Danny Byrd is already for some years a celebrated producer of funky drum&bass beats. Even though he was one of the first artists who signed exclusively with Hospital Records (probably one of the most variated drum&bass label on the planet) it still lasted until the end of 2008 before his debut album was released. But it was worth the wait. From futuristic jungle beats to Daft Punk on speed, soulful vibes to pumping hiphop intermezzos, ‘Supersized’ has it all.
Your debut album took a long time to get released. But you are notorious as well for the amount of layers you put in to one song?
Yes, i put an average amount of 90 to 100 layers in each track I make. I love to intensify a certain sound by hiding 4 or 5 different sounds in it. You actually don’t really hear them, but it gives a certain strenght to the sound I started with. Like that, I’m every time getting a complicated puzzle. It’s actually a bad habit (laughing), because in that way I’m using a huge amount of time to finish a song. But I cannot stop it, so I just accepted it. In the mean time I know that it’ll take me three weeks to make a new song. That resignation is a lot less stressing. (laughing)
It certainly works, because songs like ‘Shock Out’ and ‘Weird Science’ are hardly comparable to other people’s work.
Funny that you name those two. They both turned out as huge hits to me, but ‘Shock Out’ was actually finished pretty soon, and that’s really an exception for me. Sometimes the more simple ideas seem to be the best ones. With ‘Weird Science’ it seems to be the other way around again. It took me at least six months to make that tune, until I was really sick of it. In the end I just didn’t knew it anymore en I obligated myself to put it away for a while. At the time the album came out, I was feeling the song again, for the better, because it’s probably one of the more popular tracks on ‘Supersized’.
Do you still play ‘Weird Science’?
For about two months I stopped playing it; I was tired of hearing the track. If I get booked somewhere, then I know that fans expect me to play my own songs in between new stuff, so that’s why I regulary make a renewed version of my most famous tracks. So they keep being interesting for me to play out. Nowadays I’m playing a newer version of ‘Gold Rush’, a track I made with the Brookes Brothers.
In the meantime you often proved that you are a great dj: doubledrops, classics and dubs, superfast mixing...you seem to do it all. Last year we could witness that at Breakdown.
Fast and furious (laughing). As a dj I like to be in a mix the whole time. I’m looking for the right amount of music and I’m trying to mix those as fast as possible, so there can be no moment of boredom. I love to take the tonalities, of the records, in consideration, but once and a while they can clash a bit. If I feel the crowd wants to hear a certain record, then I will not be ashamed to try and mix it with the rest, even though the tonalities seem to be mismatched.
Already with your first release it was obvious that you like to absorb influences from other musical genres. I remember that, about 8 years ago, you released ‘R&B vs D&B’. That was ‘Volume 1’, but a second one never came out.
That is the curse of being both lazy and a perfectionist, I’m afraid. I listen to a lot of other music; funk, house, hiphop, electro...
‘Weird Science’ for example, is the result of the success of Justice, and that made everyone look back to Daft Punk. I like to transform the sound of other genres to a drum&bass format. I’m often in the mood to make other music, but drum&bass is a full time job and I’m actually really happy of where I’m at right now.
Since the release of your album you’ve made a lot of remixes. Are those ones a direct result of the success of ‘Supersized’?
Yes, that’s how it works. With a strong album you immediately put yourself in the spotlight and other record labels and artists will notice that. I reworked some songs of Timmy Vegas, Rudenko and Sugar Rush Beat Company, and some other ones will be released as well. Slowly I’m starting to work on some own songs and soon, I’ll get into the studio with the Brookes Brothers for a cooperation on their album.
The new mix album of your home base, Hospital Records, is also made by your hand.
Yes, it was fun that they asked me to do that, and I’ve really tried my best. It’s really different then a normal dj set, because I could only use tracks of the Hospital back catalogue, but being limited can be enjoyable as well. I’m really proud of the result.
Hospital Mix Seven and Supersized are released on Hospital Records.
Danny Byrd plays the 25th of april on Rampage at Trix/Hof Ter Lo, Antwerp.
http://www.hospitalrecords.com/artists/dannybyrd/
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celine
23/04/2009 at 14:24
lookin fwd for that party!