Want to hear some exciting news? I See MONSTAS have an album on the way! And if recent single Circles is a sign of things to come it’s going to be a pretty big deal.
First, though, a little background on their meteoric rise: I See MONSTAS have grown from relatively unknown producers to one of the most popular electronic groups around. And they’ve done with it just two EPs and a string of notable remixes from the scene’s most influential artists.
“Everything has happened really quickly” confirms Rufio, one third of the trio. “That first EP and the remixes that came with it got us known pretty quickly and suddenly we went from never really doing a live gig to doing one hundred in a short space of time, it was all pretty crazy.”
Their amount of production time suffered a hit during their hectic schedule of gigs, so the majority of this year has been spent in the studio to make up for lost time, as Rufio explains.
“When you’re constantly thinking about the next gig it’s hard to focus any attention on production, so this year we’ve been preparing for the future, spending loads of time in the studio working on fresh material. We’ve been trying out different vibes and genres for the album which we’re going to release next year – we can’t wait to get it out there.”
Equally exciting as their recent increased studio time and album talk is their upcoming performance at UKF’s 5th birthday, where they’ll play alongside Camo & Krooked, Wilkinson, Kove, My Nu Leng, TC, Koven, Toyboy & Robin, Icarus, Brookes Brothers, Taiki Nulight, Hamilton and Cyantific at Building Six on October 10.
“We can’t wait for it!” exclaims Rufio. “When you’ve got a lineup that big it’s guaranteed to be a sick night. We’ve got quite a lot of unreleased stuff and bootlegs we’re hoping to play out on the night which should be fun.”
You heard him: ears at the ready for some huge new I See MONSTAS material!
From new material to the classics, to celebrate their appearance at our fifth birthday event, we asked Rufio for the band’s five favourite uploads in UKF history that have particularly stood out in their memory.
Friction – Someone
“This was our first proper insight into producing drum & bass because we ended up going down to Friction’s studio when he was in the middle of producing this track. It was really important for us because he showed us what the parameters of drum & bass were and the basic foundations of how to produce it. It was after seeing Friction producing this track we really started to get excited by bass music.”
Sub Focus – Falling Down
“We just love this tune! It came out at the same time as us meeting Nick (Sub Focus) and we ended up doing a load of shows together. This tune became a real anthem for us and it’s got a really nostalgic feel because of that. I remember hearing it on a big system at a festival we all went to and being blown away. It’s a good example of a tune that has so much emotion from just a very simple synth riff… in short it’s just a wicked tune.”
Nero – Won’t You Be There (Baauer Remix)
“We’re huge Nero fans and obviously it was massive for us when they remixed one of our earlier tunes, so we get excited by all of their releases. This remix is one of the best examples of trap in our opinion, mainly because the drop is so minimal but comes with so much bass, which makes it sound so huge on a system. The combination of these producers was never going to disappoint!”
Wilkinson – Afterglow
“Not only is this a great tune, there’s also a funny story linked to it; Wilkinson lives in the flat above us but we didn’t realise this until a few months after he’d moved in! We kept hearing him playing jungle and thought he had a pretty good taste in music, little did we know it was one of our favourite producers… He’s got loads of great tunes but this one in particular stands out because it’s a good song as well as a great drum & bass track, the production is just incredible.”
Chase & Status – No Problem
“I don’t really know what else to say other than this is just such a classic! You can play this anywhere at any time and it always kills it without fail. The vocal and synth riff are completely genius and then there’s the mad drop and the little bongo interlude, it all works together so well. I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking ‘what the fuck is this!?’ and then the drop came and I completely lost it!”
Don’t miss I See MONSTAS at UKF’s Fifth Birthday: Grab your ticket now!
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