2018 is going to be another exciting year for Paul Bondy…
After seven fulfilling years with Futurebound’s Viper imprint, the artist known as InsideInfo has now completed his commitments with the label culminating with his remarkable, and deeply personal, self-titled debut LP last year. Now keen to explore and experiment with his sound and abilities, work with other labels, collaborate with a broader range of artists and give a few cheeky tracks away in the process, Paul’s new plans launch today with a freebie heaver – Pollinate.
Classic InsideInfo: It rattles, it shakes, it slaps. You can download it right here on his website and it goes a little something like this…
There’s more… Pollinate is just the beginning. An amuse-bouche to a banquet of bangers he’s been cooking since he completed the intense two-year trip that was his exceptional debut album. A banquet that may contain some flavours you wouldn’t expect from the man behind such as stinkers as Mythos and Conformity.
Eager for new challenges and a refreshed creative headspace, he’s been tinkering with different tempos and styles and initiating with the likes of Kasra and Hybrid Minds. His highly anticipated remixes of Mampi Swift’s The One and DC Breaks’ Gambino are also set to drop imminently. Here’s how it’s all going to down…
It’s all kicking off!
Finally! I’ve had Pollinate sitting around for far too long. It’s great to finally get it out there.
Did you write it pre-or-post album?
During the album. It was almost on the album but didn’t make it in the end. I put it on my UKF podcast actually. A lot of people were asking about it, so I always planned to give it away as a way of saying thanks for supporting the album. I knew it would be a free tune because it felt cheeky selling it being as I wrote it a year and a half ago.
So this is the start of a whole new chapter, right?
It is. Once I finished the album it was a huge weight off my shoulders. I was locked in this album mindset for two years and it drove me mad at points. So after I’d finished it I was suddenly like ‘wow! Freedom! I can do what I want and not worry about it fitting on the album!’ It was very liberating but also daunting; the idea I could write anything was scary. So I spent a lot of time experimenting with ideas, learning new stuff, trying new DAWs and synths and genres. It was great to have that freedom and now I’m trying to bring it all together in a way that makes sense.
You’re in a state of creative flux!
A little bit, yeah. Some of the stuff is quite experimental, some of it is similar to the InsideInfo sound people will be familiar with. There’s also a lot of deeper, atmospheric stuff which I’ve always loved.
And other tempos too?
Yeah, I’m not constraining myself at all. I actually started off, years ago, as a garage DJ so I’ve always floated around that stuff and wanted to try my hand at writing some of that. I’ve also been working on kinda glitchy, breakbeaty, I guess Tipper-style kinds of things. Some of it is terrible, don’t get me wrong, but some of it is really exciting me.
And this isn’t coming out on Viper…
I’m no longer exclusive to them anymore but they’re a great team and label. I’ll still work for them and do singles when they’re appropriate, but I’m just not under contract. There are people I’ve known for years and wanted to work with but it hasn’t been possible in the past and now I want to follow up these ideas and be able to send music to different labels and just try something new. Viper have always been cool with that anyway and let me do my own thing, but when you’re locked in an album cycle it’s not possible.
Time for a new challenge. We’re seeing it a lot with people launching their own labels.
I think so yeah. I just wasn’t feeling as excited or inspired as I had done before. I could have signed other contracts and done another album deal, but I’d feel like I was treading the same path. I’d done that and now I felt I wanted to do something new. There might be a label of my own in the future, you never know. I just want to get music done and see where it’s at sound wise and source the best place to release it.
You’ve got other stuff lined-up too, right?
Yeah Kasra and I have been working together on some things. I’ve known him for years and my earliest releases came on the All Sounds Electric album in 2008. I’ve played Critical nights and worked closely with Martin Mefjus so we’ve been linked for years and have always talked about doing a tune. After the album I called him and said ‘let’s do it.’ He only lives down the road so it was nice and easy to work out. Fast forward a year and we’ve written five tunes. It’s a totally separate project that’s removed from what we do as solo artists.
What’s the project called?
Can’t reveal that just yet! It’s different to what I’d usually do though, and on much more of a deep roller tip. We’ve got quite a few things lined-up, we’re just seeing what happens!
I hear some Hybrid Minds collabs are coming, too?
You heard right, yeah. I did the Meant To Be remix and we became mates and did a few shows together. We’ve spoken about collabs for ages and, again, after I did the album we jumped on a project. The first track worked really well and suddenly we had four tracks which are almost ready now – we’re just working on some vocals. So yeah that will be ready when it’s ready. I’m really happy about it.
You’re the collabo king right now!
It does feel like that a bit! My solo stuff is taking longer and finding its direction so these projects are great to get out there in the meantime.
Likewise the Mampi Swift remix. That’s been around for a while, right?
Maybe a year and a half or two years? I can’t remember. It’s not as old as some remixes I’ve done that haven’t come out, put it that way. That’s coming out really soon and there’s also the DC Breaks remix which has been a great experience to work on.
Yes! Gambino was huge so that must have been a challenge to remix?
It’s funny. They asked me about remixes and I instantly said I wanted to remix Gambino because it was massive in every set for me. It works so well with other tunes and always gets a good reaction so it felt like a no brainer to me. They weren’t sure because it’s already had various VIPs and was so well known but I told them I’d buy them a pint and promised to do something really different with it. They checked with the label and said ‘why not?’ For a while it was going down the direction of the original but then I scrapped that. It had to stand on its own and be different so I really worked on developing it in that way. I’m really happy with it and it’s great to see it coming out so quickly. I wish all remixes happened like that!
Feels like everything’s falling into place…
Yeah. Things are coming together in a different way. It’s a really exciting time and I’m feeling more inspired than I have done in a while. The solo stuff is on the boil, the collaborations have been great fun, the remixes are coming, my new website has launched. Yeah, things do feel good right now, thanks to everyone who’s supported me and created this position for me to do this!
Download InsideInfo – Pollinate now
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