Futurepast Zine

It's not often you get the chance to interview someone that has been a big musical influence since you were a teenager. And, hand on heart, that's exactly what Digital is. My first Digital record was 'Niagra' on Metalheadz, but earlier than that I unknowingly picked tracks up by Digital that were under aliases such as ID4. I continued to collect his releases on Metalheadz, Timeless, Creative Source, Reinforced, Function, 31, Chronic and so on. He's made a lot of killer cuts. But that was way back then, recently he has released the 'Digital Synthesis' album which is an album full of top notch collaborations. Anyway here's the interview: From your previous interviews I understand that you were brought up on Reggae and sound system culture, but how did you actually get into making music? I was lucky enough to have musicians around me from a really young age because two of my close cousins were in bands. Lloyd was in a local reggae band called Jah Warrio...

Photograph by  S. Huizing Robbert (Infest) and Leon (Leonux) run Next Phase Records - a label that has been releasing an eclectic mix of breakbeat driven music unrestricted by BPM. An impressive group of like minded musicians from around the world have helped to create the sound and direction of Next Phase. Here's an interview with Robbert, where I find out a bit more about Infest, and the latest release from Next Phase….. I know you make music as Infest, and you run Next Phase Records which is your record label. How long have you been producing music and running the label? I started out with music as a teenager in a Indie/Rock band with some friends when I was 15/16 years old. During that time I started to make beats too. In 2004 I seriously  started  DJ'ing and making Jungle. Next Phase Records was raised after a long period of organising party's with the Pitchcontrol crew (2005 - 2009) and putting in long hours in my home studio to work on my sound....

Something incredible happened last week. Something for the history books. An event took place on Friday night last week (June 5 th  2015), ‘Listening Sessions presents Rupture Vs Skutta’. For the uninitiated out there: Listening Sessions is a night that started over a year ago – the focus of the night is on local (Birmingham and surrounding areas) producers playing their music to an audience that’s keen on keeping their ears to the ground when it comes to underground music; Rupture is a club night (based in London) that’s been going strong for nearly 10 years, something to be respected because it’s no easy feat. They are an outfit trusted for representing the forefront of Jungle/DnB and they have a loyal fan-base that will soldier to wherever the Rupture crew are doing their thing; last but not least is Skutta – a record label that has been releasing some excellent music, they have a regular show on Jungletrain where they play their perspective of cutting edge Jungle/DnB. ...

I first met fellow Midlander, Alister (Headgear) at Listening Sessions (Birmingham, UK), and went on to find out that he has a pretty deep history in Jungle/DnB. From various chats and facebook posts I found out a lot more info about his involvement with music including the music he makes. This week, on 5th June, he and a few other peeps are putting on an incredible night at an incredible venue, so this seemed like a good time to be my nosey self.... FPZ: Who are you and how did your interest in music begin? Headgear: My name is Alister Head I'm 37 and I'm from Birmingham. I'm a Drum and Bass / Jungle producer / DJ and go under the artist name HEADGEAR. In the 90's I went under the names Soundcraft (Tech Itch Recordings), T.I.C (Back 2 Basics), Threshold (Second Movement Recordings) and Logistics (Dubz). My interest for music goes as far back as I can remember, I started learning the saxophone when I was 8 and picked it up pretty quickly. I knew then tha...