varketili

Synth in the mix:

01. Max Cooper - Enveloped [Traum Schallplaten]
02. Pariah - Prism [R & S]
03. Kerogen - Hope [Echodub]
04. Velour - Booty Slammer [Night Slugs]
05. Joker & Ginz - Stash [Hyperdub]
06. Lung - Time [Kokeshi]
07. Synkro - Wonder Why [Smokin'Sessions]

MACHETE BOYZ GuestMix:

01. Sub Swara - Steam [Low Motion]
02. Skism - Rave Review [Never Say Die]
03. Skrillex - Scatta (ft. Bare Noize & Foreign Beggars) [Mau5trap]
04. Envy - normal (Skism remix) [StopStart]
05. Funtcase - Taking The Piss [Prime Audio]
06. Trolley Snatcha - Rocco's Revenge [Dub Police]
07. Flux Pavilion - Lines In Wax (ft. Foreign Beggars) [Circus]
08. 12th Planet & Juakali - Reasons (Doctor P Remix) [Floor Bangers]
09. Skrillex - Hey Sexy Lady [Unreleased]
10. Vista - Wiseau Funk [forthcoming Boka]
11. George Lenton - Fill Diff [Wicky Lindows]
12. RSK - Black Boots (Doctor P Remix) [Circus]
13. DJ Fresh - Fight [Breakbeat Kaos]
14. Skrillex - Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites [Mau5trap]

Beatamine in the mix:

01. Mark Instinct & Greenlaw - Go In Peace [Dubform]
02. SubScape - Screw Up [Dub Police]
03. Statix - Mind Over Matter [Screwloose]
04. Ghetto - Commandments (16 Bit Remix) [Unreleased]
05. Vista & Presence Known - Cataclysm RMX [Unreleased]
06. Jakes - Dopeman [forthcoming H.E.N.C.H]
07. Enigma & Shorterz - Rag Doll (ft. Little Palm) [Unreleased]

newVRSvol.2 with Machete Boyz by VARKETILI RADIOSTATION

SPECIAL THANKS TO MACHETE BOYZ CREW FOR THIS EXCELLENT GUEST MIX!

Twenty five-year-old Londoner Matt Scott, aka RackNRuin, is quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen to breakbeat music since the Plump DJs. Which is amusing, as he doesn't even consider himself to be a breaks producer. We caught up with the crown prince of the amen ahead of his forthcoming gig at London's Supatronix to find out what it's like working with Sting's daughter, why jungle is a sound that will never go away, and what happened when a backstage area collapsed underneath him at the Outlook Festival in Croatia

Hi Matt. Soundclash was pretty much the track of the summer, with its blend of old skool junglistic breakbeats and future garage sensibilities. Why do you think the track did so well for you?
I think the whole EP brought back sounds that people wanted to hear again - but in a new and exciting way. Also all the vocalists were top notch - especially Jessie Ware who is doing more great things at the moment. The hooks are catchy and the beats are booming and go off in a rave, so hopefully we'll recreate this and make it even better with the remix EP which is coming out next year.

The whole 140bpm jungle-breakbeat thing seems to be enormous right now. Why is it, do you think, that it suddenly seems "cool" to use old skool sampled breaks, when the older "nuskool" breaks scene seems to have fallen out of fashion a bit?
I don't really know - RackNRuin was never really a breakbeat style project, and still isn't. It's still rooted in more of the housey and electro sound - you will hear this in many of my other productions. But after doing Soundclash I just found it fun to use the old jungle samples again. I think "nu skool breaks" has a bad name because it doesn't seem to have a solid place in dance music at the moment. Some sounds like electro house, some doesn't - it's difficult to say what is and isn't "breaks". In my opinion the main problem with it is - a "breakbeat" is a part of the beat in a track - not a genre. So this is where confusion occurs. I don't care about genre - hopefully you can see this in my music - if it's good I'll make it or play it out - no matter what genre it is!

I think the jungle sound will always be around as long as people in the UK and especially London are making dance music - the amen and the apache have been around for over 20 years, so no reason why they would suddenly die out. Dubstep, pop music and even some techno stuff has jungle and garagey influences [at the moment] - it's all merging in crazy and amazing ways, and I'm loving it.

You were in a breaks act for several years though, right? Do you plan to do any more material as Equalizers?
We are still working together and have quite a few tracks on the go - it's just difficult to find the time to finish stuff off due to our busy schedules. We still love working together and touring so Equalizers is definitely not done! I also have an EP called Synthetic Heart coming out on a breakbeat label, Sub Slayers in Feb 2011 which is a mix of old skool sounds from jungle and also has dubstep on there. But yeah there are a lot of old skool breaks in there!

Talking of pop, how did the collab with I Blame Coco, Sting's daughter, on Quicker happen? I understand your version is the official version now?
My version isn't the only version - but it is on the album along with the original. The version on there is a shorter three-minute edit of my remix. The collab happened after I had done the Nas & Damien Marley remix for Island Records. They then asked me to work with Coco when another remix came up that they thought I would be suited for.

Cool. Did you meet her?
I actually only just met her the other day when I was DJing at her afterparty. She's a lovely girl and is very talented. Was great to finally meet her after playing around with her voice for so long! I was playing all night so didn't have a chance to speak for long, but we had a chat about the music. Subfocus has also worked with her quite a bit and he was there too so we all had a chat and congratulated her on her album release.

Are you excited about the release of your next single, Territory? What was it like to work with Navigator and Slarta John?
Very excited. Navigator is a legend and so is Slarta John. Navi is a very hard worker and if it wasn't for him the project would not have got finished. Amazing vocalists and very professional.

How does it work? Do you finish the backing track and then send it over? Or is it more collaborative?
I made a beat and sent it to Navi, he came round and did his parts - he then went up to Birmingham and recorded Slarta's part with him, then I finished it in London. Then over the following few months the other mixes were completed. Was a long process but a lot of fun!

Was the jungle mix a last-minute thing, or did you always plan to have that on there?
No I decided to do that after mixing one of the versions with Soundclash when I was playing out!

Hahahaha ... it does sound quite similar. Is that garagey organ bass sound going to become a RackNRuin trademark?
Haha ... I guess so. I love that sound! (There follows an embarrassing interlude in which the interviewer attempts, unsuccessfully, to persuade the artist to send him the bass patch).

Ahem ... How do you decide what kind of a beat to put on a track when you're working on something?
It's just however I'm feeling that day and whatever has inspired me. Also, I love having an idea for a new rhythm I haven't made before - really experimenting with rhythms and percussion is what I love.

When people ask you what kind of music you make, what do you say?
Electronic music. Or to someone who needs something specific I say bass music

Who are the other artists that you're feeling right now?
Loads - but to name a few - Redlight, Warrior One, Phaeleh, Skream, the Swamp81 guys, SkisM, Marcus Visionary and Sigma. And Subfocus of course.

Why do you think it is that bass music is so huge in the UK right now, yet in the recent DJ mag top 100 DJs poll, there was not one artist pursuing that style in the top 100? Is the UK different to other countries?
I think it's all just so new here, it hasn't had time to translate into other countries' scenes. Maybe they are a bit more genre specific - as now the UK's club nights are predominantly multi-genre ... I think eventually it will all merge - just give it some more time.

So in the future you see a genre-less dance music? Trancestep and drum n techno?Hahaha ... no, not to go that far - I just think what has happened in the UK in the past two or three years will happen elsewhere too.

What's the craziest thing that's happened to you so far in your time as RackNRuin?
Outlook Festival was insane - DJing in an ancient fort with thousands of mental ravers, staying awake for three days! The terrain was so crazy - we nearly lost one of our friends as he flew over the bannisters down a 15 metres drop into the dance pit. Somehow luckily he bounced back over and we carried on raving - that whole part of the VIP then got shut down for the rest of the festival! Was madness! Don't get me wrong - the health and safety was top notch, that was just us being naughty backstage getting a bit excited.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

newVRSvol.2 with Machete Boyz

Monday, November 15, 2010

Interview With RackNruin!

newVRSvol.1 with Snita and Beatamine