty Innocence (demo)

Ghostek - Haunt You (demo)

Majora - 2 x 1

Interview with Mosket and Night Tracks 033: Guest Mix

Today we've got the London and Leeds based duo Mosket in to talk a little about their tunes, and they've also put together a guest mix for your pleasure, that has an absolutely sick selection that's left me rinsing it all day. Check it out.

NT: Hey, can you give us an introduction to Mosket?
M: Mosket are two producers (Tom and Dom) from London who make house, techno, electronic music.

NT: Can you tell us a little about the music you produce? How long have you been producing?
M: The music we produce is essentially house, techno, 4/4 but we've always tried to add a lot of melody and atmosphere in our music which makes it both appropriate for the dancefloor and in your yard. We've always tried to be open minded when making music so what sometimes starts as a house tracks morphs into something different as we go off on tangents. Me and Dom have known each other for years, we started pissing about on garageband about 4 years ago and since then we've just been making beats in our spare time slowly developing our sound. I guess Mosket started about 18 months ago...

Mosket - Triple Filtered

Interview with Bruised Skies & Night Tracks 032: Guest Mix

After a short absence, the interviews are back, and this time it's the turn of Bruised Skies, who's also gave us a guest mix which you can check out at the end of the interview. Read on...

NT: Hey man, can you give us an introduction?
BS: I’m Bruised Skies, I write ambient, downtempo and hopefully emotive music.

NT: It seems a lot of your own tracks are ambient in nature. Have you produced in any other styles?
BS: Before I went under the name Bruised Skies I did really bad acoustic covers of songs that I’d record with a bad camera and post on youtube thinking it was a good idea… it was not. Other than that I’ve always stuck to an ambient style if not pure ambience the use of dense textures and layers of sound.

Bruised Skies - Goodbye

NT002 - Apple Bottom - Forget It - Interview and Guest Mix

So, as you may be aware, Night Tracks 3rd release, "Forget It" by Apple Bottom is available from the Night Tracks store now, and he's put together a mix to celebrate. I also asked him a few questions, so check them out below and check the mix at the end.

NT: Hey man, can we get an introduction?

AB: Hey I'm Apple Bottom, I've been making tunes for about 2 years using logic pro and a midi keyboard. Music is a huge part of my life. I am constantly listening to music and pretty much all of my spare time is spent writing songs.

NT: How long have you been producing tunes, and what sort of style do you produce?

AB: Like I said I've been producing for about 2 years. I'm not sure what you call my music, I'd rather leave it up to the listener. I guess it must fit in around that "post-dubstep" "UK-Bass" kind of area, or so I've been told, but essentially the music I make is like the stuff I would want to hear, if that makes sense so its more a sound that is pleasing to me rather than fitting it into one particular genre when I start writing it. I think of my music as being both dancing music and music for just chilling but it depends on when and where you play it.

NT: Can you tell us a little about the tracks you're releasing on Night Tracks, "Forget It" and "Ur Touch"?

AB: "Forget it" and "Ur touch" are both relatively recent tracks and follow along with style I write with at the moment, but they are both quite different from each other in terms of mood and atmosphere. "Forget It" is a more clunky spaced out song with a bit of garage influence thrown in. I wanted "Forget It" to have a series of chilled melodies and beats but still, when it comes to the drop, get people dancing or nodding their heads because thats the sort of thing I like in a song, where it has that rhythm and feel that can get people dancing or just noticing the groove. "Ur Touch" is pretty different in terms of mood, its darker, more club orientated I guess in its rhythm and structure. It's a very simple song, I'd say it has about 5 components at the most, but in a way I find that in most dance songs less is better other wise you get to wrapped up in fancy programming and forget about the main part of the song: the beat and how that makes a dance-floor move.

NT: Where do you take influence for your productions from?

AB: My influences come from a lot of stuff, from jazz to chicago footwork and from Lagos Roots to current UK Bass and House music, so I guess there is a bit of everything in my music. But if I had to say the artists that influence me most it would probably be a lot of the Hotflush guys and also the Night Slugs crew, not to mention people like Ramadanman/Pearson Sound, French Fries, Hudson Mohawk, Rustie, Blawan and the Hessle Audio lot, all of whom I've been listening to from before I ever thought of producing music.

NT: Aside from your release on Night Tracks, do you have any other releases planned?

AB: Right now I'm not sure. I've had a lot of people asking but I'm not sure exactly which label im going to release anything on, but hopefully there will be more very soon.

NT: Finally, if you had to pick your 3 favourite "Night Tracks", what would they be?

AB: 1. Bhava - Irridate
2. Eplp - SkyLit Pines
3. Budeaux - Big Suburban Life

NT: Thanks dude, and big up on an amazing release! Again, bag the release here, and check out his mix below (Download here)

Interview with Sub Radar/Baron Rogue & Night Tracks 029: Guest Mix

Today we've got Mike aka Baron Rogue from Sub Radar (the guy who made me decide to start this blog in the first place!) to drop his own take on Night Tracks with a sublime mix that I think is best suited to the early hours. He tells us a little more about himself here...

NT: Hey man, can we get an introduction?

SR: Hi! I'm a 23 year old South African living in Los Angeles. I eat more avocados than most people you know. I sleep with a fan on. 

NT: Can you tell us a little about your site, Sub Radar? What made you start it? If the site has a focus on one area, what would you say it is?
SR: The focus of Sub Radar is to share my impeccable taste in music with as many people as possible. Well, sort of. It started off as a cloud network for me to store things that I liked. As more people started to read and share the site, it kind of grew into a playful soap box where I just tell people what they should be listening to, even if they hate it. Especially if they hate it. I never limit myself, but I tend to be picky about what I post, sort of chilling in a grey area of being current but not spammy.

NT: Can you give us a few words on your selection for the mix? Where do you get your musical influences from?
SR: Above all, I like artists that can make weird noises sound good and catchy, on both sides of the minimal/complex spectrum. Aside from that, I love any and all types of music, especially in different languages. Bass, bass and more bass is always a good thing as well. There is so much good music out there that I can find something to fit every one of my moods. As far as this mix goes, I tried to dig out tunes that fit in the middle of the Venn diagram of being both Night Tracks and Sub Radar. Being a huge NT and NSC fan, there was no shortage of tunes to choose from.

NT: Aside from blogging and your mix series, do you have any other involvement in music?
SR: I live and breathe it. I work in film and TV audio production and postproduction, so literally every second of my day is filled with sound. I think that's why I need that fan noise to go to sleep at night, silence weirds me out. I also produce (terribly), but that's a very limited aspect of my involvement with sound and music.

NT: Finally, if you had to pick your three favourite Night Tracks, what would they be?
SR: 1. Pretty much everything that you feature. Since the first post it's been my go-to for that deep vibe night-time chillout music.

2. Also, everything by The Weeknd. The guy could sing about vomit and it would still be sexy.

3. "Dig" by Mudvayne, the ultimate relaxation song.

NT: Thanks for your time dude! Check out his mix below, or download it here.

Dobroide - Night Forest 02
Helios - Sons of Light and Darkness
Swarms - Flikr of Ur Eyes
The XX - Night Time (Synkro Remix)
Delete - Promise Me
Sorrow - Through the Night (Stumbleine Remix)
Rain Dog - One To Love
Tycho - Hours
Balam Acab - Apart
Clams Casino - Numb [Instrumental]
Helios - Bless This Morning Year
The XX - Open Eyes [Demo]

Sub Radar Radio 003: Budeaux

I put together a guest mix for the quality Sub Radar blog based in L.A. I'm not gonna take away traffic from his site, especially as it's well worth checking out, so go and listen now!

I will however, give you the tracklist to whet your appetite! Out to Mike for giving me the opportunity!

1. Burial - Dog Shelter (Essáy's Old Edit) (Dub)
2. Budeaux - Goodbye (Dub)
3. Burial & Four Tet - Moth (Text)
4. EPLP feat. Alpenglow - Blue Evening (Forthcoming Night Tracks)
5. Addrift - Selfish Society (Dub)
6. Burial - Shell Of Light (Hyperdub)
7. Kelle - Love (Dub)
8. Moving Ninja - Uranium (Tectonic)
9. Bhava - Immerse (Night Tracks)
10. Boards Of Canada - Basefree (Warp)
11. Burial - UK (Hyperdub)
12. Burial - South London Boroughs (Tease) (Hyperdub)
13. Sully - 2 Hearts (Keysound)
14. A Guy Called Gerald - Silent Cry (Juice Box)
15. Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent) (Polydor)/A Sample From Charles Dickens' 'The Signalman' film by the BBC

Interview with Be-1ne & Night Tracks 026: Be-1ne Guest Mix

Today we've got producer, DJ and Area Recordings head honcho Be-1ne in to answer a few questions, and he's very kindly taken the time to put together an (almost) all vinyl mix for your auditory pleasure. Read on...

NT: Hey man, can you give us an introduction?
B: Hi I’m Be-1ne, I’m a producer / DJ, label owner and cat lover, not necessarily in that order.

NT: What made you decide to start up your label, Area Recordings?
B: A lack of vinyl releases in the style of music I wanted to buy and a desire to find out what it was like to go through the steps of putting a record out.

Be-1ne - Cane Cutter

NT: What do you look for from producers when they send you demos? You've recently released a triple pack of relatively new producers, but what makes you decide that you want to release their music?
B: A good piece of music will move me in some way. Whether It’s screwing up my face to a big bass line or drifting off with some lush melodies, I’m looking for music that I get an emotional response from. When I hear something that is just so amazing, I want to share it. I have worked closely in some way or other with the people released, and forthcoming on the label. They have all have something unique in their music that I have wanted to help them share to a wider audience.

Interview with Kid Smpl & Night Tracks 025: Guest Mix

The interviews keep on coming, and today we've got Kid Smpl to drop in and answer a few questions. He's also put together a guest mix exclusively for Night Tracks, and double bonus, it's comprised entirely of his own productions. Here's top hoping that they see a release, because they are next level. Check it out at the end of the interview!

NT: Can you give those that don’t know about you an introduction?

KS: I'm a 21-year-old producer/dj from Seattle, Washington in the US. I make music on the deeper more ambient side of things and tend to focus a lot on atmosphere and melody.

NT: Coming from Seattle, how did you get into the music you produce today, which undoubtedly has roots in dance music from the UK?

KS: When I first started producing music I was making hip hop but I became uninterested in that pretty quickly. I then discovered dubstep through the internet and also word of mouth from some college friends. Dubstep was the first form of UK bass music that I had ever gotten into. I fell in love with the sound and started producing it. My dubstep production eventually evolved into what I'm making today which, probably shouldn't be categorized as dubstep.

Kid Smpl - Travelled

Interview with Nic Hamilton & Night Tracks 024: Guest Mix

I've been lucky to get an interview with the designer Nic Hamilton, who's going to talk about his work in music alongside his design work. Both his art and his mixes are really impressive stuff, and I'm a big fan. Really stands out for me. He's also put together a guest mix for us that you've got to check out. Read on...

NT: Hey, can you give us an introduction to yourself?

N: My name is Nic. I am originally from Tasmania but presently live in London (and soon to be Melbourne) I used to be an architect - that got really boring - self trained myself to be a 3D artist then moved into art direction and now bored of doing commercial work so going back to post grad art school to pursue my own work full time and see what happens. I have always been into music especially hiphop, breakbeat, house, pop, rnb etc.

NT: We'll talk about your design work first. A lot of your work seems to be quite dark, is that intentional? To what extent are you influenced by your environments?

N: I rarely set out to do dark pieces but seem to keep doing 'dark' work. It could be a side effect from doing so much sickly sweet commercial work during the day and having to make things sunny / bright and 'lighthearted 'to keep the amazing plethora of dull conservative clients happy. Also I tend to use black a lot and shy away from colour despite efforts to use it. I love dense complex cities like Tokyo, London, New York and Istanbul as much as I do the Tasmania wilderness where I grew up. I am inspired by vast and complex natural and constructed spaces and the idea of something being very big and very small at the same time. These macro / micro conditions occur everywhere in the natural, built and digital world, and in music too, so maybe this is what connects all my work.

Interview with HGLDT & Night Tracks 023: Guest Mix

We’ve got a real treat for you today, as the Montreal-based producer and Swing And Skip head HGLDT checks in for an interview, and a guest mix full of deep house, including a dub by HGLDT himself 'Free To Harmonize' which I can't recommend enough. You can now download the mix too, so check it out after reading what he's got to say...

NT: Hey. Can you tell Night Tracks a bit about yourself?
H: Hello! Where should I start? I've been DJing and making tunes as HGLDT for the past couple of years. It's not a particularly catchy name to say the least so most people just call me Henry. I love deep music, in any sense of the term: I'm a big ambient, post-rock and EDM fan. My time is divided between studying Liberal Arts and Philosophy in university, playing a couple of gigs here and there and running my label Swing & Skip.

NT: Coming from somewhere that was pretty far removed from the original garage scene, how did you get into the garage/garage-influenced beats you produce today, and release through your label?
H: I spent my early teens roaming around the internet seeking new things to discover. I somehow ended up on Dubstep Forum right around the release of DMZ 005, and was completely blown away by it. Hearing Mala's Neverland was a defining moment for me - something about the physicality of the bass, the intricate rhythm, the space in the song - I couldn't believe it. I had never heard anything similar before, and all of a sudden I couldn't listen to anything else. This led to an uncontrollable passion for dubstep at the time - the early Berkane Sol, DMZ, Apple Pips, and Deep Medi releases. Drawing from my love for these records, I started going back to their influences and origins - the garage pioneers, old school grime instrumentals and such. Somewhere along the way I developed a taste for certain elements of these genres - it's still hard to pin point but there's a definite influence that these records has on me.