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2 Fresh InterviewWhere did you get the inspiration for Bandwagon 92 e.p. from? E= was listening to the JohnB tune 'Blandwagon Poos' and the idea just popped into my head to make a protest tune against the stick I was getting for making Oldskool Hardcore style music. Where do you see tings goin in the future? E= Bigger fatter sounds, live Performances M= Hard to tell at the moment, but hopefully more peeps will start making and releasing their own stuff so we can get a bit more of a collective doing it. More and more people that matter are starting to take notice of what we and everyone else doing it is doing, so hopefully the future’s bright! What advice would you give to those who are writin tunage at the moment and can't get anyone to take notice of their stuff? M= Basically, get your shit out there and heard! Send off CD’s, press and release your own material...be prepared to part with money and wait a while to get it back tho. Maybe not even get it all back. We’re all trying to revive a style of music from scratch so its gotta be done for the love of it, not with financial gain in mind. With the internet you’ve literally got the world at your fingertips – you can upload your stuff on the net for all to hear, you have the ablity to gain relationships with established artists and the like who could help push your sound – Improvise really! Who's ya favourite producers n artitsts E= Liam Prodigy, Ed Rush & Optical, early Public Enemy stuff, James Brown, Hendrix M= Prodigy, Ed Rush & Optical, Trace, Fierce, Matrix, Cause for Concern (love that neuro tech-step d’n’b sound!), NWA, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Plum DJ’s, Si Begg, Son of an Electric Ghost, Aquasky...list goes on! What other musical genres do you like? E= Drum & Bass mainly but i'll give anything a chance pretty much obsessed with music in general. M= D’n’B, Breaks (all styles from FingerLickin’/Plump’s to the Distortionz Bass Line sort of stuff, to the Si Begg style bleeps’n’beeps), chill out/electronica, old skool hip hop, even a bit of rock! List goes on really – like at least something from most genres.. What equipment do you use for writin tracks? M= A mixture of Hardware & Software but currently mainly Cubase & Halion. Where do ya hail from/know any peeps from Richmond College? E= SW London, I went to Richmond College many moons ago I'm afraid I haven't kept in touch with any of me class mates though. M= Wandsworth – Never went to Richmond College but used to know peeps from there - was a while ago though. When producing my tracks sometimes they sound a bit tinny, usually when using sampled stuff, any tips for getting a warmer/fuller sound? The vst's that I've started using seem to have a good warm feel to them! M= Some very good VST’s about these days. Sounds like may be an EQ issue? Maybe try not to have too much top end with not enough bottom end? Hard to say without seeing the settings etc.. Also when using samples is very important to make sure you spend time on each individual sample getting it to sound as clean and polished as possible. How long have you both been producing? M= Started a Music Technolgy course in about 1999. Messed around on Cakewalk at home before and used to sequence on my 5-track keyboard and Alesis drum machine but didn’t start getting serious until then really. E= Can’t remember exactly got my first bits of kit at the end of the ninties producing drum and bass was hanging out in that scene at the time. What's your top 10 arcade/computer games? E= now thats too difficult, but here's 10 that
are deffinitly up there: How do you think cd decks and or Final Scratch will affect the scene? E= Don't know anything about it at the moment. M= Well, I think the new Pioneer CD decks are amazing and Final Scratch sounds great, but I guess in the end all this sharing and copying etc. will seriously damage the dance/music scene in general. Especially the small producers/label owners/artists. How has your releases been received by the big named DJ's? I saw pics on the site of Ellis Dee, Randall etc. M= Received very well! What has been the most rewarding moment for you both? E= That’s a hard one, recently being asked to update classic oldskool tunes was cool, also when legends who I grew up listening to tell you there really feeling your stuff! That’s a real buzz! What has been the 3 funniest things that you have seen in the Bucks Head? E= Malice, Eyeski & M@xxVinyl Will Darkus be featuring on any more of your ep's? E= Yeh I hope so, I rate his Produtions, imo one of the best Producers we got in our Hardcore Breaks scene. M= What he said. Where dya get the name 2 Fresh from? M= A lot of brainstorming. Have to say, coming up with a name was probably one of the hardest parts of the whole process! E= Kept somewhere the brainstorm bit of paper where we came up with the name, might put it into the sleeve design of a future release. Fresh or frozen? M= Fresh. Where dya get ya ideas for trax from? M= Anywhere! That’s what I love about Hardcore...Old Skool Hardcore anyway. Just go with it. E= From the deep recesses of my strange twisted mind.
Would you bet on a release you can beat me in Street Fighter (since you can't)? E= You might have a chance with one hand tied behind my back! You guys use a hardware studio [like me]. Can you tell me what why you made this choice, since for example a lot of big names in d'n'b have gone software. E= Currently using a mixture of both, but have got rid of most of my
hardware. Now I’m missing it cos I definitely prefer the sound
hardware creates, so when I’ve got the chance am planning to go back
to 100% hardware. What do you think of all the exposure of nu skool breakz on warehouse wax and this forum since I myself am not feeling it? E= I think it’s brilliant and have been really feeling the remixes
they’ve had done. Saying that, we were thinking about it ourselves
and even had discussions with some of our favourite Nu Skool Breaks
producers, but decided not to currently go that route. Not for
2Fresh anyway. Being camden boys did any of ya go to haverstock? M= Not actually from Camden...what’s Haverstock??! Heard something else about this the other day when I was up there. What have you got lined up next for the label? E= Been totally hectic in both our lives since releasing 003, but have big plans for the future. The No. 1 priority is regular releases – ideally one or more releases a month. Been waiting on material from some of our favourite old skool producers so hopefully that’ll happen soon. Me and Malice have also been talking about a 2Fresh album and also a mix CD after we’ve got a few more releases under our belt. How did you both meet?? M= Both studying Music Technology at college in different classes, saw a Kniteforce sticker on Enzyme’s record box and went and said hello. Mainly started hangin out though a couple of months later, after he got me a set after his one on a pirate station he was playing on. Linked up, went into his then Brixton based studio and the rest is history. How do you see the music developing/how would you like it to develop? E= Keep the essence of Hardcore Rave music in Hardcore Breaks but inject it with new sounds and modern production techniques to keep it cutting edge. M= Exactly – keeping the essence of 92/93 Hardcore but basically letting it progress from where it left off. The way I see it, d’n’b, house, breaks, happy/bouncy/nu energy/whatever hardcore, you name it, its all stayed around about the same tempo for ages and the music just evolves around that. It never happened with Hardcore because due to various factors the music mutated, split and sped up well before its time. See Vinyl Junkie and Producer’s blurb on the new Warehouse Wax album – sums it up perfectly. Do you do remixes of any others tunes?? E= I’m currently working on some Remixes all will be revealed soon M= Not presently...personally what with work and other general commitments I find it hard enough to find the time to make tunes for 2Fresh let alone other projects! Are you cainers ?? M= Used to be but had to stop..got too much! Still enjoy the odd smoke but nothing else. Fuck skunk tho – hi-grade weed is where it’s at!! E= What he said! We’re currently averaging a release every 6 months – imagine if we were still cainers lol! Do you play out?? PA's or DJ?? E= Hope so! See event listings for details. Regards to PA’s – is on the list of things to do. M= Yeah, although in recent couple of months due to business and time not as much as were – gonna get back on the case soon tho. Shameless plug: If you’re interested in a 2Fresh DJ/PA set contact info@2fresh.co.uk or phone on 07751750102/07974792249 What's in your bag at the moment?? E= Hopefully sperm, otherwise I’m in trouble! M= Still fresh from doing Easter down the Buck’s Head Bar so a healthy mix of Old Skool, Nu Skool and D’n’B. Ryu, Ken or Guille?? E= Akuma Big thanks to Malice and Enzyme for taking the time to reply to the forum members questions and to DJ Abo for arranging the Q&A. |
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