NEWS
EVENTS
Icicle Interview
Drum and Bass | Wednesday 31st August 2011 | Osh
Icicle
One of the friendliest producers we’ve come across, we met Icicle at the Star of Kings where he talked gigs, Holland and the age of Drum and Bass.
The critically acclaimed producer from the independent UK Drum and Bass record company Shogun audio, tells about his gigs and his thoughts on the current Drum and Bass scene.
“There are some things that stand out like Star Wars in Belgium. Its amazing, its huge.”
Hey man, how’s it going? Have you been doing any festivals recently?
Not too many festivals but lots and lots of gigs. I brought out a new album at the beginning of the year and set up a live show recently which has been going really well. I played one last weekend which was very well received. Just generally very busy.
Yeah definitely. We did a review of you for your launch.
Thank you very much!
Yeah it’s good. So do you travel around lots doing all the shows?
Yeah, well travelling obviously is always a part of it. There’s a lot, although I have to say though that I have done a lot of English shows recently and all of the other stuff is coming up after summer so that will be mental.
Have you got any favourite spots at all? Any favourite crowds?
I dunno. When people ask me that they always seem to think that crowds in a sense are vague people that like music. Sometimes you get a bit more reaction and sometimes a bit less but I dunno its harder to pick a favourite. There are some things that stand out like Star Wars in Belgium. Its amazing, its like huge. A huge crowd and always a massive reaction but generally there’s a lot of good places and it’s hardly ever that I don’t enjoy playing
Yeah, I bet it must be good going back to Holland, back to the homeland?
Yeah, its difficult though in Holland, what with the music scene, but it’s great to go back. I’ve been there twice this year and it was actually sold out twice and it felt really good.
Really? Amazing. So I wanted to talk to you about how you feel that liquid has developed recently in Drum and Bass and how you feel about it.
Yeah, well you know obviously it has developed a lot. I mean its always been a terminus, I guess someone needed to give it a name.
Yeah definitely.
But I think, you know, if you think about what the music is, it was just more musical, maybe a bit more deep, not so much hypes up Drum and Bass, not all about the drop. A bit more about the...
Melody?
Yeah, yeah and that kind of stuff and I think that its still there you know, it’s just a bit more basic to the musicality and has a bit more depth to it but yeah it has evolved, got a bit more techy I guess, just in general, especially if you count me as being part of that movement. I’ve gone a lot more techy.
Yeah
I still like to keep some musical content. It’s not just about the drops and the big build ups and the mids for the kids as I like to say. But, you know, just a bit more musical depth and I think its developing, it’s moving and it doesn’t seem to be stuck, that’s a good thing.
That’s definitely a good thing. Who were your favourite artists when you were getting into producing and DJ’ing?
Back in the day?
Yeah!
I guess I come from...well back then I was really a bit purist maybe almost, which I’m not any more but definitely then I was. Then it was like Frotech, Johnny L and them, the golden era of Drum and Bass I like to call it. The ‘98 cyber stuff. Like Optical, Metalheadz. Erm, but yeah, outside of that though I’ve always had like a lot of Techno influence and listening to that a lot.
So is it mainly Techno that you would say is your other genre?
Yeah, I think just generally good music, it’s a bit of a boring answer.
No good music, thats a good answer.
But yeah, definitely a lot of Techno though. What I think is good music generally turns out to be Techno a lot of the time [laughs].
Would you have a dream project to work on with a particular artist, DJ or producer?
That’s a difficult one. Does he have to be alive?
Anyone you like!
I want to do something with Miles Davis.
That would be a good one.
It’d be a bit hard practically!
We have a few special Guestlist Network questions. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
Cool! What would I do...I’d plan a massive heist, I’d rob a bank!
If you could fill a swimming pool with anything what would it be?
My own swimming pool? Well I’d fill it with...I want to say money or gold but I’d come off sounding really wrong. So I’m going to say custard because I could see if you could actually float or walk on it like they say. You can’t swim in it, it’s too heavy apparently.
That’s cool. Could you give us any exclusive news?
All of the big news has come, its gone through. I did a remix of Floating Zero, but I think people know about that right now.
Have you got any cool, secret gigs up right now? Anything cool in the pipeline?
I’ve got really cool gigs, but they are massively advertised. I finished a tune today for the new Shogun, oh yeah, I do have some news for The Guestlist Network! There is a tune by me and Commix that people have been asking for a long time called ‘Ultra Clean’ and it’s actually coming out. I can confirm its coming out, we gave into popular demand.
Cool, lovely to hear that. It was amazing meeting you. Thank you!
Check Icicle alongside more of the Shogun Audio entourage at Cable on 20th August
One of the friendliest producers we’ve come across, we met Icicle at the Star of Kings where he talked gigs, Holland and the age of Drum and Bass.
The critically acclaimed producer from the independent UK Drum and Bass record company Shogun audio, tells about his gigs and his thoughts on the current Drum and Bass scene.
“There are some things that stand out like Star Wars in Belgium. Its amazing, its huge.”
Hey man, how’s it going? Have you been doing any festivals recently?
Not too many festivals but lots and lots of gigs. I brought out a new album at the beginning of the year and set up a live show recently which has been going really well. I played one last weekend which was very well received. Just generally very busy.
Yeah definitely. We did a review of you for your launch.
Thank you very much!
Yeah it’s good. So do you travel around lots doing all the shows?
Yeah, well travelling obviously is always a part of it. There’s a lot, although I have to say though that I have done a lot of English shows recently and all of the other stuff is coming up after summer so that will be mental.
Have you got any favourite spots at all? Any favourite crowds?
I dunno. When people ask me that they always seem to think that crowds in a sense are vague people that like music. Sometimes you get a bit more reaction and sometimes a bit less but I dunno its harder to pick a favourite. There are some things that stand out like Star Wars in Belgium. Its amazing, its like huge. A huge crowd and always a massive reaction but generally there’s a lot of good places and it’s hardly ever that I don’t enjoy playing
Yeah, I bet it must be good going back to Holland, back to the homeland?
Yeah, its difficult though in Holland, what with the music scene, but it’s great to go back. I’ve been there twice this year and it was actually sold out twice and it felt really good.
Really? Amazing. So I wanted to talk to you about how you feel that liquid has developed recently in Drum and Bass and how you feel about it.
Yeah, well you know obviously it has developed a lot. I mean its always been a terminus, I guess someone needed to give it a name.
Yeah definitely.
But I think, you know, if you think about what the music is, it was just more musical, maybe a bit more deep, not so much hypes up Drum and Bass, not all about the drop. A bit more about the...
Melody?
Yeah, yeah and that kind of stuff and I think that its still there you know, it’s just a bit more basic to the musicality and has a bit more depth to it but yeah it has evolved, got a bit more techy I guess, just in general, especially if you count me as being part of that movement. I’ve gone a lot more techy.
Yeah
I still like to keep some musical content. It’s not just about the drops and the big build ups and the mids for the kids as I like to say. But, you know, just a bit more musical depth and I think its developing, it’s moving and it doesn’t seem to be stuck, that’s a good thing.
That’s definitely a good thing. Who were your favourite artists when you were getting into producing and DJ’ing?
Back in the day?
Yeah!
I guess I come from...well back then I was really a bit purist maybe almost, which I’m not any more but definitely then I was. Then it was like Frotech, Johnny L and them, the golden era of Drum and Bass I like to call it. The ‘98 cyber stuff. Like Optical, Metalheadz. Erm, but yeah, outside of that though I’ve always had like a lot of Techno influence and listening to that a lot.
So is it mainly Techno that you would say is your other genre?
Yeah, I think just generally good music, it’s a bit of a boring answer.
No good music, thats a good answer.
But yeah, definitely a lot of Techno though. What I think is good music generally turns out to be Techno a lot of the time [laughs].
Would you have a dream project to work on with a particular artist, DJ or producer?
That’s a difficult one. Does he have to be alive?
Anyone you like!
I want to do something with Miles Davis.
That would be a good one.
It’d be a bit hard practically!
We have a few special Guestlist Network questions. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
Cool! What would I do...I’d plan a massive heist, I’d rob a bank!
If you could fill a swimming pool with anything what would it be?
My own swimming pool? Well I’d fill it with...I want to say money or gold but I’d come off sounding really wrong. So I’m going to say custard because I could see if you could actually float or walk on it like they say. You can’t swim in it, it’s too heavy apparently.
That’s cool. Could you give us any exclusive news?
All of the big news has come, its gone through. I did a remix of Floating Zero, but I think people know about that right now.
Have you got any cool, secret gigs up right now? Anything cool in the pipeline?
I’ve got really cool gigs, but they are massively advertised. I finished a tune today for the new Shogun, oh yeah, I do have some news for The Guestlist Network! There is a tune by me and Commix that people have been asking for a long time called ‘Ultra Clean’ and it’s actually coming out. I can confirm its coming out, we gave into popular demand.
Cool, lovely to hear that. It was amazing meeting you. Thank you!
Check Icicle alongside more of the Shogun Audio entourage at Cable on 20th August
