Lee Batchelor and Keir Cleminson, aka Future Engineers, have been releasing drum & bass since 1997 and were signed exclusively to LTJ Bukem's Good Looking label for a few years. They amicably ended their contract with Good Looking Records in 2006 and in the last few years have re-established themselves by releasing material on labels such as Camino Blue and Covert Operations.

 

Lee and Keir have gone their separate ways recently and Future Engineers is now just Lee. He recently launched a label called Transference Recordings to release Future Engineers material so we spoke to him to find out more...

Please introduce yourself...

I'm originally from North London. I grew up in Palmers Green, moved to Glasgow in 1994 where I lived for 15 years and I'm now living in Brighton. I DJ and produce drum & bass music under the name Future Engineers.

Why are you no longer working with Keir?

I still consider Keir to be part of Future Engineers although he has been busy with family commitments over the past few years, he has a daughter now so obviously priorities change. Now that we're both settled, I can see us collaborating again on some projects and hopefully we'll see his return on Transference in the future...

Why have you set up Transference Recordings?

Transference is an outlet for my music where I can write what I like and not have to worry too much about what niche it falls in to. Without having to conform to the styles on other labels in order to get tracks signed, it will be a good opportunity for me to experiment a bit more with the FE sound.

What does the name mean?

I thought that the name Transference fitted in with the whole digital download - file transfer idea. Then I noticed that it had the initials FE in the middle so that was the clincher!

What's the ethos behind the label?

I released a lot of music back when the atmospheric, 'intelligent' style of DnB was really popular but the scene has evolved a lot and now in 2010 most of the bigger labels that were pushing it have either disappeared or are doing something else.

There's some really good stuff being made now that's influenced by the old 'intelligent' drum & bass and it's inspiring me to experiment a bit more in the studio, explore other avenues without the worry of whether or not there's someone out there who will want to sign the tracks!

I've initially set the label up to release music only through the main digital download stores but I won't rule out the possibility of releasing music on other media, e.g. vinyl, in future, if it makes sense to do so. I'll try to build up the label profile first, see how things go...

One benefit of releasing the music only in digital format is that the financial risks are negligible so you have the freedom to be more experimental with what you produce.

Who else will release on the label besides yourself?

Initially Transference will be an outlet for Future Engineers music although I have plans to release a remix EP with the help from other artists that I know and respect. Of course, if I get sent a track that I'm really feeling and it slots in to my DJ set nicely, then I'll be interested to sign it!

Tell us more about the first releases, the Ellipse EP...

It actually took me two years to write parts of the EP! I moved to Brighton with my girlfriend to a new job and a new start so I had a lot of things to try and juggle around the studio so it's been a labour of love for me getting them finally finished.

When you work so long on any material and you're so close to it, it's hard to maintain the buzz that you originally felt from the piece in the earlier stages of creation. Hopefully the fact that I'm not completely sick of the tracks after all this time is a good sign!

I tried to cover a range of styles across the EP, some that you may not necessarily associate with Future Engineers, but I wanted to test the water with a few ideas and see what the response was.

Future Engineers - Ellipse EP by Future Engineers

 
Got any other singles in the pipeline for later in the year you can tell us about?

The Ellipse EP is fresh from the studio and for now I've been focusing on launching the label with it.  It's good to have got the ball rolling and I'll definitely try to firm up some plans for the next releases as soon as possible.

What tracks do you have coming on other labels?

My remix of an ICR track called Two Steps Backwards has just been released on Camino Blue's new Terra Mission CD compilation. I don't have any other forthcoming releases but I'm always interested to do stuff for other labels if they are interested too.

 

11 ICR - Two Steps Backwards ( Future Engineers Mix ) by caminoblue

 

What are you currently working on in the studio?

I'm currently working on the second release for the label, which will see some undertones of the old FE sound again. I have a handful of ideas looping on Logic at the moment, we'll see if any of them make the grade to be released.

Done any remixes recently?

I'm actually about to start a remix for an up-and-coming producer from Edinburgh called LM1. The track is called Berlin and I thought the original had a great vibe so I've just got the parts to mess around with, we'll see what comes of it. We'll probably do a collaboration at some stage too as our style can be very similar (and he comes from Scotland!).

I keep threatening to do a VIP mix of Downtime for the Camino Blue guys but I've not got round to it yet, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll get some more time to devote to other projects now that label has launched.

Any plans for an album?

There are no plans for a Future Engineers album at present, I'd like to build up the name again as well as the label before I think about that...I'll focus on doing singles - some collaborations, a few remixes and hopefully some vinyl again. See how things pan out...

• Future Engineers

Related Links:

• Camino Blue Unveil Drone Audio
• Pete Rann Guest Mix
• Introducing: LM1
• Botchit & Scarper Launch New Label
• MRK1 Interview

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