Emerging from South Australia, about four hours from just about anywhere, Jane Doe is transforming the neurofunk scene one EP at a time with her skillful approach to big, bad, explosive drum and bass, most recently with her ‘Fortress’ EP on Birmingham-based VTO Records.
Delivering nothing but heavyweight bangers, we learn there’s much more to this versatile artist than her beautifully executed, cut-throat dystopian D&B. She’s also a wizard in the lab, whipping up everything under the sun, including the smoother, more serene sounds of liquid.
Jane Doe is giving the neurofunk world a much-needed kick up the arse, breathing fresh energy into the highly technical, futuristic side of drum and bass. Let’s have a word with the artist herself to learn more about the making of the ‘Fortress’ EP.
Tell us about your relationship with VTO Records, when did you first link up with them?
So I basically just went through word of mouth and friends of friends. I was asked if I’d like to submit a track for a VA EP back last year, earlier last year. I looked at VTO and thought I really liked their aesthetic. I thought they had a similar vein of music and just the general vibe that I sort of… sort of dystopian, futuristic type stuff.
Getting to know Lee, the label manager, and Dan, I thought: these guys really suited me to a T. They’re super pro, and generally, they’re just really kind people when it comes to giving feedback and advice. So that’s exactly what I needed as an up-and-comer as well.
You want to have support, but you also want someone who’s straight up, and they certainly put you on the right track. The journey with them has been excellent.
Yeah, and you were quite involved in shaping the visual aesthetic for the EP as well, aren’t you?
We do have significant input into the art that we have for our music. And, you know, they take our feedback when it comes to EP’s. As a collective, they listen to what their artists say and think about how that works. So with my EP, yeah, we absolutely described what I wanted, and they nailed it, so that’s super.
Absolutely, it all goes together, doesn’t it? The visual and the sound, so it absolutely works for me with those guys.
Have you had an opportunity to play the EP at any of your gigs?
Yes, I supported Calyx, so just before he came on, I dropped a few of my new ones off the EP.
Yeah, be heavy, but we’ll sort of dialed it down a little bit. But it was really well received. Next weekend, I’m supporting Pythius, so they’ll definitely be getting thrown around in that set for
it’s been really well received, and I’m super grateful for all the promoters and fans that are actually listening and putting myself out there. It’s unreal. I’m really stoked.
Yeah. Congratulations on having a moment for sure.
Yeah, I feel like it’s great, soaking it up!
Do you have a personal favourite from the EP?
I really love ‘POP’ because it’s a fun track. It’s just a bit of a neuro dancefloor banger. It’s got a bit of a fun vibe to it. In the breakdown of it, there’s a cool little sample that’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, a little bit shaky, that kind of brings it all together, and I just…
Yeah, I just love bopping around to it. That sounds a bit weird. You can jump around to your own stuff, but I certainly do to that one.
Yeah, really, it’s just fun, and I love a bit of fun in the darkness. You know, you’ve got to have that lightness as well, right?
That’s the thing about your sound, it’s clean, but it’s also got a fun, dancefloor vibe to it, which makes it feel less clinical, you know?
Yeah, thank you. That’s what I like to try and achieve, just a bit of character. I guess I would put it as the tracks have some more character, and I try to convey that within anything I produce. And generally, I try to keep it a theme to attract, so that there is, I guess, a fantasy and imagination that’s come into that.
Digging a bit into your inspirations, are there any artists in your realm that you really look up to?
Yeah. I would say, right now, I’m absolutely loving some of the North American stuff coming through from Diode and Noisesmith. I adore what my fellow VTO label artists are doing during the fifth and bad as their stuff is insanely good.
I try to emulate some of that in my own productions, but as a general thing, my all-time musical goals… over in the UK, we’ve got Audio as the king. Who doesn’t love Audio, and of course, Spor.
What else do you have cooking?
So I’ve got more neuro coming out later in a few months with BrainRave and an EP with two other artists. We’ve collaborated and gave BrainRave a great EP to release.
So, super, looking forward to that one coming out.
I’m a bit of a Liquid fan as well. So, that goes with the whole dark and light by Liquid coming out on Vibe City too. That is collaborative with a couple of individual tracks. That will be coming out with Vibe City, which is the new offset from Dirtbox Recordings. So, that’s exciting. Then a few more other tracks in the works that are going to be neuro based, and they’ll be going to… I can’t say where they’ll be going, but they are…
What is it about those different styles that appeals to you, and how do they feed into your sound?
I find Liquid really easy to make. Maybe I’m just a big emotional person, I don’t know, but it’s really easy to make, and I really enjoy just taking the time to create a decent Liquid track. As a contrast to the Neuro, and using Liquid elements in Neuro really works well, so why not?
And the Liquid I create too has a little bit of a dark element to it, and that’s probably the Neuro side coming into it. So yeah, I sort of delved a little bit more liquid techy drum and bass, and released the EP with Imagine Audio earlier this year. Two tracks, ‘Angel’ and ‘Awakened’, and they went extremely well, so I might have to start working on doing some more of that stuff.
Seeing as you mentioned balance, would you mind if we explored your production process a bit?
I use Ableton 12. I’ve been using Ableton for three years now, so ever since I literally jumped into Ableton, my production has just skyrocketed. It’s just a really great programme for me, intuitive and with a really easy workflow.
So, coming off that, I was initially using Reaper, which is a web-based programme, and it was hard. But since I’ve been using Ableton and utilising all the native effects and whatnot in that, yeah, it’s just made my map production so much more swift.
And yeah, I’m a massive fan of Baby Audio products and Zephyr, obviously. Serum, everyone uses Serum, and I use a bit of Vital as well. My actual hardware is like zero.
So, I’ve got a pretty basic studio setup. I wouldn’t even call it a studio, it’s a corner in a room with speakers and the laptop and the monitors and stuff like that. So, it’s low-key, but it all happens on the screen.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Exactly. So, yeah, it’s pretty straightforward. I’m looking to sort of upgrade my laptop and actually get in and get some more plug-ins and whatnot this year. Because you get to a point where there’s a threshold of creativity, and you need to get some more stuff.
Just, I think it’s a wall that we face as producers. It’s like, okay, I need to do more, and I need more stuff to do it with. So, yeah, I’m at that point now.
Yeah, it’s good to have the tools and a few new toys to play with and it can definitely help with motivation.
Yeah, exactly right. It’s more fun too. So, yeah, it’s cool.
It’s all about having fun, Did you have anything else you’d like to share?
I think the EP is the main thing. It’s just super cool to be able to share it. I’m literally a country girl, I live four hours from any city, and it’s so cool for me to be able to do this on an international stage, essentially, and put my music out there because it’s what I love.
It’s what I do. It’s my legacy. So, I’m just super pumped and grateful that UKF are highlighting my EP, which I’m so very proud of.
Follow: Jane Doe / VTO Records
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