BLEEK DRAMA: INSTRA:MENTAL

From Detroit, through classic eighties Hip-Hop and the early raves of the nineties, to the current futuristic electronic compositions of their own making, NonPlus+ Recordings owners Al Bleek and Kid Drama, aka. Instra:mental, have reignited an interest in modern drum and bass that has alot of people taking notice.

With their intricate percussion and drum programming, a taste for sparse yet emotional synth-work, plus of course the ability to harness the more refined aspects of bass, Instra:mental are making waves in underground music. Hooking up with legends such as d-Bridge and the A Bunch of Cuts crew, heading up some of the finest releases on the high quality Darkestral imprint, and launching their own label, these guys are working hard to change the common perception of drum and bass, whilst taking in all manner of musical influences on the way.

We caught up with the duo to find out a bit more about their perceived position in UK electronic music, how they work in the studio, and what an average Instra:mental set sounds like.

Hyponik.com: ‘170 bpm - Respect the speed limit ’. The 170 bpm mark was breached years ago by your dn’b contempories. With your releases you seem to be aiming to reinstate a focus on what made jungle/drum and bass so ground breaking in the first place. What does this ‘speed limit’ represent to you, and what is Darkestral trying to communicate to the scene?
Instra:mental: 170bpm is just a tempo we choose to work at when writing ‘dn’b',anything above that speed for us is just too fast,but thats all just a matter of opinion really.
Darkestral is a label thats in its own space,the label owner isn’t about bringing back the past but is instead always looking to the future, the future of dn’b and other genres.

H.com: What was it that turned you onto drum & bass in the first place?
I:M: We grew up throughout the rave years and just followed the progression into jungle and dn’b.

H.com: Who are your top 3 classic dn’b producers, and your top 3 current producers?
I:M: Classics - Photek, Optical, Matrix, Hidden Agenda, Boymerang.
Current - d-Bridge, ASC, Consequence, Skream.

H.com: Yourselves and D-Bridge seem to have a very similar aesthetic in your production - how did you initially hook up?
I:M: We met at Swerve one summers night, got talking and from there we stayed in contact and the relationship grew naturally over time.

H.com: How does it work in the studio when you collaborate? Do you have separate rolls? Who builds what?
I:M: Well, we get a beat rolling and generally all jump on a synthesizer and grab a vibe, a bit like a band does.

H.com: After just a handful of Darkestral 12’s, and now with the Exit and Non Plus releases, you seem to be stepping up your release schedule this year – why is that?
I:M: We have more material at hand for one thing, and we’ve just started our own label called NonPlus+ which we need to keep a busy release schedule for.

H.com: Quality control must be important to you, with the Darkestral releases invariably being foil pressed, coloured vinyl or limited versions – this is the antithesis to many labels out there – what does this presentation bring to the music?
I:M: The way its presented is the way the label owner wants it to been interpreted, so the image is very important. Also nowadays we feel the product needs to be collectable.

H.com: Are you working on an album?
I:M: Yes we are, the album should be due 02/2010.

H.com: The Instra:mental ‘sound’ carries a lot of emotional weight, as well as the required bass weight. Again, this is something overlooked by many of your peers. What do you try and convey in your music? What inspires you?
I:M: We have been best friends since we were about 10-11 years old, so we know exactly what each other likes musically, although we have different tastes in music, we both grew up through the synth heavy 80’s and both love music with soul and emotion, as kids we used to order in hip-hop tapes from the US from our local records store.

H.com: Your releases have been described as ‘classic Photek’, ‘better than most techno’ and ‘not dn’b’. Where do think you sit in the UK electronic music scene? Has a certain Mr R. Parkes been a particular influence on you?
I:M: Photek was a great artist and I think what people can hear in our music is the Detroit element which featured heavy in his sound, also we worked with Source Direct who was from the same camp.
To be honest, we are concentrating on what we are doing and try not to think too much where we ‘fit’, at the moment we are just writing electronic music and enjoying it.

H.com: You’ve been making dubstep – do you think the growth and consequent exposure the dubstep scene has received has made many dn’b heads raise their game? Has it brought a fresh dimension to other bass/electronic scenes and if so, why do you think that is?
H.com: Dubstep has had a global effect on the electronic music scene full stop, so its only natural that it would have had inspired electronic music. I have been talking to a Techno producer from Detroit recently and he’s also been sucked up into the Dubstep whirlwind and is looking to start writing some dubstep.

H.com: What can we expect from you in a set, selection wise?
www.club-autonomic.com will give you the answer to that question.

H.com: Finally, what have you been listening to recently? And what should we look out for from Instra:mental in the coming months?
I (Bleek) am currantly listening to alot of Theo Parrish, Jamal Moss, Omar S.
My (Drama) iPod playlist at the moment currently contains: Fever Ray, Jose Gonzales, Autechre and Telefon Tel Aviv.
Forthcoming from us are the rest of the podcasts, Nonplus+001 in shops now - Wonder Where by dBridge - No Future by Instra:mental - NonPlus+002 Watching You by Instra:mental and Tramma by Instra:mental due September time.
Also lined up on NonPlus+ we have releases from Skream and ASC whilst we are writing our album.
Forbidden and Leave It All Behind are due out on Applepips around August time.

Interview by Louis Cook.