"One of Ground Level's new signings for 2012 Joe C delivers his unique brand of funk laced breaks on his début single Skunky!
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Joe has been DJing in and around his home city, making edits and original beats for his DJ sets. Some of these edits came to the attention of Ground Level and brought our attention to Joe. After hearing Skunky we knew the hunch was right, if you need something super funky to warm up the dancefloor you need look no further!
Rebel Sketchy, after three releases on Ground Level last year, supplied the remix, taking it to a deeper and darker place, which builds and builds, perfect for the peak time late night crowd!"
Also this week the first Ground Level Podcast has gone live on iTunes,They’re aiming to make this a monthly look at all that’s hot in breaks and bass. This one features tracks from Rebel Sketchy, Stanton Warriors, Zinc, Datadex, Curtis B, Joe C, Poxy Music and DJ Hero, amongst others. It can be grabbed or subscribed to here - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/ground-level-podcast/id503911944
After supplying us with 40 releases of quality, thumping breakbeat, the Ground Level guys have decided that the 41st is gonna be a freebie. Rebel Sketchy provides the track which is a techy, psy infused piece which rolls along nicely with cool electro riffs and spacey FX until the dubstep (ish) breakdown. Once the beats kick in again we get lost in a swirl of FX laden bleeps, boops and bass. This ain't no peak time stomp but definitely a very well produced, late night/early morning jam which will see the 6 am crew off nicely.
Today I am are very pleased to bring you a special feature on one of the most forward thinking breakbeat labels working in the scene today. Ground Level Recordings have been supplying the breaks community with some of the highest quality music from the freshest, most talented producers around, since 2007. Their output saw them nominated at Breakspoll 2009 as Best Breakthrough Label and label owner Andy Mcalister has been hard at work to make sure they stay on top by embracing the digital age and drawing upon all the best areas of the breakbeat scene today. We have an exclusive interview with Andy and competition to win the latest release on Ground Level, the Disruptive Beats CD, and a label T-shirt, a fresh DJ mix using only output from the label, all the edits and re-rubs used in the mix and your chance to remix all the five lead tracks from the compilation (DJ Hero – Game Face, Dane O – Me and You, Black and Blunt – Never Get Enough, Beatsmack – Ruff Em Up and Rebel Sketchy – The Ride). These remix parts are every single part of the track too. Not just acapella and synth line like some. Drums, percussion, bass, vocal snippets every little part is available on a creative commons license for you to use in your own remixes. On to the interview...
1. Many thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, the label & your background.
Thanks for the opportunity to be featured on your blog! About me… well I’ve been DJing and producing for about 10 years, originally playing Big Beat, then moving onto breaks as the scene emerged. Ground Level was born out a night of the same name at a venue called the Glasshouse in Derby. I started the night as a monthly breaks session which gave me the opportunity to invite producers whose music I was feeling down to Derby to play. We had some great talent come down including Groove Allegiance, Darft Phunk (who’s now Pimpsoul), Stylus Rex, Strider, Jay Cunning, Superstyledeluxe, Slackshot and Plaza De Funk who all came to play, and party. With such a great network of talented producers I thought that starting a label would be a great way to make my mark on the breaks scene and get some fresh music out there.
2. How would you describe your take on breakbeat and what is the ethos behind Ground Level Recordings?
I view breaks as music with a broken beat and an underground feel, which could be a traditional breaks track, some Baile funk, Miami bass or Baltimore beats, or music incorporating all of the above and more! Ground Level is primarily a party label, with music aimed squarely at the Dancefloor, however some of the artists on label like Stylus Rex take things a bit deeper with a more electronica sound in some of his productions. Ground Level’s main aim is to release awesome music, and I always try to keep that in mind when putting the releases together.
3. Tell us about the disruptive beats series?
Disruptive Beats is a bit of a concept series which involved 5 artists (DJ Hero, Dane O, Black and Blunt, Beatsmack and Rebel Sketchy), each artist provided a fresh track, I commissioned some remixes for them (or in one case did the remix myself) and the artist reinterpreted a back catalogue track from the label. Each artist had their own EP in the series, and then the series has finished with an album which was mixed by myself and Pimpsoul. The idea around the project was to disrupt the concept that breaks is in any way or means dead and present a series of fresh tunes by fresh artists. It’s really come together well, and has been an awesome (if huge) process to put together. I’m thinking about making it a yearly series and compilation, like our calling card for those who prefer to buy albums to dip into the Ground Level sound every so often! Incidentally the compilation is out this week at all good download stores!
4. What can people expect from a Andy Mcalister DJ set and your Ground Level club nights?
In my DJ sets I try to take my definition of breaks and bring it to life, throwing together fat beats with a range of influences, a huge dollop of Ground Level material and some re-edits to keep the crowd warm. I’m heavily influenced by the US scene so my sound probably carries quite a few hallmarks of that scene, it seemed to work on a very non-breaks crowd in Gatecrasher recently so hopefully is the right combination of styles. Ground Level parties are an opportunity for the label family and some of our friends to get together and drop some beats with the emphasis being on great music. We’re currently running parties at the Raving Buddha in Shepherd’s Bush in London, an awesome party venue with a Funktion One soundsystem, and a pool table! (the next one’s on 20th August) Before that we used to be bi-monthly at Bar Vinyl in Camden, we’re also doing label nights soon in Cambridge with Dirty Spirit and Derby with Bridge the Gap. For our parties I prefer smaller venues where we can build a vibe around the artists on the label and DJs we think are great and support our sound, rather than the emphasis being on a headliner with no interest in what we do.
5. How are you finding sales at the moment. Is the digital age and file sharing making it hard to survive?
It’s definitely a difficult time for all labels at the moment, but it’s getting better all the time, this really is an exciting time as the rules are being ripped up and the entire industry is starting anew. Coming from being a vinyl label and going digital only was a massive culture shock and it’s only recently that I think that I’ve got anywhere near mastering a business model for the digital age. When the label was putting out vinyl there was an army of shop-owners selling our product for us, whose recommendations were trusted and who physically put our product in people’s hands. You don’t really get that with digital, you get recommended releases and ‘people who bought this also bought’ sections, but it’s not quite the same. I’d say our biggest allies in terms of getting our music out there are bloggers with a great ear and a good following, people such as yourself, so thank you!
6. The Ground Level label seem to be embracing everything that's great about breaks at the moment with talented worldwide artists on your roster, a wide range of remixers, including branching out into nufunk sounds, free re-edits, mixes and now the remix parts. Is this all to sell your music or are you still a fan of breakbeat?
Thanks man! Everything just seems to have come together this year, and I think it’s probably by embracing my love of breakbeat that it’s happened. Ground Level started as a pure breaks label, then like a lot of labels we had a brief flirtation with Electro House, and although I don’t think we ever have released a bad track, maybe some of the stuff that went out there wasn’t right for Ground Level, and possibly disappointed some of our early supporters. Around this time last year I made a conscious decision to refocus the music policy of the label firmly on breaks, and to try to be a bit more creative with the way I run the label. This has resulted in doing things like putting the re-edits out there, embracing blogs and digital culture, releasing our remix packs for Disruptive Beats under a Creative Commons license so anyone can have a go at remixing our stuff, and also things behind the scenes like building a new remix contract which works out fairer for the remixer than the industry average. I think Ground Level is at it’s peak in terms of artists, and the remixers whose music I respect want to work with me on the packages, so I want to try to do everything possible to get the music out to as wide an audience as possible. So to answer the question, yes I’m still a massive breaks fan, and hopefully this shows in the output of the label!
7. What's your all time favourite breaks track?
Probably THE most worn out of all my vinyl is The Rub Off by the Plump DJs, I bought it on white label from Vinyl Addiction and played it in every DJ set I did for about 18 months, possibly more. The whole thing just smacks of funk and rocks a crowd without fail, I still drop it now and again even now, 5 years after it’s release!
8. You must receive a lot of music from up and coming producers. Any advice for new artists?
My biggest piece of advice would be to focus on your beats. I’ve had so many tracks with the potential to be great that are let down by weak drum programming or a dodgy loop. Underpin your production with the fattest beats you can make, and make your own beats using a program like Battery and then combine them with sampled elements rather than just relying on a loop. And the other thing production wise, and I know this is easy to overlook, drop a few fills in there - you wouldn’t watch a drummer in a band play the same beat for the length of a track with no variation and no embellishments, so why do that for a breaks track? The other thing is to master your art, get as good as you possibly can before unleashing your tracks on the world, constantly compare your production to that of the tracks you’ve recently bought to play, and when you genuinely feel that you’re equaling that then it’s time to present yourself to labels and the world. A great way to up your production skills, and also productively use studio time when you’re creativity is low is to work on re-edits, even if you never play them out the production experience it will give you is invaluable.
9. Who else in breaks is really doing it for you right now & where do you see breaks going in the next couple of years?
At the moment I’m really being inspired by the whole US scene, there is something really special going on over there. They must be hitting the right buttons because they’re having pool parties rather than sausage parties. DJ Icey is really doing everything right at the moment, with his productions and his edits, and his radio show is by far the best breaks show out there. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great US artists in the last few months such as DJ Hero, DJ Love and Dustin Hulton, and there’s some remixes coming Ground Level’s way in the near future from Lo-IQ and Tony Faline from that side of the pond which I’m really looking forward to hearing. I thought the Stanton Warriors recent album was a great body of work and showed that breaks can cross over and be commercial. Although they might not be pure breaks anymore I still think that the Plumps are awesome and I really love their output. Also Marten Horger is a massive talent whose music is effortlessly awesome and is well worth looking out for! The whole Nu-Funk (or Beats) scene in blowing up which is great to see, and once again is less of the sausage and more of the party. If things continue to go the way they are creatively I reckon the scene’s ready for a big resurgence!
10. What projects are you working on currently and what’s up in the near future for Andy Mcallister and Ground Level?
Label-wise there’s loads going off at the moment, next up is a new single from the Analogeeks called Free Wheeling Machine with a massive remix from Plaza De Funk, that’s out on 25th. Then next month Stylus Rex’s debut album drops, initially over four EPs which will combine into a complete album, much like Disruptive Beats. This is going to be followed up by a remix album which I’m just putting together at the moment, it’s going to be BIG! There’s also some new tracks coming from Rebel Sketchy, Beatsmack, Zap! Pow! Die!, Dane O, and a collab between Coppa and Black & Blunt, which is just being put together at the moment! I’m also looking at starting a new project called Ground Level Sound System which will combine our producers with rappers and vocalists, and also take us into the live(ish) arena as well as providing an album’s worth of original material! And after that I’ll start putting together Disruptive Beats part 2! Personally I’ve been working on an EP, two tracks are ready so far, and I aim to have four tracks ready to release later in the year. So all guns blazing!
Hoochie Mama (Black & Blunt Booty) - 2 Live Crew Bounce (DJ Hero Remix) - Zap! Pow! Die! Groovy Moves (DJ Hero Remix) - Break the Box feat Ira Never Get Enough (Dustin Hulton Remix) - Black & Blunt Ruff Em Up - Beatsmack Bang (Acapella) - Rye Rye feat MIA Best Party Ever (DJ Hero Rerub) - Toecutter The Ride (B-Phreak Remix) - Rebel Sketchy Me and You (DJ Love Remix) - Dane O Hello (Beatsmack Rerub) - Martin Solveig Dirty Mind (Rebel Sketchy Remix) - Domino Animal Rights (DJ Hero Rerub) - Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner aNYway (Andy McAllister Rerub) - Duck Sauce Game Face - DJ Hero Trapped By Love - The Analogeeks
And finally, as if all these amazing freebies aren't enough, on to the competition! Consisting of a first prize of Ground Level T-shirt and Disruptive Beats mix CD mixed by Andy Mcalister and Pimpsoul, plus two runners up prizes of the CD. All you need to do to win is answer this very simple question."Which artist provided the very first Ground Level release"Please send all entries by e-mail to breakthe@gmail.com with Ground Level Comp in the header and the winner will be announced next week.
Massive thanks to Andy and the Ground Level Family for getting all this together and if you're in the UK get yourselves to The Raving Buddha for the Disruptive Beats night, this time with special guest Mr No Hands! Admission is free and the venue is literally on the doorstep of Goldhawk Road tube station and about 8 minutes walk from Shepherd's Bush tube.
The amazing Disruptive Beats album is available now from JUNO and iTUNES and you can grab the entire series of singles as well as the great back catalogue HERE.
“Disruptive Beats is a series of EPs showcasing a new wave of talent in the breaks scene, artists who are reinventing the sounds and the very scene itself. Each EP features an artist with a new original track, a remix, plus their interpretation of a back catalogue classic from the Ground Level vaults.Part 5 features the return of Rebel Sketchy with his first output of original material since 2008! Formerly known for his beats on Superstyle Deluxe's Payback Project imprint the last few years for Rebel Sketchy have been about relocating and reinventing his musical persona. Following recent remixes for Myagi, Nfiltr8 and Hanuman Tribe last year, he now makes his return with The Ride, a deep rolling tech funk workout which builds from a beatless intro to a crescendo of leads and bleeps. Germany's B-Phreak adds a nasty bassline and turns the track upside down in the filthiest track from the Disruptive Beats series. Finally Rebel Sketchy turns his hands to back catalogue classic Dirty Mind by Domino, adding a rolling bassline and punchy beats and making a potential summer anthem in the process.”
Acid Drops - Rebel Sketchy - Forthcoming on Ground Level Bass Effex - Monk3ylogic (Hedflux RMX) Basement Insomnia - Frederik Oloufsen (Fast Foot RMX) Money For Nothing - Dire Straights (DJ Louder RMX) Dirty Mind - Domino (Rebel Sketchy RMX) - Out Now on Ground Level Knas - Steve Angello Just Dance - Obscene Frequency Nyse - Moguai (Rebel Sketchy RMX) Pure O - Leuce Rhythms Square Dance - Rebel Sketchy - Forthcoming on Ground Level
For those in London, Rebel Sketchy is playing at the launch party for the Disruptive Beats compilation this Friday at the Raving Buddha in Shepherds Bush. Admission is free and the event kicks off at 8pm. INFO HERE
Rebel Sketchy is the pseudonym of writer/producer David Gammie. Based in North London, David has been composing for various media and in many different styles since 2003. His work has taken him from the dance floor to the classical concert hall and he continues to explore the world of production without restraints.
Early adventures into producing involved home-made-tracks, using audio tape recordings and a playstation. It wasnt long before he stumbled upon the techniques of computerized music production and progressed through the frustration of crashing PCs to a sturdy Mac. By gelling his musical knowledge of instrumentation with programming Rebel Sketchy was born in 2003.The Rebel Sketchy name creates an umbrella for his electronic output and was most notably used for a stint on The Payback Project (label) between 2004 & 2007, producing his unique brand of Breakbeat & House tracks. 2010 finds him exploring new sounds and new labels for upcoming releases. Couple of really good tracks on his soundcloud. Bad Acid which uses the well known sample from Woodstock about bad acid circulating round the festival and Analogic, an absolute squelch fest of a tune. Bad Acid by rebelsketchy Analogic - FREE FULL TRACK DOWNLOAD (320kbps) by rebelsketchy www.soundcloud.com/rebelsketchywww.myspace.com/rebelsketchy
