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We talk Viper, 'Bane', and curry with Six Blade
Drum and Bass | Wednesday 16th March 2016 | Arren
Six Blade are one of Brighton's hottest drum & bass names, we had a chat with them to find out a little more.
After meeting at school, Jack Wakeman and Mike Davis started DJing together in their home city. After the pair discovered drum & bass they wanted to take their love for music into production side of things. Back then calling themselves Mattix and Futile, it didn't take long for them to find some success, with tracks like 'The Meddler' and 'Corkscrew' gathering big support from many of drum & bass' elite.
After a short break, at the end of 2012 the pair signed exclusivily to Viper Recordings and joined their tight artist roaster. They've had a couple of releases since signing and have featured on loads of their compilations making themselves serious additions to the Viper camp. With their track 'Bane' on Viper's Sound of Drum & Bass 2016 out now and another couple of projects upcoming from them, we thought we'd have a chat with the boys and find out a little more.
Hey how you doing?
Hi, yeah, we’re really good thanks.
Tell us a little about yourselves?
We're Six Blade. We live down South in the Brighton and Hove area and we're signed to Viper Recordings.
When did you first sign up with Viper and how did it all happen? Was that first as Mattix and Futile?
We signed to Viper towards the end of 2012. We sent Brendan (Futurebound) a remix that we had done, he then got in contact with us and set up a meeting at Nando’s, the only place to do drum and bass business. After eating copious amounts of chicken, he asked us to sign to Viper. We were still called Mattix & Futile at the time but changed to Six Blade when we signed the contract.
You took a break in 2012 for a while, any reasons why?
We didn’t officially take a break, we did a few remixes that year and unfortunately, we just weren't able to get any singles out.
You're back now under a new alias Six Blade, what was it that got you to change the name over?
When we signed to Viper, we changed our name as it sounds fairly similar to Matrix & Futurebound. This may have been confusing for some people, especially when you abbreviate the names. No one could tell who was who. Seeing as we were going to be on the same label, we thought it would be best to start fresh with a new alias. We'd been thinking about changing our name for a while so it wasn't really much of a problem.
What was the inspiration for the name?
We were looking for names and we came across a Dire Straits track named ‘Six Blade Knife’ and we just thought Six Blade sounded cool.
What you up to at the moment?
We're getting our next single for Viper sorted. We're also working on a few collabs and another project that we're keeping on the down low.
When did you get into producing drum & bass?
We started producing about 10 years ago now and we've been putting our music out on labels for the last 6 years.
You’ve been featured in Viper’s new compilation album, how did that come about?
We sent a few tracks over to Bren (Futurebound) to get his input on them. It was decided that two of the tracks will be our next single and Bane, will come out on the next Viper compilation, The Sound of Drum and Bass 2016.
Speaking of 'Bane', it's quite an intense track with a relentless drum beat and great sample. What's the story behind this one?
It's been an ongoing project of ours for about twelve months. We had a really old mix of it that sounded pretty awful and we didn't really think anything would come of it. It was only a couple of months ago that we dug it up and decided to redo the mix, applying any new knowledge we'd acquired over the year, plus, all our new Slate Digital plugins. We sent a demo version to Bren who advised us that it was heavy and to get it finished asap, ready for the next Viper compilation, which we were really happy about. Plus, I (Jack) have been wanting to make a track sampling Bane ever since I saw The Dark Knight Rises.
What else have you got planned in 2016?
We’re finishing up our next single for Viper, which will hopefully lead to some more gigs. We'd love to get DJing a bit more this year. Other than that, we just plan to get as much music out there as we can.
If you could play a gig, anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I think we'd have to say either Tomorrowland or EDC in Las Vegas. Both of those festivals look incredible. The stage setups, the lighting, the sound systems, the crowds etc. They both look like somewhere every DJ would want to play in their career. Hopefully we'll get a chance too.
How would you describe your style?
I wouldn't say we have a particular style; we like to make something different every time so it’s hard to describe. But we always try and make music with a good energy that will work in the clubs.
If you were a superhero what would your superhero power be?
Mike: Probably to travel through time, I think that would be cool.
Jack: The ability to roller boot backwards really fast.
What are you most in love with right now?
Mike: I’ve just started watching the Walking Dead and I’m really enjoying it, so I’d have to say that.
Jack: If I was to say anything other than my girlfriend, I think I'd get in trouble, so, my girlfriend...oh, and my PS4.
We really love curry.
Do you go all out with currys and get all the rices and bhaji's and that?
We pretty much go all out. We mainly just like ordering large quantities of very spicy sauce and chicken. One time we cooked a curry and Jack had such a large portion he couldn’t fit it on a plate so he just ate it out of a wok. That was one of his prouder moments in life.
Get Viper Recordings Sound of Drum & Bass 2016 now
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