Our Beyond Wonderland Bay Area coverage continues! We've got a great new interview for you today - drum & bass superstars Loadstar. The duo will be taking the stage on Saturday, and Nick Hill, one half of the group, took some time to speak with me about a number of topics, including the creation of their album Future Perfect, their relationship with RAM Records, and the show they'll be bringing to the Cheshire Gardens stage at Beyond.
Before we jump into the Beyond Wonderland stuff, I’d love to talk about the album you released a couple years ago. It was an insane drum & bass record. When you were writing the album, now that you can look back on it, what was the biggest goal you wanted to accomplish with these songs?
We just wanted it to be an artist album, a piece of work that summed us up as a collective, and a complete project and that had all our styles and influences in there from hip hop to deeper stuff, dubstep etc. Drum and bass will always be our first love but as musicians and writers we wanted to expand that…. It took us a long time to get it right but it was our first album so a definite learning curve. I think we were pretty happy with the results.
I think what had impressed me the most was that while it was still a drum and bass album, there were elements of R&B, like in the beginning of “Refuse To Love” that made it stand out a little bit more and solidify itself as a different take on the genre. Was that an inherent decision when writing to throw in elements from other genres?
Sure, at the time there were loads of DnB albums and we made a conscious decision that we didn’t want to make it 100% just drum and bass. We were keen to showcase the other stuff we could do as well, show a different side to our production, but mainly to have fun with it…. make the album a more well rounded, musical and listenable experience rather than just a ‘DnB bangers album with nothing in between’ kinda thing.
What drew you guys towards RAM Records? You guys have been working with them for quite awhile now.
Without being biased, RAM was always the number one label for us from a long time ago. We were fans from day one….historically they have always been at the forefront of DNB, discovering amazing talent and putting out quality releases time and time again. Artists like Chase n Status, Sub Focus and of course Andy C have paved the way and RAM continue to have that consistency today. For us it was the perfect home and the only label we would want to be on…..and its exciting times right now.
Beyond Wonderland will be here this weekend, and it should be an amazing time for all. Like all festivals, fans are going to have music being thrown at them left and right, all day. In your opinion, what do you think will set you guys apart from the other acts out there that day?
Aside from the fact that I think we are one of only two DnB acts, it will be cool to have that DnB vibe which always seems to go down great at these big festivals. The crowds are always amazing and super responsive and I think it is great to represent something different. Stuff like trap/dubstep is obviously big on these Bassrush stages so I like to think that DnB will give a different energy to the proceedings. Plus we have loads of new shit to play which is really exciting on the big systems!
This is the last question I ask to every artist that I interview, as a way to close things out. It’s a rather broad question, but what does music mean to you?
It’s everything, without it we (personally) have nothing. Our whole lives, how we express ourselves, the emotional language that allows us to feel something. Its hard to explain every reason, its just a strong love that brings inspiration and keeps us having a positive outlook on life!
Be sure to catch Loadstar's performance on the CHESHIRE WOODS stage at Beyond Wonderland Bay Area on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26th from 4PM to 5PM. For more information on the festival, visit www.beyondwonderland. For more information on Loadstar, visit www.facebook.com/loadstarmusic.
This has been another Shameless Promotion.