Molecular Structures, a.k.a. Filip Dragovic, was born in 1990 in Düsseldorf, Germany but soon moved to Belgrade with his family. Thanks to his father, who was a music enthusiast in his spare time, he always had musical instruments in the house to play with. Eventually he began training in classical music, jazz drums and music production and began producing aged 13. He got into DnB a couple of years later through techstep and neurofunk and his first releases were under his pseudonym 2key in 2008. His debut album, Memories Long Lost, is coming out on Basswerk on August 27th so we thought it time to find out more about him...

Tell us more about the album you're releasing...

It's very colourful. There are a couple of darker and deeper tracks like Emo, some harder ones like Deeperdation and even some liquid. I like how I ended up releasing it on Basswerk, since their usual sound is quite dubby and liquid, which usually is the complete opposite of what I like most in DnB. So there are tracks like Memories Long Lost or Emo that are completely me, and other ones where it's more my take of all the interesting sub-genres in DnB.

What's the thought process behind the title?

There's a lot of older tracks on the album. Stuff from early 2009 which I felt should be on there, but I think my sound is going deeper in the future and I'm leaving a lot of the sounds that are on the album behind. So sort of like my takes on my influences, on an album.

What did you set out to achieve with it?

It's kind of like the back story to the Molecular Structures people will get to know very soon I hope, and also a way to introduce people to stuff they normally maybe wouldn't listen to if it was a genre album; and I'm really surprised by the reactions already. Some of my friends that I play jazz with have liked tracks like Autumn Day or Deeperdation, which I guess is not what I initially expected them to like, but definitely what I hoped for!

How does working on albums compare with singles?

When I work with singles it's usually spontaneous stuff that comes. I might find a sample, or have an idea in my head for something I wanna try out, whereas with an album I was very concerned that it has a central thought that pulls through the whole thing, and sort of tells a story; in the case of Memories Long Lost it's the story of how I got to a sound that defines me.

Can we expect anything different on it?  

I really hope that people think so. I definitely didn't want it to fit in a niche, and more so to avoid a 'sub-genre'. Of course a lot of people will probably say it's following a wave of the new 'minimal' sound but I just wanted to take some key components of different sounds and build them into something that's me.
 
Who have you collaborated with on it?

All of the artists I've collaborated with on the album I'm good friends with or at least got to be during the making of the album. Most of them I know through drum & bass. Prozoo for example I met through a mutual friend, on a collab they were stuck with, and now we've even formed a group and regularly make tracks. Also, I really enjoy just engineering tracks (I've even been solely engineering tracks, my favourite example of which is Euphorics & Joe Easy Nuttah's Smoke, which is coming out in September on Santorin), and I find that with other people I focus a lot more on the mixdown, and on the space of the tracks, rather than on the specific components, since there's a lot of input, mostly musically, from all the people I've collaborated with.

How did the album come to be released on Basswerk?

Funny story actually! I'd been sending The Green Man dubs, talking on AIM, and he really liked them. He signed them for a single, and I sent him a couple of more tunes. And the more I sent him the more he wanted to sign. After a while, he asked me to do an album for Basswerk. Even though it probably isn't the best time to start a discography with an album, especially an album that's not mainstream jump-up or something that sells, he was really into the sound and wanted to push the project forward. I think right now it just happened that the two of us are exploring similar things, and I guess we just happened to have a similar ideas about the initial tracks that were the base of the album, but also I guess it was a fortunate coincidence. I'm really looking forward to his album as well, the teasers are sounding deep, soulful and heavy!

What are you working on at the moment?

A lot actually. I've been and am still working on some remixes for Bulb & Dominic Ridgway, I've got collabs to finish with Unqoute, Blue Motion, Thorne and even a producer that I just found out about, Keynote, watch out for this guy, some serious quality coming from Leicester city!

Do you make any other types of music apart from drum & bass?

I like to make all kinds. When I started with production I was making hip hop beats. I also tried myself at ambient, dubstep, breakbeat and even had a short period of collaboration with a friend of mine from boarding school making some sort of electronic pop rock or something like that under the name Band in Action.

You're studying philosophy in Sheffield just now, how have you found living in the UK?

Well, since I've lived in the UK for the past three years (going to boarding school, finishing my A Levels and then deciding to go to uni in the UK as well) I've gotten used to it. I don't think it's as rainy as people think it is, I really like the cooler weather actually. I'm also a lot more sarcastic than both Serbian and German people, so I guess it's more natural for me to live in the UK than in the countries I've lived in before.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

I've just given away some free tunes in the form of the Properties of a Substance EP on Absys Recordings, which can be downloaded here, there's forthcoming tunes from me to be expected digitally on Loxy's CX, a 12" on Influenza Minus and some stuff that's not yet confirmed. But if you like what you hear, and want to keep track of me there's my Facebook, Soundcloud and Twitter pages, where I usually post stuff. Oh yeah, and the album sampler with Emo and Seeing Sounds (featuring Djix and MC Edge) is out on promo, should be out full artwork very soon!

Download Molecular Structures' minimix

Tracklist

1. The Green Man & Molecular Structures - Sonnenuntergang [Basswerk]
2. Sabre - Marvel [Critical]
3. Molecular Structures - Memories Long Lost [Basswerk]
4. Dbridge - Dim Light [Exit]
5. Unquote & Molecular Structures - Emo [Basswerk]
6. Dbridge, Instra:Mental & Skream - Acacia Avenue [Autonomic]
7. Consequence - 11 Circles [Exit]
8. Photek - Smoke Rings [Science]
9. Molecular Structures - Underachiever [unsigned]
10. Sabre, Icicle & Noisia - Quarters [Critical]
11. Sabre - 100 Teeth (Dominic Ridgway Remix) [Critical/Kmag Competition Winner]

Molecular Structures - Memories Long Lost CD Tracklisting

1. Molecular Structures - Memories Long Lost
2. Unquote & Molecular Structures - Emo
3. Molecular Structures - Lamb's Theme
4. Molecular Structures - Autumn Day
5. Molecular Structures feat. Djix & MC Edge - Seeing Sounds
6. Molecular Structures & Prozoo (PMS) - So Good
7. The Green Man & Molecular Structures - Sonnenuntergang
8. Molecular Structures & Prozoo (PMS) - Deeperdation
9. Molecular Structures & Kinetik - Kersnost
10. Molecular Structures - Train Station Thoughts
11. Molecular Structures - Dusk Till Dawn
12. Molecular Structures - Odyssey
13. Molecular Structures & The Green Man - Where We Are
14. Molecular Structures - Lonely Town
15. Molecular Structures, Prozoo & Euphorics - Holiday

BW37 by Fil_Molecular

• Molecular Structures
,
• Basswerk

Related Links:

• Subz & Matik Interview
• Basswerk To Release Low Pressure Area
• Issue 101
• Dizplay Readies Shift Happens LP
• Sway - Over (Game Over Freestyle)

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