Few months ago, we had spoken about the importance of having more Indian representation in the global Drum & Bass scene. Now, after Crash Comet’s peachy Liquid beaut on Liquicity, we have a release on RAM Records’ offshoot label ProgRAM from Utkarsh Singh aka UKato.
The Delhi-based producer becomes the first Indian to release a full-blown EP on ProgRAM Records. The ‘Aether’ EP is a seriously well-rounded release featuring 4 cuts of mind-numbing Drum & Bass that exhibit progressive low-end butchery with a tinge of oriental elements.
Title track ‘Aether’ begins with a long and dark intro before collapsing into a musical journey through its spellbinding drum grooves. Next up is the technoid roller ‘Fractal’ which carries the narrative of the title track’s long intro based build-up. ‘Delhi Shuffler’ is a straight-down-the-plate Drum & Bass banger that has the capacity to destroy any dancefloor. The EP ends with ‘Parameter’ which is a driving and rhythmic tune with flickers of metallic percussion and swatches of rattling bass stabs.
We got a chance to catch up with the emerging producer about his journey as UKato and his thoughts on being the first Indian to feature on the label. Here’s what he had to say!
How and when did the journey begin for UKato?
UKato: My journey began in 2015. I discovered dance music and fell in love with it almost instantly, following which there was a music festival being held at my school. I wanted to be a part of it, so I picked up DJing which led me to go down this rabbit hole of artists who showed how they made it big. That inspired me the most, which exposed me to tons of music-making knowledge online.
First Indian to have a full EP released on ProgRAM. What are your thoughts?
UKato: Is it? Well, if it is, then that’s an honor. I still remember discovering Mefjus, Abis, and so many more through RAM, and now that I think about it, it’s wild to be a part of the legendary roster finally.
What genres do you like to dabble in when You are not making Drum & Bass?
UKato: Well, a little bit of everything, to those who have followed my journey since the beginning, I have dabbled in tons of sounds and genres. I do enjoy making DnB for sure, but other genres that I love making are Deep dub, industrial hip-hop, and even RnB.
One Drum & Bass artist you would like to collaborate with?
UKato: No brainer, Mefjus, hands down, would be my dream DnB collab because I consider Manifest by Mefjus as one of the best bass music albums of all time.
5 tunes you are digging at the moment?
UKato: DJ RIDE – SMTHINGNEW
Noisia – Tommy’s Theme (The Caracal Project & Grey Code’s Tank Engine Remix)
YAANO – By Myself
IC3PEAK – Sad Bitch
Fade Black – Polaris
Stream UKato’s ‘Aether’ EP here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLtyf4Pko3mHKabVbFZOUJHDBSjOWvASgx]
