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Catching up with Octane & DLR & their FABRICLIVE x Dispatch Mix

Riding high on the back of their artist album, Method in the Madness, on Leeds based drum & bass label, Dispatch, Octane & DLR are really reveling in their craft. Taking that plush position of producership seriously enough, they’re still as endearingly tongue in cheek as they’ve always been, using interview opportunities to shoot more jovial digs at friends and colleagues. That type of endearment is important with them, and we’re cementing our relationship with guys and their label crew even further than before by once again inviting them down to take over Room Three here on the 30th November. Ahead of the date the duo made us a mixtape that captures their particular kind of quick seguing approach to drum & bass performance, so we caught up with Chris (Octane) and J (DLR) to let them better welcome us back into their world. Download: Octane & DLR – FABRICLIVE x Dispatch Mix What’s going on with you guys? How are we at the tail end of 2012? How’s this year been for you? J: It’s been a big crazy, nightmare of a mess really. Nothing has happened ever since 2012 began. We've both lost the ability to write any music, and this meant that we couldn't write an album entitled Method In the Madness which may have got a lot of love from various different people across the music world, which I guess we would have been really thankful for. It would have left us in a position now where we would have been going into 2013, if it actually happens, nice and busy with lots of gigs, and tours hooked up with us flying us around the world having endless fun. I’m wondering what that would have been like! C: This year has been and gone more quickly than any other I can remember. Primarily due to our album being the focus of the first 6 months for us. Time has flown by but as the dust is settling from the album we're keeping busy with gigs, remixes and new music so it's all good! What are you looking forward to next year? What have you got coming up? Any projects you can give us a tip on? J: We've got a load of gigs booked in for the New Year, starting in Bulgaria on NYE which will be epic for sure. We've got some projects that we are working on for Shogun Audio, a remix that Ed Friction is deciding on at the moment. We are both really looking forward to moving on from the album now, touring about, meeting more people, and continuing to work with the same guys we always have done, including numerous projects for Dispatch Recordings, if Anthony has anything to do with it. He will be driving his slaves as per to increase efficiency and performance within the label and I hear he has a roundtrip to Thailand booked in for us all which is pretty sweet! In all seriousness though, Dispatch will be pushing even harder this year, with the addition of another full time slave/manager who has some great ideas, and with the quality of music coming in at the moment, 2013 is going to be epic for everyone concerned. We are just going to keep on riding the metaphorical crest of the wave… and stuff. You’re playing for the Dispatch guys in Room 3 on the 30th…. What makes you like working with them dudes? J: There's me blowing my mouth off about Dispatch and you've only gone and asked me about them again. Dispatch, Dispatch, Dispatch, I swear it’s all I ever hear… I have convinced (so far) Script, Survival, Cern, J Science, Octane, EBK, Mikey Blesid and myself (I took some convincing) to take part in the hipster charity fund raising event that is Movember, so we are all going to be raising money and sporting ridiculous facial hair for the event that is hosted in your wonderful club. We are pushing to raise money more specifically for Men’s Mental Health, as it is something that is very poignant and close to us all… find out more and donate at http://uk.movember.com/team/871969. Team Dispatch in full effect.. it could be ca-tash-trophically hilarious! C: Dispatch is our home. There's no contractual tie-in or anything like that, we're just a close group of friends that fight, argue, scratch, bite and pull hair whilst we all move forward safe in the knowledge we all look out for each other. On the 30th November, Room 3 will see a whole line-up of Tache-tastic performances. We’ve heard a whisper that you’re both using laptops now in your DJ sets? Can you tell us a bit about your new set ups? J: We both starting to use computers and controllers because we both had the itch to do something new, that we had not done before, not something that necessarily had never been done before. I personally really enjoy working as a stage manager and tech, and always see many different DJs rocking different kit, doing different things, and really enjoying putting their stamp on it. I do think there is a slight stigma about using more technology in the traditional d&b DJ world, however producers are always seen to be keen to push boundaries in production… Also I was starting to become slightly intimidated by all the new various ways of mixing tracks, or building on mixing by creating more of a live set, with more possibilities so currently I am using a Novation Twitch with Serato Itch and am really enjoying the speed it gives me, and the ability it presents to mix quicker, keeping things moving and interesting and building a lot of energy within the set. Although computers can be unreliable, I’d rather turn up to a club knowing all my stuff works, and if my computer goes wrong that's my issue, whereas commonly I was playing on CDJs that were broken or vibrating across the table, or decks and mixers that haven't been serviced for years, that are failing. I am looking to build on what I am using at the moment, and Chris and myself are trying to combine the technology we both use to create a set which will present something quite different, well, different to us any way! C: I'm DJing with Traktor, Maschine and X1. J is using Serato with Twitch. It's quite a bit of kit to take out but we're trying something different. As we progress we'll add new techniques and new ways of mixing and writing on the fly. It's a whole new type of performance that has so far been received very well. It's a challenge for both of us and we're really enjoying it. The idea is to continually build on our performance and bring something unique to the stage. Octane & DLR – FABRICLIVE x Dispatch Mix Tracklist: 1. Zero T - Prisoner - Dispatch Dub 2. Calyx & Teebee - Skank - Ram Records Dub 3. BTK - Drop It - Dutty Audio Dub >> Octane & DLR - The Fly – Sonorous Music 4. Dabs - Objection - Dispatch Dub >> Jonny L - See Red - XL 5. Prolix & Silent Witness - Dub - Dub 6. Ower - Research - Unsigned 7. Hybris - Gravitron - Dispatch Dub 8. L33 - Teknology - Dub 9. Emperor & Centra - The Saboteur - Dub 10. Mikal - The Chant (Rido Remix) - Utopia Music 11. Survival - Fletcher - Dispatch Dub 12. Xtrah - Dischordance - Critical >> Boogie Times Tribe - Dark Stranger (Origin Unknown Remix) - Surburban Base Music 13. Calyx & Teebee - Nothing I Can Say 14. Craggz & Parallel Forces - Future Shock (Jubei Remix) - Product Recordings >> Xtrah - Soundclash - Critical Dub 15. Break - The Hills Have Ears - Symmetry >> Asylum - Da Bass II Dark 16. Roygreen & Protone - Drunken Sailor - Dub 17. Zero T Ft. Stamina MC - Rainha - Dispatch Dub 18. OD & Break - Power Down - Symmetry Dub >> C4C - Research - Ren Catch Octane & DLR in Room Three on 30th November.
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