2020 has gone south for the entire world but even in the face of adversity, liquid trio Dexcell appear to be on top of things…
We’re not quite half way through yet but already this year has been highly diverse in terms of their releases. Since January they’ve covered the board from deep to dancefloor to vocal across the likes of Pilot, Spearhead and Culprate’s Open Outlets. Now they’re adding a brand label into the mix: DX Audio.
Home to their own material that doesn’t quite fit the labels fans will know them for – Spearhead, Viper, Titan, Grid – and possibly home to new artists in a far-away future, DX Audio kicks off with this poignant summery number with vocalist Maddy: White Roses.
With a whole stockpile of material lined-up, including some of their lesser-spotted darker bangers, we called up two thirds of the Watford-based operation, Adam and Dave, to find out more.
This was probably planned before lockdown…
Adam: Yeah, the start of the year I guess…
Dave: We had all these grand plans with the launch but, like it did for everyone, 2020 went down the pan very quickly. But we wanted to get it out there so this is where we’re at.
Adam: It seemed like the natural thing to do. We all had a meeting in London and were talking about the material we had and setting up our own label to release some of it just seemed logical. A platform for ourselves, really. We don’t have plans to release any other artists for now.
Dave: And we’re not solely releasing on our own, either. We love working with other labels. But every label has their own vision. And some of the stuff we make doesn’t always fit that. So we can release it on our own imprint. It’s nice to have free creative control over everything – artwork and branding and promo. If we fall on our face it’s only our fault.
Or if you want to release a gabber record, you just can!
Adam: Or an industrial German techno tune.
Dave: We do cover a pretty broad range and that’s why we’ve been lucky to release on so many different labels. Viper and Titan for the rarer harder stuff we’ve done to Spearhead for the liquid stuff we’re probably best known for. On DX Audio we can release all of it.
This year you’ve covered that board pretty well. There was Pilot release at the start of the year, on a deeper tip. There was the pretty heavy Culprate remix and then a Spearhead release after. Not bad going, considering during most of that we’ve been on lockdown…
Dave: Thanks. It’s been a long time coming. We have a lot of music. We’ve been stockpiling for a while and we’ve got a lot of music to put out into the world. Some of the music will be for the labels we love working with. Some of it will be for us to release. I have to say that labels are fantastic, by the way. They get tracks out to people who might not hear them if you self-release. Viper have got their following, Spearhead have got theirs, and not all those listeners will overlap. So labels get your music to different ears.
Adam: Totally agree! DX Audio is a passion project for us in among all of the other releases.
How about White Roses? What made you pick that from the stockpile as the label launch track?
Adam: We went with it because it’s summer captured in a tune. The weather is wicked, put the tunes on, have a beer, maybe a little boogie.
Dave: The sounds are very summery, the intro is full vocal but there’s a kinda eerie vibe so for me that’s a great snapshot of a lot of things that represent our sound. Maddy’s vocals fit the time we’re living in, too. It’s about making something nice out of a situation. You see what you want to see. She sees white roses, they might not be there but that’s where she’s going to put herself mentally.
Adam: Hopefully it’s an escape in these dark unprecedented times. That’s what music is best for.
Also a great musical accompaniment for socially distanced groups of under six people from different households within a five mile radius…
Adam: Two metres apart, of course.
Dave: I think it was Jon from GLXY who said on this site when they were talking about their album. They don’t make rave tunes, it’s much more music to chill to so it’s the right time for the music. I have to agree; our monthly listeners have gone up loads since the lockdown as people have more time to listen to the music. It’s the right style for the right time. Stick it on and put the BBQ on.
Amen. So what’s up next?
Dave: We’ve got a rough plan but we’re seeing how it goes. We know the second and third singles but not the order. We’re seeing what this is saying and will play it from there. We’ve got a slightly heavier one lined up.
Hello!
Dave: We were going to launch the label with it but it might have come as too much of a shock for people who know our liquid stuff.
Adam: It’s completely different to White Roses. Completely.
The full Dexcell spectrum. And with a label name like DX Audio, you’ve set up the stall nicely for new artists if the opportunity ever arose. Always seems weird naming your label after your artist name.
Adam: There we go. We’ve got that avenue. We do get sent loads of wicked stuff actually. There’s a guy I want to big up. Henry. He’s making some absolutely fine stuff.
He’s been on Soul Deep or Fokuz hasn’t he?
Adam: That’s it. Honestly man, a fucking excellent producer who’s one to watch. So yeah, maybe we might sign people down the line but we want to establish it properly and get some remixes in. But that’s a long way down the road. Let’s get this first single out first and see who it all goes. Hope you enjoy it!
Dexcell – White Roses it out now
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