Dubstep duo Fused Forces on their new vocal mixtape, forthcoming releases on their Substance Abuse imprint and how their debut album is progressing...

 

Tell us about the vocal mixtape you're working on...

Where do we start! Basically our DJing roots are in drum & bass, while our production roots started with grime. For years now we've been wanting to release a CD of vocal material so we finally started producing tracks and having them vocalled at the end part of 2009. We're primarily dubstep producers / DJs, but like most other producers we make a lot of alternative music which never gets to see the light of day. Our main other genres are hip hop and grime. We decided it was time people got to hear the other side to what we're all about. The mixtape is called Remain Unlabeled and we're looking to have it finished by the end of summer. We've got a lot of our favourite vocalists from around the UK on there, including Sonny Jim, Riko (Roll Deep), Joker Starr, Vader, Beezy, Millenium Jazz, JVF Clique, High Rise Ent, plus many more...

Tell us more about the forthcoming release on your label Substance Abuse...
 
The next release coming up is 004, the two tracks we picked are K-Hole and Who U Dealing With. Both are big sub heavy rollers with almost a minimal feel to them, but have still been causing a lot of damage on dancefloors. Between them they have been getting support by the likes of J Da Flex, Slaughter Mob, Phaeleh, Mensah, Darkside, Vista & Lost, to name a few. We are looking forward to getting that out there, it will be dropping on vinyl first then followed up on digital release a month later.

 

 

Got anything coming out on any other labels?
 
Yeah, the next release hitting shops on a label other than our own is gonna be the first release on Futurism Recordings, which is a strictly vinyl label set up by Deadly & Watson from Croydon, which, as everyone knows, is pretty much the hub of dubstep. The two tracks on the release are Digital Pervert and Grit Weed which are both pretty damn filthy and have been getting a nice amount of support by DJs especially N-Type, which is a big look. After that we have a remix we did of Black Forest by Matt Green dropping on base. Corrupt 10, a track on the forthcoming Police In Helicopter compilation, as well as a 2step/garage release on L2S Recordings next month. We have a few others coming later in the year too, but they are a bit hush hush for the moment.

What are you currently working on in the studio?
 
Been keeping ourselves busy as always, plenty of half finished tracks as usual haha! We've mainly been trying to work on tracks for the album as well as our hip hop project, with our long time MC/host Sdot under his new alias, Joe Skum. We've also been working with fellow Essex lad and badman turntablist DJ Cable, making a variety of different tracks within the 140bpm template including a remix of Terror Danjah's Air Bubble which has been getting a lot of good feedback.

 

Terror Danjah - Air Bubble (Fused Forces & Dj Cable Remix) by FusedForces

 

Done any remixes recently?
 
Yeah, one thing we're always doing is remixes! There's always a couple in the pipeline in our studio and we really enjoy putting our spin on other people's tracks when given the chance. We've recently produced remixes for Demon (Macabre Unit), Suspect, Matt Green, Orien, M2J, & Forensics. We're also currently working on a couple of dub influenced remixes for Gadman Dubs which are nearly finished as well as a darker track called Dirt for Stressor from the U.S. After that, we're looking forward to getting our hands on a remix for Itchy Robot from Afterdark and also a remix for Greek producer Fleck in the very near future.
 
What can you tell us about the album you're currently working on?
 
Ahhh the album, some people may already know the dramas we've had writing it. To cut to the chase, we lost about half of the tracks that were going to be on it when one of our studio hard drives went bang at Christmas time. So we've been re-building most of it since then. Which isn't a bad thing, as it's shaping up better than it was first time round. As for content, it displays the more deeper side of our production, some with a more darker edge. Others have a bit more of a summer vibe going on, with a few harder tracks thrown in for good measure. Keeping it to a minimum with the features too, just gonna be a handful on there, which we will keep under wraps for now.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

Just keep an eye out for all our forthcoming releases this year. The hip hop CD we are working on with Joe Skum (hopefully hitting shelves by 2011 if he finally gets his skates on haha!) and the podcasts which we are gonna be starting real soon. We've been DJing out and about a lot around the UK and Europe lately, so anyone interested in booking us hit up S.A Management and finally, a massive big up to Kmag for the interview!

 

Photography: James Burton (JB Photography)

 

• Fused Forces

Related Links:

• Reboot Label Profile
• Scorzayzee - Raging Bull Mixtape
• MC DRS Reveals His Latest Studio Projects
• DJ Cable Guest Mix
• Free Dynamite MC Mixtape

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