Introducing: Perkussiv Music

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Perkussiv Music

Pushing the genre boundaries of drum & bass is a group of dedicated music lovers working as Perkussiv Music. An opportunity to speak with founding member Amex about the label project and his personal take on the state of our music has brought us here, and he's assembled an exclusive mix to go with...

Tell us about Perkussiv Music and what you're doing with this new label project?

Perkussiv Music's philosophy is about releasing quality music, both drum & bass and techno / minimal. Our main focus is getting to the heart and soul in tracks we release. For the sake of quality we've been very picky in signing tunes, as not every artist fulfills our criteria, and with that in mind we decided to get well-known artists like The Sect, Cooh, Pyro, Skynet, etc. on board. Every artist on the Perkussiv roster identifies with the label and embodies the spirit.

We aim be as professional as possible and maintain transparency with our artists and fans, and feel it's important to be reliable in all respects of the business. We treat our artists as they deserve (good communication, sales management, promotion, etc.), all our releases are professionally mastered, fans can win fan goods and we do free giveaways, etc. to show our appreciation.

Your label staff is based all over Europe, so who else is involved? What are you each bringing to the table?

We are four persons hailing from Switzerland (Rufftex and Pao), Austria (Tamas) and Germany (Amex). The story is pretty simple. I was playing in Switzerland and met Roger (Rufftex) who booked me. We instantly liked each other and when we met in Germany I told him about starting a label with Lucas (Tamas), instantly infecting his heart with the ideas. Later on Marc (Pao), a longtime friend and partner of Roger joined our team.

Roger is very experienced in organizing events in Switzerland, and in artist treatment.

Marc is something like a backbone for us. He organized a very popular party series in Switzerland called 'Possessed-by' which came with awesome reputation. Additionally as a freelancer he knows a lot about company structures, book-keeping etc. In short: he does all the bureaucratic stuff the others are not able to do.

Lucas should be well-known for his music in the technoid drum & bass scene and as well he is a very experienced promoter in Austria with Bassintoxication, Cybnetic and the Plattentat event series.

Last but not least I (Andreas) have been involved with music for a long time, and am responsible for the original vision of Perkussiv. Day to day I take care of the label's image management, and I keep the goals and ideas together. This year I'm starting to organize some techno events in Germany, so that all four of us are respectively holding events, which makes up an essential tool for our label.

What is the Perkussiv JAM! event series all about?

Perkussiv JAM! is a series of Perkussiv Music parties, where our label artists exclusively represent Perkussiv Music. At the moment we are in a hot phase, setting up the concept and organizing with promoters all over the world.

So far The Sect, Cooh, Pyro, Katharsys, Allied, Amex, Eiton and more represent our artist roster. Promoters can book their favourite artists and we offer collaborative work. The first international events (alongside those in our own clubs) can be expected late 2010 / beginning 2011.

The techno influence is really noticeable in your DnB catalogue, and you're planning on some minimal techno releases as well. How have you balanced the label to support such different genres of music?

As a whole, we love the influence of techno in drum & bass, and you can certainly notice it in our release schedule. We combine techno DnB with techno influenced DnB. On the one hand is our great passion for the monotonous tribal techno DnB like that of Proket, Yabol, Pyro, Cooh, etc., and on the other hand is our love for the more classic DnB with techno influences, like The Sect. We think it is important to be widespread but at the same time stick to our vision. So it's a fair compromise.

4/4 techno and minimal wise, Lucas' vision was to release minimal techno from the very first moment. We think it's consequent to spread the label's release schedule this way, since techno is at the head of Perkussiv Music. We all produce minimal / techno and play a lot of events, so our heart is definitely behind it.

Your artist roster is basically a 'who's-who' of tech dnb producers and DJs, so can we expect a lot of remix and collaborative works on the Perkussiv imprint? Are there any team-ups we should watch for?

Yes, there is a Pyro EP schedule for our next release, which should be out end of July / beginning of August. This EP will include an original and remixes by Histibe, Katharsys, and myself. After that we will do a summer break and come back in October this year.

Another release from The Sect with a Cooh remix can be expected, and for sure some other surprises. Also as mentioned, we will be launching the techno and minimal side of Perkussiv Music with respected artists like Dandi and Ugo from Italy, Autistic, Piatto, Costantino Nappi and more.

Any advice can you offer for the upcoming beat-makers out there? With the number of demo submissions you're receiving, what sticks out about the new music you're getting, and what are you looking for?

I don't like giving advice but just be original, individual and love what you are doing. Express yourself. Do not be a copy of a copy of a copy. At the very least, for new artists to be part of Perkussiv Music he / she should fulfill this standard.

Aside from the label thing, the drum & bass that you're known for has a very signature sound, how long have you been working at it? Are you after a specific vibe when you get to work in the studio?

I started producing in 1996 just playing around with tools like Rebirth. I had a lot of fun with it and soon recognized how much I love to express my inner world. Shortly after, I bought a Yamaha RM1x, an all-in-one hardware step sequencer and made my next step. Nowadays I use Cubase and Ableton which provide me endless freedom.

When I'm starting a new project there are a lot of things which are essential: sound quality is number one (and for sure improvement, learning new techniques and skills).

Furthermore I always have the dancefloor in mind. I imagine how the vibe would be in a club, if I was dancing to the music myself. I keep my productions focused on a tribal lead sound as is the centre of the tune.

Maybe the most important thing is to add my personal note into the music... It has to transmit deep inner feelings, spirits, wishes and yearnings, so that the music is alive and unique.

Do you have any side-projects or alias stuff we should be watching for?

I've started to concentrate more on my techno productions under the same artist name recently. Last year I was picked up by mighty Italian label Italo Business and I licked blood playing techno instead of drum & bass. Techno gives me so much more freedom and innocence that DnB just does not provide. I think it's important to develop and get new impulses.

Additionally I've got another EP on Italo Business and FanFare, and for sure when launching techno on Perkussiv, I'll put out some of my own tunes as well.

What kind of reception do you get playing out in your home town, and has it always been that way? Where are the best crowds for hard and techy DnB you've seen?

To be honest, it's hard to play technoid drum & bass in Germany. Therapy Sessions has a good reputation and I think it's the only event series that works for said kind of DnB.

On the other hand the techno scene in Germany is really huge and this is why we're launching some events and focusing more on it here at home.

DnB wise though, the craziest crowd I've played for was in Bulgaria. It was so much fun playing there, the people really love the hard DnB, and you just can't play hard enough. It was pure self-fulfillment. In general the eastern part of the world has always been a good experience for me musically.

How much time do you spend in the studio during an average week? What kind of gear/software are you running?

There is no fixed plan. Sometimes I'll produce six tunes in a week and sometimes there will be a lot of space producing nothing, but more concentrating on label work and studying. For me it is essential not to enforce anything. The right moment to start or finish a project will present itself.

At the moment I am making a complete switch to Ableton Live, because the work flow will bring more life into my productions, that I deeply miss in Cubase. I am finishing some projects in Cubase and then making that final jump. I got an APC for Ableton which should be a perfect match for what I want and how I do it.

Some of the producers responsible for shaping the technoid sound have moved on to other projects, many sharing thoughts that the sound cannot be progressed any further or that the style has been mimicked to death. What are your thoughts on the matter?

I totally agree but maybe not that radically. We love the technoid sound in DnB and won't stop producing, and we will not stop releasing it. I think it's a fair compromise releasing techno DnB and techno influenced DnB under the same label that way.

With our unique philosophy we provide evidence that we want to release unique and deep music. I think many producers and label heads were sick of the missing space and deepness and moved on because of that fact. The only difference is that we try to support the music we love.

Anything you'd like to add?

I deeply thank Roger, Marc and Lucas for their contribution. Pyro always gave us good advice and tips that we appreciate a lot. For sure we thank all of our artists. Without their contribution Perkussiv Music would not be around. And a big thank you to our fans and supporters like Broozy of the Nextstation crew, CRS, Mr. Britz and Mr. Dubcomm, Wiz, Eiton and many more who've essentially supported us since the beginning.

Words: Ty 'Dubcomm' Metford

Download Amex 's Perkussiv Music mix

Tracklist