NEWS
EVENTS
Hybrid Minds on their upcoming album, new label and Horizon Festival
Drum and Bass | Monday 16th January 2017 | Arren
Catching up with one of liquids biggest acts.
Off the back of their biggest year yet, we caught up Hybrid Minds. The pair ain't slowing down, ready to tear up 2017 as much as they did 2016. Already on the bill of big events like the upcoming Horizon Festival and a new album in the pipeline, 2017 is primed to be even bigger for them.
Hey how are you? How was your New Year?
Josh: We both had the night off on New Years eve for a change. We just celebrated with our friends, which was nice.
Describe your current mind set?
Matt: We are pretty excited, but also anxious. We are getting very close to sending off our next album. It’s a stressful and worrying process, nothing is ever perfect for us so we’ve been obsessing over the tiniest details and hoping the tracks will be well received.
I'm sure it will be! Looking forward to hearing the results. You're now one of Europe's leading liquid drum & bass acts - how did things get started for Hybrid Minds?
Josh: We have known each other for a very long time now. We met through drum & bass when we used to be solo DJs. Matt knew his way around the computer software Logic and taught me how to use it after being nagged to start making some liquid together. He was previously making stuff from the harder side of the scene.
Do you have similar tastes in music, or do you have different musical backgrounds?
Josh: We both have relatively different musical backgrounds but I think our tastes have grown to be quite similar. We are into the same kind of drum & bass but also fans of similar music outside of drum & bass. We are both into hip hop, acoustic and all things chilled.
What were you guys doing before all this?
Josh: I was working as a graphic designer, mainly in the music scene which has paid off because of some of the contacts he made doing that have become very handy.
Matt: I was working in various places from the age of 16. Mainly warehouse work up until production became a viable career choice. We both feel honoured to be doing this as a living & definitely did not expect it to ever happen a few years back.
You've travelled a lot for gigs, what has been your favourite show to date?
Josh: That is such a hard question as there have been so many amazing memories from gigs. I would say my most enjoyable gig would be from one of the smaller venues like Plan B where it is intimate and you really feel like you are part of the party having fun with everyone in the crowd.
Matt: I can’t really pin point one show in particular but for me you can’t beat the smaller shows, I like to be up close & personal with the crowd. Although the bigger shows have provided us with some amazing experiences the down side is that it’s pretty easy to feel detached from the audience.
What are the tracks by yourselves that you would say got people talking?
Matt: I think they would have to be ‘Lost’ and ‘Meant To Be’ which both feature Grimm. We were lucky enough to have them go up on the YouTube channel UKF where they went down really well and gathered huge views. That really helped boost our fan base at an early stage and got us off the ground.
Since your break, you've featured on loads of the top flight labels; Mainframe, Spearhead, Fokuz . When writing your music were you thinking what labels would suit or was it more a case people wanted your style on their label?
Josh: It has to be the latter, we have tried to write a particular style aiming for certain labels in the past but it’s just not possible for us. We have to be writing what we are feeling at the time or else it just doesn’t click.
Looking back on 2016, how was your year?
Matt: It has been an amazing year for us. We have played more gigs than ever, continued to grow our fan base and write a lot of music. We started our own label and getting that off the ground has been something that we are proud of for sure.
Let's talk Hybrid Music. Why did you decide to start you own label?
Josh: It’s been on the cards for a while to be honest. As I said previously, I made a lot of contacts through my design job within the scene. We already had all the contacts for pressing vinyl and dealing with orders etc so it just seemed right to do it.
How have you been finding it?
Josh: There is without a doubt a lot more work to do but we expected it. It’s more rewarding and we take a lot of pride in the full package, it adds that extra layer of excitement to everything knowing that we have total control.
With each release you've had a remix, how do you go about selecting the artist to remix your work?
Matt: We just go for anyone we are into and most of the time they are up for it. Drum & Bass is a small scene so we tend to already know most the people we would want to do a remix for us, it’s all quite laid back.
Looking ahead what are your plans for this year?
Matt: The album is the at the top of our priorities list right now. We have some plans for after the album but for the most part I think we’ll be getting back in the studio to write more music.
You're performing at this years Horizon festival, looking forward to that?
Josh: I am looking forward to it a lot. I don't need much of an excuse to go and listen to good music and snowboard. We played last year and it was a really wicked vibe.
Any acts there you'd like to catch?
Josh: Will be trying to check out Craig Charles for sure. I saw him play last year and he brings an absolute party vibe to his sets. Will be catching Icicle, Rockwell and Technimatic if possible. Also, I really want to check Jam Baxter as I’m a fan of all of his stuff.
Hybrid Minds are just one of the huge names on Horizon's bill this year, for full details head here.
What's your proudest achievement in life?
Matt: Hard question but everything we’ve done since we started Hybrid Minds has been an achievement in itself, from releasing our first record to setting up our own label. We could of never anticipated all the things we were lucky enough to experience and are very thankful to our fans who put us in this position.
If there was anywhere in the world you could go right now, where would that be?
Josh: Probably Whistler in Canada because my friend is over there sending me photos of how good the snow is everyday and it’s driving me nuts.
Matt: Somewhere hot & sunny to get away from this rubbish Northern weather.
Who would be in your ultimate band?
Josh: I think I would love to see.. Robert Smith (The Cure) with Elena Tonra (Daughter) and Ben Howard. Jon Hopkins on the synths and beats. That would be interesting.
Matt: One direction, Jedward & Elton John.
Have you been to any parties that have changed your life?
Josh: My first Birthday party was pretty special because up until then I didn’t know what a Birthday was...
Hybrid Minds
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