Diversifying drum & bass: Commix interviewed

Diversifying drum & bass: Commix interviewed

3 February, 2009 | 2.53PM

• Written by: Caleb Rakes
• Filed under: Music News: commix, fabric, metalheadz

Recently George Levings and Guy Brewer, aka Commix, caused controversy by saying that “the drum & bass scene depresses us at the moment.”

But the duo from Cambridge, England, are actually putting their money where their mouths were, and want to redefine what constitutes modern drum & bass.

Having pushed the boundaries of contemporary d&b with hits such as ‘Be True’ and ‘Talk to Frank’ the pair were quickly snapped up by Goldie and dropped their debut album on Metalheadz late in 2007.

With a Fabric Live mix CD due out next week that highlights the boys’ adventurous streak and their wide influences (they’re increasingly finding inspiration in techno), Beatportal decided to meet Commix to discuss their diversification of drum & bass.

There’s definitely been a more interesting and diversified development in your sound as of late, such as the more minimal offerings of ‘Underwater Scene’ and ‘Bear Music’. Where has the influence for this sound come from? And do you think this is a growing trend within drum & bass, or is this a sound you are looking to develop yourselves?

We just want to keep experimenting with what can be done with drum & bass.

Not only with the grooves and the influences used, but with the way it sounds as well.

So much d&b is produced specifically for the dancefloor nowadays and is not so easy to listen to in normal surroundings, like, for instance, the old Good Looking or Photek tracks were.

Although we love making tracks that do the damage in a club, we believe that that’s not all it’s about, and when any scene relies too much on dancefloor appeal, that’s when things can become a little stale.

In recent interviews you’ve highlighted your appreciation for the likes of Cobblestone Jazz and Claude VonStroke. Have you ever been able to amalgamate your techno and drum & bass live or in the studio?

We are spending more and more time producing music within other genres and would love to eventually be known as music producers not just drum & bass producers.

We make techno that influences our d&b, which influences our techno, which might influence our electro/downtempo tracks. That’s how it seems to work for us.

A lot of it is just about keeping ourselves interested, when you do this everyday you need to challenge yourself and try new things, that’s what 2009 is all about for us.

Would you agree that the drum & bass scene seems to suffer from incorporating differing styles and diversifying?

Suffer? The opposite, we would hope. One of the things we love about d&b is how it it pulls on other music for its influence.

We love how diverse it has become and want it to carry on diversifying forever more.

It’s our biggest goal to keep experimenting with the music, and that incorporation of other styles is what make d&b so attractive to us.

You’ve been quoted as stating, “A lot of the drum & bass scene depresses us at the moment.” What in particular depresses you, and what positive elements can you see emerging?

That statement was taken slightly out of context, but there are elements of the music that seem to be going downhill in our eyes.

As producers try to get their tracks louder and more and more DJ-friendly, we feel certain things are being lost from the music.

Many intelligent music listeners are put off exploring drum and bass because of what’s happening within the more mainstream scene.

This is a shame for us, as we know the music has so much to offer. 

Do you see any budding new d&b talent that you think is really making an impact at the moment?

There are a few really interesting new producers coming through at the moment. Instra:mental are coming from a completely different angle and have become a real eye opener.

Data’s music is really minimal and bass heavy and quite reminiscent of the early No U Turn/Source Direct sound.

Also people like SpectraSoul and Alix Perez are making some wicked sounding stuff.

There’s lots of talent out there!

Outside that niche who’s really influencing you?

Within the techno/house scene people like Johnny D, Nick Curly, Sebo K, Ben Watt, Tim Paris and Seth Troxler are really doing it for us.

Also, we’re well into what Mark Pritchard is doing as Harmonic 313; Flying Lotus, Jimmy Edgar - the list is endless, really.

You’ve recently seen your ‘Be True’ tune get a rework from Burial that crossed some boundaries. What were your initial reactions to it?

We have a mix from him that is really ambient, and a really cool reflection of the original.

Our initial reaction was, “Where are those beats?!” but we have grown to love it now.

Is it going to get an official release?

The final version will have a music video to accompany it, which is being made by the lead animator from the film ‘Scanner Darkly’, Evan Cagle.

We have seen some of the early preparations and what he’s doing looks wicked! We are really excited about that one.

As far as other projects go, you’ve been asked to do a Fabric CD, which is almost like being admitted to a special Hall of Fame where only those at the pinnacle of their game are granted entry. How important does it make you feel to have done this?

It was a real honor to be asked to do the mix and a big challenge at the same time.

There have been some really cool mixes in the past and it was a big responsibility for us to produce something that matched up to the high standards of the series.

How would you compare your mix to previous drum & bass offerings provided from Marcus Intalex, High Contrast and Andy C?

Hopefully we have come from a different angle than those who have done mixes for Fabric before. This was important for us.

We felt that drum & bass is diverse enough to come up with something completely different and we hope we have achieved that.

A mix is a very personal thing and even though there might be similarities between our mix and others in the series, we feel this is an accurate representation of us as DJs.

What else can we watch out for in 2009?

Keep an eye out for the remix package from our ‘Call To Mind’ LP, which will feature remixes from Burial, Konrad Black, Johnny D, Mathew Jonson, Claude VonStroke, D-Bridge and Instra:mental.

That should be out before the year is out.

We have a 12” forthcoming which includes a track we collaborated on with Goldie called ‘Envious’, which is out in the next few months, and we’re working on a few other projects including some techno stuff, and will be trying to get some stuff released this year.

We are also working towards out next album on Metalheadz and with any luck we should get that out by the middle of 2010.

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