Instra:Mental (Alex Green and Damon Kirkamduo) have taken a pinch of jungle, a scoop old school hip-hop and RnB, and a dash of minimal techno to create a new sound. Some call it slowed down drum & bass, others call it experimental dubstep. Who cares. All we know is that is fresh, original and exactly what all producers should aim to do - push the boundaries.
Their latest release 'Watching You / Tramma' is almost too smooth! 'Watching You' has got fellow leader of this new sound dBridge (Exit Records) on the vocals who's almost angelic notes perfectly compliment the deep, ambient bass. This sound is so hard to describe but for those who like their music to be in strict genres call it retrofuturistic DrUmB n Bass.
Hopefully, if music continues on this tip then 2010 is going to be an amazing year. With NonPlus+ on their back and Club Autonomic in their pocket this duo are set to take the music world by storm and have started to do so already. Either get on, or get out of their way.
INSTRA:MENTAL INTERVIEW WITH BEATPORTAL (7TH SPETEMBER)
Many journalists are finding it difficult to categorize your music. How would you best describe it?
Many journalists are finding it difficult to categorize your music. How would you best describe it?
We don’t really like to categorize our music, we just like to think of it as electronic music.
Ok. Well then, would you say you’ve challenging people’s understanding of contemporary drum & bass? If so was this your intention?
We’ve certainly noticed that a lot of people have turned their attention back to drum & bass since our music started gaining recognition.
We did not intend to change the scene at all, we just did our on take on what we thought could be done with it.
We felt that with a little bit more thought and effort, and not focusing all of our attention on writing for the dancefloor, there was a lot more that could be done while working at 170bpm.
There are many different elements in your tracks, ranging from Vangelis to Photek. Who would you say you’ve been listening to get to this sound?
We both adore all aspects of music. We live for music.
It has always been a huge part of our lives and it ‘s very hard to name a particular artist that inspired us to write what we write.
Our inspiration comes from a huge melting pot of sounds and different artists.
With so many varied sounds and tempos within your music, how do you set out doing a DJ set?
We mainly play at d&b clubs at the moment and people know what to expect from us because of our Autonomic podcasts, which is great for us as the crowd who listen to the podcasts can relate to what we are playing and really enjoy what we do.
We will be doing live sets in the future which will incorporate a lot of different tempos and genres.
Being tagged primarily as drum & bass producers do you get to reach out to varying crowds?
Yes, we played at DMZ recently for our friend Loefah and have also played at FWD as well, both sets went down really well.
In October we are playing at Scuba’s night in Berlin, Substance, at ‘Berghain’ alongside Neil Landstrumm, Joker, Scion and Tikiman and Scuba. So our sound is definitely reaching out to other crowds, which is something we are especially pleased about.
Apart from DBridge, who else are you collaborating with at the moment and in an ideal world whom would you like to work with?
We are collaborating with Skream and Loefah at the moment and have finished a collaboration with Consequence for his forthcoming album on Exit Records.
We also have yet to start a collaboration project with Nonplus artist ASC for his forthcoming album.
The Autonomic podcasts are gaining cult status at the moment – did you ever expect this to happen and how much preparation goes into making these?
We did not anticipate this amount of interest in the podcast. We stated doing them because we were getting sent a lot of great music that was not in context to the rest of the dnb world and we felt that this great music could be in danger of being ignored because of the way the drum & bass scene works.
We are just happy to have opened people’s eyes and minds to what can be done with this music when you don’t follow other people’s formulas.
From an outside perspective, NonPlus seems to be more than just music, is there an ideology, purpose and overall vision for what you’re trying to achieve?
Nonplus will be a record label that is strictly about all styles of music, basically it’s our baby and it’s all about us and what we like. Nothing else matters.
It will release all genres of music from artists like Skream and ASC, to Actress and Vaccine. The sky is the limit and there are no boundaries.
Good music is good music regardless of tempo and genre.
Ok. Well then, would you say you’ve challenging people’s understanding of contemporary drum & bass? If so was this your intention?
We’ve certainly noticed that a lot of people have turned their attention back to drum & bass since our music started gaining recognition.
We did not intend to change the scene at all, we just did our on take on what we thought could be done with it.
We felt that with a little bit more thought and effort, and not focusing all of our attention on writing for the dancefloor, there was a lot more that could be done while working at 170bpm.
There are many different elements in your tracks, ranging from Vangelis to Photek. Who would you say you’ve been listening to get to this sound?
We both adore all aspects of music. We live for music.
It has always been a huge part of our lives and it ‘s very hard to name a particular artist that inspired us to write what we write.
Our inspiration comes from a huge melting pot of sounds and different artists.
With so many varied sounds and tempos within your music, how do you set out doing a DJ set?
We mainly play at d&b clubs at the moment and people know what to expect from us because of our Autonomic podcasts, which is great for us as the crowd who listen to the podcasts can relate to what we are playing and really enjoy what we do.
We will be doing live sets in the future which will incorporate a lot of different tempos and genres.
Being tagged primarily as drum & bass producers do you get to reach out to varying crowds?
Yes, we played at DMZ recently for our friend Loefah and have also played at FWD as well, both sets went down really well.
In October we are playing at Scuba’s night in Berlin, Substance, at ‘Berghain’ alongside Neil Landstrumm, Joker, Scion and Tikiman and Scuba. So our sound is definitely reaching out to other crowds, which is something we are especially pleased about.
Apart from DBridge, who else are you collaborating with at the moment and in an ideal world whom would you like to work with?
We are collaborating with Skream and Loefah at the moment and have finished a collaboration with Consequence for his forthcoming album on Exit Records.
We also have yet to start a collaboration project with Nonplus artist ASC for his forthcoming album.
The Autonomic podcasts are gaining cult status at the moment – did you ever expect this to happen and how much preparation goes into making these?
We did not anticipate this amount of interest in the podcast. We stated doing them because we were getting sent a lot of great music that was not in context to the rest of the dnb world and we felt that this great music could be in danger of being ignored because of the way the drum & bass scene works.
We are just happy to have opened people’s eyes and minds to what can be done with this music when you don’t follow other people’s formulas.
From an outside perspective, NonPlus seems to be more than just music, is there an ideology, purpose and overall vision for what you’re trying to achieve?
Nonplus will be a record label that is strictly about all styles of music, basically it’s our baby and it’s all about us and what we like. Nothing else matters.
It will release all genres of music from artists like Skream and ASC, to Actress and Vaccine. The sky is the limit and there are no boundaries.
Good music is good music regardless of tempo and genre.
Consequence has released a promo mix for Polaroid Events who will be hosting his debut album launch party on 9th Ocotber 2009. It's all the way down in Australia so for the rest of us stuck here in London, we'll have to make do with this mix.
Keren Ann - By The Cathedral (Alka Seltza bootleg) HERE
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