If
you haven't heard tracks from the Switchblade Digital imprint yet,
then you've been missing out on some of the finest old skool style
jungle tracks around, we caught up with label owner Abyss for a chat,
he also very kindly put together an exclusive free mix for us
too.....
1.Tell
us a little bit about yourself for the uninitiated
Well,
I just recently turned 36 (Yikes!) I have been around the scene since
day 1. I got my first set of decks in 1994, some lovely Soundlab DLP1
belt drives, lol. Being able to mix on those was a skill in itself! I
had a Made2Fade GM25 mixer to go with them. I always remember having
to replace the crossfader every few months, either they were very
poorly made, or I was a bit too eager with my cutting and chopping
(Probably the latter, lol)
2.When
did you get the Hardcore/Jungle bug? What was the defining
tune/moment that drew you into the
scene?
Well,
it all started for me with 'Humanoid - Stakker Humanoid' back in
1988. It was just the energy of that track, and sounds that I'd never
heard before in music. I still to this day occasionally turn all the
lights off in the room, put headphones on nice and loud, go onto
Youtube and watch the original music video on full screen. (Try it,
it's a real trippy experience!) Of course in the coming years I
listened to all The Prodigy tracks and loved them (Saw them live in
1994 in my hometown, it was a wicked night!) Pretty soon after some
mates got me listening to some pirate radio in 1993. The station was
called PCRS and based in Southampton. The DJ I used to listen to was
called Mr E. I remember his mixing being very questionable, but it
opened me up to a whole new sound. The darkcore of 1993 was something
else that was new and it really got me hooked. I started buying
mixtapes from the two underground music shops in town, namely
'Movement Records' and 'Tripp 2 Records'. Whilst in there I would see
all the local DJs buying vinyl and would recognise the tracks from
the mixtapes I bought. It wasn't long before I was buying records too
and listening to them on my Hi-Fi at home, lol. I probably had about
100 records before I got my first set of decks!
3.And
what/who influenced you to start producing tracks?
Back
in 2008 I started trying to produce some D&B, mainly because I
was DJing D&B on an internet radio station (Headrush Live D&B)
and thought it would be cool to have a bash at making my own tracks
and putting them in the mix. The results were ok, but very basic. I
soon got bored with the sound too. I didn't like the direction D&B
was heading. I then stumbled across DJ FX playing some oldskool on
Subbass FM. This brought me back to my roots and I rediscovered my
passion for that classic 90's sound! I started making music like the
music I loved back then. It was an easy transition for me, and the
tracks started to flow.
4.You've
had releases on Kode
5 Recordings and also started up your own label 'Switchblade
Digital' where you are now putting out your own tracks and signing
new artists, again, what inspired you to take these steps?
Yep,
Kode 5 are a great bunch of lads and put out my first 'Oldskool'
tracks. I remember at the time just thinking how cool it was having
my music on places like iTunes etc. It was a dream come true. Pretty
soon I stopped DJing and concentrated on producing. I started my
label 'Switchblade
Digital' early this year. I saw it as another challenge. I
wanted to leave my own imprint on the music scene. I wanted to do a
label a bit different to the others. A slightly darker sound, like
the 1993 style that drew me in all those years ago! That's why you
won't find any 'Piano anthems' on my label. Just mostly dark and
mean, lol. I get all my releases mastered by the same engineer, so
they all have their distinctive quality finish to them. I use Jon
Doe (CLSM) to master all the Switchblade releases. With 20
years in the game, and hundreds of releases, he knows his stuff!
5.
When selecting tunes for your label, what do you look for?
Tracks
that are well produced, and had time spent on them. I'm sure I could
churn out 3 tracks a day if I wanted to, but to me they really stand
out as being rushed and sound shoddy. I'm not really a fan of the
140bpm jungle either. I like the authentic 160ish bpm like it was
back in the mid nineties! Nothing against
the
guys (& girls) that produce those tracks, but it's just not the
fitting for this label. Anything with a decent break and bass works
for me :)
6.And
what can we expect in the coming future from Switchblade Digital and
yourself?
Well
we have a great track coming soon called 'Missing'
by Beatgem. It's a track that was originally produced in 1994 on
an Amiga, but never released. Beatgem has a couple of these tracks
that he has up on Youtube,
and he has a bit of a following because of them! You can't get any
more Of an authentic 90's sound than that! We are still a new label,
but growing nicely. Only more great music to come. I am also
contemplating a special one off vinyl release sometime in the future.
Keep on the look out for that one ;)
7.Now
you've done this rather fine mix featured here below, tell us a bit
about that
Well,
I wanted to put all my favourite tracks into a mix. Some have been
released and some are exclusives. I hope people like the tracks.
Feedback is always appreciated, without it we can never improve...
8.Lastly,
any final words, big ups & shout outs?
I
would like to thank anyone that still supports the scene today. I
think the Oldskool scene has had a real revitalisation in the past
year or two, which is fantastic. It's always good to see the younger
generation appreciating the old 90's sounds too. In the immortal
words of Q Bass 'Hardcore Will Never Die!'
DJ
Abyss has dropped an exclusive mix of current and forthcoming tracks
from the label, you can check it out here:
https://www.facebook.com/Switchbladedigital
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