Bass Music Mix 15 - Skyence
We're back already with Mix 15 in our 'illustrious' series - biggups to everyone who checked out the Altered Natives one last week; the response was amazing!
This week we've got Hamburg-resident Skyence on the ones and twos. I only discovered his stuff recently, but I'm already a massive fan - check out his myspace page to hear his blend of dubstep, soul and deep electronics; I can't wait for 'Definition' to be released - it's not often you come across a new artist who is not only really good, but also boasts immaculate production skills. Definitely one to watch in 2010, and as I mentioned before, don't forget to check the free Echodub album which features his stuff. Thanks to Skyence for this mix - hope you enjoy it!
Please introduce yourself - who are you and what do you do?
My name is Skyence and I‘m currently sitting in my studio in Hamburg/Germany and try to introduce myself which feels a bit like the first day in class, haha... And I‘m doing this because I‘m known to be a producer of music and sounds. All this started with my first PC about 13 years ago, when I used to chop those Phil Collins snares off my fathers CDs with the SoundBlaster AWE64 Wave Editor. Traded that one for Steinberg Cubase over the years and, well, here I find myself talking to you about my productions. Damn, how the years rush by...
Tell us about the mix - what were you trying to do with it? Is it the kind of set you‘d play in a club?
This maybe the kind of set I‘ll hit the clubs with, yes. Unfortunately I couldn‘t find the right platform to drop some livesets in the last years & months and I tried to put way more time into production. I‘m not a "dubplate hunter" kind of guy - did that a lot when I got lost in Drum&Bass over the years. But the constant hunt for the newest and craziest crate turns good tunes into fast food. You drop them twice for one minute and throw them out of your collection because there are 250 more on the list that you want to play first. Maybe that‘s why I‘ll never be a good Drum&Bass dj, haha... So, as for this mix I wanted to combine all genres and tempos that inspired me and my productions over the last years - new tunes and favourites of mine like "Game Over". I always find myself rapping and doub-ling those punchlines in there when it is playing - one of the tunes I wish I made. Sad, but challenging.
We hear a lot about Berlin, but what‘s Hamburg like for music? Is there any kind of scene?
Tough question. If Berlin is a volcano, Hamburg is like the eart core. There are a lot of great artists doing their thing around here, but I can‘t really feel what you would call a "scene" or even a "Hamburg sound". But maybe that‘s just me - I‘m not too interested in parties and the whole world around them. I like to hang out in the studio or with few close friends listening to music.
Do you see yourself as fitting into any particular scene, in fact?
Nope. Most people see me with the dubstep scene - but really, if dubstep is a whobble and a big snare, I‘m completely bored by it, haha... It never occured to me that I thought of some genre when I was set- ting the bpm meter in Cubase. Scenes and genres can be helpful for shopping music, but they really are non-existent to me.
I see you‘re also a sound engineer, is that your 'day job'?
I‘m working on that one... ;)
Who are your influences/producers to look out for right now?
You know, I‘m really too slow for that stuff. When I buy new music, I use to hit up a good friend of mine to discuss and 9 out of 10 times he already knows the stuff I think is brandnew, haha... But, currently I‘m in a phase where I really like to dig a bit deeper and discovered some real inspiration through Comfort Fit, Swede:art, Blue Daisy, Moderat or fLako. In addition I‘m surely inspired by a lot of classical music from Bedrich Smetana, Frédéric Chopin to Ludovico Einaudi.
Plans for the future? Do you have any releases coming up that you want to plug?
I‘m currently working on my album which should hopefully drop this year. Besides that, I want to spend even more time on music itself - that means running a music business, listen more, play more, work on my production skills. Oh yeah, I want to play some gigs in 2010!
01 Throwing Snow - In My Minds Eye (with Jesse Moncrieff)
02 Backdraft - Headcharge (Eskmo Remix)
03 Jamie Vex'd - Saturn
04 Swede:art - Wonkycarz
05 Robot Koch - Hard To Find
06 PANTyRAiD - Headcase
07 Portformat - Knock Knock (feat. Bless1)
08 Dabrye feat. Jay Dee & Phat Kat - Game Over
09 Julien Dyne - Stained Glass Fresh Frozen (feat. Mara TK)
10 Synth Fiction - Nuke
11 Foamo - Wardance (Raffertie Remix feat. Shiftee Moova)
12 Skyence - Not Me
13 Floating Points - Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub)
14 Modeselektor - Happy Birthday
15 Alien Pimp & Ikkaku - Neutro (Skyence Remix)
16 Common - Universal Mind Control
17 Two Fingers - Whatuknowabout (feat. Sway)
18 Nitrada - Fading Away (Apparat Remix)
19 Timo Maas - Slip In Electrokid
20 Skyence feat. Tanvi Rao - Stuck In Time
02 Backdraft - Headcharge (Eskmo Remix)
03 Jamie Vex'd - Saturn
04 Swede:art - Wonkycarz
05 Robot Koch - Hard To Find
06 PANTyRAiD - Headcase
07 Portformat - Knock Knock (feat. Bless1)
08 Dabrye feat. Jay Dee & Phat Kat - Game Over
09 Julien Dyne - Stained Glass Fresh Frozen (feat. Mara TK)
10 Synth Fiction - Nuke
11 Foamo - Wardance (Raffertie Remix feat. Shiftee Moova)
12 Skyence - Not Me
13 Floating Points - Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub)
14 Modeselektor - Happy Birthday
15 Alien Pimp & Ikkaku - Neutro (Skyence Remix)
16 Common - Universal Mind Control
17 Two Fingers - Whatuknowabout (feat. Sway)
18 Nitrada - Fading Away (Apparat Remix)
19 Timo Maas - Slip In Electrokid
20 Skyence feat. Tanvi Rao - Stuck In Time
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