Peddling a broad range of styles and plastering their name in all the right corners of D&B, Gerra & Stone have already achieved solid stripes during their short but impressive career so far.
The duo’s most notable releases to date – Too Deep (released last October on Dispatch) and Ison (released late last year on Program) – demonstrate their versatility in the studio, both bringing entirely contrasting sounds to the table.
More evidence of this can be found on their forthcoming Unbreakable EP. One of their largest bodies of work to date, it seems like the perfect moment to discover more about this promising duo.
“We’re really excited about it,” says Harry (AKA Gerra). “This EP is like nothing else we’ve done before – it’s a completely separate entity. It’s all about our influences, both in terms of other genres we listen to and in terms of other producers we’ve always admired. It sounds a bit cheesy but we really poured our heart and soul into this EP. We’re using it to show everyone what we think drum & bass should sound like.”
Bold mission statement done; it’s now time to dig a little deeper into Gerra & Stone’s career and discover three things about them you might not have previously known.
That horribly broken bone turned out be a huge, but painful, blessing in disguise. I’ve still got the scar to show for it now, and all bike riding I’ve done since then has been firmly on grass…
An extremely broken bone is to thank for their career in drum & bass
“I used to mountain bike a lot when I was a kid and one day I managed to break my arm really badly to the extent where bones were sticking out at all kinds of strange angles. Needless to say, it was absolutely horrendous. I had to give up mountain biking as a result, which meant I also had to sell my bike that was worth £5,000.
“A few weeks later, I hosted a house party and a mate of mine brought his decks over. I had a quick go and absolutely loved it – so much so that I persuaded him to sell them to me! I really needed a passion after not being able to ride my bike anymore, and that new passion turned out to be DJing. I went to HMV the next day and bought a random selection of records covering every genre from drum & bass to hardcore and learnt how to mix it all as well as I could. That bike money came in handy.
“After a few months of mixing I just thought ‘screw mountain biking, I don’t care about it anymore!’ and focused on my mixing skills loads. That horribly broken bone turned out be a huge, but painful, blessing in disguise. I’ve still got the scar to show for it now, and all bike riding I’ve done since then has been firmly on grass…”
They met completely by chance in a Citroen Saxo
“We went to the same school but didn’t know each other at all because we’re a few years apart in age. I went to pick up a mate in my car one day and a random bloke jumped in the back seat with him. We started chatting and the conversation soon turned to drum & bass, when all of a sudden this randomer revealed that he had just got into mixing. It just so happened that I’d got my first set of Technics a few days earlier.
“He then said he was keen for a mix together at some point, so I immediately did a U-turn and drove us all back to mine, where we had a huge joint mix and then basically took it from there! A few days later we were writing tracks and I instantly saw that Dave had a natural knack for putting arrangements together. It’s weird to think we wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for that chance meeting in my car. I definitely owe the mate I originally went to pick up a pint…”
I was sat in my flat in Bristol shivering and constantly vomiting. There was no way I was going to go, but then I realised I had the boarding passes for both me and Dave and therefore had to go.
A cup of Italian coffee saved their night… and maybe even their life!
“We had a huge weekend lined up a few weekends ago; playing a gig on Friday night in Birmingham and one on Saturday night in Italy. On the Friday morning, I woke up with one of the worst illnesses I’ve ever had in my entire life. I was sat in my flat in Bristol shivering and constantly vomiting. There was no way I was going to go, but then I realised I had the boarding passes for both me and Dave and therefore had to go.
“My mate Jay (DLR) picked me up a few hours later and I couldn’t say a thing during the car journey to Birmingham, which was very difficult as he’s a very chatty person! We got to Birmingham and I slept as much as I could while Dave did the gig. I woke up on the day of the Italy trip thinking ‘there’s no way I can go, I literally feel like I’m about to die’. But then, I had a sudden change of heart and decided to risk it despite the copious amounts of vomit and throbbing headache. A voice in my head just said I should do it!
“Strangely, it turned out to be the best gig we’ve ever played and probably one of the best nights we’ve ever had! The set went down really well and the hospitality was out of this world. Some guy gave me a cup of coffee backstage before we went on and it seemed to do the trick – it turns out that Italian coffee really is the best!”
Shout out to the guy who handed that cup of life-saving coffee to Harry! Wouldn’t mind a sample of that ourselves. Thanks, in part, to that miraculous coffee, the boys are fighting fit and have a number of big releases lined up…
“We’ve got another Dispatch release coming later this year. It’s a Dispatch Limited 10” with a DLR remix of Backhand and the Too Deep VIP. There might also be something coming on Program, too. Watch this space….”
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