Known for his rich history and contributions to drum & bass and beyond, Crystal Clear has earned his place as a respected artist. Having been associated with Playaz Recordings, Sofa Sound Bristol, and ThirtyOne Recordings, his latest project the ‘Selector EP’ on V Recordings, marks a pivotal moment in his career.
With several releases already under his belt in 2024, Crystal Clear has captivated audiences once again with his latest EP, featuring even more exciting collaborations.
After a brief hiatus from the scene to collaborate with major labels, Crystal Clear returns to the genre with a fresh EP on V Recordings. The project showcases several collaborations, and highlights his consistent rise as a producer.
In this interview, we catch up with Crystal Clear, to dive behind the scenes into the work he’s been putting into his craft, the story behind his latest project, and all the exciting plans he has lined up for this summer, and beyond.
How are you?
My day was all right. I just spent the last hour standing in the cold while my son was at football training. I’ve been on dad duty this evening, and it’s definitely getting colder.
I literally just got him into bed and finally sat down. So yeah, I’m all good—just trying to find the energy to work on some music, but I’m not sure I’ll get to it tonight.
Tell me about the new EP for V, how long have you been working on it?
I made the bulk of it back in the summer. I started off by writing ‘Selector’ around April. It was one of those ones where I basically wrote it and then found the sample—I heard the sample from Bryan Gee and thought, right, that’s a really good sample.
I didn’t tell Bryan; I just made the tune and sent it to him. He called me up, laughing down the phone at me.
Where did you grab the sample from…
It was from an interview that Bryan Gee did—it just popped up on my Instagram feed. I heard him talking about the science of sound systems and culture, and I immediately knew I had to make something with it before someone else did.
I sent it over to him, and he really liked it, but he was a bit self-conscious about his voice. He said, “But I’m sort of stuttering my words and stuff,” and I told him, “No, that’s what makes it real.”
It sounds authentic, like a proper sample. The way I laid it out gives it this sing-song quality—it kind of bounces around the beats, you know?
It just fits so well. It turned out great, and it’s really fun to mix with. I’ve been enjoying playing that and ‘Slow It Down’ with Kathryn Brenna.
How did that one come to be with Kathryn Brenna?
I’d literally just welcomed our new baby last June, and about a week after that, this idea started kicking around. Initially, I was taking a month off to focus on being a new dad. She took it away, did her thing, and sent me some vocals back. When I got back in the studio, it all came together.
You have a couple more collabs on there as well…
Minor Forms and I met at a Sofa Sound party in Brixton. We got chatting and said, “We should try to write a tune together or something,” since we both liked each other’s music.
It was like, “Why don’t we just kick something around and see what happens?” He sent me a loop, I rejigged it, added a bassline, and we sent it back and forth. It all came together pretty quickly.
It’s great when they come together quickly…how about ‘Earthquake’ with Amoss…
I’m not quite sure how it all came together. I think we got chatting on Instagram, and it was like, “Yeah, let’s write something and see how it comes together.”
So, I sent him a loop. He rejigged it, got a basic rhythm going, and then sent it back to me. I finished it and added the earthquake sample, which has really been going off. It’s one of those tracks that people have been messaging me about for a while.
I got the EP together and sent it off to Bryan Gee. He said, “Yeah, this is great.” This must have been around September. He mentioned, “We can probably get it out before the end of the year.” I was like, “Well, I think it’d be better to give it a bit more time, let it build a bit more, and give DJs a chance to play it. Let it build organically, rather than rushing it out just to have it out there.”
Maybe I’m old school, but I prefer to build things a little more and give people time to get to know the tunes—especially the crowds. I’ve noticed, when I’ve been playing them at gigs recently, people know the tune. So when you drop it, hands go in the air because they’re already familiar with it.
It’s good to take your time and let people hear it first—that’s definitely a smart approach.
It’s that familiarity, you know? When people know the tune, it doesn’t take away from its exclusivity. A lot of DJs think, “I need to play the freshest stuff,” but the crowds love it when they recognise something, and you get that reaction from them.
That’s why “Bricks Don’t Roll” still goes off—it just works. I think the EP has definitely worked out well, and there seems to be a lot of anticipation for it. It’s come together nicely.
On the latest V Podcast, it’s kind of funny how Bryan was mentioning that you took a break but you were still producing, just other generes…
Yeah, I was definitely doing other things. I got the opportunity to sign with one of the Universal Music Group labels and work on a crossover project. I was at a point where I wanted to stretch my legs production-wise and explore different directions, just to see what I could do. I’d been making exclusively drum & bass for eight years, and I wanted to see where that rabbit hole would lead.
I played a lot of great shows and festivals. Eventually, that ran its course, and I found myself getting into different styles of music. I started exploring more house and techno and wanted to dive into that a bit, see if I could make something in that space. I’d been used to working with breakbeats, so I thought, “Alright, let’s see if I can do something completely different.”
Was that the project Melody’s Enemy?
Yes, it started off as a collaboration between myself and MC Codebreaker. People don’t realise that Codebreaker is actually a sick producer. He’s one of the guys who taught me the basics when I first started out.
I learned a lot from him, especially in terms of sound design, and he really helped me perfect my craft. Eventually, I reached a point where I felt like I kind of knew what I was doing in the studio, if that makes sense.
I was working on techno for a while, but then I started hearing things from drum and bass again. I still kept one ear on the scene, listening out for things that caught my interest. I heard a few things that piqued my curiosity, and I felt like there might be some unfinished business, shall we say. When I was making drum and bass before, it felt like I didn’t really know what I was doing—I was literally just throwing sounds at the screen until it sounded good.
Considering your discography, that’s crazy talk..
The thing is, the vibes were always there, and I had the energy, but the mixdowns and refinement weren’t. It took me stepping away to learn my craft in other scenes, and then I was able to come back and make the music I’d always wanted to create.
Things are going well…
I’m kind of surprised, but not really. When I made my first batch of tunes after coming back, I had a bit of trepidation. I was thinking, “Is anyone going to care?” You know, “Is everyone going to say, ‘You went off and did other stuff, you’re not welcome here’?” But I thought, “Alright, I’ll make the music I want to make, and we’ll see if people like it.”
Last year was a great year for me—a really good one. The scene has changed quite a bit since the last time I was active in it, but it was still a great year. The reception to my EPs was really positive, and I had more gigs in the UK than I ever had before. I’m pleasantly surprised by how it’s been received.
Is there anything else that you can reveal about the rest of the year?
I’m starting off with the V Recordings EP, and I’m really excited about that. It’s a label I’ve wanted to work with properly for over twenty years, and it’s just never happened until now. So, yeah, I’m really excited it’s finally coming together. I’ve got a lot of shows filling up the diary, which is nice to get out there. I’m also doing an EP for RUN, the label from D*Minds.
Can you tell us more about that?
I’ve remixed ‘Selecta,’ which has been going off, and I’ve just started a collaboration with D*Minds as well, so that’s in the works. Sweetpea and I made a tune called ‘Ten Minutes,’ which will be coming out on V Recordings at some point. Bryan’s been hammering that—I even started my mix on the V Recordings podcast with it.
I’ve also done another collaboration with Minor Forms; we’ve actually worked on a couple of tracks together. I’m probably going to do some more stuff with Sweetpea and with Amoss, too, because we work really well together.
I’ve written something for Riya’s album as well. I’m just going to keep writing music and see where it comes out. I’m possibly going to start a label myself, but it depends on how much music I can write, to be honest. I’ve got quite a lot on my plate and not a lot of time, but at some point, there probably will be a label. We’ll see!
How do you envision managing everything?
I’m going to try and finish more music, but the thing is, music takes time, you know? Creativity takes time—it’s difficult to just keep churning stuff out quickly. I try to work fast, but it’s not always easy.
In my downtime, when I’m not making tunes, I plan in my head what I need to do when I’m in the studio, so hopefully, I can stay productive.
It doesn’t always work out that way, but I keep reminding myself that creativity takes time. I need to give myself the space to make the best tunes possible.
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