Dr Meaker may be a relatively new name to some of you, but they are a band on the rise. Testament to this is the upcoming schedule of both releases and live performances they have this summer. Taking the step to release a series of tracks on a range of labels (specifically Sludge, Ramajam and V), as well as their own Flightcase imprint, the Meaker crew certainly have a lot to keep them busy.

 

They still found the time to answer our pesky questions, so check out the interview below. The band have also given us a free track, Rubber Gloves, so be sure to check that as well!

 

For the benefit of the readers, please could you introduce yourselves, and let us know what each of you do in the band...

Ok so we have: Clive Meaker (founder, producer and synth wizard), Lorna King (songwriter and lead vocals), Tom Wheeler (drummer), DJ (bassist), Ben Wood (saxophone) and Jon Winder (trumpet).

 

Please can you describe your sound and how you go about making it...

Clive writes and produces all the tracks in the studio, sometimes with other members of the band contributing. To create our heavyweight live sound we have stripped back backing samples of our tracks on a Yamaha AW1600 hard drive, then on top of this we add the live instruments.

 

This is a really important element for us as we want to be giving the listeners the true representation of our music when we perform. So to sum up our sound; "Dr Meaker splices the dirt with the soul to fire up the sound system".

 

Tell us a little about the history of Dr Meaker...

Dr Meaker started back in 2007. That year we won the Glastonbury Festival Unsigned Act award for best Dance act and got ourselves major slots at Glastonbury. This opened doors for us and we have continued to play at Glastonbury every year since then including playing The Glade Stage, Dance Village and Arcadia.

 

In 2008 we released our first album A Lesson From the Speaker which gained support from BBC Radio 1, XFM, BBC 6 Music and we got a prime time Maida Vale session for Mistajam's record of the week. Following the first album we have released a few singles through our own label and have just been gigging at festivals and venues across the UK and Europe and planning our next move.

 

In November 2011 we released our track Higher ft. Redskin with Bristol label Ramajam Recordings which came with high profile remixes from Serial Killaz, Run Tings Cru and Eddie K and received numerous plays on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

 

You have a series of releases coming out over the spring and summer. Tell us about the new release on Sludge...

Yes, we have lots of exciting stuff going on this year. We are releasing singles throughout the year and then we will release an EP later on in the year. For us it is all about creating music that touches people's emotions and music that people can move to, regardless of a specific genre - just real music that makes you want to let go!

 

Because we create all types of bass music we decided this year we would release the different styles through relevant record labels in order to get the maximum exposure for each track. So the first tracks to come out are our dubstep tracks, which are being released on Sludge Records. The two tracks are called In My Soul and I Dream of You. They are available to buy on iTunes and all leading digital stores now.

 

 

 

What can listeners look forward to with the other releases? What labels will they drop on?

We have a rave influenced track called I Come Alive ft. Redskin which will be released on Ramajam Recordings, the title speaks itself. And then in June we have our drum and bass tracks being released on V Recordings. We are all very excited about this release and it will be a massive accomplishment for Dr Meaker and is set to be a huge release on both vinyl and digital.

 

I understand the band are hitting the road around the UK. How is that working out for you?

Yes, we have been hitting it hard and have just returned from the BRITS Snowboard and Freestyle championships in Laax, Switzerland. It was absolutely wicked and we all felt truly grateful to be there. Thanks to Okoru Productions we had a week's free skiing and snowboarding and were able to do what we all love most, which is play, and in the most extreme situations like on top of a mountain top! You can see the video of us in Switzerland below on Youtube that FHM/Greendore films commissioned and it features the upcoming A-side to our V Recordings release in June.

 

 

What are the plans for the band going forward? The plan for Dr Meaker is to keep doing what we do best which is creating strong, soulful bass music and playing blinding live sets across the UK and worldwide and spreading the message about us to as many music lovers as we can. We will be joining forces with an amazing management team later in the year and we will be sure to let Kmag and the readers know all about the exciting things to come from this.

 

Thank you for taking the time out. Do you have any shouts and anything else the readers MUST know about Dr Meaker?

Thank you for giving us this opportunity Kmag and to all our fans out there for supporting us. And to say that if real music is what you love then Dr Meaker are the band for you. We not only bring the raw soulfulness, but we bring the killer bass and beats too. You can visit us on www.drmeaker.co.uk and join our Facebook group and whistle crew group and we all look forward to seeing you at one of our gigs in the future.

 

Words: Gideon Thomas

 

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