“We don’t have certificates to say we’re trained piano players. I don’t consider myself or Ollie as an established pianist at all. But you sit in front of your keyboard every day, you learn your scales and you learn to play around and enjoy it.”
This week’s Throwback Thursday instalment takes us back to the heady days of 2010. UKF was just one year old, dubstep was taking over the world like some type of saw-tooth tyrannical despot and we uploaded this not-so-little ditty: Bar 9 – Piano Tune…
An aggressive balance of naked pianos and fully clothed twisted low-end synthesis, it’s a hallmark release for both Bar 9 and the heavier side of dubstep. We called up Martin, one half of the UK duo, to get his take on this particular chapter in their career…
<<RWD
“It’s all a bit of a blur looking back! We were pretty well established on the scene before this came out, but Piano Tune really did take our profile to another level. It came out just as things were getting a little commercial and you can hear that… It plays on the similar commercial sounds but is by no means radio-friendly. It’s actually quite violent!
Honestly, this tune took us around the world multiple times. To countries I had never been to before and may never go to since! I was looking at a map of Europe the other day and realised we’ve been to every country except Lichtenstein. Then we did it all over again when the VIP dropped a year or so later.
Funnily enough, the piano part was the very last piece on the track. We made the drop first and knew it needed something else, then Ollie was dabbling around and it became the premise for the tune. I say dabbling because we don’t have certificates to say we’re trained piano players. I don’t consider myself or Ollie as an established pianist at all. But you sit in front of your keyboard every day, you learn your scales and you learn to play around and enjoy it. I love playing around on the keyboard, we both do. The best stuff can come about through spontaneous playing.”
FWD>>
Fresh from dropping the excellently titled Dave on our asses last month, Martin and Ollie have heaps in the cannon… Kicking off on March 3 with They Need Us, a massive collaboration with PhaseOne on Firepower, then another EP on Never Say Die Black Label before the summer. Watch out for more details on They Need Us next week.
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