Back in February, we premiered a mix from UK-based producer Nativ before the release of his Shifty EP on Tumble Audio. With tastes shifting to the night bass / bassline house sound over the last few years (both here and abroad), Nativ's sound fit perfectly into our playlists, and when I heard that AC Slater's Party Like Us imprint–one of the few American institutions that's pushing this brand of house–was putting out Nativ's new EP, Brukout (which is due out on November 18) I was more than excited. Over three originals (and a Flava D remix of the title track), Nativ explores his place within this sound. We got a chance to briefly chat with him about the night bass thing, this EP, and a tune we're proud to premiere from the EP, "Dusk." Check out the tune, then our conversation down below.
This sound that we’ve affectionately calling “night bass” seems to have been bubbling on both sides of the Atlantic over the last few years. How would you describe this bass-heavy house vibe that’s been going down?
I don't know, for me originally that sound came from funky. That kinda died down and now it's shot into something else–call it "night bass," bassline house, whatever. It's funny, I've been championing this sound for years and now that it's became big I feel like I need to get away from it. Cliché but true, I guess we all develop.
Do you feel like there are certain traits of this particular sound that might be more UK-centric as opposed to something a US-based producer might cook up?
Well, the whole UK sound has a certain rawness and character to it, right? Certain US producers can do it, some can't. Maybe UK producers are just really shit at mixdowns.
How did you link up with AC Slater and the Party Like US camp for this EP?
We had been traded tunes for a little bit and he just asked if I wanted to do an EP, that was it really.
Talk to us about the Brukout EP. Were you aiming for a specific release when working on these bits, or did you have a batch of tunes that were done/near completion that just fell into place?
Yeah, all of the tunes were made specifically for the label. I made six-to-eight tunes and I kinda just went to Aaron, "I'm not feeling this one let's change it out," and he never argued, which was good (laughs). The ones that are there are the ones I'm happy with.
The bit we’re loving the most off of this EP is “Dusk.” Something about the way you play with the percussion in this one. Talk to us about constructing this tune–was there a certain element you were looking to focus on when creating it?
Glad you think that, it's mine, too. I've been going into slightly more techno territory but with keeping my style of drums/percussion and although this isn't at all techno, I think you can hear the influence, so expect more stuff like this, basically.
What’s up for you before the end of the year? Any gigs or releases you have lined up?
Just writing new material. Hardly have any free time at the moment, but when I do it's usually on music or partying!
And finally, do androids dance?
In the year 3000.
