The Bristol-based artist has been on our radar for some time now. We recently worked with him on a Rendah Mag Cypher in which he curated a sample-based pack for the community to make a track from, a wicked project – so when we got sent his new 'Marvin' EP on SLUG WIFE, there was only one thing for it, we had to get some insights. Here we go over each track in the release and ask about his inspirations and technical process surrounding the EP, let's get into it.

Zones (ft. Gravity)

The first track, Zones... An absolutely grimey hip-hop-influenced halftime Drum & Bass number, other than the tempo this track doesn't have much in common with the 'Drum & Bass' genre and for all the right reasons in my opinion. The track switches between nutty bass sounds and steezy grime vocals with absolute precision, both elements providing the perfect energy to go along with the drums and their respective rhythms. Make no mistake, once dance floors really get up and going again you're going to hear this one in a lot of hip-hop flavoured sets.

While working on this, did you pick up any hot tips/ideas on how to incorporate highly rhythmic rap vocals with bass music? Or any tips in general on that topic?

When I sent the track to Gravity it was a completely different tune. By the time I got the vocals back I was bored with what I had written but hyped by the vocals, so I scrapped it and started fresh over. This was also the case with another track of mine called Landslide so my advice would be to work from the vocal. In the end, the vocal is the star so all you need to do is buttress it with a groove and make sure it has the sonic space to breathe. Another little tip is listening to the lyrics as they can give you ideas for edits.

Marvin

This one will hurt you and you will like it. Stabby bass sounds hit with their own kind of venom, with the occasional tear-your-f**king-head-off variations that make you think "how the hell did he pull that off?!" The surrounding sections do a great job of introducing and transitioning these rowdy sounds and ideas as well as providing resting points because this is most certainly a headbanger.

I find this track showcases a ton of your signature production techniques, samples & Bass sounds, I'm sure people would love some insight into your way of doing things! How do you pull off those unique pitch bends throughout your basslines and sometimes vocal samples? also, what are your go-to methods for designing the crazy surrounding glitchy madness?

Every vocal sample is from one of my favourite YouTube videos. It was deleted for about 5 or 6 years so when I rediscovered it (shout out to Zero) I knew I had to sample it. For pretty much every tune, I have a sound design session and I treat vocals, bass and samples the same way.

I use a plug-in called Turnado to glitch my sounds as well as using random pitch envelopes to get unique results. The actual main basses are just a transient from a snare. I had sequenced and re-sampled a bunch of reggae drum rolls in preparation for the track and had spent an entire morning trying to get a bassline I was happy with but nothing clicked, through utter desperation, I chucked the drum roll stem in and as I was scrolling through it, it fell on a truncated snare sound and I made a wonky groove out of it. I'd say my advice would be to be creative with your sound design sessions and chuck anything in because you sometimes get inspiration from the unlikeliest of places.

Resurrector

It's brilliant to hear such a deep track coming from Vellum. The intro is just about perfect in so many ways, the way the abstract tones and textures set the vibe for the impending drop is so satisfying, and makes it equally satisfying when the track drops into the slimiest of sludgy 808s and reeces you will probably hear all year.

Although it still has all the makings of a Vellum track, it sounds like there's a lot of inspiration from "SHADES" on this one. Would that be true?

Yeah definitely! I love the vibe of their stuff so wanted to catch a bit of that - I also took inspiration from DMZ era Loefah - I listened to his back catalogue around the time I was making Resurrector and it still stands up now. His 3rd Choice remix is a masterpiece in my opinion. I'm hoping to do an EP of darker/more stripped back tunes next year so will be doing more Resurrector vibe stuff.

Pugilist

Get ready for some serious underground energy on this one. I am hearing some well-incorporated inspiration from Chee in the drops which is great to hear, especially when the track still sounds entirely original. The cheeky melodic variations within the bassline that happen a little while into the track are super inspiring and executed with masterful skill, never underestimate the power of an underlying melody! I am also in love with the old school hip-hop section featuring a glitchy arrangement of twisted vocals and bass sounds peppered on top that creates a combination of 'old' and 'new' styles.

The fusion of the glitchy old school hip-hop sections & smashy basslines of the main 'drops' is brilliant. Which ideas/sections came first, or did you develop them together?

Thanks. I wrote it a while ago but I'm pretty sure the bassy section came first. I think the hip hop sections might be my favourite parts of the whole EP though.

Style Wars

This track shows that you can do a lot with a little, you do need to use a million sounds going on to create depth in an idea, it's how you use the sounds at hand. The simplified drum patterns allow for the artillery-like basslines to smash through the mix and the constant interesting fills/glitches/variations allow for the use of 'repeating bass sounds' without them ever becoming uninteresting. Truly a masterful creation.

How do you make your wacky distorted bass sounds to create/use in ideas? Any particular techniques or plugins you are willing to share?

The main basses in Style Wars are actually from a patch I made in 2017. I resampled an old bass stem by putting it in the Noise oscillator in Serum, then used multiple LFOs and filter types on it to get as much movement on it as possible.

Vellum's 'Marvin' EP is out now, and you can grab it here.