Sparki Dee has had airplay on Radio 1 previously and continues to put out great tunes in a variety of genres, for over a year now we have had back to back radio shows on nu-rave.com and along with being a top bloke, Sparki also is something of a wizard in the studio, check out his remixes on the 92 and 93 project soundcloud groups for just a few great examples. There's plenty of quality rave breaks, nuskool and future jungle on the way this summer from Sparki and right now he has a tune out on Kode 5 recordings 'Uplift Me'. I thought this would be a great opportunity to catch up with the man himself and have a chat about production, DJ'ing, the new release and just life in general.......
So, how does it feel having 'Uplift Me' released on Kode 5, with an accompanying video too?
It feels great to be on such forward thinking label and one where I can let my creative juices flow. Uplift Me is the perfect track for this summer, very uplifting and something many listeners can relate to. The video adds an extra dimension to the track and gives it that extra boost, visuals with music always take you on a journey, if it all fits together then your onto a winner and this is what has happened with this release.
Its a pretty infectious tune with its skippy beats and euphoric piano, how did the idea come about and what hardware and software were you using?
I didn't exactly have a plan to start with and that is usually the case when I produce music. The track started out as a 175 dnb tune with big pianos, then after a few days my thought process was different so I decided to slow it down and and build a totally different track taking out many of the harsher dnb sounds and adding in something more uplifting. Once the sound felt right I knew I was onto something and once Kode 5 got a sniff of the audio snippet on soundcloud they wanted to sign it and thats basically how it started. I used Fruity Loops software (FL Studio as its also known) and composed the piano with a USB keyboard.
How did you get into the whole 140bpm + rave sound?
By listening to Nu Rave Radio, I heard how the sound was coming back. I remember about five or six years ago there was this sort of music kicking around but it wasn't something that was on my radar at the time. Through listening to other shows I enjoyed what was on offer which then led me on to start mixing the music in my radio shows. The original 90s sound was a big part of my youth growing up so I'm glad its come back in a new form but with a lot of the old skool sounds still prominent.
And what can we expect from a typical Saturday afternoon set by yourself on nu-rave.com?
Mayhem! I like to vary the styles as much as possible. At the moment I mainly play rave breaks, future jungle, drum n bass but I do like to add in some old skool jungle, old skool hardcore and I often play other producers demo's in a special “Amiga Showcase” which promotes those who still use an Amiga computer to make beats. Sometimes I play totally different styles of dance music but do tend to keep it all current which is why I mainly play the new rave breaks and future jungle music, because its very niche/underground and needs a lot of support to get it noticed by record companies and other big radio stations who are slow to cotton on.
Lastly, any bits coming up in the near future? Any shout outs, big ups etc?
I have plans to release more music on Kode 5, I also have an upcoming EP release with Rave Stylee but no date has been confirmed as yet so I don't know exactly when it will be out but it shouldn't be too long to wait. I have a few more opportunities opening up for me one that I cannot talk about yet as its all hush hush. I'll put it this way, you'll be seeing a bit more of myself soon on the current music scene and also in different ways within music. Watch this space!
Big ups have to go to Gaz, Allan and Barry at Kode 5, Mat and Gav at Rave Stylee, Tariq at Nu Rave and the station management, to Spice Radio where I DJ on every Monday afternoon. Got to say massive shout out to Sass who put a good word in for me to start on Nu Rave Radio. To all the Amiga producers out there Squatski, Amiga Junglism, Anthony D, Hailon who are sending me their tracks to be played out. Big shout out to all those who support my music and my radio shows and to all the listeners to my soundcloud who listen, share and download each and every week and also to anyone else who knows me and is following my progress.
'Uplift Me' by Sparki Dee is out now on Kode 5 recordings via trackitdown.net and all good download stores
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