Could Sub Focus’s next material be deep and techy? We caught up with him in the run up to his landmark UK show this week… And left with an exciting exclusive insight into his current inspirations and possible future direction!
If you thought his Roundhouse show was pretty spectacular, this Thursday sees Sub Focus level up once again as he undertakes his largest UK headline show to date… London’s legendary Brixton Academy.
Selling out the entire venue weeks ahead of the show, he’ll be joined by a line-up that reads like a who’s who in hot electronic music right now: Wilkinson, Matrix & Futurebound, My Nu Leng and B Traits.
Fresh from a live tour of Australia, a headline set at Ultra Music Festival (where he went up against the massive Hardwell) and a cheeky secret b2b session with Will from Chase & Status at Skrillex’s Miami Music Week party, he’s eager to remind the UK crowd how he rolls. And, proving that he’s one of the live D&B acts who really does play live, doesn’t even mind if he makes a mistake or two.
There’s room for sounding amazing… But there’s just as much room for sounding not so good!
“The thing is that all the live equipment I use isn’t meant to work together at the same time,” he explains. “We’ve had to go in deep. Some of the stuff we’re using has been reprogrammed or completely custom built. It’s a technical feat and there’s a lot more room for error! Recently I’ve been doing a lot of step sequencing within the set, addling live melodies and sequences. There’s room for sounding amazing… But there’s just as much room for sounding not so good! The creative potential is much more exciting; you can take a track and completely dissect it. I want to make it as perfect as possible of course, but I think when you hear the wrong note or hear a slight mistake it makes it feel that much more real.”
What is 100% real is the imminent release of the sixth single from last September’s album Torus. Each one of the singles from the album has enjoyed major chart success and Close will be no exception. We’ve been rocking the Ivy Lab remix for a while now. It turns out Sub Focus is a bit of a fan. And their place as remixers on this single was no accident.
I’m really feeling a lot of the deeper underground D&B stuff at the moment… I’d love to show that side of my sound again.
“I’m so into what Ivy Lab are doing right now, I love the smoothness of their sound,” states Mr Focus. “This is why I love picking the remixers… It gives me an opportunity to show people what I’m really feeling and listening to at the moment. I was also really happy to get Special Request remixing my last single. That jungle vibe he is on sounds really fresh to me at the moment.”
“I’m really feeling a lot of the deeper underground D&B stuff at the moment,” he continues. “Everything Kasra’s putting out on Critical is exciting me and I’m really looking forward to getting back into the studio and playing around with that sound. I’d love to show that side of my sound again.”
I’m thinking about studio time and my next album a lot right now…
Exciting news! Could Sub Focus go deep on his next album? He’s certainly inspired… But we’ll have to wait a while to find out what’s next. He’s just moved into a brand new studio and is kitting it out with wishlist gear he could only have dreamt of when he first broke through 10 years ago. After a summer of festivals and headline shows he’ll be hibernating in his new sonic dwelling with only one thing on his mind.
“I’m thinking about studio time and my next album a lot right now,” he tells us. “I’ve got some ideas and bits and pieces I’ve been working on but nothing ready to show off yet. I can’t wait to get back in and see what happens.”
Close is out April 21 on Ram Records / Mercury.
Pre-order: http://po.st/iTClose
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