The debut single on Coppa‘s new label Comanche, Overtake, is about to drop so we caught up with him to find out what’s he got in store for us and how he’s getting on with his forthcoming album.
Why have you started Comanche?
A few reasons but mainly because I get a lot of incoming recording projects and jobs from all over, which I really enjoy doing (the ones I accept) but people have their own general sound idea when they come to you, a lot of the time based on their own vision, which is great obviously and love working that way.
However, I also have a creative process and vision so Comanche was the perfect vehicle for more creative control and to design recording projects and concepts from the ground upwards and to bring them to producers and artists to work with.
What’s the label’s ethos?
Basically to put out and showcase entertaining music and work with artists I admire and enjoy listening to. There will be a lot of familiar faces, guests and collaborations on the label and not always the expected.
Over the last years I seem to have developed a reputation for being Mr Neurofunk, (due to a lot of my recent bigger collabs being within this sound arena) but I’ve been MCing, recording and vibing to a lot of diverse sounds across music, DNB and other genres for years. So the label is going to represent a far wider spectrum of drum & bass to match my real life taste selection!
Is the label only for your tunes or do you plan to release other artists?
At the moment we’ve got quite a catalogue of tracks building and built with producers over the last months, so the initial output is going to be based on that. However, if there is great music and vibes that I’m feeling and represent the vibe of the label then we can definitely run with it. I’ve been sent a lot of really cool stuff from people already, so that is probably gonna happen sooner than later.
Tell us more about your first release, Overtake ft. Adriana Hamilton…
Well, Overtake came about from some studio sessions in Milan earlier this year; this is where I met Adriana, she’s a great singer and artist and a pleasure to work with. She’s deep with her writing, understanding and interpreting concepts so we gelled together in the studio.
We really liked this particular project, so I spoke to some people and decided as I was in the process of setting up Comanche, that it would a nice idea to turn the project into a dnb remix EP project and put it out as the song had a good story and vocals to it.
How did you end up selecting the remixers for the project?
Well, I’ve be linking with Dan and Toby over this last year on various studio endeavors, so they were a no brainer. I love the way they work together and when their styles collide (no pun intended) for Callide & Instraspekt the outcome is off the chain and this remix no exception.
Livewire came about through Dan and he absolutely smacked it out the park, I´d heard his work before so I knew he was dope. Originally I asked him for a very specific kind of remix, but recognized that was a mistake so I went back and said to him “do as you feel mate..” and well, he killed it!
Raise Spirit really impressed me with some material I’d heard through a mutual acquaintance. I love the energy they brought to their version. I’d heard a lot about the guys so I knew they’d come up trumps with it. Really gotta watch out for these guys over the next 12 months, what I’ve heard they have in store should be quite a treat.
Got any other releases in the pipeline?
Got a couple of EPs already lined up, one of which is going to be a slightly different direction soundwise, the other a lot more familiar territory. I don’t want to give too much away right now as I´m really looking forward to keeping people guessing as to what’s coming next.
I hear you’re working on an album at the moment, what can you tell us about it?
This is something I’ve been working on since spring, there’s a lot of people involved in the project, who have all been very supportive and really come out bat full force with the tracks. I made sure that every track was a very organic experience and that we enjoyed putting the music and vocals together.
I think I’ve got to a stage in the studio that if it’s not fun and inspiring then there’s no point doing it. Obviously it’s work, and pretty much full time for me, but I’m lucky enough now to be able to afford to be selective about what I work with in the studio.
Everybody involved has very busy schedules so we allowed some extra time to let the music and collabs develop naturally which worked well for the overall project. I’m very proud of our work and the collaboration with these people and can’t wait to bring it to world.
Got any launch parties planned?
For the LP definitely, we already have quite a few plans in place for next year!
Anything else you want to tell us about?
Still firing pretty hardcore on the collab front, I have some joints including Telekinesis for Blackout, Tantrum Desire, Mediks, Danny Wheeler, Mob tactics and a new release coming up with Machine Code (Current Value & Dean Rodell) called “Urban Drum” that I’m really excited about.
Just finished up a collab with Barely Alive who are killing the dubstep game at the moment stateside, that came out a few weeks ago on Disciple Records and it’s currently doing really well, that one’s called Shudder, I advise you guys to check ‘em out!
Would like to give shouts out to the guys at Cygnus Music & PR, Jae Overtech for a lot of support and great advice with the ins and outs of the business and everyone who´s been involved so far in putting together some great music for the label! Don’t forget to add us on Facebook to stay connected with the latest from the label.