I’ve you’ve dipped your toe in the molten metal oceans of neuro/tech D&B for just one minute then you’ll be more than aware of Bulgarian artist L 33.
Real name Dayan Kutsarov, he’s been making dark moves for five years across a who’s who level of labels: Blackout, RAM, Program, Bad Taste, Titan, Lifted and, of course, EatBrain…. The label that’s responsible for delivering his latest EP: L 33 – Karate.
A taste of what’s to come, the four tracks give us an idea of what his album (also called Karate) will sound like when it drops later this year. The gritty, uncompromising black belt tech sound lives up the martial title. But does L 33? If you bump into him and spill his drink are you set for the chop?
“Haha, no! It’s all love,” grins the young artist. “I practiced karate for a while as a kid but then I got into music and never went to another dojo again. It’s just a cool name for the album with a lot of potential for strong artwork and a strong story.”
Case closed. Here are four more things we learnt about him…
His first release was a full album in 2011…
“Yeah I started with an album. It was pretty strange. I sent the label 20 tracks just to show them what I’ve made so far and they came back saying ‘okay let’s release an album’. I thought ‘yeah why not? It’s all good!’ Looking back it wasn’t my best move. Writing an album takes time; you have to be more cautious about what you include and how you include it. An album needs a story.
“An album was a good way to make my debut and learn how things work but I’m a lot more considerate about what I release. When you start, though, you’re just like ‘yeah! Let’s release everything right now!’ When you’re in that mindset you will always put out tracks that you’ll regret. Two years ago I realised I needed to pay more attention to detail. I’m very strict about that now.”
The next album – Karate – will be finished in a matter of weeks
“The LP isn’t quite ready yet. Every day I’m writing something new, the final tracklist is always growing. I have to finish it in 20 days. I’ve told EatBrain I’ve made the album a few times but I keep going back into the studio to write loads more! It’s always growing, I’m always learning new things and trying to apply them to the album. It never stops!”
He likes shouty samples…
“The shouting on Zealot is a Facebook clip. An angry man shouting at some guy. I heard it and went ‘this is cool! I need to sample it!’ I spent a lot of time on videos, people shouting and doing weird things. I get a lot of inspiration from those type of samples. Sample everything and take time to work out what is important. People shouting is a great place to start.”
EatBrain has taken his productions to a new level
“I first appeared on EatBrain’s various artist album Tales Of The Undead. I’ve always loved what Jade does with the label and he’s been really helpful with my defining my own sound and production. His feedback is always really helpful. Not every label takes their time to give such detailed feedback in this way.
“EatBrain really feels like a family; we all have a tight connection between us that runs deeper than the music. I think this connection has helped the label grow in the way it has. It’s gone crazy over the last year or so, EatBrain is on top of the neuro, tech sound I’ve loved for many years… It’s amazing to be part of the label.”
