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An Interview: Skins

Skins is a DJ and producer that came onto our radar a couple of years back with his stellar self-released EPs, SKINS001 and SKINS002. He’s since followed up with a standout mix for the PPG mix series and released plenty of great music including, ‘Suspended’ and ‘Travelling without Moving’ on recent charity compilations, and the impeccable “tribute to the late Alex T” – ‘Hold Tight’. We were excited to sit down with Skins to learn about his early music explorations, producing techniques, the Leeds scene and his plans for the rest of 2020.

And check out his Leeds inspired mix below!

Hi Alex, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up?

Well up until the age of about 7 my parents moved around with me a lot, so I lived in a few different places but eventually settled in a little spot just south of Croydon. I was too young for the first wave of dubstep stuff when it was all going on there but I always used to feel some kind of connection to it because of that. By the time I got into dubstep around 2011, I don’t remember there being much left of the original scene – Big Apple had closed down and the only parties I remember were the Croydub parties at Black Sheep.

Being from the Croydon area, did you get the chance to visit DnR Vinyl?

Yeah I’ve actually only been there a couple of times because I didn’t start buying records until I went to uni in about 2010, and then didn’t go home much, but did my best to visit whenever I was back . It’s a great shop though and I’ve bought a few bits from them online in more recent time. So many absolute gems, it’s definitely one to hit up for a dig.

Can you tell us a bit about some of your favourite music and bands growing up, and ultimately what led to your discovery of electronic music?

As a kid I was more into Punk/Hardcore and some metal. I think the first band I really got into was Sum 41 around that ‘Does This Look Infected’  and ‘Chuck’ era. They led me onto other stuff and I grew from there. The other band that really changed the game for me was Karnivool, this cool Aussie prog rock band.

My first memory of listening to Electronic Music and thinking “wow, this is actually really cool” was sitting in my room clicking through Alaska tracks on youtube. I’d heard other Drum and Bass but it was only the really popular stuff at the time like Pendulum, and I didn’t really rate it that much. This was different. It felt like a whole exciting new world of atmospheric, icy soundscapes and carefully crafted drums that just blew me away. That kind of atmospheric Jungle was my gateway into electronic music and I went from there to Dubstep, with the help of my friend Maria at uni. Dubstep then led me on to everything else.

You helped form Subverse Radio, can you talk us through its creation? 

Subverse Radio was an online radio station that we ran for a couple of years in Oxford, and we also had fortnightly parties during term time. There was a small crew of us who used to get together and listen to tunes and chill at uni, and we all got into DJing around this time. I got my first setup of some really wack turntables, a ridiculous chrome-plated Numark mixer and a Traktor DVS system for less than £250. James and Harry had a show on the university radio station, but it was all done through a big desk and there was no way of mixing tracks, you had to segue with chat instead. 

James and Harry invited Maria and I on for a little guest slot and I think afterwards we were chatting about how they didn’t like the setup, because of those limitations. I had a think about it and figured we should set up our own online station. This then became our project over the summer, getting all the designs and hosts and everything so that we would have a decent aesthetic and roster of shows. We had a launch party at our favourite little club (RIP The Cellar, you will forever be missed) with the intention of using the money to pay for the licences for the station and everything. It got way more popular than we expected and it was a lot of fun, so the events became a big part of what we did. We started in 2011 just in time for the deep house explosion in the UK and we had a pretty good couple of years with a lot of fun parties and some very cool guests. 

Sadly all the show archives got deleted recently but we still have some mixes from our resident DJs and radio hosts up on the website but the site has basically become a relic since we stopped the parties a few years ago but its nice to look back on.

Do you have a particular process for creating a track?

My process is very much an evolving one at the moment. Both my skinsdub records and most of the music I’ve released so far has been made completely in the box, with the exception of ‘Travelling Without Moving’ which recently got released on a charity compilation for the No Way Back crew. I guess my process is very much the same as most people – start off by making some cool sounds and then working them into a nice groove and expand from there. I tend to write my tracks very much from left to right, like composing a piece of music for a band, so I’ll be making changes as I progress through the arrangement, just seeing where the ideas take me. ‘Travelling Without Moving’ was very different because I essentially laid down all of the groove, then jammed the synth line over the top in live, then tweaked the arrangement a bit at the end.

Stir Crazy Vol​.​1 by No Way Back

I live with Adam Pits and we’ve both got all our gear in my studio, so nowadays I’m using more of that. We’ve got Adam’s Minilogue, Deepmind and Drumbrute, my Microbrute and a whole bag of my old guitar effects pedals hooked up through a 16-channel mixing desk and I’ve just about got it set up now so we can kind of jam stuff in, then tweak the arrangement in Ableton and then dub it live using those pedals through the desk. It’s still a work in progress but it’s pretty exciting.

What is it like living with another producer?

It’s been really cool living with Adam. It means there’s always music on around the house, which I guess isn’t that different to how it was living with Alex T. I definitely think some of his style has rubbed off on me and I know he’s started doing some things a bit more like me as well. We still sound very different though because I think we work quite differently and listen to very different music in our spare time. Adam listens to a lot of trance whereas to be honest I rarely listen to dance music if I’m not in the club, at home it’s mostly Jazz, Hip-Hop and new RnB, with the occasional bit of chilled out house music or Dub Techno (or Jungle on special occasions).

And does your method change when working with another producer on a joint track?

So Adam and I have made a few tracks recently where we jammed in some ideas, then recorded each of the parts individually into Ableton, then added the rest of the required parts and did the arrangement and mixing and everything in the box. We’ve got a full EP which we’re very happy with, we just need to find the right home for it.

I also recently worked on a track with Chekov, which had to be done with us both in our own spaces because of the whole COVID situation. I had made a start on something after being inspired at a Timedance night and felt like they might be able to do something cool with it so I sent over stems and was amazed by what I got back. I then just recorded some chords on the end and that was that! The track will be coming out soon on another charity compilation so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Obviously the way things are at the moment have changed the way producers and musicians are working, but we make do and adapt. I’m looking forward to getting people back in the studio and bouncing ideas around when we eventually return to normal.

With Chekov and doing things remotely – is that a method you would revisit again when lockdown is over?

I’ve actually made a few tracks with other producers using that method; El Choop and I made a nice bit a while back and that reminds me I should probably get on to him about making some more tracks together! Working with stems is an interesting one because each producer treats each different stem very differently and develops things in their own way, so you can send people a track which has a fairly solid ‘identity’ in your head, and get something completely different back. Of course it takes a while because you have to wait for bits to be sent back and forth but you definitely get some worthwhile results.

Back to the topic of your own productions, you have self-released a few records. Why did you chose to go down this path with your releases, and did you encounter any issues along the way?

Realistically I self-released because I couldn’t find any labels which would release my music. It was probably laziness on my part because I don’t do much researching, but I just didn’t know of any labels where it would feel like the right home for the tracks. Also I liked having full control of all the artwork and distribution. I pressed up 100 copies of the first record and it sold out really quickly, even with me doing the distribution myself by calling up shops or going in and offering them handfuls of records. I think I got cocky then and 300 was slightly too ambitious for the second release, but I still really enjoy those tracks. 

Thanks a lot for putting the mix together. Can you tell us the idea behind the mix?

So with everything that’s been going on with us all having to be separate, there’s been a lot of talk about what’s going to happen to the scene after lockdown measures are lifted and people start going out again. Some people have been suggesting that the new normal will involve a lot less travelling and more focus on smaller, local scenes and communities, so for this mix I chose to focus on my local scene in Leeds. Since I moved up here about 4 years ago I’ve met a huge number of talented musicians and found a scene which is absolutely thriving for all the right reasons. The people I’ve met here are what have made it feel like home so quickly, so it felt right to pay a little tribute with this mix. 

All the records I played have some connection to Leeds; either produced by someone based here or released on a Leeds-based label. The one exception to that is Red Rock (IV Mix) which is a tribute to my dear friend Alex T, who sadly passed away at the beginning of the year. The whole underground music world seemed to be rocked by that but it was really felt acutely here in Leeds, where dozens of his closest friends gathered in his last days to say their goodbyes, which was really touching. That track was chosen by his younger brother Seb (AKA Bugs Groove) to be played at the funeral, which was a surreal and beautiful moment, though apparently the priest didn’t appreciate it much.

If I allowed myself more time and wasn’t so stuck in my ways, I could have included more music from some of the brilliant talent we have here, but all I did was pull all the records I could think of out of my shelves and get them in an order which worked. If anyone feels left out, I can only apologise, it’s not a reflection of your work, I’m just too lazy to manage a digital music collection!

Can you tell us about the Leeds scene – some of the talented artists, promoters, clubs, labels, record shops that keep the scene moving forward?

Leeds is really exciting because for a fairly small city there’s a whole load of different little pockets of activity, and people who are really on top of their game. We lost a big one when Alex died and he would have been the right person to ask this question because he knew way more than I do. The Leeds scene is really based around small-scale independent DIY parties in different places all over the city and it’s hard to pick out individuals but some of the ones I’ve enjoyed or been involved with include Brudenell Groove (bigger name, really lovely crew, very charity and community-focused), Love Muscle (the hottest LGBT night in Leeds, always gets rave reviews), Reference Mark (cool free-entry thing run by Alfred, focusing on local talent), Spin City (wicked fun garage party run by DJ Kimura & Millenium Edit) and Stretchy Dance Supply (one of the best Jungle/Footwork parties going). This is me just scratching the surface though, there’s so much more out there – again, I apologise to anyone who feels left out. As for record shops, there are a few in Leeds but the one that actually matters for dance music is Tribe. Any self-respecting DJ visiting Leeds should definitely be making a pit-stop there to pick up some fresh material.

(Although they may have changed due to COVID-19) What plans do you have for 2020?

I don’t have any firm plans with anything music-related, generally speaking, because I have quite a busy full-time job. I would like to release another record though, whether it be the one I did with Adam, SKINS003 or this other one that I’ve ben sitting on for a while. I just need a bit more money and a few more hours in the day! For now I’m gonna just keep having fun in the studio and making what I enjoy, the rest all flows from there.

Interview By: James Acquaye Nortey-Glover and Tom Allman