In The Company Of... Total Science

With an astounding heritage within drum & bass, a plethora of successful labels and releases that span the entire spectrum of the scene and appear on pretty much every iconic d&b label there is, the Total Science duo of Jason Greenhalgh and Paul Smith are a bonafide success story. First getting together to produce music in 1994 under the Funky Technicians moniker they’ve never looked backed, maintaining their outlook and production style to this day; still releasing consistently great music after 20 years in the game.

Spinning in Room Three next Friday for the Critical Sound takeover, we tracked them down through label boss Kasra, who managed to persuade them to let us package their July mix up alongside a snappy Q&A.

So, for those that don’t know, can you briefly introduce yourself and what you do?
We are Total Science; two old men from Oxford UK who have been producing and playing drum & bass and other various forms of electronic music for the past 20 years. We also run C.I.A Records and all its subsidiaries.

Kmag published a YouTube chart recently chronicling your productions over the last 20 years. With such a lengthy period in the game what have been your highlights?
There has been so many highlights over the years, from getting our 1st 12”s on big labels like Metalheadz, Goodlooking and 31; also getting to remix classics like Krust’s ‘Jazznote,’ Doc Scott’s ‘NHS’ and Wots My Code ‘Dubplate.’ Oh and... getting to fly round the world getting hammered can't be sniffed at either.



You’ve released on almost every important d&b label going what do you feel have been some of your biggest achievements?
For us our main motivation is that we just love making music and for it to have become our way of life, as it has ,is the greatest achievement we could have ever imagined.

Is there anything that you believe has been inherently yours sound wise throughout your career? How do you think your sound has the sound changed with the times?
For us it’s the attention to detail we attempt to add into each track. We are also known for our use of breaks which we always spend a lot of time developing and tweaking. Our sound has always developed and changed along with the advancements of technology and musical enlightenment.

Tell us a bit about how the hook up with Critical came about? Was it just off the back of the ‘Redlines’ single? What can we expect from your slot at the fabric takeover?
We first recorded a 12” for the label in 2005 under one of our other aliased, Funky Technicians. Since then Karsa's developed the label into one of the top 10 d&b labels around, so we thought it was about time we did him a Total Science 12”.

On the night you can expect a various selection of what we consider is the best drum & bass around right now with a few of our classics thrown in for good measure.

What other projects are coming up from you, production wise? More on the CIA label?
Release wise we have two 12”s with S.P.Y coming out in the near future on Metalheadz and Subtitles respectively . We also have the Break remix of ‘Redlines’ to come on Critical after the summer. On the production tip we have been really hard at it and have lots of new material ready to drop.

For C.I.A we have 12”s lined up from Calibre, Lenzman and ourselves . We are also working on a various artists LP entitled ‘Tuned In 2’ which is planned for release early next year.

Can you tell us a bit about the mix you have put together for us and what you wanted to showcase with it?
The mix is simply a quality slice of what we are feeling in d&b at the moment.

Download: Total Science – FABRICLIVE Promo Mix



Tracklist:

1.Silent Witness & Break - ABTN
2.S.P.Y & Kasra - Surface
3.Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line (Bootleg)
4.Alix Perez & Jubei - Untitled
5.Total Science & S.P.Y Ft Kevin King - Past Lifes
6.S.P.Y - Untold Future
7.Total Science. S.P.Y & System - Sleight Of Hand
8.System - Si-Fi
9.Heist - Sentinel Warning
10.Total Science - Concrete Proof
11. Total Science Ft Riya - Redlines (Break Remix)
12. Doc Scott - NHS (Total Science Remix)
13.S.P.Y - Sabotage
14.Data & Dynamic ft Kathy Brown - Compassion

For more on Total Science check them out on Facebook, Mixcloud and Soundcloud.