DRKNET launched in January of 2026, and they’ve not been sitting still since then. The project behind MEL and ENTA has taken the neurofunk scene by storm with their debut EP on Valkyrie and loads of high-energy B2Bs.
The project was born after they supported Sub Focus at Prospect Building. Here, they discovered that neurofunk doesn’t need to fit just one target audience, but that everyone can take a liking to it if you just bring the right energy. Combine MEL’s immersive dancefloor with ENTA’s groovy jump-up, and you get exactly what DRKNET is all about.
We had a chat with them and talked about the project and how it’s been going so far…
You launched DRKNET in January. How has it been so far?
MEL: It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, the project’s been so well received, beyond our expectations.
ENTA: Yeah, it’s taken off really, really well.
MEL: The fact we’re working with huge promoters like Hospitality, to me, that’s pretty wild. Our music is so aggressive and not really what Hospital listeners would regularly listen to. The fact that they’re open to us being on their lineups is amazing.
ENTA: It’s nice to take part and feel included within the wider sector of drum & bass.
MEL: Yeah, 100%. We’ve been to places like Rotterdam, Croatia, Paris, and we’ve just released some music last month as well. We have a lot of fun putting a lot of time and effort into our project and the releases.
How did the whole idea of DRKNET come together?
ENTA: We’ve had tonnes of back-to-backs booked in already. We did our first one for Sub Focus at Prospect Building last year.
MEL: We were the neuro act on a dancefloor liquid lineup, is this going to go down well?
ENTA: It worked, and then we had tonnes booked in for this year. So we thought, let’s give it a name. Rob from Undivide gave us a call and gave us a little bit of a push on it and said, we really like you guys. We’d love to push this, especially if you’re getting booked at Korsakov. That gave us the kick to make it all happen.
So DRKNET came to life after the B2B and how well that went?
MEL: That planted the seed for us. So we thought, people like us working together, how about we make a couple of tracks? We made a few tracks together, and after Hospitality on the Beach, we thought, let’s get our stuff together now and give it a proper name.
I noticed that your style is very Matrix coded. Are you both a fan of that movie?
MEL: Yeah, we’re both millennials.
ENTA: It’s ingrained in our DNA by this point.
MEL: The dark cyber dystopian vibes really fit with neuro as well. It was a natural progression with the whole aesthetic. When we started to get our pitches together and launch Dark Net, we wanted to go for a Y2K old school tech step sort of vibe, but then it gradually evolved into the Matrix.
How do you two complement each other in this duo?
MEL: On paper, our sounds are quite different. I’m leaning more towards dancefloor because that’s where my roots were, and Liam’s a bit more on the jump up side of things. I think it’s a “opposites attract” sort of thing.
ENTA: Both of those genres feed into the way that we both approach neurofunk. MEL’s really good at putting together these huge atmospheric intros, super deep and really immersive. That’s something that I’ve not really attempted before with my music. Mine’s more focused on the rhythm, the groove, all parts of the drop. When you smash those together, you get DRKNET.
How did you two meet?
MEL: We met at Virus, didn’t we?
ENTA: Virus x Eatbrain Night.
MEL: Like most artists are, we were connected online beforehand, and Liam (ENTA) has guest mixed on my show before on Data Transmission. We knew each other online, but we properly met at Virus. I was opening, you were closing. That seems to be a recurring thing.
ENTA: And we met in the middle of the night in the green room.
When MEL, you’re opening and ENTA, you’re closing, I can imagine you were thinking, how is this going to fit in a B2B?
MEL: I’ve even had people say that to me like, how’s that going to work? Your sounds are so different. But it just works. We like to cover all four corners of neurofunk. Liam has a more aggressive jump up sound. I’m coming with melodic dance floor, neuro-esque, and then we can have a bit of classics thrown in there as well. It’s one big melting pot of neurofunk, our DJ sets.
Are you pushing each other as well to explore the different sides of neuro?
MEL: A hundred percent.
You had a release on Valkyrie Music this summer. How was it to work on that EP?
ENTA: Lots of fun. It was great to work together, but it was also great to bring in some vocalists, like 2Shy and Sodie. Both absolutely smashed it on their respective tracks. Vocals are something that I’ve not attempted much in my own music, so it’s nice to take this slightly different approach and approach the tracks thinking of the way that MEL produces them, with the intros and the atmosphere. It’s a new musical side that I haven’t explored yet.
MEL: I’d never worked with an MC before, so that was completely new. But it was great.
DRKNET is a new project, Valkyrie Music is a newer label as well. It really does feel that people are getting more interested in neurofunk again.
MEL: Noisia‘s back, so there’s that. That sets the tone.
ENTA: There are definitely a lot more newer guys, new labels, new smaller nights coming through, which is great to see because we’ve both been doing neurofunk for quite some time. We’re sort of new-ish to the way the genre sees it, but we’ve been there for a long time as well, at the same time. I’ve liked neuro for a very long time, but only in the past couple of years have I been able to start producing it properly. I’m making it at a standard that I’m happy with.
It’s also an acquired taste. When you get into drum & bass, a lot of people start by listening to liquid and dancefloor. But neurofunk, it takes a while for people to get into.
MEL: It’s one of those things, it’s like Marmite. You either love it or hate it. It’s definitely becoming more well-received because like I said earlier, we’re DJing on Hospitality stages now. I thought that I would never do those types of things, but here we are. We’re both underground artists, so we always love playing small, sweaty underground raves. That’s always a good time. But the fact that we’re cutting through to the bigger realms is always a great, it’s always a plus.
ENTA: It makes me happy that neurofunk is getting more of these smaller nights because it shows that it’s a healthier ecosystem rather than it just being the quadruple A promoters, quadruple A artists. It means that new talent can come through.
And by playing those bigger events, like Hospitality, you’ve got more people discovering neurofunk as well.
MEL: Convert them to the dark side.
ENTA: A lot of the Hospitality ravers are generally quite receptive to all parts of the drum & bass spectrum. It’s more the Sub Focus crowd that I thought was a bit of a challenge because they were there for the headline show. How are we going to then represent Neurofunk to them? It was a fun puzzle.
MEL: We just make a pact to stay true to our sounds, don’t compromise anything. We’ve been booked to be us, so we’re going to be ourselves and stay true to that.
Next to DRKNET, do you also work on your solo projects still?
MEL: Yes, absolutely. DRKNET is quite shiny and new, and it’s been the focal point for both of us at the minute. We’ve released on Valkyrie, but Liam’s had his release on Eatbrain with Neuroheadz and I’ve got my release with Brainrave coming up soon this month. It’s got two tracks called ‘Manhunt’ and ‘Eternal’, they are very different from each other, and I’m excited to finally release them. It’s all a little bit of a juggle, but it’s still important to have your identity as a solo artist.
ENTA: With DRKNET, we’ve been gigging loads, but when you stack up the releases, I’ve probably had more solo releases this year. With the DRKNET releases, the way we’re approaching it is that we’re spending more time on the tracks, more time on the release campaign. With a lot of the solo stuff, they just get dropped without a lot of concept behind it sometimes.
MEL: We’ve got our own radio shows and little side quests still as well.
When you decide to work on something for DRKNET versus on your own projects?
ENTA: One of us will start an idea, send it to the other, then they’ll work on it, and send it back. We’re both in full time work, so it’s definitely a juggling act. We’ll send stems and then we might finish it in a Pirate session together, once the track’s like fully wrapped.
Is there anything you’re working on at the moment, both DRKNET or your own projects that you can talk about?
MEL: We’ve got two ideas cooking.
ENTA: Another potential vocalist. I think that’s something that we might keep looking at, because it’s lots of fun. I’ve got three more tracks to go for the end of the year, another EP. It’s all a bit crazy. Potentially another release on Eatbrain, and a two track single for Phase Records, plus an EP for Biological Beats. Afterwards I’ll stack up loads of new ideas for 2027.
MEL: For me, I’m in that lock and load stage. I’m piling some ideas up and working on some tunes, so then in 2027, it can be like, bang. Hibernation station.
Anything else you want to share?
ENTA: Our Let It Roll set will come out soon on D&B Portal, so keep an eye out for that. Any vocalists who like to read UKF, get in touch with us. We’re always looking for new people to work with, especially people that can scream. We’re looking for growlers. Angry, angry singers, angry MCs.
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