The Arts & Culture Journal

The Ruthless One – Interview Q&A

Where did your interest in music stem from?

I first found a real interest for music when I was very young and I used to listen to the pirate radio stations in north London where I grew up. Many of my friends also had decks and we used to mix n’ blend all the time. Then, once I became confident, I wanted to produce tunes as well as mix them.

Who are your major musical influences?

My influences are all the top DJ/producers and MCs such as DJ Zinc, DJ Hype, DJ Brockie , Simon ‘Bassline’ Smith, Micky Finn, Shy FX, Andy C, MC Skibadee, MC Shabba, MC Det, MC Shockin… there’s really too many to name! I’m also influenced by the older style D&B and I love the sounds from around 1996.

If you could play any venue in the world, where would it be?

Any venue?  There’s too many to choose from! It would have to be the Drum & Bass version of Woodstock! I would love to play at the drum n’ bass awards though.

How would you describe your style of D&B?

I would describe my style of D&B as a variation of many different styles. I prefer the jump up D&B and I love the oldskool styles from 1996 but when I’m producing D&B tracks I tend to let the sounds decide what sort of style it’s gonna be. For example, if I find a sound that I like and it’s a dark and moody sound, I will make the track into a dark style D&B tune. The sound dictates the style.

How do you create your music?

I get the music from my head and into your ears mainly by using 2 computer programs -  Fruityloops and Soundforge. I mainly use Fruityloops to sequence the track (place all the sounds in time) also I use it to create new sounds with plugins, add FX and add EQ to the track and I use Soundforge to sample, edit or create new sounds.

The environment I’m in when making the tunes is usually my bedroom (with a doobie or 2.) The hardware I use is a desktop pc (it’s lame and slow,) an iPod docking station for monitor speakers and a half decent set of headphones. Not a lot of equipment really is it - but I manage! I find it’s not the equipment you use but it’s the way you use it and it’s the ideas you have in your head that make the music sound good. Having a good ear for sounds is the key!

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing up-and-coming artists today?

There are many challenges up-and-coming artists face today but I think the biggest have to be getting noticed by the people who listen to their music. I find it’s now a lot easier to get music out there cos’ we have digital music on the internet but now it’s so easy to put music online and share it, it can be harder to get noticed because so many people are making tunes. Another massive challenge is getting people to buy your music from you legit, rather than downloading it for free off illegal download sites, using torrents and Limewire.

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