This track started off as a remix of Sultans of Ping FC's "Where's Me Jumper?!". I'm not joking. Sorry for the tardiness, but this tune was in a right state and needed a lot of work. I like where it is now though. Anyway.

September 2009

I'd been on tour with the mighty Tomás Ford around this fair country of ours, and was absolutely fucking knackered after a pretty full on week and a half of shows, booze, and saying the phrase 'good evening, cunts' into microphones a lot. Before I left, a good mate of mine asked me if I wanted a slot at the upcoming Earthdance festival that he was helping to organise in country WA. I said, "Fuckin' beast oath" or words to that effect. I'd landed a 3am slot on the side stage (which was where everything that wasn't some kind of trance was), which I was fucking happy with. I remember being unsure how my music would go down, considering the crowd and the other acts on during the event. I resolved to just try and make the best of it.

Let me set the scene a little. After leaving school in 2000, I was playing in a rock band (and fucking loving it), but I dreamed of writing drum and bass. The rolling basslines, craftily chopped breaks and unending energy of it all really appealed, especially anything techy or heavy. I went to as many gigs as I could at Drum Club and then Heat, and was always hungover on Friday mornings after hitting Roller pretty heavily for a long time. The first dnb mix that I really connected with was Moving Shadow 01.1, which is still a fucking cracker - hit it up.

My obsession with drum and bass aside, when I heard Cotti & Cluekid's "The Legacy" really fucking loud at the Rosemount one night, something clicked in my brain - the part of my brain that loved the synth details and heavy flavour of tech dnb so much. I've been pretty obsessed with synthesizers for more than half my life. They've been one of the only constants in my life over the last fifteen years.. which I suppose is a bit sad really, but also fuck off, they are amazing. At least, this dubstep thing seemed like the perfect fit for me, at least in my head. It was simple enough for me to be able to write, but also it seemed to be all about how crazy you could make a synth act. Dial up a sound and just go for it. I know that's not where dubstep came from, but I think it's still the most interesting aspect of the whole genre.

Anyway, Earthdance. I think I was sold/billed as a dubstep artist, because I'd been experimenting with that sort of sound for a few months after becoming enamored with the genre earlier in the year, and it was really taking off at that point too. YLEM was also on the Earthdance bill, so it was going to be a full scale assault on the hippies.

The next part is hazy, as I'd had a few pints, and don't remember exactly how it went down. We were at the pub maybe a week before the event with a few people, and got chatting about the Sultans of Ping FC's classic tune "Where's Me Jumper?!". I joked that I should do a remix of it for my set at Earthdance. There was enthusiastic agreement from at least one person at the table (you know who you are), so that night I went home, recorded the classic vocal hook off youtube, and wrote a sorta-dubstep tune around the sample. Truth be told, I just used the vocal, and then went back to a couple of old faithfuls. I cut the tune up, dropped it into my live set thinger, and there it was, ready to go.

The evening came, I dropped the tune and it was fucking cool hearing it through the loudest system I've played on to date (and that was the small stage - these trance guys do not fuck around). I think there were about seven people watching, but my mates seemed to enjoy it, and I'd had a good part of a bottle of Clan Campbell by that stage, so all was good in the world.

The tune has been in my live mix for a while now (sans Sultans of Ping FC sample - I've heard they're litigious) in a few different forms, but it never really sat very well. I'm very happy with it now though, despite the fact that the mix is still all over the place - it's that kind of distorted, fucked up, too much acid, too many filters type of tune. I've never claimed to be a mad engineer, but I can't stomach handing tunes over for other people to mix, so you're all just going to have to fucking deal with it.

Without further ado: HENDRA II - Constant Teen.