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SURVIVAL
DOA: You've been involved with the scene for the last 15 years, and while many knew of your previous works, you've gotten the most acclaim with your work as Survival over the last four years. Now, we are finally getting an album from you. How long had you been debating on putting out a Survival LP?
Survival: I've always wanted to do a LP. I think that the music I do really suits that format, but this LP sort of happened accidentally. I was talking with dBridge on the way back from a gig I did with him about writing albums, and he asked what would it take to get a LP out of me; I didn't have any plans to do a LP then and it got be thinking. When I got back, I thought to myself "I'd really be up for doing a album", and called him the next day and asked him if he'd be up for releasing a LP for me. He was well up for it, and I started on it the next week.
DOA: You established your Audio Tactics imprint in 2008, but this album is being released on dBridge's Exit imprint. Why the decision to put it out on Exit as opposed to your own label?
Survival: I think Exit is a really good label, and releasing the LP on there could only be a good thing for me. Also, Exit has a big following and I thought by putting my first LP out on there I can reach people that may not of heard it if I had released it on Audio Tactics.
DOA: Your album is titled Survival. Had you always planned to make a self-titled album?
Survival: I've got to be the worst at naming things, man - I think I've released 2 tracks [titled with] the date that I made 'em!!! Naming things has got to be the worst part of making tracks for me, so when dBridge had the idea of calling it Survival, I thought "why not"!
DOA: The name Survival has been synonymous with quality in the modern DnB scene. How does it feel to have heads so receptive of your music?
Survival: It's really cool, man, like you said before I've been writing DnB for a long time, and to be able to make a living out of it now is really good
DOA: Are you critical of your tracks?
Survival: Not really, I try not to be. There's always going to be tracks that are better than others, I just try to get everything I start finished and just see what happens. It's easy to sit and compare all the tracks that you make or think "ahh, but it's not as good as matey's track", but I think if you do that, you'll never get anything finished.
DOA: What equipment are you using in your studio these days?]
Survival: For that last few years I've just been using Logic 5.5 on the PC. For the album, I got hold of a Mackie 16/4 desk and have been running everything through buses and mixing on that. I have always used outboard before and I really like that sound of it. I'm also really big on the digital remakes of the classic outboard, I used the Waves SSL mix bus compressor on all the mixes on the LP and the URS EQ and compressor bundle on most of the drum bsses. If your using just a PC then it makes a real difference to the sound you can get, I think that the EQ's and compressors you get with Logic/Cubase sound rubbish, especially in logic 7 on the Mac, everybody has the same reverbs and delays so all the tracks start to sound the same, which makes it hard to get character into a mix.
DOA: In the past, you started out more as a studio engineer. Are there times where you're just engineering a track and end up throwing more ideas into the mix?
Survival: Haha yep, that can be the trouble with engineering for other people in dance music, the boundary can get confused between engineer and producer. When I was engineering, I always tried to just interpret what the producer wanted and write it in to the computer or program it in to the sampler but, if the person has no technical experience, then you inevitably end up putting some of your ideas in to the song.
DOA: You're going to be touring throughout the next couple of months. Would you ever do a live PA, recreating your tracks live?
Survival: Yeah, well that's something I've always wanted to do. There are 3 tracks on the LP that are mostly live: "Still Don't Know" and "Feelings Gone" have both got live fretless bass, sax, flute and percussion [on them], and "Field Of Vision" was a live DnB track I started a few years ago while working at a studio in West London and just updated the mix for the LP. I've done a set at Intrigue in Bristol on the 9th of April where I played with the one of the vocalists on the LP, SL and also the sax and flute player Bed Hadwin. They jammed over my set, which was good fun. As a fully-live PA goes, it's something I definitely want to do in the future.
DOA: You've only been DJing actively for the last couple of years, right? How have your skills on the decks improved?
Survival: Yeah, I learned to mix when I started the Survival thing a few years back, it's been a fast learning curve! Hopefully it's all good now; I've been playing out most weekends for the last 2 years, and I'm am really enjoying it. I've always been around DJs, and most of my mates could mix so it didn't take too much to get the hang of it.
DOA: Can we get a current top 10 from you?
Survival:
01 Data & E & Dynamic - Skinwalkers (Revolution)
02 Notion - See It In Your Eyes
03 Sidechain - Grotesque
04 Phobia & Jubei - Cooper's Dream
05 Survival - Walk On By (Survival LP - Exit Rec)
06 Soul Intent - Rebel Music
07 Break - Isis (Symmetry)
08 Survival - Seventh Sign (Survival LP - Exit Rec)
09 Break – Is This What You Want VIP (Symmetry)
10 Silent Witness - Dependence
DOA: You graciously sent us an exclusive mix for the DOA community. What can the massive expect from this mix?
Survival: I'm going to be playing a few bits from the album, and there’s also going to be a few tunes from the usual suspects (Break, Sabre, Alex Perez, Jubei) - you'll have to check it out to find out more!
DOA: Do you have any plans on doing albums in the future?
Survival: Yeah definitely, in the new year I'm going to start something for Audio Tactics. Until then, I'm going to have a little break from writing DnB for a while. I've been doing a little bit of Tech House lately, so I'm going to be concentrating on that for a bit.
DOA: Your rise through the ranks including putting out loads of tunes on a plethora of top notch labels. Would you recommend that plan of attack for producers coming up today?
Survival: Yeah that's one way of doing things. I never set out to do that - it just sort of happened. I write a lot of tunes in different styles and just wanted homes for them all. I think you can have the same success by just building a name for yourself with 1 or 2 labels; I think you need to do what suits your sound.
DOA: Do you have any shout outs or final thoughts before we wrap this up?
Survival: Yeah, I would like to big up all the Dogs On Acid crew for all there support over the last few years and dBridge and all the Exit crew for making this LP happen. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I've enjoyed making it!
And now, without further delay, wrap your ears around this exclusive Survival Mix!
Tracklist:
Survival – Foreshadow (Exit)
Spy - Alone
Loxy & iso - Shodan
Data, E & Dynamic - Skinwalkers (Revolution)
Notion - See The Eyes
Survival – Pray (Audio Tactics)
Notion – Step With It
Insiders – Trust
Silent Witness –
Break – Is This What You Want VIP (Symmetry)
Survival – Point Five(Revolution)
Soul Intent - Rebel Music
Break – Isis (Symmetry)
Phobia & Jubei – Coopers Dream
Survival – Burned Out (Exit)
Survival – Body Snatchers (Audio Tactics)
Spy – Beyond The Threshold
Survival – Untitled
Survival & Alix Perez – Untitled
Survival – Too Little Too Late (Exit)
Break, Fierce & Nico – Draw
Survival – Gravity Bourne (Play Musik)
>> DOWNLOAD THE MIX!! <<
[mirror]
For Survival bookings contact Reprise Agency
www.repriseagency.com | info@repriseagency.com | +44(0)207 247 5071
*GRAB SURVIVAL RELEASES FROM THE DOA STORE
*GRAB SURVIVAL TRACKS FROM DOA DOWNLOADS
*GRAB EXIT RECORDS RELEASES FROM THE DOA STORE
Words: khal |
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Dogs On Acid > Comments > SURVIVAL
05-07-2009 02:44 PM
