Part three of this week’s look at the most promising DJs of 2010 has struck. And if you missed parts one and two, you must recap. We’ve delved into Finnish house (Renaissance Man), ‘nu scoala’ dance (Mowgli), an unabashed purveyor of the ’80s sound (Grum) and relentless fidget (Jack Beats). Today its two electronic academics, architects of their sound, building drawn out absorbing tracks from basic beats, gentle melodies and on one part; a thirst for italo disco. It’s Boy 8-Bit and Retro/Grade.
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Boy 8-Bit
There was a time when most of us thought it was only Kieran Hebden and Doc Brown making all the glitchy electro-gremlin trickery that sounded like a Transformer chewing a modem but ask any DJ/producer with a hard drive for analogue sound, and everything from retro era consoles to Gameboys and home made synths is enough to get the BPM and ol’ RAM going.
Christened courtesy of his Amiga –tinged tracks as a youngster, Boy 8-Bit aka David Morris has come a long way, baby. Starting out as a computer DJ in his teens, both his love and commitment for electronic music escalated as he discovered programs that allowed him to create beyond his initially basic means.
Those 8 Bit days might have characterised him in name but with remixes of everyone from Armand Van Helden to Fake Blood, and the release of main floor mainstay ‘Baltic Pine’, his “melodic dance music” has reached the higher, mainstream echelons of the house scene.
“Baltic Pine was just a record I really wanted to make,” he explains “All four tracks on there were in development and they were things I was already working on. I feel more pressured now to follow up Baltic Pine.”
With ‘Baltic Pine’ marking an evolution from its predecessor, ‘Suspense is Killing Me’, according to David, we should expect him to keep pushing out from his console origins.
“I suppose, everything will have a common trait when you look back on it. They are all quite melodic. The next one will be different again, but it’s still going to be house music, still the same speed, still the same elements. I take influence from what’s around me and incorporate it into my sound, rather than try to replicate. I’m hoping that will gradually evolve my sound… if that makes sense?”
Words by Reef Younis
Retro/Grade
“A lot of music became very boring – but there is always a backlash in music and people always have to break out.” says Serge Santiago, one half of Italo-Disco super duo Retro / Grade.
Formed with Tom Neville, an old friend from working on a Kano remix of ‘Against The Wall’ both men are revered producers and DJ’s in their own rights. “I’ve known Tom for a long, long time. We’ve always said we would hook up and do something together again. Parts of MODA were shelved and we thought ‘maybe we should finish it’ – it sparked more ideas, and one track led to another. It was so easy.”
2009 has been a fruitful year electronic music, with dubstep DJ’s turning to techno and disco, and the old spirit of a once mocked at genre is alive; the beats of nu-disco have become cooler than ever. “I remember the stories about punk, a similar thing is happening with modern electronics. Rebelling against things that were so processed and so down the middle. No mistakes, no nothing just boring perfection. People got bored and wanted to break out the confines of the box.” Both known for being aficionados of beats and bleeps, this natural desire is evident in their masterful, synth dripping sounds.
With two singles under their belts ( MODA and ZOID) , things are just hotting up for 2010. ‘We’re going to be gearing things up a bit by looking for more label based stuff as well as getting a live show sorted” he beams. ‘We’re also releasing the album and hopefully lots of singles…if it doesn’t come out soon I’ll lose it!” he laughingly jokes.
I’m sure we don’t want to feel the frustrated ramblings of the usually cool Serge – Clash prays that the album is out as soon as possible – Retro / Grade will begin their journey, through what will surely be their year.
Words by Joe Gamp
