Introducing: Sly One And Their FABRICLIVE x subsoul Mix

With a constant influx of high calibre artists, our club programming has been bombarded with a veritable who's who of Bristol lately. We’ve housed label takeovers and had sets from notorious artists and newcomers alike and we’ve even had two of the city’s acts handle our latest mix CDs with Eats Everything and My Nu Leng turning in fabric and FABRICLIVE 86 respectively. Sly One are another act emerging from out of the notorious city’s postcode. Support for their music has thus far come from the likes of Monki (who selected their track ‘Cowbell’ for her recent FABRICLIVE 84 CD), Annie Mac and dance music powerhouse Black Butter. They're also getting salutes from pals My Nu Leng with whom they'll be celebrating the launch of their FABRICLIVE 86 CD in a couple of weeks (on the 4th March) when they help take the controls in Room Two for the subsoul takeover - another night where Bristol will once again be heavily represented thanks to recruits like Woz, New York Transit Authority, Jus Now and Icarus. With the upcoming date also their Farringdon debut we deemed this another apt opportunity to get to know our new recruits so we asked them a few of our probing questions and asked if they wouldn't mind illustrating their answers sonically by way of brand new mix. Download: Sly One - FABRICLIVE x subsoul Mix So, what have you guys been up to as of late? Sly One: We have entered 2016 with a pretty hectic schedule, which is exciting but also very time consuming. We’ve been really focusing on releases and reworking old ideas so they fit the labels we are currently working with. After our 4 track EP on Punks Music we have been putting out singles on labels such as Black Butter Records and Monki’s Bootleg Bundles. You’re playing in Room Two next month. How do you like to execute your sets? Do you mould your sets around the vibe of the lineup you’re playing or just go with what feels right on the night? Initially we look at the lineup to gage what sort of crowd it will bring, but as soon as we get up there we tend to play whatever goes off. Whilst we have a basic structure to our sets, it can usually be switched up depending on how mad the crowd are and their liking to a cowbell being smashed on stage. So take us back to the beginning, how did you guys meet and come to work together? It all started when we were 16, making dubstep in school and sneaking into clubs to see our favorite DJs (R.I.P Shit The Bed). After a few years the scene slowly stagnated and with the rise of brostep we were begging for something new. Then came along Addison Groove with 'Footcrab' and we knew this is what we wanted to do. People ask us about the name Sly-One and to be honest it has no great meaning. It was a dumb joke about someone saying they were a Sly Fox which we thought sounded cool which then changed into Sly-One. Cue name puns… As a trio, do you have a specific process when it come to working together in the studio? We usually begin the production process individually and once we feel like we have a solid idea we pass it around, this way we have a constant flow of ideas going which allows everyone to add their own distinctive flavour to the track. How would you say you complement each other sonically and how does that resonate throughout your music? Having produced and DJed together for a while now we have a strong understanding of how we each work musically. Although our initial ideas differ, we encourage each other to include specific sounds and techniques in order to produce something that stays true to our style. As everyone knows by now we love drum machines, synthesizers, organic percussion, ghetto vocals and most importantly; cowbells. Looking back, what have been the biggest moments and the greatest challenges so far? Some of the biggest milestones for us so far have been releasing on Black Butter Records, Lost In Translation and being chosen by Annie Mac for her ‘Free Music Monday’ track. In terms of performing it has to be some of the festivals we have played at including Outlook and Dimensions in Croatia, Horizon in Bulgaria, Love Saves The Day in Bristol and various other amazing opportunities. Our biggest challenge as of yet was probably finding the right musical direction as we have had very diverse releases which in some ways hindered our progress. In the past year our direction has become clear which means our sound can be easily identified. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience of Bristol as a city and how it’s shaped your musical direction? As cliche as it sounds, Bristol really does have its own scene and with it comes a unique sound that you can’t quite put your finger on. For us our inspiration was triggered by the infamous dubstep scene that came when we were too young to even get into clubs (legally). Besides the Bristol sound, the clear amount of support and respect between the artists and fans in the city means that producers like us can flourish within this style of music. What else have you got forthcoming production wise? Without giving too much away we are working every day with producers and vocalists in creating some very special music. We have also teamed up with a few other Bristol artists to create a new musical project for 2016, but we can’t reveal that just yet. All we can announce right now is we have a lot of music coming out in 2016 so if you can be patient you will definitely be in for a treat. Finally, can you tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve just recorded for us? In this mix we wanted to showcase some of our favourite producers and show what it is you can expect us to play in the club at any of our shows. We tried to include as many edits, dubs, and forthcoming tracks as possible to create something special…