The duo known as Artificial Intelligence just celebrated a decade in the drum & bass scene, netting releases for a number of the scene's most respect imprints in their time. One of their biggest singles is set to drop on February 2 via Music Gateway; the Kathy Brown-featured "Somebody To Love" has an interesting story, considering that it had been sitting in demo form for 17 years! The duo had no choice but to make this one thrive, and as you hear at the end of this promo mix, it turned into something truly special; one of the early dnb anthems for 2014. We got to chat with the guys briefly about this single, their tune "Dillirious" for Metalheadz, and what you can expect from them this year.
Off top, congrats on making it a decade in the DnB scene without losing yourselves. You guys are kicking 2014 into high gear with “Somebody to Love,” your new single with Kathy Brown. This is probably one of the more anthemic tunes we’ve heard from you guys; talk to us about the development of this track..
This all started with Jon Skinner from Music Gateway, who helped us hook up with Kathy and organized a full recording session with five musicians. It sounded like an exciting proposition from the off - especially being fans of Kathy.
So this tune was sitting around for about 17 years. Did you have any trepidation on even attempting to revive it?
As soon as we heard the original demo, everything made sense as to how we would translate this into a updated dnb flavor, from all the instrumentation right through to the vocal.
We read that Darrin Moony (of Primal Scream) and Patrick Dawes (formerly of Groove Armada) were brought in for drum and percussion work (respectively). How often do you guys work with live instrumentalists? Is it harder to get them to give you the particular sound you’re looking for?
We've worked with live instruments a lot, but never a full band of this caliber. We just let them do their thing and the rest happened in our studio. As expected there were a number of hurdles to jump over to get there, especially when dissecting the three plus hours of live stems! The hard work paid off, though.
Now the remix is backed with a number of non-drum & bass reworks. Do you guys do a lot of production outside of the dnb realm?
We have had a number of aliases on various high profile labels over the years to present. We also work on a number of high end LA film trailers and TV productions.
What’s on the plate for you guys in 2014? Are you working towards an album, or do you have any singles lined up for release in the near future?
We have lots in store following this project, including a full A.I. EP on Metalheadz dropping in the spring, plus a number of remixes. We also have a long awaited compilation album dropping on our Integral Records imprint this spring too, compiled fully from fresh exclusive new remixes and original tracks from Alix Perez, Calibre, Scar, DLR, Lenzman, Technimatic, and us to name but a few.
Last year, you guys put out “Dillirious” with Metalheadz. What prompted this impressive tribute of sorts to the older Dillinja sound?
Dillinja was always a big influence to us, [from] his Deadly Vinyl days through to Metalheadz at Blue Note. We attempted to bring back that feel using his influence. Of course we sent it to him the minute it was ready and were pleased to get the big thumbs up.
Talk to the folks about what they can expect from this mix that you sorted out for us.
This mix consisted of a variety of styles which you can hear in our DJ sets and productions, including the more soulful, deeper side, techy rollers, big vocal crossovers, and club tracks. There is also an exclusive airing of our new remix of Lenzman's "Ever So Slightly."
Do androids dance?
We all took notes from the androids!
Tracklist:
Ivy Lab & Hydro - Make It Clear feat Frank Carter III & Lucy Annika (Metalheadz)
Philth - Your Love (Dispatch)
Total Science - Another Time Feat Grimm (Spearhead)
Gorgon City - Ready For Your Love 'Etherwood Remix (Black Butter)
Lenzman - Ever So Slightly 'Artificial Intelligence Remix' (Integral)
DLR & Script - Blue Room feat. Martyna Baker (Metalheadz)
Sonic - Times Flowing
Scar - When (Metalheadz)
State Of Mind - Bigger Faster Stronger
Loadstar - Need You 'Frankee Remix' (RAM)
Birdy - Wings 'Nulogic Mix' (Hospital)
Kathy Brown & AI - Somebody To Love
