Delta Heavy Interview

Simon James and Ben Hall, AKA bass music masters Delta Heavy, first met at Nottingham University back in ’03. It’s a friendship and partnership that’s proved pivotal to both of them both personally and professionally. As a duo, their respective skill sets were perfectly matched. Simon was the one with the more traditional musical background while Ben had a penchant for sound engineering. Both loved DJ culture though and both spun. United by a love of underground club nights like Stealth and Detonate in Nottingham, their passion for music from Drum and Bass to House was honed after many a night and early morning dancing ‘til dawn. Needless to say, after they graduated, Messrs James and Hall made their way to London. Wasting no time with their electronic ambitions, both acquired computer software. Says Si: “Because we both had the same interests in music, we thought we’d align our knowledge.”

How has 2019 been treating you so far?

2019 is going very well so far, thank you! We are really happy that 'Only In Dreams' has been released and we are doing a lot of shows at the moment so life is pretty good.

That’s good to hear!

Can you go way back and tell us a bit about the music you liked and listened to while growing up, and what first attracted you to Drum and Bass?

I (Si) was really into guitar music as I was growing up. I was part of that indie and rock generation and really into bands such as the (early) Foo Fighters albums and Blur, as well as Hip-Hop with influences such as A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes. As well as Rock and Hip Hop, Ben was into Progressive House before he started listening to Drum and Bass, he was a huge fan of Sasha. For me, Drum and Bass grabbed my attention because of the drum beats being based around samples from live drums; the energy around it all was the perfect bridge from rock to dance music for me. At the time I didn't listen to traditional dance music such as house with the standard 4x4 beat. Being from a live instrumental background that music always felt too synthetic! I love the way that drum and bass truly incorporates groove, energy and funk, and the music coming out on RAM and Virus had the sounds that really enticed me.

Yes, RAM Records! I don’t anybody can be disappointed with the tracks that are released on their label!

Do you have a favourite Drum and Bass genre? If so, what are some of your favourite tracks within that genre?

We always take tunes on their merit without being genre specific. We definitely don't divide the scene like that in our minds for us it's more about enjoying what you hear. We do like the fact that Jump Up has come back more recently. It’s great to hear something a bit fresh off the back of a period where there were a lot of 1 note tunes that sounded exactly the same. People like Macky Gee, Upgrade and Turno have added a fantastic buzz to the scene. But as I say we aren't specifically into Jump Up, we love all kinds of Drum and Bass and we will continue to play across the spectrum in our sets. We feel it's important to keep that variety not just for us, but for our fans too.

What made you want to produce your own tracks?

Both Ben and I used to DJ in our teens and at university where we would play at clubs and parties. When we finished university we decided that we wanted music to be our career and not just a hobby, but we knew that if we seriously wanted to go somewhere in the music industry that we had to produce our own tracks! I made music as a teenager in a band and was always very musically orientated and had started producing a bit. Ben's focus was more on sound engineering and sonics, so it seemed like a good combination and we decided to start working together.

Your 'Only In Dreams' Album has recently been released on RAM Records, and is pure quality! Could you tell us a little about this Album, how long it took to write and what production techniques you use at the moment?

Thanks so much! The album came together quite naturally. We didn’t have any concrete plans in mind. All we knew was that we wanted to go into the studio and make good tunes. We wrote it very quickly over 2018 in less than a year. Production techniques wise, having used mostly just synth’s for musical sounds in the past. Something we have been doing more of recently is using sample manipulation. It's good for getting ideas going quickly so, using Native Instruments Kontakt and Ableton, we have found that you can manipulate sounds to such a degree they turn into something totally different to what you started with.

What aspects of producing your own tracks do you love the most, and what keeps you going?

Personally I really like the song writing aspect. I love to create melodies, writing lyrics, and having the opportunity to work with other people to create that story is fun and keeps things interesting. We've also extended that to doing loads of collaborations recently, just because it's fun and more inspiring to work with other people and you learn new things.

What do you find is the most challenging thing when making your music?

The most challenging thing in the music making process is probably the mix-down side of things. Especially when working with Drum and Bass! The music is so fast, with drums, kicks and snares happening so frequently and you still have to fit all the musicality in between these elements. In Drum and Bass each moment is so important because you hear all of these aspects so regularly. House music, for example, the vibe is centred on a pure groove at a slower bpm, where there is more room for the music to breathe. Whereas Drum and Bass you have to focus on making each sound as good as it can possibly be.

Which DJ’s and/or producers out there do you get your inspiration from?

We often look to different genres for inspiration, going as far as people like Flume or Bonobo and bands like the Foals, we are very aware of the DJ's and producers within our genre that make our style of music as we play it every weekend but when we are looking for new inspiration it's always about looking further afield and looking for new sounds and ideas to incorporate into our music.

Wow! That shows diversity, and an open mind! Not sure if I’ve heard of Bonobo and the Foals?

If you could collaborate on a track with anyone who would it be, and why?

Well, we are really happy with the collaboration that we are finishing up with Kayzo at the moment. We've been playing it in our sets over the last few months and it's been going down really well, so hopefully you guys will be able to hear it soon!

Interesting! I look forward to hearing it!

To those that are new in the music industry, and may feel the struggle when starting to produce their own tracks, what advice would you give?

A huge piece of advice is to get as much information as you can from YouTube. It really is the most amazing place to learn how to produce music! Going back to when we started off there were so many tutorials from producers that we looked up to to. You’ll find a wealth of valuable information specific to what you're trying to achieve. If you're struggling with the amount you have to learn, maybe limit the number of tools you are using. Try to concentrate on, maybe one or two synth’s and really get to know them and how to use them properly. An incredibly important point is to not underestimate how much time it takes to learn how to produce. It takes years and years of day in, day out, all day and all night dedication and determination. So don't give up! Occasionally look back at where you were six months ago and try to take comfort from the fact that you are forever improving.

Do you prefer festivals or clubs, and do you think each have different energies?

They absolutely do have different energies and that's why we love them both. There is a great buzz around festivals because there are a lot of people there. It’s like a short holiday that the crowd have really been looking forward to so everybody is in great spirits. Festival season is a really fun time of year as it feels like a summer holiday, even though we are working, we are literally going from festival to festival. Clubs hold a more intimate aspect that we also love. You’re closer to people and can see the crowds faces and their reaction to our music up close and personal. Playing in clubs is a great time to delve deeper into our music collection and gives us opportunity to be more creative with our sound. Whereas at festivals there are a lot of people who might not know you or have never heard you play, so the crowd may not be so deeply invested in our music. So we will play more of a hits set, but in clubs you can go deeper, play more obscure stuff and deviate which is also a lot of fun.

What are your goals for the rest of 2019? Can we look forward to any more releases from you?

We are really looking forward to the rest of the year. Looking forward to writing more music, and a very busy tour diary, and yes you'll definitely be hearing more from us over summer!

I’m glad to hear that!

Ok, last but not least! What three things do you love most about your life at the moment?

As always we love travelling. We feel so lucky to play music to people all over the world. Now that 'Only In Dreams' is released we are really enjoying writing music without any pressure, so now is a brilliant time for us to experiment and try different things out and see what happens. I moved house in the middle of writing the album so I finally have time to do it up properly. Ben is mostly working on his golf swing.

Brilliant! Thank you for taking time out to chat with me, and I wish you all the best for the rest of 2019.

Buy 'Only In Dreams' Here

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Interview taken by Brenton Clerkin