In the studio with Blame

In the studio with Blame

11 February, 2009 | 3.32PM

• Written by: Dan Cole
• Filed under: Music News: 720 degrees music, blame

Blame, head honcho of 720 Degrees Music and all-round drum & bass bigwig, has been banging out records for over twenty years.

All that time in the studio seems to have finally paid off for Conrad Shafie, aka Blame, as the good old BBC are plugging his new track ‘Because Of You’ on daytime radio, which in today’s modern manufactured music climate, is an absolute rarity.

With over two decades of production experience, from producing old skool bangers such as ‘Music Takes You’ on Moving Shadow through to ‘Stay Forever’, his massive hit on Charge last year, Blame has served his time behind the desk.

Having progressed from making piano-led rave tunes to radio-friendly liquid and vocal d&b anthems, we caught up with Blame in his studio to find out how he makes his tunes.

Is having Radio 1 airplay in some ways a mixed blessing? By that I mean are people expecting something equally as large on the next single.

I think having Radio 1 airplay has been fantastic for drum & bass, which has always been seen as an underground form of music. Loads of producers spend months creating tracks, so to hear your hard work played on daytime radio makes all the hard work and those sleepless nights worthwhile!

Most producers would shun the very notion, but did you aim for widespread success with ‘Because of You’?

I guess I aim for widespread success on all the music I make; in my opinion success means people like your track! With ‘Because Of You’ I wanted to make a track that everyone would like and could relate to, even the non d&b heads out there.

Was the track written alongside Selah’s vocal or did that happen later on?

I wrote the beat with Selah’s voice in mind, so it was a real pleasure hearing her sing over the track for the first time.

Can you tell us a bit about how you approach putting a track together? Is there any particular formula you stick to?

Every track is different, but the one thing I always do now is to make sure I go into the studio with an idea. I know that sounds crazy, but I used to just turn the gear on and mess around until an idea formed. I always get a drum break rolling and then I go for the main sounds. The bassline usually fits in last for me, because that has to compliment the other elements.

And a bit about your setup. Are you a software dude or a hardware kind of guy?

I’m now a bit of both. I used to have a 100% hardware setup a few years back, but now everything can be done in the computer. I just find using the old synths makes writing music a lot of fun in a hands on kind of way, but I put it all together in Logic on my Mac.

Is there a particular bit of kit you keep coming back to?

I think it has to be my Roland Juno synth, I cant stop using it! You can get them so cheap on Ebay nowadays.

How have your production tools changed since the Good Lookin’ days?

I was all hardware back then, and now so much has evolved studio-wise. I used to use an Emu sampler and Korg Trinity to get that sound, but I don’t use either of those any more so I guess in that sense it’s completely changed.

Any tips for the upcoming d&b producers out there?

Well, everybody has a studio in a computer now so I think the tracks that stand out are the ones with that ‘old fashioned good idea’! Just have fun, and come up with something that you want to do and believe in, people will hear that and appreciate that when they listen to the music.

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