Kmag Q&A: Evolution Chamber Opens ‘Heaven’s Gate’ to Make Way for Czech/Slovak Phenoms, A.Way, Thez and Mila207

Whilst home to some of the craziest events and hard-hitting releases in the drum and bass kingdom, the Czech scene seems to be something of an enigma. With the likes Let It Roll and Forbidden Society being household names in D&Bdom, many punters may not know the sheer volume of talent coming out of this scrappy country. Whilst Czech has many of its own well-known labels like Hoofbeats, SINFUL MAZE and, of course, Forbidden Society Records, Evolution Chamber has recently moved its base to Eastern Europe and thus has discovered the veritable treasure trove of neuro artists and beyond.

A.Way has been creating quite a bit of buzz recently in his native land, becoming a breakout star of the festie season this past summer. His set at Beats for Love in Ostrava had everyone talking, and his recent releases on SINFUL MAZE and MODUS have shown he’s a force to be reckoned with. His new track, ‘Heaven’s Gate’, with fellow Czech/Slovaks Thez and Mila207 is the first of a series Evolution Chamber plans to do with the neuro upstart, so suffice it to say the wider D&B world should brace itself for the upcoming wave of snarling, heavy, almost experimental neuro that is A.Way’s signature.

Collaborators Mila207 and Thez are similarly big talents in Czech Republic who are about to make much more noise. Providing the vocals on ‘Heaven’s Gate’, many fans might not know Mila’s the owner, designer and brains behind the popular Dnbwear clothing brand and released her own EP last year called Deep and Dark on Dresden label UTM-Records. Thez, meanwhile, is an experimental genre-hopper with several innovative side projects, but in the meantime has released on loads of respected labels like SINFUL MAZE, C4C and and NËU.

With all three of these artists about to take D&B by storm, it seemed prodigious to have them all on the same track. What better time to pick each of their brains about Czech D&B, how they all met and what’s coming next? Read on and learn, because the world stage is about to see much more of them.

Since this will be an intro of sorts to the UK audience, let’s start with how each of you got into making music? 

A.Way: When I was about 12 years old, my uncle was working in the living room in FL Studio. So I sat down next to him when I was looking at that stuff and I thought this might be something I’d enjoy. That was it, really.

Thez: Great question. Even as a small child, I had a strong sense of music, I think because it was sort of a ‘cultural code’ in my family. One of my grandfathers was a music composer who worked at the Vienna Conservatory and the Berlin State Opera. Of course I didn’t know about any such thing at the time, but that is also the reason why most of my music is written in the Phrygian and Lydian modes. I started playing with Ableton sometime around 2010, but the drum and bass projects started after 2012.

Mila207: Very interesting question. I think I was about three years old when I started saying to everyone that I will be a singer. I always loved music and I was always singing. When I started studying primary school I was incorporated in the musical class, where we had about eight hours of music a week. I was singing in choir, playing the flute and the piano.

 Following on to that, how did each of you come to this place of making D&B? 

 A.Way: I started off doing trap and dubstep. Channels like Trap City and Trap Nation were having a blast at the time. That was my goal. But I gradually figured out that if I wanted to start playing shows I had to start making music that was more popular in my country. And that was drum and bass.

Thez: Considering that I was born in the Czech Republic, drum and bass has been a part of the culture here for a long time. For me, it was definitely the moment when my cousin showed me the album by Noisia’s ‘Split The Atom. I got more and more into it from there, with the big albums like like Skrillex’s ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites‘, which I guess is an unexpected way to get into D&B. (laughs)

Mila207: One of my oldest friends, DJ Beaty, got me on her mixes about 10 years ago as an MC. I found that as good fun and fell in love with the vibes onstage at D&B parties.

How did the three of you come to work together on ‘Heaven’s Gate’? 

 A.way: Mila sent me the vocals for the first version. As soon as I heard it I said to myself that this has a lot of potential to be an epic song, and so we just went for it.

Thez: That’s right; the project was on Martin’s computer and the first revision was a completely different track. Only after a joint conversation about how to take it to the next level did it start to become clear that vocals with a different direction would go together perfectly, and that’s where Mila came in.

Mila207: I found A.Way on Instagram while scrolling, simple as that. I immediately knew he’s a very talented  dude, so I just messaged him about doing a collab and luckily he was looking for vocals on this track so it was just a vibe!

You all have quite different styles. How was it to put a track like this together? 

 A.Way: The lyrics and vocals were on Mila. I think they work divinely in such a concept as ‘Heaven’s Gate’. I took care of the arrangement and sound for the most part. Thez in turn played a major part in my mental support and of course in the overall concept of the song.

Thez: This really wasn’t the first time Martin and I worked together; I think it’s our fourth collab that’s been released. Each of us has certain abilities and gifts that we strive to maximize. Concepts from Noisia and Mefjus heavily influenced the track. Martin and I worked on the project online via Discord. He already had the vocals from Mila. Then we only had about two more discord sessions where we sent each other some samples and it was done.

Mila207: I sent my vocal stems in expectation that it would go with the first version of the track, but it came completely differently and so much sicker than I expected The boys definitely surprised me.

Mila, a lot of people might not know you’re a classically trained opera singer. How did you transition to your current style of rap/more badass vocals? 

Mila207: To be honest, it was a mix of trial-and-error and evolution. I just kept trying. I took classes on how to improvise. I was also attending these jazz improv-meetings to improve my skills. The thing that helped the most, however, was that I was really enjoying myself with this style, doing parties and being onstage with my DJ friends. 

With the rap style, I think I got the best lesson I could get from life. My ex ex ex, MC Jimmy Danger advised me a lot about flow, how to write lyrics, when to MC and when to keep my mouth shut, especially whilst performing. That said, I think the fusion of singing and MCing came because I’m just not a person that follows rules often, and I wanted to make something that reflects the balance of all my musical experiences: MCing, singing, rap and DJing. 

A.Way, you’ve become a crowd favourite in Czech and Central and Eastern Europe. How do you think your style reflects where you come from? What’s one thing you’d like UK audiences to know about your work? 

A.way: I think everything’s affected me and my music: the landscape, the opinions of the people, the injustice and also the heartbreak and hope of what this area has gone through and it still going through. I think all these feelings can be found in my sound, although I’m still working on a more detailed version of them and expressing them more strongly. In terms of how that plays with UK audiences, I think the UK knows what rave means and what the vibes are supposed to be like. For those who like the vibe, believe my energy will be obvious and give them that feeling. 

Thez, you work in a lot of different genres and seem to like to experiment with your work. Can we expect more D&B tracks going forward or do you think you’ll always be genre-hopping? What do you like about making D&B? 

Thez: That’s right, I have a second vocal project called Lex Timbre, which is mainly focused on avant-garde full production electronics, so that’s the most authentic and creative part of me. I’m preparing an album for this project, the sampler of which was already released a few months ago, and it is on my SoundCloud. That said right now I’m primarily focused on drum and bass, and I don’t want to rush the second project. Everything goes hand in hand and has its right timing.

How did you hook up with and decide to release this one on Evolution Chamber? What appealed to you about the label style-wise? 

 A.Way: It just kind of came together and I’m so grateful that James from Magnetude is such an ultra-epic kind of guy who pushed us into it and showed us that you can do things the right way. 

Thez: It was also quite natural. I spend a lot of time with A.way, so it wasn’t difficult to know about something or to work on something. One day he just came and said he had a great conversation with James. I’d met James at Let It Roll before the release and at that time we already had everything ready, so it was just a final chat. I like a very angry, hard, but still legible sound that can be contrasted with very emotional melodies, which is the definition of Evolution Chamber’s sound. 

Mila207: As I am quite a busy person, I left this to the boys. In fact they are the masters of production, so I felt like it should be their decision anyway. They did an amazing job. I love this label. It has a very unique sound that lights up my soul.

What else do each of you have coming up that you’d like to share? Gigs/tours/tracks merch? 

A.Way: This will be my debut year at Rampage, and I’m excited that people are supporting and playing my music. I’m also getting some big names interested in collaborating. I think it’s time to build a brand that will go down in the history of the music industry, with respect, reverence, humility and a little bit of rebellion. 

Thez: First of all, I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to work on myself as an artist, and it has been a journey of patience, but if it is worth it, the fruit ripens at the right time. In the next few months, I plan to release an EP, and a very special single. There will also be some hard techno pieces I’ve been working on with my close friends.

Mila207: As I own the Dnbwear brand, we’re working on a new collection for Christmas. I’m also working quite a bit with my friends from Trident.sk on multiple interesting projects such as parties in mountains, labels nights – Blackout Slovakia – Halloween edition is the closest – and club nights in different towns. Also, soon I will release my first video mix on DnB Portal where you can see me being ‘all in one’ with my MC/DJ set live. I also just met a very talented musician from Amsterdam named Henri Victory and we might start working on hybrid sets and release some music too.

‘Heaven’s Gate’ is out now on Evolution Chamber and can be streamed on Spotify or purchased on Beatport.