Following the release of two mind-bending tunes on RAM Records, we spoke to the imperious drum & bass producer about his latest release, his penchant for TV and film scores and lots more.
Drum & Bass is never short of inspirational artists for all those in-search, but even in the long list of names, comes one man who shakes the scene to its foundations; which InsideInfo did when he made his debut more than two decades ago. A disciple of the celebrated golden era of drum & bass of the 90s and theearly 2000s, InsideInfo made his debut in 2006. And with just a handful of releases, he introduced the DnB scene to his mechanized and powerful style of music.
Championing the scientific aspects of drum & bass, which has placed him as one of the unique producers in the game, InsideInfo has had groundbreaking releases on every major label that the genre has to offer. The producer’s solo act is also complimented by his collaborative project with Critical Music’s head honcho, Kasra, called Circuits. InsideInfo’s love for deep, power-driven, and heavyweight drum & bass led him to start his own self-titled label, which he says will let him ‘take things by the reins, just do what I want to do, and persist with it’.
After starting his year on Souped Up Records and his own imprint, InsideInfo has released two crunching belters on Andy C’s RAM Records. We took the opportunity to speak with the producer about his latest release, his love for making movie and TV scores, his plans for the future and lots more.
Hey there, legend, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us. How has the summer been for you so far?
InsideInfo: I feel like the last 3 months I’ve really got my inspiration back for writing DnB again, I’ll be honest over lockdown with everything shut it was quite difficult to find it, and its taken me a while to get back on the wagon. I have no reservation in admitting the majority of DnB I write is aimed at that dingy club / festival experience. I’ve spent most of the summer so far soaking up the world again and spending time with my 4-year-old Daughter, who is a never-ending source of chaos and enjoyment!!
Your latest release on RAM Records is the InsideInfo sound that DnB heads live for. What are your thoughts on the tunes?
InsideInfo: This is actually the first Single I’ve had on Ram, I have done some remixes for them in the past and featured on a few things, but never had a solo release. I used to bombard them with crappy demos back in the day, Would even phone up the RAM office to pester them to see if they had listened to them! So, it’s a bit of a moment for me really. I grew up on all the early Vinyl releases and RAM nights at the End club, So the label has always had a very special in my career, even if it took the best part of 15 FUCKING YEARS to actually get a release on there!
We’re also intrigued by the names of the tracks. What was the idea behind their names?
InsideInfo: So for Man with a Bomb I found the vocal sample while picking up random films and unwanted CDs from charity shops and just had to make something out of it! I love doing that, I know its easy to find samples on the internet of whatever you like but there is something about limiting yourself to finding samples that way which sparks off creativity more for me.
Seducer was written quite a while afterwards, just right before lockdown hit. The idea behind it was to find and loop a really small + weird section of vocal but have the loop points completely out of time with the main track, So it seduces you in like a Siren calling, then drops in something completely contrasting and quite dark.
One of your tracks with Fable is used in the trailer of ‘The Devil’s Hour’ drama series. Can you tell us a little more about it?
InsideInfo: The last 2 years or so I took a break from writing DnB and became involved in writing for TV / Film and Videogames, which I absolutely love, it’s like working out with a different muscle group. I really wanted to work with Fable again after we did Glimpse a while back and an opportunity came up to do an epic style cover version of one of my fav tracks from my childhood, Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere.
Fable gave an incredible vocal performance for the track; I love her unique style. She’s just released her debut album which is fantastic, go check it! It was absolutely mad seeing this track used for an upcoming Amazon Prime series. Props to the guys at Kings & Creatures and Position music for making that happen. We have some more stuff on the boil at the moment too.
You started your own label in 2018. What was the inspiration behind it and what are your plans going forward with InsideInfo music?
InsideInfo: The goal really was to have somewhere that I have total creative control over, a place where I can release stuff whenever I wanted, not worrying about schedules or creative differences and just to have a bit more freedom with it all. I still love working with other labels, but having my own outlet gives me way more flexibility.
Can we expect a Circuits release to come anytime soon?
InsideInfo: For now me and Kas are focusing on our individual projects, but we are still in touch all the time and will likely come back to do Circuits release at some point when the times right, when we have something a bit special!
If there is one track that you would choose to end all your DJ sets with, what would it be?
InsideInfo: Ok so probably boring answer but there is no way I could choose one track to end every set with, I’m too indecisive, it changes constantly!! Plus, There’s something awesome and motivating about coming with a new set ender every so often. Be unpredictable!
Finally, can you give us a sneak peek into what’s coming next for InsideInfo?
InsideInfo: I have quite a lot in the pipeline DnB-wise, more singles on my Label dropping imminently, a remix for Critical, a TON of collabs on the go, Plus all the Game / Film stuff. It really is full steam ahead again!
Buy/Stream ‘Seducer’/’Man With A Bomb’ – HERE
