Interview with The Upbeats

We have a chat with the Kiwi Drum and Bass Duo about their tour and what the future holds for two of the most exciting producers in DnB today.

The Upbeats

If you have been hiding under a pile of discarded water bottles in the corner of some godforsaken club in Margate for the past 5 years, (like a certain somebody here at ravescum.com) then you probably won’t have heard of The Upbeats. If not then you will know exactly who they are and what they bring to the party. Kiwi duo, Jeremy Glenn and Dylan Jones are a formidable DnB partnership and if you haven’t seen them play live, you have missed out. Don’t worry though, if you live stateside, they are just embarking on a tour and maybe, just maybe they could be rinsing out a dance hall near you soon. Click on their myspace link at the bottom of this interview for dates and locations.Their electric live performance has seen The Upbeats play in clubs, festivals and events across the US, Australia and Europe, taking them through Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, France, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary and the Netherlands. Along the way The Upbeats have played alongside the cream of international drum’n’bass, notably Grooverider, Andy C, Roni Size, Pendulum, DJ Hype, Zinc, DieselBoy, Concord Dawn, Shapeshifter and Bad Company.

Enjoying both critical and commercial success with their both of their albums, The Upbeats have positioned themselves among the highest pantheons of the genre across the world. Recording and releasing through influential imprints BC Presents, Ed Rush and Optical’s Virus Recordings, Renegade Hardware, Project51 and Project Human.Producing music together for seven years, Glenn and Jones have crafted a sound that ranges between frenetic and energetic liquid funk, intensely moody and claustrophobic drum’n’bass, and soulful indulgences of elevation. The sheer diversity and inventiveness of their sound has paid dividends, as the Upbeats have been in demand the world over for their ability to traverse the eclectic tastes of dance music’s fandom.

They took the time to answer a few questions for us.

1.Your back home in NZ after the European tour via Japan. Where did the tour take you?

We started off in the UK, played Birmingham, Norwich, Brighton & London. We also tripped around Europe playing in Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Russia. Then on the way home we had a quick stop in Tokyo for 1 night to play a show.

2. Where was your favourite night?

That’s a hard one, the biggest show was definitely Portugal, played to 1200 people there. But the favourite one would be a toss up between the Moscow, Norwich and the Renegade Hardware London show.

3. How were the Upbeats and the drum and bass sound received in Japan?

Really well, it was our 3rd time out there, and each time the crowds have grown. This most recent show was the tokyo promoters biggest show to date. We love playing out there, the people are so friendly and hospitable, and they have arguably the best beer in the world.

4. Where do you find the most appreciative crowd?

The crowds in the UK really know how to party. Norwich, London and Brighton, people all went crazy. Great times every time we’re out there.

5. Your back home for a month then off to the US. What’s your schedule for the US?

This next tour was based around a couple of Festival dates. We’re playing 4 big shows with Dieselboy, Evol Intent, Mayhem, Ewun etc in Baltimore, L.A, Austin and Denver. Then surrounding that we’re also playing another 7 club shows including Miami, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, Philly, Dallas & Atlanta.

6. Your set at Renegade Hardware was a monster the other week and you looked like you were having a lot of fun? How does playing in the UK compare to NZ?

It’s a lot of fun, it’s always nice to play to different crowds, and the crowds in the UK definitely respond to different songs than back home, which is cool, a little challenge. But we’re pretty spoilt back here, the crowds are really passionate, with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

7. You’re sets aren’t just flat out standard DnB. How would you describe your sound?

We like to bring the party vibe when we play. We try not to get stuck, playing the same sounding tunes for the entire set. We spent quite a few years as ravers, so we still think alot about what used to get us going when we were on the dancefloor. It’s all about the ups and downs, with a dash of suspense. As far as our sound goes, it can be quite raw, but we really try to make tunes that are good to dance too. Got some groove, and funk.

8. Can we expect to see you at anymore UK festivals/events this year?

I’d say we’ll probably be back out later in the year to support the release of our 3rd album “Big Skeleton” on our new label “Non Vogue. If not later this year, then early next year, we’re going to try make it out for the big pirate station party in Moscow in Feb 2010.

9. That wasn’t your full live act, tell us a bit more of what seeing you on a stage with the full ensemble in place might involve?

Well outside of Australasia we DJ, so normally there’s two of us, dancing/drinking/partying. But if you get the chance to catch the live show down under, there’s guitars, keyboards, percussion, a Vocalist and an MC.

10. Who were your early inspirations and what led you into music?

Early inspirations in Drum & Bass were people like Grooverider, Optical, Roni Size, Klute, Kemal & Rob Data, Stakka & Skynet etc. Outside of D&B we both listen to a lot of different shit, from blue grass to metal. So too many to mention.

11. You guys have been working together for years now, how does the creative process work between you both?

Well we always work together, we’re generally in the studio together from Monday to Friday. It works really well in the studio, as we’re both comfortable with most aspects of production so it’s nice and balanced.

12. Where do you have your studio set up and tell us what you have in the setup?

The studio is set up in Jeremy’s place. It consists of a Mac Pro Intel quad core, a pair of Mackie Hr824s, a pair of Dynaudio Bm6a’s, Motu 828 mk 2 sound card, Korg Kontrol 49, Logic 7 and a plethora of soft synths.

13. You started your own label, Non Vogue, that has been going for a while now. How’s that going?

Yeah really good, it’s a dream come true for us to be in the position where it’s viable to have our own label. It’s been really exciting getting it off the ground, we’re just coming up to our 3rd release now, leading into the release of our album later in the year.

14. You started the label so you could please yourselves when and what you released. Do you have any plans to release other tracks by new artists on the label/already done so or is it for personal use only?

For now it’s purely an outlet for our own music. But in the future if we can build the brand and get a bit of a following for the label we may look at signing a few people. Definitely to start with though it’s all about building awarness that “Non Vogue” is the home of The Upbeats.

15. The UK drum and bass scene is still going strong and there is somewhere decent to go nearly every weekend. You guys look fairly busy over the next month at home. What’s the scene like in NZ at the moment?

Yeah it’s wicked. All of the main cities have really vibrant scenes. And the crowds are really really passionate. Really vocal, so for a DJ it’s wicked, we get a lot of comments from touring UK & US Djs that NZ is their favourite place to play in the world.

16. Can you tell us about any new talent rising up in NZ?

There’s heaps at the moment, we’re having trouble keeping up. But the main people to look out for are Cern, Dose, Menace, Teknik and Luca.

17. Which other DnB artists do you rate at the moment?

Our favourite producers at the moment are Gridlok, Culture Shock, Noisia, Camo & Krooked, Lynx, Ed Rush & Optical, Spor and Break.

18. Out of everything you have made/collaborated on. What tracks stand out the most for each of you?

Jeremy:

That’s really really tough. There’s a couple of tracks that definitely stand out for me. The first being an oldie called “Oiled Up”.

When we wrote it, we didn’t really think much of it. It was written pretty much start to finish in one day, just as a straight up disposable dancefloor number, but ended up being one of those tracks that i just couldn’t stop playing. Probably played it every set for 3-4 years. One of the other ones is “Thinking Cap”.

It was a wicked process writing that tune, and we recorded the vocals with Georgie Fisher only 3 days after first meeting her. In fact she had only heard the tune a few hours before we went into the studio to record. It was one of those sessions that really just worked, sitting down together and working the lyrics, then recording em straight in. We tried doing a “proper” recording of the vocals a few months later, but we never could beat the vibe of the original take. Also a few tracks worthy of mention Sacrifice, our first collaboration with Noisia, Planet Earth a collaboration with State of Mind, and one of my favourites from our previous album, Nobody’s Out There.

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Dylan:

I don`t really have a favourite tune. I like different tunes for different reasons. Will shatner is a bit of a classic thats been around for ages that i still dig, girl gone for a mellow moody one - lik a demon and ghobi ghost for being kinda defining upbeats tracks.. but theres still heaps of little parts of our songs that i love, its so hard to nail one thing.

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19. What do you do enjoy doing when your not working?

We both read a lot, listen to a lot of other music, bodyboard/surf, snowboard, play soccer and cricket.

20. What does the next year hold for the upbeats?

The main thing is the release of our new album “Big Skeleton” out on Non Vogue. And a lot of touring round the globe. So hopefully see ya soon!

Thanks to The Upbeats for taking the time to answering our questions.

http://www.myspace.com/theupbeatsnz

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