Introducing: Villem

Villem is one of those producers whose work has been cropping up a lot, appearing across the world of drum & bass lately. In short, with releases on varied labels like Symmetry, LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking, Ingredient and, most recently, Med School, Andrew Wilson is garnering the sort of discography that’s well worth investigating. His Shimmer EP, released last month on Med School, flips through ideas with abandon from the half time, pure hip hop runs of the title track, through to the undeniable step of ‘Azura’ and the roll of ‘Artifact’. He seems like the perfect candidate to fully represent the open ended Med School ethos of drum & bass that comes from somewhere a little bit different. Playing in Room Three this Friday in support of the Medical Mix we caught up with Villem to get a better idea of where he’s coming from and find out what else is coming up for him in the future… For those who may not be acquainted with you or your sound, can you introduce yourself and your music? How would you describe the music you make? I produce as Villem, and I'm known for riddims at 170bpm+. I've just had a release on Med School called Shimmer EP. It's got a wide range of styles; ‘Shimmer’ is a half time rhodes flex that drops into pure hip hop towards the end. It was such a fun tune to write, I wanted it to not be d&b but still kinda d&b, like to still have bass and fat beats but to do a different take on it. The EP has dark beats (‘Discordia’ and ‘Ascent’), and musical beats (‘Poly’ and ‘Azura’) that are both solo efforts and collaborations. It sums my style up nicely. I'm constantly looking for a new way to get a dance floor going or a head nodding at home. I like drops, rolling bass, and pads. I also love funk/jazz and will draw from those genres with samples and just straight inspiration. I'm listening to Rinse FM a lot recently, Youngsta & Oneman kills each and every. What have you been working on recently? Well I have a tonne of new music to show the world - I will be repping a lot of it in fabric this weekend, so come down and have a butchers. A lot of music I've written with Mcleod who lives just down the road and we hook up every week and get stuck into basslines and musical adventures. I also head across to Bristol to hook up with the Utopia Music famalam. We got on the collaboration missions last time with Hydro, Mako and DLR. I’m venturing into other tempos too, to see how far I can push my new equipment. How did you get involved with d&b? You sound is very clean, who are the producers you look up to? Do you think their music has a big effect on what it is you produce? Drum & bass has been with me since I walked into this dark room in ‘97 with nothing but MCs and murked out beats playing; it gripped me so completely that I knew I was in trouble. It just felt gangster like NWA/Dre - that’s my earliest influence - and these d&b beats made me feel the same way; it was outside the norm, like a dirty secret. You'd go to school in your bomber jackets and coming down, giggling to yourself that no-one knows how mashed up and dark the weekend was. Whilst everyone else was playing football and doing homework, me and my mates were mashing our brains up soaking in this crazy scene. I loved it. You’ve worked with a few labels to date, how does it feel to be putting music out on Med School? Med School have been an absolute pleasure to work with and it’s great to see how these big guys run tings. Hospital's whole business model is immense and it's great to be a part of it and reach an audience who may not have heard my music. Can you tell us more about upcoming music from you? I've just had a bunch of music released last month - as well as the Shimmer EP on Med School - go grab them if you haven't already. Also ‘Dilligence’ is forthcoming on Utopia next month, a collabo with Break, Mako & Fields. There is still lots more coming… Catch Villem in Room Three for the Medical Mix launch party on Friday night. If you can’t make it to Farringdon, you can stream the whole of Room Three from 10pm via our Awdio channel here: http://url.awdio.com/8yk7XQJ.