PHOTO CREDIT: Niko Yu
Cyantific has been on an adventure. Geographically, metaphorically, physically and quite literally. After taking the plunge and moving from the Isles of Scilly to South East Asia, his mindset and musical ambitions have completely shifted. His perspective has changed. The things that were subconsciously influencing him before are no more. He’s found purity in a place that gives him peace which, in D&B terms, means he’s back and he’s making some really, really, really good drum & bass.
Returning with his new release ‘So Real’ – a play on words as he toys with the concept of AI – shortly followed by a hot-and-heavy ‘Ghetto Blaster’ remix for Hospital 30, Cyantific steps back into the scene with an abundance of fresh energy.
And although we welcome back a household name known best for his second-to-none dance-floor groove, the truth is he didn’t actually go anywhere at all. Not really. Unveiling Apparition: an alias by Jon Stanley – AKA Cyantific – delivering gorgeous, Burial-inspired liquid that has quietly racked up hundreds of thousands of streams with zero press or promo.
The two projects are completely different and yet both are so beautifully bold. Cyantific Zooms in on a sunny evening in South East Asia to tell us more.
Cyantific! You’re in Asia now, right? How did you end up there?
I am. I’ve lived out here for nearly four years actually. I was in Southwest London before. During COVID, I ended up living on the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall. It was pretty bleak because it was total isolation. It was just me and my dog. The winter there is really depressing. Storms and tiny islands. You can’t escape the weather. When I was down there, I just kind of felt like, yeah, I’ve had enough of the UK now. It’s so tough living in London and being a career musician. I just thought, why not go somewhere where it’s really cheap and the weather’s good? Let me try it out… and I’m still here four years later.
Sounds like a great decision. What has that distance from London/the UK given you in terms of your creativity?
One of the benefits that I didn’t really realise I’d have was having that distance from the music industry. It’s kind of given me a bit more perspective on where I want to fit in. Getting away from the noise – I didn’t really realise that I needed it that much. Then you get some distance and you’re like, oh yeah, this is quite peaceful. Weirdly, it unlocks a lot more creativity. I can just really focus on making music now.
You’re back after a few years away! Why now for a resurgence?
I’m back with Cyantific and I’m really excited about everything that’s lined up… but I didn’t quit making music. Everyone thinks I just quit, but I’m a musician. That’s all I know how to do. I was making some house music, which was good fun. I learned quite a lot from that. I was doing library music as well. But I was still making D&B, under an alias.
Oh! Do tell more…
I have been making music under an alias called Apparition. It sounds absolutely nothing like Cyantific, and I think that’s why no one really guessed that it was me. I was releasing stuff on Pilot, and I loved just having anonymity and zero expectations around it. I could truly focus on making what I wanted to make, without thinking about the identity or how it’s going to be perceived. It’s almost like a little bit of creative purity. You build something up over a number of years and, whether you like it or not, there are expectations externally and internally with that project. Stepping out and doing something else, when no one knows it’s you, is really refreshing.
Some people are going to be surprised, because it sounds so different. Sonically, you wouldn’t – unless you were a super fan and you listen to some of the really old Hospital stuff, you might be like, oh, that sounds a bit like that, I guess.
Amazing! The reveal is super exciting for fans of both. Has Apparition changed the way you approach Cyantific now?
It has now that I’ve brought Cyantific back. I’m trying to bring that open mindset with me into Cyantific. Having intention and direction of where I want to go, rather than being like, okay, well it’s got to fit into this particular thing. There’s an idea that I have of where I want it to fit nowadays, and I’m just following that. Some people will come with me, some people won’t.
I always think about The Prodigy. The first two albums, I was the biggest Prodigy fan when I was at school. Then the stuff that came after, it’s only as I’ve gotten older I can appreciate where they were going, because there were some massive records they made. But at the time I was like, oh, but I want it to sound like the second album. But it doesn’t.
Such an exciting time, starting something completely new and the resurgence of a name/project so long-standing in the scene.
Yeah it’s an interesting time for me! This is a bit philosophical, but hear me out. I didn’t realise how much, if you have a pseudonym, an artist’s name, how much of your identity gets tied up into it. Your identity, your ego, everything becomes like this mask. Taking the mask off is liberating, but at the same time, quite painful. I was not really ready for how much of a deep effect that would have. It was kind of like saying goodbye to a friend. That’s gone now.
That was why Apparition has been great to be doing at that same time, to have something to focus on. Without having done Apparition, there’s no way I would have made the decision to come back.
How do Cyantific and Apparition differentiate?
Apparition is a lot more personal. I ended up making some stuff that sounded a bit like Burial, but D&B. It was almost like musical catharsis. When I was going through breakups and stuff like that, it was just channel everything into Apparition.
I’m also using 90 percent samples with Apparition. I try not to synthesise stuff. Maybe some basses and stuff like that, but usually I’ll go and find someone singing a cover of an R&B record on YouTube, and then I’ll spend two or three days cutting it to shreds and making it say something else. All the musical parts are sampled from soundtracks and stuff like that. I just love that approach because it is so opposite to Cyantific, which is all synthesised stuff. I’ve got to be a lot more intentional about the production value.
I love both ways of working. I absolutely love geeking out over a mixdown for two or three weeks to get a Cyantific track done, but then I love just rolling out an Apparition track really quickly as well. They’re completely different things.
Amazing. The more amazing music we have – the better. Speaking of amazing music. Let’s talk about So Real…
Yes! I was doing a few shows as Cyantific around Asia to get myself back into things, with some shows in Vietnam and a couple in Cambodia. Korea was really good too. I noticed there’s loads of really good music out there right now. My one issue when I’m DJing is I don’t want to play loads of vocal tunes one after the other. There doesn’t seem to be that many dancefloor tunes without a vocal that fit into what I wanted to play. So I just kind of made it.
The spoken sample in it – I got caught up in people talking about how AI is going to take over and all this sort of stuff. I think I’d been watching some movies around that kind of subject, and I wanted to make something that sounds like a humanoid being given feelings. I got a bit lost in that for a little while. The irony is that I used the text-to-speech AI voice to make the sample. One day the robots are going to come after me for royalties.
They’re en route… And of course, you recently remixed Ghetto Blaster for Hospital 30 too! What was it like jumping back in to give it a little glow up?
I spoke to Chris at Hospital. We did a Zoom call and he was like, Ghetto Blaster album is 20 years old next year. I was like, oh wow, I’m so old. He asked if I’d like to do a remix of the track. Obviously, they don’t have the parts or anything. I got what parts I could out of it, and then I found some of the original samples. It came together pretty quick because I could immediately hear that, to bring it up to date, to have an eighth-note staccato bass, but then take the original bassline and turn it into a lead, to give it that melody.
As soon as I laid down the idea, I was like, yep, this 100%, this is going to work. It’s not always the case that you have an idea in your head and you’re like, yep, that’s going to work, then you sit down… and it actually works. But in this case it did, luckily.
It’s a big track! A fan favourite. Was there pressure remixing it from your end?
Definitely. I was torn between doing Ghetto Blaster or Flashback, but I figured Ghetto Blaster was going to be a little bit simpler for me to make. I didn’t know how much time I had to do it. I was just like, yep, go with that, see what happens. It would be fun to do Flashback as well. I feel like that could sound good in a modern context as well.
Also, 30 years of Hospital Records too! Incredible. Credit to them, they’ve absolutely smashed it to stay where they are for that long. It’s not easy.
What’s next for both Cyantific and Apparition?
There’s a lot of music finished for both. It’s going to be a really busy year. DJing was another part of why I stepped away. Now I want to be a lot more intentional. I’ll do fewer shows because I’m out here. But when I do those shows, they’re going to be ones that really matter. I’m doing Hospitality On The Beach in Croatia in July and a few more shows in Europe, so if anyone wants to see me, it’s probably good to go to those because I’m only going to be back in Europe for a month!
Lastly, I’m really appreciative of the fact that there have been so many fans for Apparition, and now coming back as Cyantific as well. I had so many nice comments and messages. I’m just grateful for the people who connect with the music. That’s the most important part of it.
