In The Company Of... Boy 8-bit

David Morris has fans that are worlds apart; from DJ Zinc to Pete Tong his work as Boy 8-bit has found its way into the ears of many. After starting life as a rural boy hailing from Cornwall where the only early electronic musical education was a distant branch of Our Price and chart dance music, his music has been championed by a whole host of people including Fake Blood, Diplo and New York’s Trouble & Bass crew.

Ahead of his topping of our Room Two bill tomorrow night we caught up with him to shoot the breeze and find out a bit more about the chip tune monikered maestro. Oh and he linked us to a recent upload of his BBC Essential mix for your ears too!

Download: Boy 8 Bit Essential Mix



Your next release is coming out on Turbo. Having had releases on so many different labels, do you feel a stronger affiliation with any one label over the others?

Well my first release was on Fake Blood's old label, so I feel a strong affiliation with that because not only was it my first release, but also because he has become one of my best friends. I spent a lot of time touring with Diplo and the people who run Mad Decent so there is also a strong affiliation there - the same with Trouble and Bass.

I only really met the Turbo people recently through this release so hopefully the same will happen with those guys. I have been lucky so far in that I have been able to tour with the labels I release on, that definitely helps build bonds.

I understand that Theo Keating (Fake Blood) really took you under his wing and allowed for your talent to be fully realised? Do you two ever get to spend time in the studio together?

We've never really spent that much time in the studio together.. We tried once, but at the time we both used different bits of software so I just ended up getting frustrated. We are currently working on a track together "over the internet"... Which should see the light of day in the next few months!

I've had a listen to your Old Amiga Tracks on your Soundcloud page. It's not only refreshing to see an artist that doesn't take himself too seriously but also great to see the early experimentation with sound that so many producers hide. Do you approach tracks with a strong initial idea in your head or do your ideas come from hours of experimentation still?

I definitely find it easier to get my ideas down now, so there is a little less experimentation involved.. But I still like to experiment with things and will definitely be taking that approach more when it comes to an album. A lot of my original tracks come together pretty quickly and will just be a product of messing about, like 'Yard Birds'. But 'The Keep' came about because I wanted a super repetitive banger to put in my sets so I bashed the original demo out in about 2 hours... I that instance I knew what I wanted.

I have no idea if I that actually answered your question!

It's clear that you like to incorporate elements from a number of genres into your sound, from baile funk drum hits to squelching techno lead lines. Are there any combinations of influences that you've attempted to mould together that simply didn't sound right?

Mixing rock and dance music doesn't really work that often... Its pretty naff. Or trying to get a rock asthetic in dance in general.. Most people fail miserably, playing a wack riff on guitars over the top.... Rubbish.

If you weren't a producer, what do you see yourself doing?

I worked in a post room for a bit.. I enjoyed that. I have a degree in Software Engineering, so maybe something along those lines... I just find computers a bit dry now. Every man and his dog has some "IT" experience... It used to be a lot more fun.

Do you still regularly listen to heavy metal?

Yes, as often as possible...

There's an amazing promotional photograph of you taken on a rollercoaster. Was that hard to capture? What was the thinking behind it?

That was with the photographer Dan Wilton, it was his idea to go to Southend on-Sea where they have a little theme park on the sea front.. We had to sneak the camera on to the train, which was difficult as we were the only people on it half the time so we had the stewards full attention. We then had to wait until we got to a certain part of the track and start shooting. It worked really well. I think the person running the ride thought we were crazy though, we went on it about 10 times.. It was also too cold to be in just a T-Shirt. I suffered.

As an electro/techno DJ, how do you feel about going on to do a set after a main room dubstep act?

I was recently sandwiched between two dubstep arts, the one before me being very "main room" as they say... The kids were really into it, lots of moshing and stamping around... definitely doing its job! Very difficult to follow in terms of energy levels and I didn't really try to... You just get on with it and do you thing. There are going to be people there who appreciate what you do..

What's your favourite thing about playing at fabric?

The fact that almost 10 years ago I was there as a punter... And now I'm playing there myself!

What's your highlight of 2010 so far?

Releasing two records that people have been in to.... and being able to continue doing what I love..