Krytikal Interview & Mix

I first had the pleasure of meeting Krytikal at the 'Movement' night at Club PST (Digbeth), and then at various places including the Listening Sessions events. He's been a supporter of the zine and has contributed tracks for various Futurepast Zine projects. His productions are meticulous, I seriously mean that, he's got a high standard of production in the music that he makes. His initial releases were solo, but recently he has worked with 'Goosensei' and also 'Yilan'. His music has been released on labels such as Area Recordings, and his tracks have been aired on the notorious Rinse FM a few times too.

(Photography courtesy of B Harvey Photography https://www.facebook.com/BHarveyPhotography)

While listening to Krytikal's mix, you can also read this short interview:

1. Who are you? And, how did you get into making music, dj’ing, etc…

My name is Dane, and I make music and occasionally DJ under the monikor Krytikal. I purchaced my 1st set of turntables around 2004 along with Aphrodite and Mickey Finn's 'Bad ass!', Q Project's 'Champion Sound' and Potential Badboy's 'Your mine'. I then continued to collect Drum and Bass, Hip Hop and Garage records for the next few years. In about 2006 when hearing Youngsta's Dubstep Allstars Volume 2 and discovering this exciting minimal sound I decided I wanted to begin making my own tunes. I downloaded a cracked version of FL Studio 7 on my clapped out old PC and spent countless late nights reading tutorials, strolling through forums and watching videos with the sole intention of just being able to cut my own dubplate to throw in the mix. Countless crap tunes and late nights later I finally cut my first dub ('Close your eyes' and 'Dreadlock'), two tunes that I hold quite dearly). After I got my production to a standard that I felt another DJ would be willing to play out themselves, I sent some tunes out to a few DJ's via Myspace, one of the first DJ's I recall giving me some airtime was a local DJ and producer by the name of Wooda (out to Wooda each and every) who hosted a weekly online radio show on 'After Dark Radio' every Tuesday night around 2008/2009 (I wish I had recorded the mix). I think judging by the way the scene had progressed up and down the country it seemed only natural for me to be naturally gravitated towards the local guys, who I was always interested in seeing what they're up to, especially in a city with very little to no Dubstep scene at all. This led me to send a few tracks to Be-1ne around 2010, another local DJ, producer and owner of Area Recordings. I remember returning back from a holiday to an email from Be-1ne, the email read:

"Easy. Thanks for letting me know about your music. Really dig these two tunes. Is there any chance of being able to grab wav's of your final mix downs? I ask for these as I usually get dub plates cut of material I would play out. Thanks B"

Chuffed. Proper. Not only was somebody willing to support my music, but they were passionate about it enough to be willing to fork out their hard earned cash to cut it to a format that I was into, it felt right, it was the way it was meant to be. Ben continued to support my music and gave me the platform to introduce me to a wider audience and eventually released one of the tunes on the compilation Area Music Volume 1, a double 12" release alongside some very talented artists who are still holding their own today, a release I'm very proud of and a milestone to me as an artist (Respect! respect! respect!). Experiences like this made all the late nights worth while. 

2. I’ve heard you dj’ing a few times and the music you’ve played has been different each time. How would you describe your style of dj’ing?

I would not say I have a particular style, more recently, especially due to the support and feedback I have received, especially through events such as 'Listening Sessions', I have become more confident when it comes to my production and I am much more into the idea of playing sets which are 100% my own tunes and tunes from other local producers, it's just something I never thought I'd be able to achieve and a great feeling to have a completely organic set of original local music. When given a little more free will over what tunes are played, I just love digging in deep to my collection that I have accumilated over the years, I love hip hop, I love garage, anything jazzy, funky, dubby, anything that kicks, especially when playing with other music lovers with an equally eclectic taste, shit goes off, take the Futurepast podcasts for instance, vibes!

3. Was this put together using vinyl?

Some of it was vinyl, some of it was digital. I felt I had to throw a dubplate into the mix at some point so I included my track 'Militant Movement' which I had cut about 2 years ago, it was also nice having a dig through my hip hop records to see what I had and if I had anything to fit the kind of theme of the mix that I was going for. I have been experimenting with using DJ software to mix with, just to try something new, this mix was my first real attempt at doing that, this also simply allowed me to include tracks in the mix that I dont own on vinyl due to not owning any CDJs.

4. What releases have you had so far?

"Selfish Ways" (Area Recordings) "Encounters" and "Cleric" (Phantom Hertz Recordings) "Goosensei - Summon (Krytikal Remix)" (Dubs Alive Records) "Goosensei & Krytikal - Reach Out" (Dubs Alive Records) "Illusions" (Futurepast Zine)

5. Any plans for the future you can mention?

I have a forthcoming release on Futurepast Zine's Kickstarter funded project "Agents of Disruption". Check the link because I'm sure Mr Futurepast himself will be much better at explaining it than I am.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1346237437/agents-of-disruption Big. Big. Big.

6. What music are you feeling at the moment?

I am always interested in hearing what all the local guys are up to, Listening Sessions (big up Goosensei and Elkie!!!) is a perfect way to get my monthly dose of local talent, it's always exciting to hear what everybody is making. I have also become slightly obsessed by a rock band from Seattle called 'Band of Horses' who make some revolutionary shit. I am still quite a big listener of Rinse Fm, I always have time for Keysound Recordings, a label that continues to support lesser known artists and has had consistantly strong releases from the beginning. Ah man, I wouldnt know where to start. 

7. What’s your favourite album and why?

I don't have one particular favourite album but one that I continuously return to is 'Jedi Mind Tricks- The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness'. It's just the most interesting hip hop album I have ever heard, the album speaks continuously on religion, space, physics, war and production is perfect, it's the epitomy of a perfect hip hop album to me.

8. What 5 tracks would you recommend someone to listen to?

Peverelist - Gather Jedi Mind Tricks - I who have nothing Bloc Party - So here we are Double Helix - LDN Band of Horses - First Song

Maximum respect going out to Krytikal! Check him out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/krytikalsound and Souncloud: https://soundcloud.com/krytikal