Catching Up with Culture Shock

With only a day left before RAM 100 here in Farringdon we spoke to Culture Shock, the young producer whose constantly been holding down the jaws of club goers over the course of their residency. Relatively new to the scene, Culture Shock has provided the RAM catalogue with an edgier more industrial sound over recent releases; an approach that carries a very technical feel - as he describes in our interview, ‘a science experiment in dance record form.’ Having had tracks featured on Andy C’s Nightlife 5 mix and recent FABRICLIVE CD’s such as #55 by DJ Marky, Culture Shock’s creations are clearly a staple of many DJ’s record bags. So, we tracked down his IP address and asked the man himself a few questions in attempt to find out more about his obsession with sound and why he is looking forward to Friday. He's also just upped his recent mix from the BBC Radio 1Xtra RAM Takeover which you can stream below... How did you originally get involved in drum & bass? And what lead you to RAM Records? I passed Andy C a CD after his set at fabric. I got a call from him a few weeks later saying he wanted to sign me, apparently he’d been playing the tracks out on dub for a few weeks but had no idea who’s they were. Your productions always sound very technical and challenging to create. Does it take long for you to take a track from start to finish? And do any of your creations just not work out? For me d&b has always been about the cutting edge of production so I never feel like a track can be finished unless I’ve done something new in some way - learnt a new technique and put a lot of work in. My finished tracks are really just weird science experiments squeezed into the form of dance records What do you find easier, Producing you own material or remixing other artists material? I’ve only done one remix so far which was of Nero’s last single ‘Guilt.’ There’s a lot more time pressure and you are limited in some ways which can be a positive thing. With that one I just aimed for the jugular and it seemed to go down fairly well. Other than your own track, what is your favourite track on the RAM100 EP? I’ve been playing ‘Stomp’ by Sub Focus as it’s fun to mix. On the LP version I’m loving ‘Refugee’ by Wilkinson; the strings in the intro send shivers down my spine. So who out of the huge line-up are you looking forward to seeing next Friday? Yeah... Matrix, Ed Rush & Optical, Marcus Intalex, Calyx and Teebee. What can I say; these guys were some of my biggest influences when I started producing. Also are any of the future three digit bearing RAM releases of the future going to have ‘Ohrwurm’ or ‘I Remember’ on them? Yes sometime in the next 10 years I hope, but seriously they're finished now so should be out really soon, and there’s a whole lot of new stuff on its way. Finally who out of the vast RAM family do you find motivates and inspires you to keep pushing out incredible material, and go out to play to huge crowds week in week out? Nick/Sub Focusis a great songwriter and producer and good friend, I’ll often send things by him to gauge his reaction. Andy is the one who keeps up the pressure to finish tracks. In terms of playing out... there’s no need for any motivation. I want to do that! You can catch Culture Shock in Room Two on Friday night. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the recent unrest happening in and around London, we are complying with the police’s wishes and restricting attendance to this Friday’s RAM 100/FABRICLIVE event. The event will only be open to ticket holders and members. THERE WILL BE NO TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR FOR THIS EVENT. YOU WILL NOT GAIN ENTRANCE TO THE CLUB WITHOUT A PRE-BOOKED TICKET OR VALID MEMBERSHIP CARD. For more information on this go here.