Our recent d&b mix had quite a few names on it that you may not be familiar with, so I thought I’d highlight some of the rising talent we have our eyes on and point you in the direction of more of their music.
Some of them are nearly as new to us as they are to you, and some of them we’ve been talking to for a couple of years. Either way, it’s great to see a keen new generation from all over the world playing around with the d&b template in new and interesting ways.

Please note, the write-ups below are from the artists and their agents, so don’t hold us responsible for any bollocks contained therein.

Read on for the details

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Kharm

www.myspace.com/kharmmusic
www.soundcloud.com/kharm
www.kharm.co.uk

Kharm, real name David Gotts, grew up during the birth of dance music. The influence of artists such as LTJ Bukem, Everything but the girl, BT, Massive Attack, Lamb and Sasha & Digweed in the 90’s became a important part in developing his sound today. With forthcoming releases on Dispatch Recordings and support from artists such as Blu Mar Ten, Ant TC1, D-Bridge & Instra:mental, Loxy and Naibu, the future for Kharm looks bright.

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Circa

http://www.myspace.com/circatunes

Promised to send me a bio. Never did. Useless.
Think he’s from Derby in the UK.

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Stray

www.myspace.com/straydnb
www.soundcloud.com/straydnb

Stray is a young producer hailing from London, with an aim to break away from many of the bounds of the drum n bass genre and focus on the more musical side of production. With growing DJ support from the likes of Loxy, Sabre, Blu Mar Ten, ASC, June Miller and more, plus a debut release forthcoming on Kasra’s Critical Music, Stray is proper sick like

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Crisis

www.myspace.com/dnbcrisis

Originally hailing from the depths of Essex, Gary Crisis spent his formative musical years playing guitar in local bands – until the early 2000s when exposure to bass, breaks and beats began an obsession with electronic music.
The years since have seen the name Crisis appear on flyers at clubs across the UK & Europe, and more recently years of steady progress in the studio after moving to Cambridge in 2005 have begun to come to fruition. As a resident of Spoonfed, Crisis has appeared alongside some of the biggest names in Drum & Bass.
2008 saw his first release through Dubstep label DPR, reflecting a recent focus on versatility influenced by friends and local D&B duo Commix. This influence now extends to a love of techno, minimal and all things electronic.
Since finishing a degree in Audio & Music Technology this year with 1st Class Honours, and establishing himself in the field of acoustic engineering, he is set to continue his onslaught on all fronts – through ever more diverse productions and a fast, technical mixing style that moves all dancefloors in his path.

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High Speed Dubbing

www.myspace.com/highspeeddubbingnz
www.myspace.com/macrohsd
soundcloud.com/highspeeddubbing

Marc Tetzlaff aka High Speed Dubbing (HSD) began his journey as a DJ by turning up to house parties in the late 90’s not with a bag full of pre recorded self made mix tapes and taking over the stereo, naturally progressing at age 19 to DJ with turntables and began using Roland groove gear live in his sets, with an 808 & 303 in the mix.
Now a Dj for 10 years, Promoter, Producer, Student, Has been gaining support recently with heavy interest from Doc Scott for 31 records, as well as Shy FX & Timeless records for potential signings.
DJ’s supporting his tunes are Doc Scott, Asides, Blu Mar Ten, Bladerunner, and just recently has had his track AMC featured on mixes London Elektrictiy, Blu Mar Ten, and Asides – Eastsides sessions on bassdrive.

As a promoter HSD has been representing good music in New Zealand for many years with residencies on Nationwide radio station such as George Fm & Base Fm. The Future for HSD is looking vibrant with a new residency & a new radio show of the same name IN:MOTION ready to launch.

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Unquote & Mr Sizef

www.myspace.com/215176940

Promised to send me a bio. Never did. Useless.
They’re Russian, I can tell you that much

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Sunchase

www.sunchaseaudio.com
www.soundcloud.com/sunchase
www.twitter.com/sunchase

Eastern Europe used to conjure images of bleak, snow-bitten landscapes and vodka-drinking Cossacks wrapped up in the remains of a bear. Up until a few years ago, it would never be a place where you instantly assume a thriving drum & bass community exists but like the rest of the world, Eastern Europe has taken a bite and got itself hooked. With many of the UK’s big guns regularly flying out to tear up parties all over the Eastern half of the continent over the last couple of years, it was only a matter of time before the scene grew to compete on the world stage of drum & bass.

Hailing from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Alexander Pavlenko, aka Sunchase, has started to carve his name into the history of electronic music in the post Soviet Union country. “I first came across electronic music when my friend played me a Kraftwerk cassette – I just thought ‘what the hell is this?’ but knew I wanted to hear more. My father used to listen to Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Queen and Michael Jackson so I grew up around music but I wanted to experience the more electronic side,” Alexander explains.

Now 25, Alexander has pushed his interest in electronic music and been hard at work creating his unique sound for almost eight years, and according to Alexander, he has been developing his skills as he acquires new technology to work with. “I started really basic on the PlayStation game ‘Music’ but it helped me learn the composition of a tune. This led me to get Acid on my computer, which really helped my understanding of structure. I understand the program inside out and have made over half of my tunes with Acid. I did outgrow it recently so I now spend my time trying to get my head round Cubase,” he laughs.

Sunchase has obviously pressed the right buttons because with tracks signed to Revolution, ELP and Moving Shadow amongst others, it seems his production prowess hasn’t gone unnoticed. It was ‘Remember Me’ that really catapulted him to the ears of the D&B masses, and in particular Latvian singer Yana Kay’s haunting vocal caused the likes of Concord Dawn, Fresh, Pendulum and John B to take notice. Equally well received was Sunchase’s re-work of Adam Freeland’s ‘We Want Your Soul’, which on certain forums was gaining more praise than the remix from the Virus camp. “I downloaded the acapella and just wanted to chop it up. Normally I build the breakbeats first and everything falls into place after that but the acapella gave me the ideas for the rest of the track. I’m happy with it.”

So he should be! With Eastern Europe becoming linked with the techno / drum & bass fusion, Sunchase has done well to establish himself without compromising his sound. There are strains of techno just beneath the surface but Sunchase rolls out uncompromising techy stormers that take no prisoners. “I need to start constructing an album but there are a few things to discuss first. All of my music is dependant on my mood – some days I’ll make ambient tracks all day and then other days it will be really dark – the album will be a real mixture of moods,” says Alexander with a smile.

With collaborations lined up alongside Counterstrike, Masheen and Cyb Orc, Sunchase has his work cut out over the next few months. Top that with a few remixes here and there plus awareness of his DJ sets gaining momentum and the time will soon be right for Sunchase to cement his position as one of the leaders of the Eastern European scene. “There is still quite a way before D&B becomes really popular in the Ukraine. It doesn’t help when there are too many freaks here,” he laughs. “All these psy-trance people walking round in their strange clothes – it makes older people look at the youngsters in a different way. They think we are all on drugs.”

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So;Flow

www.myspace.com/soflowmusic
www.soundcloud.com/so-flow

So Flow has a very varied musical background, and it shows. Studying classical violin from a young age, this curiosity for creativity continued into his raving era. Shortly after, a set of turntables found their way into his life – and it was curtains from there. The jungle was all too alluring.
So Flow’s music is as diverse and imaginative as it is technical. With both a good understanding of the studio environment and a well tuned ear, attention to detail and originality shines through in his work time and time again.
When he’s not putting in the hard graft for his own materials, So Flow co-manages Vibration Records, has a monthly show on Bassdrive radio, (the Vibration Sessions), and is also active in teaching and contributing, ideas, articles and advice across several forums.

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Vaccine

http://www.myspace.com/vaccinedub

Orange County in Southern California is known for sunshine, beaches, surfers and, um, dubstep? Although the O.C.’s bucolic environs don’t normally conjure bass-bin rattling club tracks, a new producer is out to challenge regional and genre conventions.

This fresh face, whose first name is Christine (last name unknown), produces tracks as Vaccine, with several tunes, including “Wishful Thinking” and “Breathless,” having been released on forward-thinking UK imprint Hotflush Recordings.

A self-described Skinny Puppy and Portishead fan, Vaccine’s recordings blend jittery electronic elements with gothic ambient nuances and dubstep’s bass-led bottom end. While her mainly male dubstep cohorts’ songs lurch and stomp, Vaccine’s music drifts and shimmers via subtle melodies and echoed vocals. Her constructions aren’t necessarily main floor rave fodder, but rather, comedown music for a 6 a.m. all-back-to-mine.

That’s not to pigeonhole Vaccine as merely a gentile, feminine composer–her tracks can also unleash the demons. But at a time when dubstep’s expansion is marked by dancefloor technicians such as Skream, Benga, and Rusko, artists like Burial, Scuba, or Vaccine expand the music’s possibilities.

Words by xlr8r

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Remember, if you want to hear some of the great tracks from this new generation of producers, you can download our September Drum & Bass mix