A brand new digital compilation and remix series comes courtesy from the New State Music label ‘showcasing the urban side of the dance music scene.’ Available from the 19th December on iTunes for £4.49 (as well as all good digital download stores) with 15 tracks including Nero, Blame, Marco Del Horno, Skism, FunkyStepz and more.

TRACKLISTING

1: Ho! Riddim (Vocal Mix) – DJ Swerve, Marrco Del Horno & P Money
2: For U (Dodge & Fuski Remix) – FunkyStepz & Lily McKenzie
3: Star (Doctor P Remix) – Blame & Camilla Marie
4: 7th Key (501 Remix) – Numan
5: WTF (Crissy Cris Remix) – Kid Sister, Pase Rock & Tittsworth
6: Hand Grenade (Datsik & Excision Remix) – Ivory
7: Egyptian Horns (Amen VIP Mix) – Ed Solo
8: Bring It Back (Ed Solo & JFB Remix) – 321, Deekline & Tim Healey
9: London Town (Doorly Remix) – Man Like Me
10: On My Own (Drumsound & Bassline Smith Remix) – Blame & Ruff Squad
11: Cold Rocker – George Lenton
12: Yo Yo Get Funky (Crissy Criss Remix) – Fast Eddie
13: Ignition (Bare Noize Remix) – Da VIP
14: Shock (Nero Remix) Stereo:Type
15: Rise Of The Idiots – Skism
16: U Dun Know Dubstep (Continuous Mix) -- Various Artist

NEW STATE MUSIC

Best known for their remixes covering the works of Sarah McLachlan, Bat for Lashes, Imogen Heap and more, Jesse and Harley, aka ‘Mt Eden’ bring forth their new EP ahead of Christmas with the title ‘Meds’. The six tune EP features the likes of MC Woody, vocals by Ruby Frost, Sophie Jean and Down Jones aka Dsar. Proper Serious finds out more about the New Zealand based dubstep/drum and bass producers…

After spending some time in the drum and bass field you’ve now sunk your teeth into Dubstep, why the transition?
Benga and Skream! We saw them live at Phat 09 in New Zealand and they inspired us. It also kind of followed on from all the music we grew up with and had been making – hip hop, drum and bass, dub and reggae. We haven’t left drum and bass behind and there will definitely be more tracks in the future but we both liked the tempo of dubstep and how there’s a lot more space in this genre than there is in drum and bass.

Do you reckon you’ll be covering any other type of genres in the future or try and build upon a hybrid sound?
Drumstep is pretty cool… Again combining two of our favourite genres. Definitely feeling trip hop at the moment too. But we don’t want to have to conform to any genre, just whatever sounds good at the time! We have been asked to do a few projects for different people like circus performers, rappers and other artists so who knows what might come out.

Are you still based in New Zealand at the moment and what’s the bass scene like in comparison to Europe or America (if any)?
Still based in New Zealand and the scene here is huge. I would say we have probably a much bigger scene per capita than anywhere I’ve been, though we haven’t been to the UK yet. Drum and Bass and Dubstep are huge, we have internationals here pretty much every week and festivals all over the place and most of the time they go off even with our small population. I noticed in America they have a different taste in dubstep. They like the huge bassline driven anthems, the filthier the better and it didn’t seem like they were too interested in the more 2-step side of dubstep and I think they didn’t quite get drum and bass. In New Zealand the most hectic part of the night is when someone drops some drum and bass into the mix. But I’m sure it depends what crowd you’re playing to, its more like 52 countries than one..

You’ve both known each other since school, who prompted who to start making beats?
I think it was Jesse’s big brother who got him into it. He was mixing tracks together on Acid Pro and making his own versions of “Major Flavours”. Then Jesse started doing it and I started doing it too because we started hanging out when we were about 13… and when we started getting bored of mixing other peoples tracks together we started messing with them to make them our own and that eventually lead to original productions.

Some of your dubstep production has that haunting element to it, much like the works of Burial, what style of dubstep do you consider yourself representing or aiming to make that sets you apart from other producers?
It’s an honour to be compared to Burial! To be honest though, there isn’t usually a conscious decision about how we want to make it sound, it just comes out the way it does. When we’re making tunes we try to distance ourselves from them and try to see how we would feel chilling or dancing to them and if they flows well and our heads are nodding then its always a good sign. There are so many dope artists out there making filthy floor anthems but thats not really our style or the type of people we are, even though we respect those artists that do and we love playing their tunes at gigs. Personally, I can’t listen to heavy tunes thousands of times which is inevitable when you make songs… I guess we tend to make more chilled out music because it doesn’t hurt our ears and were both pretty laid back people anyway.

‘Sierra Leone’ really put you on the map with it achieving success online with over 6 million hits on youtube alone, you were then approached by Universal, how did it feel to have a major company taking such interest?
We were buzzing. It felt like things were serious and we had to step up our game, so we felt like we were in the deep end. We still do and we’re trying to swim. Before this we didn’t take what we were doing seriously, it was just for the fun of it and making music for our friends after university or work. It made us work a lot harder and I’m glad.

What artists really convinced you that music was the industry you wanted to be part of?
I don’t think it really worked like that, There’s a saying, find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. This is how we feel at the moment. Of course we look up to a lot of artists but that’s because of the music they make rather than the fact that they are signed to labels or have money etc. We feel privileged to do this full-time and know that most people don’t get this opportunity so we had to take it and make the most of it. It would be rude not to..

Are there any artists that you’d like to collaborate with and what heavy tunes are blowing up your speakers at the moment?
Would like to work with 501, Loz Contreras, Ruckspin, Burial, Shapeshifter, Scuba on chilled out tracks and Bare Noize, Black Sun Empire, Skrillex, Benga and Skream, Crushington, Noisia on some heavier ones. If we work with any one of these guys we’ll be stoked.

Apart form using a PC to produce, are you playing around with any hardware in the studio?
Not really. You pretty much don’t need hardware these days if you have the right software. In saying that though, people say music produced using hardware sounds better, so we would be keen to try once we get our heads around the software.

Your first remix release came out on Breakbeat Kaos for DJ Fresh vs Sigma’s tune ‘Lassitude’, how it that come about?
Fresh just called us up and said he was feeling our stuff and asked us if we could do it. We were pretty nervous about it but we weren’t going to turn down the opportunity so we just tried to step our game up. Fresh loved the track but he was under a lot of pressure not to release it on vinyl so it came out as a free download instead. Big up to Fresh for giving us the chance. We’ll always take on the same attitude in the future when it comes to dealing with up n coming artists.

Your free EP entitled ‘Meds’, why the name and who designed the artwork?
We decided to call it MEDS because thats what people were already calling us and also because we felt like making the EP was part of a healing process and the release was the cure for ourselves and our careers. A lot of shit has come our way simply for making music and at times it all felt pretty dark. We tried to channel all of that into the songs on the EP and it just took our minds off our problems so we could focus on the music. Now it definitely feels like we are ready to reinvent ourselves. Our friend Craig Plant did the artwork. It’s supposed to look like the Garden of Eden got hit with a bomb and there’s a lot to be taken from the image if you analyze it.

What’s in store for Mt Eden in the up coming year and how will you be celebrating NYE?
In 2011 a world tour and an album! For new years we’ll be playing at La De Da festival in Martinborough NZ on the 31st, Rhythm and vines on the 29th and Baywatch on the 28th. And no doubt by getting legless haha!

Thanks guys!
Cheers!

Download the brand new Mt Eden Ep entitled ‘Meds’ for FREE!

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Science & Miss Cufuffle Presents are extremely proud to announce details of their joint New Years Eve Extravaganza, with both parties bringing their renowned production values and musical pedigree to Southsea’s hidden jewel The Loft for a night of underground splendor as we groove our way into 2011…

Sparking the fuse across two rooms are 13 djs, each with their own unique brand of sonic trickery to enhance your evening. Comprised of some fresh faces, and our well established residents, upstairs will see Science celebrate what has been a fantastic year, with Rich Jones, Junior Gee, Stu Bryan, Kelly Wainwright, Josh Dunleavy, Laurence Reed and Rich Archaic all exploring the deepest underground regions of house and techno, with plenty of sound system shredding bass, shuffling rythmns, colourful textures and a dash of nostalgia to boot. Downstairs see’s Miss Cufuffle Presents bringing their unique carnival sounds of jungle, jazz, disco, electro, breakbeat, funk, salsa and french house to the evenings proceedings, with appearances from Vortechral, Simon Heartfield, Mayzee, Flymic, Mike Cubist and Fingerman who will all be adding a different and delicious ingredient to Science’s usual sonic flavor.

We will of course as usual be transforming the whole venue into the perfect intimate tripped out rave box for your NYE hedonism, with pumping sound, extra neon and some unique midnight projections to create the perfect party environment. After last years sell out party this will be a ticket only event, so snap up your £6 early bird tickets now! This will undoubtedly be the finest underground party you’ll find in the Portsmouth area on NYE, trust us and make sure your involved!
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//ADVANCED ONLY TICKET OUTLETS//
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£6 EARLY BIRD TICKET AVAILABLE NOW FROM TICKETSHACK
£8 STANDARD TICKET AVAILABLE FROM DJ’s & THE LOFT
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