Last week here at The Noise Gate we covered the first release on Hype and Pascals incubator label ‘New Playaz’. For those who haven’t checked it out, the ‘Think Fast’ EP from the Chromatic guys is a brilliant release which justifies the hype currently engulfing the trio, with its varied and skilful production, its currently sitting pretty in the top ten downloads over at Drum & Bass Arena.
We thought it was a great time to catch up with guys to discuss the EP, what it meant to carry the ‘NEWPLAYAZ001’ moniker and how growing up in the home of Robin Hood and Hooters influenced their sound.
Cheers guys for taking the time out to talk to us. Could you just give our readers a little introduction about yourselves and your music?
We’re Chromatic (also known as Joe, Jake & Leon) and we’ve been producing and DJing drum and bass for about four years now. We create all styles of DnB, and have had tracks signed to the likes of Playaz, Innerground and Utopia Music.
There are three of you, how did this come about? This must be good for the creative process, having so many influences.
JB: Originally Joe and Leon were running the show. It got to the point where I was in the studio with them on a regular basis and we had a good flow so they asked me to come on board. It works well, as we all come from different musical backgrounds and enjoy different styles.
LB: It’s wicked having three of us involved with Chromatic – Jake definitely brings some different skills and ideas to the table which seems to gel really well with what we were doing before he joined. It’s also great to be able to pass projects around between ourselves and get honest feedback on works in progress.
You hail from Nottingham, how big of an influence has the city been? How would you describe the drum and bass scene there?
LB: Nottingham’s a cool city and there’s a definite buzz around the music scene right now – we’ve worked with a few local artists including Michael Lynch, who put down a wicked vocal on Senorita for us. DnB-wise, there’s some really strong producers in the area – such as Dramatic, Soul Intent, Ed:it, Scartip + J Daure – and we also have nights including Detonate who bring a heap of big artists to town every month.
JR: The Notts music scene got me hooked on drum & bass, so I have a lot to thank the city for. I’ve recently moved to the South-West, so I’m currently enjoying Bristol’s rich DnB heritage!
What are your musical backgrounds? How did you find yourself producing drum and bass?
LB: I’ve always been into music from a young age, but got into drum & bass when I started college and met some guys who were really into the genre. They started giving me tapes & CDs to listen to and taught me the basics of mixing with vinyl. I got my own decks, and wanted to make my own music to DJ with, so I got into production that way.
JB: I’m proud to say I was hooked after a blast of Dance Ejay! I started getting into electronic music and DJing when I was about 13 – my brother was probably one of my main sources of music as he had loads of D&B which I really enjoyed. I then started producing when I was about 15.
JR: I have Music 2000 to thank for my first taste of electronic music-making. That inspired me to buy decks at 16, and the production/DJing addiction has continued to this day.
I’ve read you guys are big into your tech? What equipment are you using in the studio?
LB: We all have our own setup for production and between us are lucky to have a good selection of great hardware and software! We really like the sound of using outboard gear alongside the best modern plugins, as it gives great warmth and character with clinical control over the final sound.
JR: Hardware-wise, we use stuff like the Access Virus TI, Dave Smith Mopho, Sherman Filterbank & Mackie 24-8 mixer, alongside software from the likes of UAD, Soundtoys and Native Instruments.
You have the honour of being the first release on the New Playaz imprint. This must have been a real milestone moment for you guys so far?
JB: We’ve always been big followers of Hype and Playaz, so it’s a brilliant achievement for us and we’re really happy that our EP is the first release on their new label. We also had a track (“Tell Her”) included on the recent Flavours Vol. 7 album on the main Playaz label – it was great to feature alongside the likes of Serum, Pleasure and our mate P Fine!
Talk us a little from you what you wanted to achieve with the EP?
LB: We didn’t originally write the EP as a four-piece. Hype got in touch to ask us about doing an EP for New Playaz, we sent some unsigned bits to him, and he chose his favourite tracks for our EP – which just happened to be the last set of tunes we’d had mastered!
JR: We always like a Chromatic EP to have a variety of styles of DnB as it keeps things more interesting, and we definitely think the selection on this EP fits the bill.
2014 has been a big year for you so far, what can we expect from the future?
JR: We have another collab with our buddy Soul Intent lined up for release, our track “Found You” is due to drop soon on Utopia Music, and Marky has also given the green light on another EP for Innerground.
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