For a guy who still just about fits into the type of ‘dubstep producer’, a lot of people know James Blake’s face. With no pseudonym or contrived anonymity to shield him, he peppered all manner of 2010 lists before settling at second on BBC’s generally fairly accurate Sound of 2011 in advance of his sparse, vocal-driven debut album. “I just wanted to be honest. Sometimes going under loads of different pseudonyms might not be the best reflection of what you do. I feel like it makes it more identifiably me.”
I started producing dubstep tunes when I was 19. A lot of people in my Uni would listen to dubstep with me, a lot of my friends. We got into that music together, and I had stuff to play them because I was writing it as well. Some of the early Mala records were big, Hunter and lean Forward. Haunted by Coki was a big track. A lot of DMZ records were really influencing me. I was listening to a lot of Skream, and a lot of Benga as well, although Benga was more electro, but I later realised how good he was. I haven’t actually met Skream or Benga yet, but I’ve met Mala and Coki and they’re both lovely guys.
Peace Be Still by Reverend James Cleveland
I think gospel’s absolutely amazing. It’s one of the most heartfelt genres there is. I know every genre’s kind of heartfelt. But I think gospel’s spiritual in a way that I don’t connect to religiously, because I’m not religious, but it just does something to me. I don’t want to talk about souls. I don’t think that’s really relevant, but emotionally it brings something out in me. This track is just an exercise in tension and release. It’s just an amazing record, amazing singing, amazing choir. But it’s the recording of that record that’s special to me. The atmosphere’s just electric, it must be a church. The people are just swooning and screaming. It’s unbelievable.
The World of Arthur Russell by Arthur Russell
He’s avant-garde, but accessible. And he plays the cello, which I think is a beautiful instrument. He’s got a beautiful voice, which is strange sounding and bang on point at the same time. Sometimes it seems like he’s not tuning right, but then he is. He’s got a strange way of tuning his voice that’s unique and great. I think it comes from playing the cello. It’s a loose form of melody. So it’s captivating really.
I love the way he wrote, and he did everything on it. That was a big influence. It’s the same with Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book. He had a bass player but I think he played almost everything else. And he could actually have played the bass if he wanted to. I thought that was interesting. And I think he played a big part in production too, I’m not quite sure.
Say My Name by Destiny’s Child
Sometimes listening to a Destiny’s Child is what I’m in the mood for. But I think some of those tunes, like this for example, have incredibly melodic writing. Or Rihanna’s Only Girl In The World. That’s an amazing bit of pop writing. Timbaland’s production was pretty forward thinking for its time. And it sounds great on club systems, so it’s interesting from a production perspective as well. I think some of the 90s R’n’B is incredibly throwaway. It’s today’s pop of its generation. It’s not any less throwaway than some of the stuff you get at the moment. Those songs are classics because they’re good songs and not just because of the genre.
Karl McDonald
