Interview: A Night Of Drum & Bass featuring The Prototypes

On Friday 17^th March, we had the opportunity to interview Chris from The Prototypes on the success of their recent New Zealand tour, and here at Inside Audio we had an all areas pass, to their show in Auckland...

First of all, nice to meet you Chris! The gig and vibe was awesome, you could really feel the enthusiasm of your fans when you entered the stage. It is great that Drum & Bass has spread worldwide and has transferred from when you started in the UK to now playing unique events globally.

How is it for you to travel without Nick?
He just left Vegas, we have a crazy schedule this month, I think we are playing around 26 gigs! So we normally split up to be honest... I mean we like to travel together but it’s not always reasonable to plan that.

How is the tour going so far?
It’s great, yeah it’s been pretty epic! I love to come out to Australia and New Zealand. It’s a special thing to come out so far and play a gig for a different culture, but people are getting mental. It’s a universal thing.

I mean the past two years especially, this year has been unbelievable, and the spread that we have had has been mental.

What is your biggest success in music so far?
Obviously, the tune that kicked it all off for us was Cascade, with came off Infrared Recordings back in 2010, that was a special time for us. Roni Size was the first person to support us. The next time we really kicked on was with Best Viper that came out on Drum & Bass complication. And now as soon as we left Viper and started our own label, the feedback we have had has been great.

We can do whatever we want at this moment, we have our own sound.

When did you become interested with working and producing music?
Personally, I’ve been making music since I was 16 and I used to make hip-hop beats. I started with Reason1 and even before that I was using Cubase and Logic Fun, that came free with magazines. But I stared making Drum & bass in Reason1.

How do you combine producing and Dj’ing?
You can’t plan it because gigs are all over the place. Besides that, when you get back from gigs you need to get back in the vibe a lot unless you have got a couple weeks off, but you get productive days.

What was the reason to start your own record label?
This was because of our past experience with record labels, not to diss them. They brought us great opportunities and they really helped us come through. But at the end of the day they have their own interest, that can impact your style. They want you to stick to their style. That was the factor in making the decision. Especially we need to give thanks to our manager Nick, he was a big help on this! And was influential in getting everything started and made a lot of this possible.

Are you looking forward to the festival season in the UK? Where can people catch you playing?
I mean Let It Roll have not revealed their second phrase line-up yet, so I'll just leave that here haha.... BoomTown in England is always great and is going to be epic, and it only gets bigger and better each year.

Do you have any tips for producers that want to start out with Drum & Bass?
My dream was to have a tune on Vinyl, it took me 10 years to even have a release. When things get started your hero’s start to see you, that’s the point you need to keep going to make it true.

If you have the skills to go on with it and don’t look at others, it will consume your mind. Keep doing your own thing.

It’s very simple exactly: Make your tunes sound better than anybody else's haha...

What will be the direction for Drum & Bass in 2017?
Back in the day’s artists would stay in the UK, but it’s exploding everywhere. Artists have really started to appreciate Drum & Bass, for example Netsky who is adapting his sound.

Do you have a favourite plug-in to produce with?
I have Solid Stable that goes through it all like Serum. My personal favourite is my guitar, I just plug it in and I adjust it with all kind of effects, just weird things really. We’re also going more live with our own drums.