Ancient Radius. Because sometimes a one-off b2b internet radio mix goes so well you end up recruiting some grizzly studio muscle, forming a band and setting your sights on touring America.
Such is the case for Multiplex and Korsakov Music’s Also. One b2b led to another. Then another.
Then another.
The sound they’d found between them as DJs was too good to ignore. The energy was too strong. They needed to hit the studio, but their skills weren’t as strong as the ideas they had in their heads. So they called up their mate who they knew would be able to understand their vision. Turns out he didn’t just understand it, he wanted to be part of it, too.
Man like bear like Akov is the final extreme in this gully golden mean. Completing the trinity last year, his addition to the mix completed the crew. Boosting their shared halftime ideas into the flabby, grunting, swaggering strain of gritty fusion that’s just dropped on Korsakov Music: Booger Sugar and Dutch Courage. Certified granite tackle, the Ancient Radius sound goes a bit like this…
More is set to follow. Here’s how it’s going to go down.
Ancient Radius. Old history fans eh?
Multiplex: It started as a bit of a joke. I have a radio show here with Red Lebanon, Benchmark Sessions. We had to do two DJ sets but Elmar and I wanted to do a b2b so we made up a name to make it sound special. Just off the top of my head I said Ancient Radius & The Unbelievable Cyborg Twins. Two minutes before the show the station guy said ‘where the fuck are these guys?’ And we had to explain. But we had a really nice b2b and thought we’d do it more but we had to change that shitty name. I liked the Ancient Radius part. I do love ancient history, you’re right. I love mythology, too. The Ancient Radius is how all our music comes together into this secret frequency we all tune into.
Also: We were definitely tuning into a frequency when we played because we instantly rolled into beats. We didn’t discuss it or plan it, we just fell into that sound.
Multiplex: It just grew into a monster from this.
Akov: About the name… Names have to mean something. I’m a super anal about that type of stuff and the ancient radius, for me, is the golden mean. It’s that perfect combination of elements that brings us together.
Also: And also Akov has a fetish for Dutch people.
Spicy. I was going to ask how you got involved…
Multiplex: Akov got involved because me or Elmar aren’t quite up to that level in the studio. We know the studio well enough, but not on Alex’s level so it was a pleasure to have him on board and involved. It brings the whole thing nicely together. It’s a good click between us all.
Also: Alex first came to the studio and we made Dutch Courage from nothing. I had a few ideas, we just rolled it out in like two hours. It just works.
Akov: It was a natural progression for me and Phil anyway.
Yeah he was on your track last year, You Want It
Akov: Exactly. And we’d been doing some hip-hop stuff and were making beat for fun. So it made sense to do halftime.
Multiplex: It’s the perfect meeting point for all of us and all our favourite music. Halftime is a discombobulation of jungle, hip-hop, D&B. It’s the fattiness of everything. All my favourite parts of all my favourite music.
I get a bit of metal energy in this type of halftime, especially in those background textures on Dutch Courage…
Multiplex: Oh we’re all about the metal. I came from there. I used to be in metal bands. Akov is making metal which is fucking insane. Elmar is metal. We all come from there.
Is it equal shares in the studio or are you in the driver’s seat Alex?
Multiplex: It’s all of our ideas, it wouldn’t sound like this without all three of us working on it. For now we have mainly given input to Alex for ideas on where to take tunes or how some things would sound sick but the amount we write will of course increase as our studio skills get better, which we are working on super hard.
Akov: I loved the music so much because I love trying new things. I felt attached to that first track so there was no way my name wasn’t going to be on it. I don’t approve of ghost production any way so this was really the only way for me.
Also: What’s important for me is that an Ancient Radius track sounds very different to an Akov halftime track. It would be super wrong to ‘leech’ off of his skills. Alex is incredibly talented and we couldn’t not give it to him. That’s when we all decided he just had to join the band fully.
Indeed. I guess communication is super important in a trio with a dynamic like yours…
Multiplex: It’s like a painting, you don’t just paint over it. You do it by layers and build and build it. It’s a bit of give and take as we create the sound between us.
Akov: It’s been interesting. I said in a previous interview that I wanted to work with more people and collaborate more and it was working with Phil and doing the You Want It Track that awakened that. I’d not felt as strongly about collaborating before then. It got to the point where Phil suggested an idea and I was already starting to do that on the computer. So that sparked the whole collab EP I did on Bad Taste. I like that unspoken energy and sharing ideas in that spontaneous way.
So when was the last time you all needed some Dutch courage?
Akov: Before many typical life events. Before I talk to my mother. Before I masturbate. Before I go to the toilet. The usual. Maybe not in that order.
Multiplex: For me it was when I quit my manager job and went into music full time.
What did you manage?
Multiplex: I was general manager for a coffee shop and bar in Amsterdam. It was a big leap and I definitely needed a little Dutch courage to do it.
Also: I can remember my last time I needed Dutch courage. I was in this pub and I had this beer in front of my face and it looked so beautiful. It was perfect. So I had to have another beer before I had that one because it was all just too much for me. Then I celebrated that with another beer which was awesome.
Ha. What comes next?
Multiplex: More music, more live gigs, it’s going to be insane, come check us out. If you haven’t seen Ancient Radius, you haven’t lived.
Also: We’ll be doing an Ancient Radius North American tour in 2021…
Akov: Before that we’re going to release two singles this year on Korsakov Music and hopefully look to release music on some American labels in the future. We’re really inspired by the halftime stuff coming from there. Labels like Deadbeats are killing it.
Also: Zeds Dead, if you read this, Ancient Radius, call us. We want to be on Dedbeats.
Ancient Radius – Booger Sugar / Dutch Courage is out now on Korsakov Music
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