Ownglow: The US D&B takeover continues…

NOW READING •

Almost a year has passed since Ownglow made his debut with Gold/Tension on Pilot and we introduced him on this site.

10 months later, now 18 and living in London, Ownglow has enjoyed a summer of serious shows, has just dropped two massive new tracks (All Black / Change Your Life) and has loads more tracks in the pipeline.

We caught up with him to find out how his first year in the UK has been…

(Picture: Sam Neill)

You’ve been in the UK a year now… What are the biggest culture shocks or contrasts compared to Arizona? You’ve probably got an opinion on Marmite, right?

Sure… Marmite is yeast vomit, straight up! Why would anyone want to eat it? Also, why do people have vinegar on everything over here? Big up the vinegar massive. And what is brown sauce? What are the actual ingredients? The main thing, though, is the fact I can go into a club and drink legally is still a miracle for me!

You’ve been frequenting quite a few clubs lately…

I have! I’m loving it. There’s no other atmosphere I’d rather be in than DJing at a drum & bass show. It’s such an elating vibe.

Name check!

Hospitality a few months back was absolutely sick. Then there was UKF at Building Six where I played after Randall and North Base, that was another level. And I’m also touring with UKF for quite a few UK shows. It’s been incredible to be honest. I’ve also been back home twice and played a few shows back in the US.

Ah yes… Your Facebook post about US drum & bass got a lot of people talking!

I felt obligated to write the post because there aren’t many US drum & bass artists flying the flag for it on the ground in the UK. The post allowed me to articulate on the current state and how it can be developed. The main reason that artists have historically never really broken out over here in the UK is that they’ve invested all their time breaking their own country. America is so vast. The UK is the size of one state; for a DJ to branch out from state to state in rapid succession would have been a really challenge previously… Let alone breaking out into the UK or any other country. Now we’ve got it a lot easier because of the internet and people are realising the US is home to many talented US D&B artists: Legion & Logam, Kid Hops, Submorphics, Bachelors Of Science are just a handful of the guys killing it. Not just in the US but worldwide. And that’s a beautiful thing to see.

Let’s chat about your releases. All Black… Freshly uploaded this week!

I actually wrote All Black a year or so ago. I just wanted to write a straight up gully banger to play out at shows and I’ve been experimenting with a more minimal sound. I was worried my last release constrained me a little and maybe gave people the impression I was just about the liquid. I’m quite a diverse artist and All Black is just another shade of my repertoire and a hint at what’s to come….

How about Change Your Life?

Change Your Life is a little younger. Maybe six or seven months old. I really wanted a very specific style of soulful vocalist for this record so I started reaching out for singers on soundcloud and found Thallie. She’s a soul singer based out of Manchester and she’d put something up for free which a friend of mine saw and passed on to me. I got in touch, asked her to work with me, she really liked my track so it all came together. She’s next level, she’s got the exact vibe I was looking for.

So… What follows this release?

I’ve got 40 tracks ready to be released.

40?

Yeah, 40! I’ve been working hard! Making tunes is pretty much all I do. So right now it’s a bit of a waiting game, working out what should be released with Pilot and I’m also in talks with another label which I’m not at liberty to talk about yet…