Murky Digital

No problem at all.

Well it's a strange one that's for sure... I know there's been some frustration and uncertainty as it's truly an unprecedented situation, but there’s been some positives as well. This unexpected break has given us time to really focus on our projects without a lot of life's pressures and constraints. It's been amazing to see how the Drum & Bass community has come together in many ways to help where they can. I'm starting to miss the atmosphere and experience of live events a lot though. For the people, as well as the music.

At the beginning of the outbreak we took the decision to hold back releases for 8 weeks to give everyone involved time to focus on themselves and their loved ones and to ensure our listeners would get the most out of our music. It's great to see digital downloads and streaming has increased and we’re seriously excited about what we have coming!

 

Yes, it's a great little waterfront city with a rich history and some amazing people. It's a wicked place to be in the summer with green spaces and beaches to sit in the sun and listen to good music while drinking, smoking and eating too much...

Unfortunately we don't have a massive authentic event culture with drum & bass anymore though due to limited venues catering for the genre and that long standing stigma of ‘underground dance music’ from many establishments. There are some incredible teams and artists based here but the larger events side of it is dominated by mid-week student nights, such as 'Concrete Music'. They do a fantastic job with the students but it doesn’t leave much left for the true drum and bass heads. It doesn't mean you won't find some crazy little events to catch a vibe at though!

I founded the label back in  2013 with my good friend and former Murky Squad DJ, Lloydizzle, as a side project to the Murky D&B events and artist team. Over time Loydizzle moved away from music and I ran it solo but I always had a lot of support from 'Bass Antics' as he was one of the first artists we worked with. He was a prominent name and also ran 'Ruthless Soundz' which at the time was the #1 premier online radio platform. I ran the Murky D&B events and team with Vinyl Richy and he had a show on Ruthless so made the introduction. I've always trusted Bass Antics’ judgement and he’s been a major influence ever since. He’s now running the label with me and truly is instrumental in any of our successes. We also have 2 other producers in the Murky Squad team, Fena and Eraze (BE), who both have previous releases on Murky Digital and will have more music coming soon.

It's crazy to think it's been that long, we're at almost 50 releases and over 175 tracks now, including 13 free downloads. It’s been a long journey, constantly learning and developing with some successes but also lots of challenges and plenty of failure. Running a label can be really rewarding in its own way but a very demanding venture at times. It’s a wicked experience to identify new artists and help nurture them through their development, or sign brand new music from established artists that you believe has the potential to make major waves. A hell of a lot goes into a project; communicating with artists, creating a concept, working to a schedule, building the release, mastering, collaborating with the distribution service provider, promotional campaigns, sorting out financials, monitoring the market, overcoming problems and so much more.  Financially it's not exactly lucrative and most revenue goes right back into building it up for the future. For us though, it’s all about representing the dark and moody underground sounds of drum & bass, while developing new artists and providing something a bit different or niche from specific established producers. It truly is fulfilling to see something go from a rough idea or concept to a complete store ready release. Some people believe it’s just about finding some music, chucking some art together and pushing the release out, and unfortunately there are those that do, but I truly believe a professional approach will always come out on top. It’s great to see so many other labels doing it right though. One of the biggest changes I have seen is the evolution of the 'up and coming' producers. The sounds being created by some of the next generation of artists is remarkable and they are now being empowered to a point where their followings match those of the industry leaders. The problem is, some newer artists don’t seem to understand the intricate culture we have and end up making silly mistakes early in their careers that can be potentially damaging, like swapping or playing music they shouldn’t have or bootlegging music and trying to financially profit from it. I believe a certain amount of respect should always be in place for the many outstanding pioneering artists that paved the way to make jungle and drum & bass what it is today. Sadly, somewhere along the way a bit of that respect has been lost by some. The scene has seemed to diversify a lot though with a wide range of demographics following the music now that probably wouldn’t have stepped foot in a rave in the past. There is also a much greater online presence and demand for instant availability, which is more prominent today than ever before with the current situation. I just hope it doesn’t stay that way for too long…

 

Our roots have always been more in jump up but we wanted to provide something a bit more rolling, dark and moody, with minimal basslines and touches of jungle. We have always loved that style and pushed it from the start amongst our more traditional jump up sounds like our earlier Zero productions, so it’s great to see it so popular today. Producers like T>I have championed it so it’s probably no surprise we first worked with him back in 2014. We have now moved into some further niches and have put out some stuff that may even be a bit moody for a dance. Tracks like ‘Glitch’ by Leaf and ‘God Complex’ by Operate are examples of this weirder style we love to push. There is still so much we want to achieve though and in a lot of ways we are still very unknown. With a more established presence and organic following I would love to see us push into the forefront of underground drum & bass one day. I take massive inspiration looking at prestigious brands such as 'Critical Music' and their long history and consistent work rate and hope that maybe one day we will get there. They’ve managed to build their brand to reach a monumental status while still retaining their signature sound. I just know the hard work it takes, as well as the right opportunities, effective management and a bit of luck.

 

There’s a whole bunch of tracks and releases I am really fond of and still play regularly to this day. I drop the 2014 T>I remix VIP of ‘Better Off Dead’ by Filthy Habits & Fena pretty much any time I can and it still gets supported. Brockie has supported the original remix and the VIP for years and dropped it at the Relic stage of Boomtown last year and I totally lost my sh*t. I also treasure the track ‘Chains’ by Bass Antics & Nino, it was our second ever signing and kick started the friendship and business relationship between Bass Antics and me. When we reached 5 years of Murky Digital we wanted to do something prolific to mark the occasion and built a 2-part album compilation called ‘Turbid Transcendence’. It was so much work from everyone and every single producer came through with their definition of the Murky sound. It has a special place in my heart and was also the first time we worked with Euphonique as her track ‘Damage’ was on part two. The name has a hidden meaning and can translate to a sort of Murky evolution which is what we were trying to achieve with the project in terms our sound and vibe development. The Gorgon and the VIP had our first radio 1 plays by Toddla T which was a great accomplishment. Vital’s ‘The Rig Killer’ EP was another big project for us, he was still a fairly new producer when it dropped in 2018 and the release killed it. We had some great chart placements, fantastic DJ support, including Kings Of The Rollers at Let It Roll festival, and it brought a new wave of followers. To see Vital go from strength to strength has been amazing. He is now also working with Low Down Deep and recently had the honour of remixing a Dominator (RIP) track. Look out for more Murky music from Vital coming this year. Jaxx is another producer I had spoken to and rated for a long time and we finally got to work with him last year. His track ‘Ghost Train’ is a perfect representation of our style and overall theme in one piece of music. He then dropped a 5 track EP earlier this year entitled the ‘Prepare For Take Off’ EP and it has some serious wobblers, so go check that.

 

 

 

In a word, No… but that’s only with the current venue situation in Portsmouth. If a professional venue was willing to allow drum & bass events on a weekend at rates that aren’t completely extortionate or with lots of hidden obstacles, such as unrealistic sound restrictions, then we would love to. Southampton is only up the road and has a wicked scene, usually packed full of events with 'On A Mission' as the powerhouse. We’ve been fortunate to support their events in the past with some joint collaborations as well as room hosting and performances. A little further up the road and Bournemouth has an equally vibrant scene. I’ve spent many years raving in Bournemouth, I attended my first rave there in 2007 for One Nation NYE and was a frequent visitor while my fiancé attended the University so went to a lot of the student events. A few years later and we were given the opportunity to support the mighty Enter Drumfunk brand on a range of nights, so we have always focussed on the south coast and not singly Portsmouth. I do have some rough ideas for the future of the Murky D&B events but we will have to see if they ever evolve into something… 

 

 

 

Over the years we’ve had some massive names pass through the city at various events and festivals. Before Murky, when I was just an eager raver and bedroom DJ (I pretty much still am) Breakneck threw some amazing parties with really diverse and crazy line ups. The University of Portsmouth D&B society (UP DNB) also put on some great nights as they didn’t just cater to students and had some decent people involved in their management team. From 2013-2017 Vinyl Richy and myself strived to bring some exciting names through with the Murky D&B events, alongside others and more recently a solid multi genre brand called Beats & Swing have been booking iconic names such as Goldie with a concert style event and some new, hungry teams are trying to continue pushing our local scene, such as the After Hours crew. The D&B community down here isn’t huge but it has some really passionate people involved. We’re also the hometown of artists such as Lynx and his Detail Recordings label, Damage Report, Soul:Motion, Macca, Nooch (although now Bristol based) and his Ransaked Records brand and also the Context Audio team; with their sublime take on deeper Drum & Bass. Trust me when I say these guys are serious! There’s also a brilliant community with Radio. We had the infamous Lush FM where Murky had a show, Q Base FM and more recently, The Fort Radio. Operating out of an actual fort and scheduled ancient monument with loads of talented and hardworking individuals involved behind the scenes and running shows.

 

 

Haha, this will be fun, I’ve spent hours in my younger days creating mad imaginary line ups in my head while chilling in a haze. So as this is purely theoretical I’m going all out and will most probably be over budget… Firstly, to add some history to the event and because I love all the years of jungle and drum & bass I would book DJ Die B2B Clipz (95-2020 set) with Dynamite MC hosting. I would also book Randall b2b The Sauce with MC GQ and D Double E as I think that set would be absolutely mad and I love it when good MCs cross over genres. In my younger days as an avid vinyl collector and bedroom DJ I loved the mid-late 2000s Playaz vibe, so would book DJ Hype b2b Hazard (Playaz, Ganja Recs & Frontline set) with MCs Trigga, IC3 and Fats. I’m also a massive jungle fan and have always loved Bryan Gee and booked him for the Murky D&B events 5 ^th birthday event in 2017 so him b2b with Alibi on a purely Jungle set with the Ragga Twins would be so sick and packed full of vibes. Too add a bit of new skool, rolling jump up and dance floor flavours I would book a special b2b from Kings Of The Rollers and S.P.Y with Inja & DRS hosting. I also love going to Festivals and have been to every Bootmown since 2012, so to add some fun, ragga jungle sort of festival flavours (and also as I’m a huge reggae fan) I would book a wicked collective set of Aries b2b Kelvin 373 b2b Euphonique with Cheshire Cat, Demolition Man and Natty Campbell on mic duties. To round it all off I would love a really moody, dark and minimal set for the graveyard ravers and think Alix Perez b2b Skeptical with SP:MC would cover that.  Finally, as this is my event, I would have a second stage/room packed full of sick Murky artists from old and new including T>I, Saxxon, Jaxx, Vital, Leaf, Filthy Habits, Jeopardize, Raz, Agro, Too Greezey and our Murky squad artists; Bass Antics, Fena and CDs, all hosted by some creative and original newer lyricists that I personally rate including NV, Malicious, Duskee, Madrush, Tdot, Godderz, Corshh and Hustle.

 

Yes one of many to be honest. When I first started the Murky D&B events and Murky Squad team it consisted of DJ Zork, Kingsley, MC Ren Dola, Lloydizzle and myself, with Vinyl Richy joining shortly after and taking over the brand management with me. Over time, some individuals stopped music altogether and others moved onto new ventures so in 2017 we revamped the team with the following artists; Bass Antics, Fena, Eraze, CDS (C-biz, Dutte & Soundz), Vinyl Richy, Malicious, MC Tdot, MC Rivmik and myself. Over the years and with changes in lifestyle some individuals have dipped in and out of activity but it’s just one of those things and I appreciate how time consuming it all can be with a full time job and other life pressures. The main focus since our last event in 2017 has been Murky Digital with Bass Antics and me pushing that as much as we can and our Murky Squad DJs and MCs representing the brand at various events.

 

 

 

Hmmmm that’s a tough one as there are so may incredible producers around today that I rate. I would love to see what Bladerunner could do with some of our tracks as I have always been a huge fan of his. I’d also love to get Enei to remix one of our darker or more aggressive tracks. Benny L and Skeptical are another couple guys that I would love to get involved and 2 producers that I never see release much or at all anymore are PA and Recluse, with their gritty, dark and rolling sounds. That style was a massive inspiration to us so remixes from them would also be wicked.

 

 

 

We dropped part 1 in June and part 2 in August of 2018, although it took the best part of a year to compile and finalise the project. I’m still really happy with how it came out though and we still get sales from it today. Every part of the project was tailored for the album and everyone worked hard to make it what it was.

 

 

Haha although I can’t go into specific quantitative data, I can say that the original and VIP have collectively topped our sales and are still regularly downloaded and streamed to this day. As mentioned, a lot goes into a release and a lot has to be spent before a release is ready to hit the stores and in every single venture, this can be a risk. Some releases seem to get a short bit of hype but die out after a few weeks or months and some don’t ever seem to get the right reception, but we’re fortunate that these tracks have had consistent sales for a long time and I still hear them supported at various events, and not just by T>I (haha).

 

 

We have been fortunate to find a lot of producers with solid potential and many have gone on to do massive things in the scene but to be honest, I was quite surprised with how well the Vital release went down! I had been following Vital for a couple of years at this point and could see his raw and really wanted to get a prolific project from him for the label while he was still fairly unknown (in comparison to the whole spectrum of D&B). We worked through some potential tracks and once we finally compiled all 5 I knew it had perfect vibe and lots of weight, which is exactly what I was after. The release went on to do really well, sales and charting wise, and received support from loads of DJs including Logan D, Bladerunner and more. The track ‘Staring At the Speaker’ is also the leading track in streams for Murky Digital.

 

 

Bass Antics & Nino - Chains: Why was this such a special track for you?

 

There are many reasons why ‘Chains’ is special to us. As well as it kicking things off with Bass Antics and our start of a following, it has been one of those tracks that has been a big part of the label for a long time in an almost nostalgic sense. We all supported the original in a lot of our earlier DJ sets and radio performances and then in 2014 we commissioned a killer remix from Version to add another dynamic to the track. He came through with a deep and funky rolling version and we loved it. It received a lot of top DJ support and further helped our reach. Over the years I have always drawn for the original or remix during sets and even played a cheeky WIP of a VIP for a while that Bass Antics probably wouldn’t have wanted me to play (haha). Bass Antics & Nino then took it back to the lab and created a fresh 2018 version with harder sonics and a weightier feel that we dropped as a free download to mark 4000 SoundCloud followers, so feel free to grab that if you haven’t already.  

So you’ve been working with Euphonique on her No Escape EP: How’s that going down?

I cannot begin to express how excited we’ve all been with this release. It’s taken Euphonique and us over a year to meticulously build the project, bit by bit, with countless hours of hard work and lots of constant communication.  This EP will act as a platform to showcase the darker side of her production, going for a more unadulterated and raw take on her classic rolling jungley style that perfectly complements our sound. Euphonique has really come through and every track has its own vibe and flavour; with touches of jungle, jump up and darker, more rolling underground sonics all packed into a singular 5 track release. There are some interesting collaborations included too. The title track ‘No Escape’ features a dark and ominous statement of lyrics, hauntingly provided by Manchester’s own MC Frost; adding an authentic home grown feel. For the fan favourite track ‘Switch’ Euphonique teams up with the skilled technical producer Guzi and the distinctive and rugged MC, Madrush to truly create a monster with a growling bassline and piercing drums. As well as the solo tracks ‘The Future’ and ‘Time To say’ (that are both equally sick yet very different from each other) we commissioned an absolutely bonkers remix of her original Murky track ‘Damage’ by one of my favourite Murky producers, Saxxon. It’s weird, wobbly and certainly Murky. We did have a couple of setbacks along the way though and had planned to shoot a music video in Manchester for ‘No Escape’ but the current pandemic soon put a stop to that… Instead, Euphonique developed her video editing skills and worked with MC Frost to create us a wicked video to use, truly demonstrating an eclectic skill set and tenacity to keep this project moving. We’ve been fortunate to have already received support from Ray Keith, Aries, Logan D, Jam Thieves and many other established names and hope you all enjoy it once it’s out! The ‘No Escape’ EP drops 27/05/20 exclusively on Juno Download until 03/06/20 when it will be available on all good download stores and streaming services

 

We have a few projects lined up ready and some still in the varying stages of development. I can’t release all the information yet but I can confirm there will be another Vital EP this year, Agro will be making a return with a fresh new EP and there will also be a re-release compilation dropping soon that gives anyone just finding out about us a great opportunity to bag a load of our best music in one release. We also want to try and play our part and help the relief of this virus outbreak so have been slowly compiling a Bandcamp only release with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. There is still more work to be done but look out for more information on that coming soon…   

 

I just want to say a massive thanks to everyone we have worked with over the years whether it was as a producer on Murky Digital, an artist we have booked for a Murky D&B event, a former or current Murky Squad artist, or anyone else we have collaborated with. I also want to say how grateful I am to anyone that has supported us since our inception by buying and listening to our music, attending our previous events and sets or even just supporting us on socials. We didn’t know anyone in this game when we started and without the support of others we wouldn’t have built what we have today, although we still have a long, long way to go.

Thanks again for a very informative and good interview! Thank you also for the music. All the best for 2020 and beyond.

Interview by Missrepresent May 2020

SC:  https://soundcloud.com/murky-digital