Clue - Interview

I've never really been fan of drum and bass, but the genre seems to be slowly growing on me the more I have been exposed to it. I have become especially fond of the rising liquid drum and bass sector, with it's calmer atmosphere and increased instrumental layers, a genre which Hospital Records and artists such as Alix Perez, High Contrast and London Elektricity have been pushing for a few years now.

A new artist in particular on the liquid scene has really impressed me with his material. I first found out about Clue after seeing him DJ a few times at Beats and Bass nights in Exeter, and his sets at the Cavern really impressed me so I decided to look up his soundcloud page. I was delighted to find some of his great production work, which recently really seems to be taking off. My favourite of his tracks is the brilliant 'Free Falling', with its great chord and beat arrangements, lovely distorted vocals and of course the great drop at the 1.33 mark. It's this sort of brilliant production that has led to radio play on BBC Radio 1 XTRA by Crissy Criss for consecutive weeks, as well as supporting High Contrast and praise from Spor. These are tracks your really going to want to hear, and I'm sure his name will be one we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future. You can check out his work by clicking here.

I got in touch with Clue and he kindly agreed to an interview, which you can now read blow.

Interview:

Hi. Firstly, could you please introduce yourself and tell you a little bit about what you do?

"Hey, I'm Olie Keogh. I'm a liquid music producer and drum and bass DJ hailing originally form buckinghamshire but now at Exeter university."

How did you first get into music production?

"I firstly got into music production when i was about 17 making crap electro pop tunes on my laptop! (see peter on the bear on itunes for more details haha) but then got serious about production last December at Christmas time, when I started making liquid drum and bass. under the alias 'Clue'."

You also DJ for Beats and Bass in Exeter. Are you sets generally drum and bass orientated, and do you enjoy this as much as production?

"My sets are usually drum and bass orientated, but that's not to say that I don't mix any other genre's. When supporting High Contrast I did a dubstep step because the promoter was keen for it last minute, which is fine by me. I'm keen to mix anything with a breakbeat really- cant get enough of that."

Who are your greatest musical influences?

"My greatest musical influences would have to start with the hospital records vibes, London Elektricity High Contrast danny byrd and Logistics being the heavy weights that set me on my way- that got me into everything. I remember it was form the first time I heard kiss kiss bang bang from high contrast I was totally hooked on drum and bass, as well as DJ hypes drum and bass arena (not that I listen to a lot of Hype's mixes anymore really!). As I got more into drum and bass I discovered the deeper more chilled vibes as well as harder jungle vibes to- Commix, Mutt, and as more recently Netsky having a massive influence on the music I create. The reason I love liquid so much is that it is a blanket term to describe anything with western musical influences on drum and bass, from chilled out jazz samples and piano samples to big melodic basslines and huge sidechained synths."

What artists/tracks are you into at the minute?

"Atists I'm feeling at the moment- Netsky and Camo & Krooked are notably smashing the scene at the moment. Netsky bringing a vibe that has never been brought before (arguably takign liquid into a 'nu skool' vibe with harder more energetic drums. Fred V & Grafix are friends of mine hailing form Exeter who are also two artists to look out for in the coming years, these boys are getting huge attention within this new genre which I pride myself to be a part of. As well as this, a new guy to the scene, Dave Owen, is making incredible chilled out melodies with old hip hop samples and blues pianos and double bass- incredible stuff- check out still waters or feeling kinda blue. Also through to the minimal side of drum and bass Alix Perez and Rockwell are incredible inspiration for a lot of budding producers right now. Alix Perez is fusing gorgeous melodic styles and also making some really dark minimal stuff which is really great for the scene. Rockwell also has crushed the idea of what a breakbeat even is; listening to his music makes you really question drum and bass as a genre! mental stuff. Check out underpass or bon structure. There is also blu mar ten who are making incredible drum and bass at the moment- check out the natural history LP."

Congratulations on becoming President of Beats and Bass for the coming year. Are you looking forward to it, and what are you looking to bring to the nights in the cavern?

"Thanks a lot mate. Of course I'm looking forward to it, its going to be sick! I personally want to bring more rotation on DJ's, more student accessibility over the well established scene with the locals (therefore focusing more with trying to get the uni student even more involved). I hope to achieve this by getting ties with Xpression to get more people involved. We are also constantly trying to scout out new talent! We've got a hell of a lot ofgreat DJ's leaving and its really important to us that we bring forth the new talent to set the high standards for the future."

What are your hopes for the future?

"My hopes for the future? As of last week my goals for the end of year were to get one of my songs promoted on liquicity, which I achieved which has had about 18,000 views, with the other being a vinyl release, which as a result I believe will be happening soon too - I got contacted recently by Dubplate records. It should be a double A side - Homesick by me being backed by tomekn burning. So I just want to keep up the good attention, etc. as well as the radio plays with crissy criss on 1xtra!"

I would just like to say a huge thanks to Olie for the interview. I will be keeping you informed on the promising producer's future work, with the vinyl release being a really exciting prospect in the near future.