With the release of his album Mirror earlier this year, Billain took another step in a seven-album series he’s been plotting out since 2019. The third album in a series which includes Nomad’s Revenge and 2022’s Lands Unbreached. His award-winning short film Fugitive was an ostensible side quest on the same path, but with Mirror, the enigmatic producer and artist explores the archetypes of protagonist and antagonist not only in the narrative of the albums but in the human condition.
I started with the protagonist…in our story, but I never really presented the antagonists, and what is the meaning of both sides of the characters, and I really wanted to orient toward that meaning and a wider perspective. You have to take into account that this is also their fight. So this is also the first showcase of who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist, and how do we differentiate them.
This interview is not about that. The Sweat the Technique series will be longform interviews with artist, intended to do a deep dive into their own minds: process, technique, feelings and what informs their work. Billain was an obvious candidate for the first episode of this format not only because Mirror was dropping the very same day of this recording, but because he has one of the most unique sounds in the drum and bass world, and, as it stands to reason, one of the most unique minds. In this episode, Billain graciously opens up his ‘mind palace,’ to use his words, to talk about how he builds tracks, how the concepts come together for works like Mirror and how his visual art and synesthesia inform his music, and vice versa.
Fans might want to listen to this interview in heats; like a really good book with loads of exposition, there’s a lot of information to process, but it’s a great study in understanding how different people percieve and process information and art. By holding up the mirror and showing his world, Billain actually shows us a world where, to quote ‘Intro’ on the album, ‘there are no mirrors.’ Enjoy.
Mirror is out on Evolution Chamber on all platforms. Be sure to also check out Billain’s newest short film as well, Nimrod, which just dropped on 27 October. Click here to watch.