With a string of releases on the well respected Dispatch and Horizons labels, Amoss have been identified as the ones to watch for 2012. Now a staple in the darker side of d&b, the duo have been firing out collaborations with the likes of Dabs, J Robinson and June Miller with more projects in the pipeline. They have kindly compiled a mini-mix of their stuff exclusively for Kmag readers and remixed Dakosa's mighty 'Eleven'. We caught up with the pair to find out what they have coming up for this year and 2013, the strangest things they've seen whilst touring and where they get their samples from.

'Real Talk' and Hybris' rework of 'Minus' came out recently on Horizons. What else have you got coming up this year?

Andy: Allsorts! There's 'Lista' which is on Horizons for the Dreamthief 3 LP which I believe is out now. There's the VIP of 'Footloose', which will be backed with a track called Lost Soul that is forthcoming on Horizons X very soon. Plus there's a remix of Nickbee and Malk's 'Human Race' again for Horizons. There's also going to be a return to Dispatch with a collab with Teddy Killerz.

 

July marked the release of the critically acclaimed 'State Of Suspension' EP on respected label Dispatch. If you could both shapeshift, what would it be in to?

Andy: An Eagle or a Liger - one of those Lion/Tiger hybrids that are bloody massive. Flying would have its advantages though, not that you'd really do much else apart from chase mice and other small helpless creatures.

James: I was watching blue planet the other day and wouldn't mind switching lives with one of those deep sea creatures haha

 

 

You recently played an immense set in the Outlook dungeon. What is the most ridiculous thing you've both seen when touring?

Andy: There have been some pretty ridiculous toilets that I wouldn't care describe… One of the ridiculous moments though was a hotel in the Czech Republic that had a radio in the bathroom; it was turned on by what looked like the light switch. James walked in to inspect, flicked the switch and then 'Scatman' started blasting - and I mean blasting - out of the bathroom. It scared the daylights out of me.

James: It's always good when your Polish promoter passes out behind the decks during your set, especially after they said they would drink us under the table with their vodka.

Andy: Haha yeah, but when you find out the Polish version of a kebab is cabbage in a wrap it gets upsetting.

You mentioned in a recent interview you're collaborating with the likes of Dub Phizix and Need For Mirrors. Can you tell us any more about this?

Andy: Those never really saw the light of day/didn't get finished, hopefully we can get something fresh going in the future though. But at the moment we've got a bit on the go with Safire, which is sounding great. It's got a weird demented organ and a bunch of dub style guitar delays. We've also got Bristol Hip Hop collective Split Prophets writing for a track of ours which I'm really excited about, I've been a big fan of their stuff both collectively and separately under their own guises for a while.

Speaking of which, you've teamed up with a lot of talented names in the industry including June Miller and Dabs. Who have been the most inspirational and worst artists to work with?

Andy: Not as an artist, but Ant TC1 is the worst, he's awful. So unprofessional… Only joking, Ant is the best. It was great to work with him towards our 'State of Suspension' EP, he got the best out of us on that and his enthusiasm to the project really encouraged us.

I always enjoy working on J.Robinson collabs. I go into a very different mindset when we work on tracks and I always get inspired to try alternative sound design methods.

James: Dabs has been great to work with, shame we haven't even had the chance to meet each other yet though haha! Luckily we have never had any truly bad experiences working with others, there's always a bit of clashing with ideas but that's what you expect with working with someone else's creativity

Andy – what is James' worst studio habit?

Andy: I'm trying to think.. He doesn't really have any!

James: Andy's is Twitter haha!

Andy: Guilty

James – what is the most embarrassing thing to have happened to Andy since you've known him?

James: There's too many to mention... Falling down gaping drops and losing his glasses then walking half way home to meet his mum for a new pair, running into lamp posts and having to take a trip to hospital, ramming his ear plugs so far down into his ears it was almost impossible to get them out... The list goes on

Andy: And on and on…

You use a lot of samples in your production. What is the most interesting sample you've used yet?

Andy: I think the vocal in 'Tripped' is my favourite, KRS One's voice is so strong and it went perfectly with the tune. My little brother appears in the tune 'Zoku' doing all these tribal-esque shouts, the bass sound in the breakdown of that tune is made from a fart as well… A very glamorous display of sound design right there..

James: If I remember correctly I think there is a sample of a sheep hiding in 'Flex', courtesy of Mr Cliffhanga

What are your favourite dubplates at the moment?

Andy: dBridge's remix of Kodo's 'The Jackal', which is coming out on Ingredients. That and 'Genji' by Mtwn, it's got a really interesting broken rhythm and an intense vibe.

James: Ah too many to mention, top of the list is a new Pessimist tune which I'm not even sure I can name. Stray's remix of Spinline's 'Sundays', a tune by Fre4nk called 'Marching Cube' and Defo - 'Trying'

Can you give us an outline of your studio set-up?

Andy: It's pretty basic bedroom setups at the moment. We get asked this a lot at gigs and people are always surprised. We just both run Macbooks with Logic and Ableton. There isn't any hardware, but we have a lot of favourite plugins. Camelphat is a staple and the Native Instruments Kontakt 4 pack is a beauty.

James: Computer + speakers, what more do you need?

What is the longest you've both spent in the studio together and how do you avoid falling out?

Andy: I remember the mixing for New Jack Swing and Latch took a long time, but I don't think we've ever fallen out. We're too laid back and we respect each other so that we can easily compromise, Unfortunately we're boring and don't have any Eastenders moments. If it does get a bit much at the end of a session I'll just let James kick my ass on Fifa then it's all good.

James: And none of this Fifa 12 bollocks! All about Fifa 07.

What are your goals for 2013 and do you have any motivational guilty pleasures?

James: We have a few secrets in store that will be revealed in time. Asides from that I'm planning on making the move down to London in the New Year which couldn't come sooner.

Andy: Just to keep making music we love making. There are ideas for projects, but it's early days. I'd love to work with a range of vocalists, as it's something we've not really delved too deep into.

Guilty pleasures? Listening to country music, I love it way too much. My favourite is 'All My Exes Live in Texas' by George Strait, it's an undeniable classic I might start playing that as our last tune as a sing-a-long to be honest.

You're kindly giving away a mix exclusively to Kmag. What can you tell us about it?

Andy: It's a bit of an experiment. We've been using Ableton for production for years, but never really messed around with what you can do in terms of mixing tracks so we decided to do a minimix of all Amoss material new and old, there are lots of snippets coming in and out of various tracks plus some new bits we've been working on. It's a bit of fun, but also a cool retrospective look on some of the music we've made over the past 2/3 years.

James: it's really nice to hear what we have done in the past couple of years and tracks we have forgotten about as you get so wrapped up the 'now'.

You've remixed 'Eleven' by Dakosa. What can you tell us about it and what 11 items in total can you not live without?

James: I asked the guys about a possible remix after listening to the tune over and over for this little section, which sparked something off in my head. They were fine with us remixing it and had the track done in a day ready to test out that night. It was really good fun so I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do. Items I can't live without are music, skateboard, laptop, iPhone, milk, custard creams, vodka, the smell of freshly cut grass... any more?

Andy: iPhone, Ableton, Zoom H4, Coffee, bacon, a bed, Reddit, Camera, Gin, Ricky Gervais podcasts and my glasses, I'd be pretty useless without them.

 

Any final words for fans out there?

Andy: Thank you deeply to everyone who's ever bought our music, come to see us play out or stopped for a chat. I'd never have thought we'd be doing this 3 years ago. It's amazing to meet and play for people who are just as passionate about this music as we are.

James: As Andy said, we never expected to still be sat in-front of computers for the best part of a day making loud noises. A massive shout to all those people who support our music whether its buying tracks, coming to see us play out or just pressing play on YouTube.

Words: Liv Stroud

Download Amoss' guest mix here

Upcoming gigs
06/10 - Fractured Foundation, London
03/11 - Playground Sessions, Portugal
09/11 - Saarbrücken, Germany
10/11 - Ulm, Germany
16/11 - Origins, Birmingham

Related Links:

• Amoss Reveal 2012 Plans
• Amoss Guest Mix
• Hustle Audio Interview
• Horizons Release Internal Affairs 2
• Horizons Music Interview

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