It’s been another rocket gun blazing year for The Prototypes’ Nick and Chris.
On the release front they’ve kept things succinct and heavy with two massive slayers: Electric in February and Levelz in September. There are two reasons we haven’t experienced any more releases than these particular bangers…
Touring has characterised their year significantly. Kicking off the year with major world tour that took in 24 shows over 26 days across four continents then diving deep into the festival merry-go-round for the summer, 2017 been their busiest year to date.
But it’s their label Get Hype that’s enjoyed their strongest focus. Denting our souls with massive tracks such as Bladerunner’s Jungle Jungle (so good he named it twice) and the recent remix package with versions from the likes of Skepsis, Sub Zero and Makoto and signing and developing Malux and Glitch City, Get Hype has settled into the landscape as a key new talent-championing imprint and indicative of the hard work the Brighton boys have invested into the year.
We caught up with them to see how 2017 has been from their perspective…
Photo credit: Myles J. Burrell
It’s been another great year on all fronts but the thing we’re most proudest of has been our label. It’s not even two years old but recently it’s really felt like it’s exploded and the sky’s the limit. Developing new artists is a privilege, too. It’s too easy to get consumed into your own thing and your own world but working with new artists it takes you back to the start and reminds you where you’ve come from and how long that road is… And how much experience we can bring them.
“We went through a lot of shit during the last seven years. We’ve been treated incredibly well and incredibly badly so we have a lot of experience to draw from and help people with… And the main thing we’re helping to develop is patience. As soon as you get it, you lose it. If you get everything at the start, unless you’re super lucky, you can lose it in a year. We’ve had to work hard for years to get to this point and it’s a great feeling knowing you’re not being handed everything on a plate. It’s gratifying. This game is hard work but if you want a long career in it, so it should be. And this is what we’ve been helping our new acts Glitch City and Malux with. And we promise you they’re going to smash it next year, they’ve got some amazing music lined-up!
“Other artists we’ve been really impressed by beyond our own camp this year have been 1991, Muzzy, Smooth, Nightshift and Gydra. It’s been great seeing Turno have such a strong year and seeing how he’s bridging that gap between jump-up and dancefloor. It was also good to have a straight up slamming Drumsound & Bassline Smith album. No radio tunes or anything; just straight up slammers all the way. One of the big boys needed to do that and we’re glad it was them.
“Benny L has also been another act who’s had a great year and really made a mark with that stripped back jungly feel. It’s great to see how he’s got the support of Shimon, Randall, Goldie and all those guys. It seemed like a few years ago people were coming through and were like ‘we don’t need the respect of the old guys, if we get on the radio we’ll be okay’ But that’s only looking at the career for five years, not a lifetime. When the radio thing drops off and if you haven’t got the support of the guys who have been there since day one and will always be there, then you’ve got nothing. Which is why it was so good to the see the I Love Drum & Bass playlist develop.
“Regardless of Spotify or anything else, the project just seemed like a really good idea to have everyone in one place for once…. Especially from our perspective as a new label. But on the whole it’s important to bring everyone together. And the fact we’re still together for this amount of time and not wanting to kill each other is also pretty impressive. We know a lot of people thought a playlist was a let-down but they’re not looking at the big picture and a lot of artists have stepped forward and done things out of their time, unpaid. They’re pushing other people’s labels other than their own. To have big artists to shouting about your label instead of their own? That’s mad. Does that even happen in any other genre? We’ve never seen it.
“What would we like to see more of in 2018? Dancefloor drum & bass! There’s been some great tunes this year but we need more. Jump up has got a lot of great producers, neuro has too. But a lot of the big dancefloor drum & bass producers have fucked off from the scene and it feels like there’s only a few us left: Us, Dimension, Metrik, TC, Delta Heavy, DC Breaks, Trantrum Desire, Drumsound & Bassline Smith… Where are the new ones?
“What would we like to see less of in 2018? Less rushed, unoriginal, copycat music being put out. Where’s the quality control gone? With a plethora of production options at your fingers there is just no fucking excuse man. And if you got one we don’t wanna hear it. There’s some fucking amazing music out there. Let’s embrace it and keep progressing.”
Follow The Prototypes: Facebook / Soundcloud / Twitter
READ
