Black Barrel

Evgenii Khmel is Black Barrel, a name which you're about to see around a lot more in drum and bass. With his debut Void EP on Dispatch Recordings just dropped, this Russian producer encapsulates the soulful simplicity in his four track EP beautifully. We interview this rising star...

1) Q. First off thank you for your time out! Can you go back to when you were growing up, what music you listened to and what part of Russia you live in?

A. Thank you for your interest. I live in the northern capital of Russia, the city of St. Petersburg. The first acquaintance with electronic music began with House, then I listened to the Progressive Trance, and only then I got acquainted with the Drum & Bass.

 

2) Q. What was the first track Noisia aired on their radio from you?

A. It was our collab with Nami. Track calls "Eternity". This is a strange track. We took a couple of bassline samples and put them in a randomizer in the ableton, and put it on the record. All this groove was done by random! We wanted to call it a "timless", but Goldie already had such a track and we decided to give him another name. We were very happy when Noisia played it.

 

3) Q. What was the first drum and bass track that you remember hearing?

A. The very first track, I probably will not remember. But when I started listening to the radio broadcast on the radio "Pirate Station", I remember the track that does not fly out of my head. It was track Bebel Gilberto – Aganju (Commix Remix). Good vibes!

 

4) Q. What's your all time favourite drum and bass track?

A. Without any doubt this is Zero Tolerance & Survival feat. Steo – No More. My favorite track for many years!

 

5) Q. How did you get into producing and what was your first DAW and what are you producing on now?

A. This was the era of CDs. Without Internet. You can just go shopping and looking for an interesting software. I found a disk called "virtual musician", for me it was just a names. I did not understand anything for what these programs. But I was interested and I bought this CD. The first sequencer I met was Cakewalk Project 5. After several months of fighting with the interface, I could not make friends with him and tried another program. This was Image-Line Fruity Loops version 5. Through trial and error, I understood the basic actions. And i began to try write different music. It was house, trance and hip-hop. But all this was not serious, until I decided to start doing drum & bass seriously! It was 2012 year. I decided that I could achieve something in this genre and I really wanted to get recognition from famous musicians. And now I am here. At the moment I'm resting. I'm sitting at the airport in Finland and waiting for an airplane to Thailand on a honeymoon. There I will reflect on new ideas and grooves. Naturally, I took a laptop, a sound card and headphones. Maybe I'll come up with something interesting.

 

 

 

6) Q. What is your studio set up?

A. This is usual PC, soundcard - Focusrite 2i4, my headphones Beyerdynamic DT 770, I recently bought myself Korg MS-20 mini and my wife gave me Subpac M2. This is all!

 

7) Q. What do you like to make your basslines in?

A. I like monotonous technical grooves, consisting of different sounds saturated with deep atmospheres.

 

8) Q. What EQ tips can you give to the readers for drums?

A. When equalizing, try to determine sound by ear by peaks. Play with the entire frequency range, but do not forget to raise the middle and a few high frequencies!

 

9) Q. Your first release was on Dutty Audio, how long had you been producing before you had that release?

A. I had a good mood and I wrote this track in 6.5 hours.

 

10) Q. Who influences you musically?

A. I like works by Zero T, Skeptical, Arkaik, Alix Perez, but the direct impact without any doubt is my great friend Nami. He constantly comes up with something interesting and I'm filling with the spirit of rivalry!

 

11) Q. Top 5 labels?

A. Last time, the positions of the labels for me completely changed. I think 1 - Dispatch, 2 - Exit, 3 - Critical, 4 - Flexout, 5 - Horizons

 

12) Q. Top 3 producers?

A. Nami, Zero T, DLR

 

 

13) Q. You must be stoked about your first Dispatch release? It's certainly turning into an iconic label now?

A. Of course this is so. My first release shows my one of my sides. And I am very happy that Ant TС1 helped to many people see her. I consider Dispatch the highest label for deep drum & bass.

 

14) Q. You have had some huge support from the likes of Marky as well?!

A. Yes, for me it means a lot. I am very glad that these people helped hearing many peoples my music, a huge thank you to them.

 

15) Q. What are your goals for the next 5 years?

A. Using music to make people shaking heads and get positive vibes.

 

16) Q. You have a vinyl release forthcoming on Dispatch later this year, can you tell us about that?

A. Yes it is. Almost immediately after I signed my first release to Dispatch I signed the next EP. Relatively recently, I wrote another track and we decided to change the order of the release and release it on vinyl. The EP will have 4 tracks, and it will be released before the end of this year. More information will be available later.

 

17) Q. If you could collab with one person who would it be and why?

A. To be honest - I do not know. From my personal experience, this is absolutely unpredictable. At the moment I'm working very well with Nami. I will not give up for one more collab with him.

 

18) Q. How important is vinyl as a physical format to you?

A. These are mixed emotions. In my dreams, I collect records and turn them on to enjoy my favorite tracks. I'm not going to give up my dream, so it's very important for me.

 

 

19) Q. You have been invited to play in Vienna later this year? 

A. Oh yes. It was Jay Rome label owner Blu Saphir Music. While all I know is that the party will be around July inner centre of in Prime Club.

 

20) Q. What do you like to do in your spare time?

A. In spare time i try to write music if I have a mood. I also can draw or just lie on the couch. Sometimes this is also necessary.

 

21) Thank you ! Any shouts and thanks?

I say hello to everyone listener who shakes his head, without you there would be no scene.

 

Thanks and all the best for 2017 and beyond!

 

Interview by Missrepresent April 2017.

 

Black Barrel On Facebook

 

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