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Wickaman Launches The Bughouse

Wickaman is launching a new label called The Bughouse with an EP called Bug In The Jungle Vol. 1 so we spoke to him to find out more…

Why are you starting The Bughouse and what’s the story behind the name?
I’ve been working alongside label manager and very good friend of mine Darra Redmond for the past few years. We decided to set up The Bughouse as we both have a passion for dance music. We have a similar vision and we know we work well as a team. It was a decision we had already made before we even spoke about it.

Darra came up with the name. The Bughouse is a slang term for an asylum. We think it reflects the passion you need to be working with us and in the industry. As they say, you don’t have to be mad to work here…. but in our case you’d definitely blend in easily!

What’s the ethos behind the label?
It is essentially a drum & bass label, although we’re not trying to home in on any particular style of DnB, variety is truly the spice of life.

Is it a label for your releases or will you sign tracks from other artists?
We’ve been developing new artists over the past year specifically with this label in mind including fresh names such as Myth, Golden, Sinprint, Luke B and Karl Future. These will be joined by artists we’ve been working with over the years including Hoodlum, Salaryman, Sudden Def, Mavrik, RV and Lipton MC. We’re always looking for more producers unknown or otherwise to.

Where should producers send their demos?
Please send all styles for The BugHouse and RongRobot to demo@bughouse.co.uk. If you’re able to do that as a private downloadable SoundCloud link it makes the process much easier as we need to be able to share the links easily between ourselves.

We always try and give good feedback. More often than not it’s on the production. There are a lot of cool people out there with amazing ideas. The hard bit is hammering down the sound. It ain’t easy making dnb as I’m sure a lot of your readers know already.

Tell us more about your first release…
The first release is an EP called Wickaman presents – Bug In The Jungle. It’s a collection of tracks with oldskool and jungle flavours blended with a modern sound which is probably my favourite thing to do. I just can’t get enough of throwback elements at the moment.

On this EP I’m working alongside other producers like Hoodlum and Mavrik plus vocalists such as Golden, MC Fun and Lipton. So it’s by no means a Wickaman solo project, it’s definitely a good sampler of what’s to come in future on The Bughouse.

https://soundcloud.com/thebughousemusic/bug-in-the-jungle-minimix-dj-hoodlum

Got any other releases in the pipeline you can tell us about?
We have a dub/reggae EP coming up next from Salaryman called RaggaBugging, full of uplifting good vibe tracks. Again this release has an oldskool flavour to it, definitely not one to miss out on! After that we’re putting out a mini album with a mix of DnB styles with all our fresh blood artists.

Where do you hope to see the label in the future?
We will continue to sign and develop artists who want to grow with the label and be part of the family. We’re also looking to start a regular label night. We’re planning to take this the whole way and have a solid presence within the scene. The whole thing is built on having fun making music, seeing the beauty in the bass and not taking yourself to seriously. Most people are in DnB for the love of it, so should express just that. All are welcome in The Bughouse.

What’s happening with your other label RongRobot just now?
I’m happy to say that RongRobot is about to be relaunched. I’ve missed working with Mark the crazy genius artist whose creation is the bio-morphic Robot mascots that are the foundation of this concept label and we’re pleased to have dragged Darra along for the ride – let’s hope he can put up with us!

We’re really pushing the boundaries on this label, if there are any at all, so if there are any producers out there whose music is too strange to find a home we might be the label for you. What I love most about RongRobot is that it’s not just about the music, the artwork and back story play a huge part, its feels more like an expressive toy than just a label.

https://soundcloud.com/thebughousemusic/sets/the-economics-edm-stage

Your remix of Guru Josh’s My Burning Bush came out a few months ago; tell us more about that…
It was really fun to do; Guru is a really nice guy and great to work with. I enjoyed taking a very experimental angle with this track; they really let me run free with this one. We stayed in touch after the project and are looking at dabbling with some more ideas together in the future, shouts out to the Guru for the opportunity.

Got any other remixes coming soon?
I’ve got a few remixes ready for release, one for up-and-coming rapper Antix which is accompanied by a great female top line. I’ve also done one for Wrongtom and Deemas J for a track called Jump and Rock and Move, a really uplifting party vibe with oldskool dub flavours. I can’t stress how much I love the vocals on this.

Another one is a track called Tick Tock by Solange Hilario and, finally, a track called Every Day by Stereojackers Vs Mark Loverush. I have enjoyed working on all of these and feel I’ve been lucky to have been offered remixes with such good vocals. Oh yeah, I’ve just finished a mix for FilthyDirty, one of our new acts on RongRobot.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

I’ve been working with MC Det on a few tracks which has been amazing, he’s got such a good vibe and his voice is incredible! When he’s on the mic it feels like I have a warrior in the studio, looks a bit like it too! We work really well together and I’m looking forward to what I think is going to be a lasting partnership. The bonus with Det is that he has his own unique chanting/singing style as well as the raps.

The hook up came about through DJ Hype and Hoodlum who had both called me up on separate occasions saying that Det wanted to get hold of me as he had some ideas for a track. I’m super chuffed that we moved forward on this and look forward to releasing our first EP soon.

I’ve also been working a lot with Dee Freer over the past year; we must have about 14 tracks in the pipeline now. It’s been a real journey for us and I’m happy to say that we have landed the most exciting record deal either of us have ever been offered, but I’m going to keep my lips sealed as to what that is for now.

I guess another thing I should mention is Viper and Futurebound. Brendan and I go back a long way, we haven’t worked together for a while so I’m pleased that we’re heading back into the studio together, we usually make strange and unusual tracks. I think we’re going to have some fun.

I also have some solo releases lined up for Viper along with a collaboration between myself, Hoodlum, Myth and Golden. It’s fair to say I’ve been busy and I’m definitely looking forward to what next year is going to bring.