Recently released, the Renewal album describes some of his best work yet to date—exploring an abstract, rigid terrain of classic nostalgic Drum & Bass material which has been twisted into various euphoric and club-heavy styles. We got a chance to sit down with Spencer and talk about his personal experience with the album.

Hey man, thanks for doing this. First of all, it's really exciting to see you pushing through with so much material on Metalheadz, it's such a weirdly fitting home for your sound–congrats are definitely in order. How has everything been so far with the Album release?

Thanks for having me! Yes, it's an honour to have Metalheadz as a home for my music. Goldie has really supported my music for the past couple of years and given me a lot of confidence to explore new ideas and make the music that I want to. Having quite a few releases on there now I feel I can experiment more with my music.

It's not something I'm taking lightly because the music is something I've worked on for a long period of time now… I'm really excited (and quite nervous) to be releasing it which I haven't felt releasing other music in the past so it feels like it has a lot more meaning to me.

That’s great to hear. Having that creative freedom to explore your sound with your Metalheadz releases must be a great feeling. And I can understand the nerves, it feels like you’ve been building up to this for sure. How long have you been working on the album? Did you plan anything from the beginning, or did it just fall into place?

It contains music from 2019 through to 2021 but I made most of it in 2020. There was one track that as soon as Goldie heard it he said it has to go on an album which started the idea in my head, putting tracks aside as time went on.

Nice one! When Goldie says that something is album material, you better stick that in an album haha.

Exactly haha! It was just an idea at the time and progressed naturally.

Good stuff. So where do you see this all going man? I mean, do you have anything, in particular, you’d like to do in your music career? Or are you just seeing how things pan out? Always nice to hear about peoples motives in the scene.

I've never really considered the future when making music, I usually go by the next step ahead of me or what feels right at the time. It's gotten me this far so I'm happy to keep going in this way. By removing the overarching goals and aspirations I can stay closer to the ground level of the music which lets me have fun at the moment as opposed to being occupied by anything else. I dream about how I'd like my music to sound and it's that which is more important to me than achieving anything concrete because I know that if I create that music people will like it and things will come of it too.

I'd like to be able to repay the people who have inspired me, taught me and supported me along the way and I can see that through doing some club nights or events which bring people together to enjoy our music together.

I'm a big fan of the production style... Your ambiguous use of dramatic melodies & dynamic drum work fits very nicely together. You seem to keep a good balance of having the music left-field enough for it to feel different, but progressive enough to still have a lot of 'dancefloor' presence. Care to share any insights into your creative process?

Thank you! Melodies and harmonies are something I really care about so I'm glad you like the drums too. You can definitely see more of this on the album, not everything is dancefloor focussed but there are a few bangers for sure. I like to mix dancefloor energy with a more conventional arrangement as it marries the different types of music I like listening to. It feels like I can use drum and bass as a vehicle to deliver the other parts of music I like and it provides some constraints which make it easier to produce between.

When I start making a song the idea usually comes from a couple places: events I've been to recently, songs I love at the moment or random sounds I've found/made on my computer. Depending on the idea I'll start with a riff or a start of a drop and focus on getting what I had in my head down in the DAW so that if I come back to it I can remember what I felt when I was starting it. I go for getting the idea down first without worrying about the details. I can do this by putting massive amounts of distortion and compression on the master channel and cutting out some of the high frequencies - you can't worry about details if you can't hear them. This method also helps me think how it'd translate in the club because it sounds like it's been filmed in the rave through a shitty phone microphone. You can see if things are recognisable or clear enough this way and although it's not a great way to check how a track translates, it is fun.

Can’t wait. It’s definitely important to have some contrasting styles, whether it’s in a release or a set. Haha, no way, adding those distortion units to your master isn’t something I’ve ever considered, you must be the first person I’ve met to do this, but it weirdly makes sense. It’s easy to get caught up on a mixdown in the creative process, and like you say, the distortion will temporarily bypasses that–I’m going to try that one for sure. Drum & Bass definitely does have some constraints, but that challenge can give birth to rewarding creativity, I remember BIllain spoke similarly with his last Album launch. Have you worked on much outside of Drum & Bass? Is it something you can see yourself pushing in the future?

I'm sure I'll make different music in the future but I love drum and bass, it's a great community. I have no plans to make other genres at the moment but I also don't really have much time to make music so when I do I'm quite focused on just drum and bass.

That’s fair. The community seems to be thriving a lot right now, and I see a lot of the heavyweights supporting the newer talent, which I don’t see much elsewhere–it’s great stuff. Are there any newcomers on your radar that you’re feeling right now?

Yes! I am really feeling Secula at the moment, he's got some amazing ideas and is a great energy. Keep an eye out for his coming releases.

I’m so glad you mentioned Secula, he’s one of the swiftest upcomers right now, and his sound is so raw and energetic. I can’t wait to hear how his sound develops in 2022. We’ve had the pleasure of working with him on some projects ourselves, such a humble dude.

Yeah, he is! Up and coming producers capture what I love about the scene: the enthusiasm for the music, creative freedom and new styles. It always gets me excited hearing new producers because it reminds me of all the times I discovered the artists that I grew to love now. You get to be a part of the journey which is really exciting too.

It seems things are coming back in full swing in terms of gigs and festivals. Have you any shows lined up, and are there any gigs you’d love to be playing next year?

Yes, I've played quite a few shows already and had an amazing first night back. I played at a day party (Meraki) in Liverpool with the Metalheadz crew and we ended the night with a 2 hour Blue Note B2B which was so much fun. I wasn't around at the time of the Blue Note sessions so I had to do a lot of 90s digging in the crates. Another highlight was my set at XOYO for Goldie's residency where I ended up going B2B with Goldie and they extended the closing time of the night by an hour as it was just going off… I've got a couple of really exciting shows and festivals for next year and I can't wait for the Summer of day parties we'll get to enjoy next year as well.

That’s nuts. Imagine XOYO extending their closing time for your set. That’s one to knock off the bucket list for sure. Great to hear though man, what's your usual go-to for mixing? Vinyl, USBs, both?

Yes, it really didn't feel real but it was a true honour. I use USBs, I used to use vinyl because I really like collecting it and being part of the scene that way but for playing unreleased tracks I don't have the time to get dubplates cut and it's nice to be able to finish a track a few hours before a show to play it out.

I wanted to ask about your time management, it’s something I like bringing up as so many artists have a different way of doing this. How much time are you spending producing? DO you block off specific days/hours to produce, and have you any tips for procrastinating artists?

I work full time so I don't have much time for producing. I'm lucky if I manage to get in a couple sessions after work midweek so I probably spend like 10 hours a week making music max. I'd like to do more but don't really have the time. I could make more time but I like feeling rested and I'm happier when my life is in a better balance. I wouldn't be able to get to where I am now if I had only done 10 hours a week in the past but I've put the hours in before (by working more) and so it's easier for me to pick it back up again now. I've been producing for like 8 years to varying degrees so I'm quite used to using the daw like an instrument now.

My tip for procrastinating artists is don't view your time not 'progressing' towards a goal as procrastination. The obsession with being productive is, quite frankly, cringe. It does feel good to progress towards goals and see little numbers get maximised but to get to the point where you can't have free time or free thought without feeling guilty about wasting time seems like a bad idea to me. It used to be me and the high-performance lifestyle is fun for a bit but remember to be able to rest and relax as well.

Great ethic, couldn’t agree more. It’s easy to get caught up in timelines, dates, numbers–and it can take away from the fun. Thanks for getting involved man.

The Renewal Album is out now, and you can buy/stream it here.