UPFRONTBEATS

This Month’s Interview and Guestmix, comes from Smyth who has just had a massive release on the latest Hot Creations Summer Jams Complilation

Smyth Upfrontbeats Nov 2014 Guestmix by Upfrontbeats on Mixcloud

Tell us about your first DJing experience and how did it come about’

I started Djing Trance & Prog using Vinyl back in 2003 with two very close friends of mine Blackhall & Bookless who run a night in Newcastle & London called JAUNT, Trance was for us the current sound of which still holds a very strong position in my heart being some of the funniest days of my teens. we used to spend our weekends buying records and having a mix and this is where I really grew a passion for electronic music moving into the House & Techno seen.

My 1st real Djing experience was in 2013 playing for another night from newcastle called MOTION run by patrick topping & a few other close friends. MOTION hosted the blue room at the faversham Garden Party in Leeds and was just before Patrick’s 1st release on Hot Tracks. We had a full coach of Geordie’s travel down to Leeds and the event was rammed. The sun was shining and there was such vibrant atmosphere all day. We played that evening when things moved in doors and the blue room was full all night ! The blue room is a very intimate room and is where I witnessed Patrick really start to shine stealing the crowd with his own productions. I played after Patrick to a full room and was absolutely buzzing in my element . An amazing weekend end on all fronts and this is when I decided I really wanted to produce my own music and started taking my production seriously.

What was the inspiration behind the formidable track ‘Fuck Detroit’ and how did you go about producing it’

I bought Ableton Live 8 in 2012 but didn’t put any real time or effort into my own track’s until after the faversham in leeds 2013, I haven’t taken any courses or studied music so in my spare time, evenings and weekends taught myself how to use the program using pretty basic tutorials on youtube. After I learned all the basic functions I just starting messing about with sound, experimenting became really fun and I looked forward to my free time playing on Ableton live.

When I became confident with the program I started making my own tracks but everything was a mess and had no real structure so I decided to study the layout of my favourite tracks. At the time I had no knowledge of music production merely an ear for sound and youtube tutorials. I came to the conclusion that a track needs a solid bassline and groove, so i started making bassline’s and after hours of both fun and frustration came up with the bassline, every thing else seemed to fall into place. I was literally dancing around my room to what I had created ! I stopped put my hands on my head and absolutely buzzing shouted ‘FUCK’ then being a lover of Techno and with the track having a real electronic vibe to it decided to name it Fuck Detroit.

What does the future hold for Andy SMYTH in terms of production and DJing’

It is still very early days for me in the industry, Fuck detroit is my first signing and my production is improving all the time. I am letting things flow naturally working hard on my tracks and currently working on a few remix’s. I just love Djing and making beats and believe there are endless possibilities. All I can say is thank you very much for all the support it really means a lot to me and watch this space ‘

Tell us three musical influences from different points of your career. Something that kicked you off, one that has kept you going, and one that you still use to keep you sharp’

I have always loved music and for me it gets better an better all the time. Being Surrounded by close friends Djing andProducing then my experience at the faversham gave me the drive to start producing. I had only bin producing a year if that and getting the feedback like I have for Fuck detroit really over welmed me and took a while to sink in at first. I owe a Huge thank you to Waff for initially recognising my track, Cera Alba for using it in his Ibiza Voice podcast, Jamie Jones for playing it live on Be-at-tv but most of all Richie Ahmed for using it in his Radio 1 guestmix. This and all the kind words and messages sent to me on soundcloud have kept me going and have inspired me to make more music. One thing that keeps me sharp and is my golden rule producing is that if im not standing up dancing to my own music and feeling the way I do when Im in a club hearing something new that really hits the spot then it doesn’t make the grade.

We love a modern classic at UpFrontBeats, please could you share yours’

Flashmob ‘ Need in me. I absolutely love this track, it has an amazing vibe and the crowd go wild every time I play it. The female vocal gets me everytime, an amazing track on all levels.

Hot creations obviously thought your track was hot this summer, did you have a hot pick yourself this summer’

Joor Ghen ‘ Flying Hearts (R Plus L Remix)

Do you have any advice for any one who would like to start producing records and how they would first get involved’

If your really going to take things seriously then you need the basic tools in which to do so, my advice would be get rid of your playstation or xbox, buy yourself a mac and get yourself an official licensed copy of ableton live. Believe me the game only gets better and the fun never stops. This way you shouldn’t have any problems and there is amazing support if you do. Everything else is left up to you, be creative experiment with sound and enjoy yourself.

As winter draws near are there any records or producers we should be looking out for’

Ben Wood ‘ up coming Dj and producer based in newcastle. Gin, mad blunts his 1st release on underground records in 2013 and Be there released late 2013. two quality deep house tracks and has some really good tracks in the pipeline. He is also signed to JA music international, and riff raff based out las vegas. In his early years of production and Definatley one to keep an eye on. https://soundcloud.com/benedictwood

Jacky (UK) ‘ up coming Dj and Producer from newcastle now based in london, Chugger released on Different Attitudes this summer is a quality track being played by jamie jones, Russ Yallop and Mark Jenkyns. Stayed in the beatport tech house charts for 5 weeks reaching number 12. He also has his ‘Fair One’ EP coming out on Blue Dye next month. Some really well produced tracks coming from jacky with no doubt in my mind a lot more to follow. https://soundcloud.com/jacky_music