urband.net

INTERVIEWS

Slouch

©DANIEL HEATH

25ThC talks about his newest record DH: 12 Dark Productions, a collaboration with London artist Daniel Heath.

UDR: Talk about your newest concept record. What is your relationship with Daniel Heath?

25ThC: Daniel and I have been friends for a number of years now and have appreciated each others' creative output. He asked me to DJ at his Final Year Degree Show in London a couple of years ago and he in turn provided graffitti artwork for a club night I promoted. DH: 12 Dark Productions came about by way of a conversation we had when I stayed with him in London at the beginning of last year. He showed me the artwork he was working on and he told me that he really liked my first album. He then explained that his artwork would be part of an exhibition to celebrate the Royal College of Art's 150th birthday and that he wanted to try and have an audio/visual aspect to the exhibition. I suggested that I could produce some music for the exhibition inspired by his artwork. He really liked the idea and it went from there.

UDR: Describe the relationship between his images, and the sounds you've created.

25ThC: Daniel's Artwork is quite dark in that the textiles he is printing include, amongst other images, depictions of animal X-rays and internal organs manipulated in his own personal style. I was very inspired by his imagery and felt that my music would go well with it. The whole album is inspired by Dan's artwork in that he would send me new imagery as he completed it and I would send him tracks in progress.

The exhibition is of course all about Dan's artwork but my music serves to complement the imagery and at the exhibition there were listening posts for people to hear the album as they take in his exhibition. I think that the album does also stand on its own as a piece of composition that can be experienced apart from the exhibition and I am very pleased with the album as I've learnt some new techniques and tried out some new ideas in making it.

UDR: Do you consider DH to be any more or less 'dark' than your previous release Playing With My Mistress?

25ThC: DH is darker musically than Playing With My Mistress as it was written very specifically with Dan's artwork as the inspiration, and the music reflects the mood of his artwork. PWMM was much more an album of exploration in that it was me trying out a number of different styles and techniques and is lighter on the whole although there are still some dark tracks on there.

Music is all about evoking emotion and transporting the listener to a different environment. The term 'dark' to me essentially means that the emotion created by the music is usually sinister in tone and atmosphere. I love creating edgy atmospheres and then adding very heavy manipulated beats as the main ingredient of the music. I don't think that there is any particular reason why I gravitate to darker moods; I just create tracks that I think sound interesting and fresh, and more often than not the tone is dark!

>>Download the album DH: 12 Dark Productions

>>Download 25ThC's Featured Artist Podcast