If any track is perfectly suited to a remix competition it’s Fox Stevenson’s latest beauty: Miss You.
Released last month on his cheekily-titled Disciple EP For Fox Sake as both a dubstep original and with a drum & bass version, yesterday he updated it with a stunning acoustic version. Check the video and see how he breaks the track down to its bare elements and plays all the instruments…
While Fox’s music has been subject to many acoustic cover versions by other people in the past, this is the first acoustic cover he’s done himself and he reckons it won’t be the last. But first, you can expect a whole slew of Miss You versions as he’s just shared the stems for a an exciting remix competition.
All you need to do is download the stems via Tone Den, get to work and submit your entry by December 12 with the hashtags #MissYouRemix and #FoxStevenson. The winning remix will be chosen on December 19 and released via Disciple in the new year.
We asked Fox a little more about the track and his own remix tips below. Good luck.
Dubstep version, D&B version, acoustic version… Which came first?
The original version is the dubstep one, kinda… The chords and vocals had existed for a while in a different format, and I was playing around with the idea of trying to make “riddim” dubstep melodic. Then I tried the bassline from the chords, and it all led to here! I was happy with the way the sound design on the drop had taken shape and how people were reacting to it at shows. So, I just had to make a drum & bass version.
Which one are you happiest with?
I think the D&B version is my favourite. It’s kinda got a swing to it and it works in pretty much any set I play! Plus, I know a lot of my liquid D&B friends like to use it as a heavier track in their set, which is nice.
It’s great how it breaks down the original banger into its bare musical elements, like reverse engineering in a way.
I’ve done this in my spare time for myself a couple times, and actually more recently. It’s been a test of the depth of a track. I think if something can hold up like this it means you haven’t “cheated” with all the bells and whistles of production, I’m much more excited by good raw composition at the moment. That said, Miss You wouldn’t be the song of mine I would use to exemplify this; there are songs I’ve been writing that haven’t seen the light of day yet, and I’d be more than happy to just play them on a piano and let them speak as a song alone.
It’d be fair to argue that you need not have that kind of composition in dance music when you can construct a good groove for the dancefloor, and I’d also agree with that, but I think there’s more to be done than that. I’m just musing and using it as a playground!
You’re about to be remixed the dickens out of… Got any tips for hopeful producers?
Yeah! Make a statement, don’t overload it, the best tracks in my opinion are ones that really clearly stand for what they stand for, and everything else plays a supporting role for that statement. It makes things memorable and instantly communicable.
What do you want to hear in a remix of yourself?
I wanna hear something I haven’t heard before, but also relatable to what’s around, so a nice oxymoron please!
Finally, how do you approach a remix when you’re remixing someone else?
When remixing seriously, I look to try and keep what I think makes the track “right”, like what can’t this track do without? Then, I just start from those elements and see where we end up. And if that fails, I can always switch it up to jump up or something!
Grab the stems for Fox Stevenson – Miss You here
Follow Fox Stevenson: Facebook / Soundcloud / Twitter
Photo Credit: Read Photography
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